Questions tagged [learning]

Learning is the act of acquiring or developing skills and knowledge.

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Why am I always sticking to minor keys?

When I'm improvising on my keyboard, or trying to compose a melody, I always find myself playing in a minor key -- and never a major one. (For keyboard it's usually G minor or D minor, but that I ...
ethc's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
1k views

Adding accidentals that are already expressed by the key signature

I have been learning piano for almost two years now, making good progress. I have good knowledge of the different scales and their corresponding key signatures. When I learn a new piece, I usually ...
iddober's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
15k views

Must one be born with a sense of rhythm to learn to play a drum set with both feet and both hands?

I am a semi pro musician (only because folks are generous enough to pay me to perform on occasion - not because of great talent) and can play guitar well enough to accompany my singing and play a ...
Rockin Cowboy's user avatar
9 votes
5 answers
2k views

Leading a jam session

Our local youth center organises a jam session each two weeks. Most of the time, everyone is just playing stuff and not really looking at, listening to or paying attention to each other. The most ...
ONOZ's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
23k views

What's the best way to start learning Accordion on a budget?

Obviously, a good way to learn would be to buy an Accordion, some books, watch a few videos on youtube and just spend a few years with some hard practice. However I'm not naturally musically talented, ...
AncientSwordRage's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
864 views

Does starting on a "silent" string instrument compromise learning in any way?

I'm looking at learning a string instrument (either violin, viola or cello), and I see that there's a few "silent violins" etc. on the market. Obviously this would have some perks, as my initial ...
andrewb's user avatar
  • 193
9 votes
5 answers
482 views

Plateau while learning piano sight-reading

As a 12 year old I had piano lessons for several months until the teacher retired due to ill health and I never kept going with lessons (which I've regretted ever since). On the plus side I've always ...
Andrew Stephens's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Feasibility of practising music for a person who are almost tone deaf?

I've always had trouble with relative pitch and hearing music in general. When I was younger I couldn't tell you if it was a major or a minor chord I was hearing (when other people seemed to be fully ...
kqr's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is this chord progression III I II III?

I've always been a keen music listener but never paid much attention to music lessons back in high school. Now I've decided to (attempt to) teach myself music theory with the hope of developing some ...
user13259's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
11k views

Is there a way to turn sharps and flats into natural notes?

I realise this might be kind of a silly question, but I recently got a kalimba and I am trying to turn various piano songs into kalimba songs! My kalimba is tuned to C major and has 17 keys; no ...
Gabriel's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Rocksmith 2014 as a learning tool

I've been using Rocksmith 2014 to help learn guitar and bass. So far it's been great for keeping me motivated to practice, and the riff repeater is excellent for learning difficult phrases. I'd like ...
Bradd Szonye's user avatar
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9 votes
5 answers
595 views

Techniques for improving how I learn a piece

I'm a grade 2-3, and last week my piano teacher gave me "To a Wild Rose" (Edward MacDowell) to learn - page 1 for now anyway. At first glance it seems quite straightforward, but 5 days on ...
Andrew Stephens's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Learn music with odd rhythms

I've always had problems with tuplets (3/2, 4/3, etc), until I was taught this nifty trick: subdivide the total duration (4 quartuplets, 3 triplets, etc) by the least common multiple (12, for 4/3) ...
user19087's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
5k views

What musical tropes make sci-fi music recognizable? [closed]

Listening to various sci-fi themes (examples included below), I can "hear" a certain similarity, but I can't really identify it. Something in the melody, a particular pattern of the strings, the color ...
Jumba Jumblewitz's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
1k views

How do I learn proper breathing when teaching myself the flute?

I have slowly, over time, begun to teach myself the flute. I play the piano and the recorder (sort of), so learning the note positions and how to read music is not a big issue for me. The biggest ...
dmr's user avatar
  • 193
8 votes
5 answers
3k views

How did students remember what to practise between lessons without any sheet music?

Before the time when sheet music was popular people were good at playing keyboard instruments. I am referring to the time when printing books was expensive. How did the students remember what to ...
user avatar
8 votes
8 answers
2k views

Learning an instrument with visual impairment

I have been lately delving into instrument learning now that I can afford some gear and lessons I am seriously thinking into dedicating into it. The thing is I only have one seeing eye - the right ...
OneEyedBandit's user avatar
8 votes
11 answers
2k views

Should a right handed child hold a guitar left-handedly [duplicate]

Going to try and distil this down to one question! Background: My 9yo daughter is interested in music, and and at the moment rock guitar. We have loads of guitars and ukes around from me and her mum ...
Whelkaholism's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
3k views

is there any contradiction learning different instruments?

I wanted to know if there is any contradiction when someone is learning several different instruments? For example, I am learning to play piano . Would becoming a good piano player in any way hold me ...
Hitman2847's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is it possible to learn how to sing properly without a teacher?

Can you learn to sing with correct technique only using videos and online courses - without feedback from a teacher that guides you? How much of a difference would it make?
AvidListener's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
1k views

How can I learn thoroughbass?

I've done some reading and I've discovered that our modern system of music theory (I'm looking at you Roman numeral analysis) is not the same system that most of the great composers used, including ...
Cayden Johnson's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
10k views

Can you start playing piccolo without playing the flute?

I play alto saxophone, piano, ukulele, and guitar. I am wondering if it's possible to take up piccolo as well, without playing the flute. I plan on taking lessons, as there are teachers in my area, ...
ella's user avatar
  • 81
8 votes
5 answers
829 views

Top-down music learning

Most musical schools start with a bottom-up teaching eg. Czerny etudes for the dexterity and the velocity of fingers. However, teachers usually go through all the etudes before moving on towards real ...
András Hummer's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
24k views

How to play upstrokes with our hand when playing an acoustic guitar?

I have seen a lot of guitar videos and read a lot of guitar books but one thing they all have in common is that while teaching strumming they tell you to "loosen up", "keep going up and down" etc. Or ...
user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
9k views

Does it make sense to do exam grades as an adult learner?

I'm in my thirties; I've played acoustic guitar for about a decade, but recently took up "proper instruments" flute and piano as a beginner - playing from score, learning scales, etc rather than just ...
Mr. Boy's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can bass chord notes be different octaves after playing the root?

The reason for my question is because it seems like everything I read, the bass note is normally the root of the chord, but I am outlining an Am chord where E is the bass note. I thought I found an ...
TyCobb's user avatar
  • 299
8 votes
3 answers
13k views

Do the hands' sizes affect piano learning/performance?

I don't really know anything about pianos, but since I just got a digital one I guess I should give it a go. The first thing I noticed is that it is difficult for me to press multiple keys that are a ...
Saturn's user avatar
  • 1,389
8 votes
3 answers
761 views

How to respectfully learn "eastern" music for guitar

I've always loved classical Indian / eastern / modal sounds on guitar, but I met a man whom I admire that believed that merely copying some of the outward tonalities and calling it "eastern" was ...
Dan Gayle's user avatar
  • 529
8 votes
1 answer
860 views

How to play large chord?

I am playing Scriabin's Prelude Op. 11 No. 11. (see IMSLP ) I can reach 10ths fairly comfortably, but I am wondering what to do with chords such as those that appear in m. 14 (C#4-B5-G5). Do I play a ...
fwenom's user avatar
  • 83
8 votes
3 answers
226 views

Is it useful to have different teachers?

I'm extremely satisfied with my Flamenco teacher, a real virtuoso. When do you know that it is time to change to a new teacher?
Chiron's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
7k views

How to start bass-guitar plucking?

I am looking for an online beginner tutorial to bass plucking (fingered) technique, something like the image bellow. Important: I am not looking to learn how to play the notes etc., I would say I don'...
Shimmy Weitzhandler's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
4k views

What is the best way to start learning to play guitar by ear

I've been using TAB for a while but I want to transition to picking things up by ear. What is an effective way to do that? Please give answers about methods you have experience with and explain how ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
669 views

How to become a DJ

I'd like to become a DJ, and to tell the truth, I also have made many tracks using Encore notation software. But, now that I want to bring it to reality, I don't know what instruments to purchase. A ...
Saeed Neamati's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Breathing technique for younger brass band players

I'm a conductor in a church brass band. Currently I train children to learn a brass instrument from 10-11 years old up. I plan to lower that age limit but starting to work with kids younger than 10 ...
artaxerxe's user avatar
  • 183
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Where can I find jazz piano scales to practice?

I played the piano for years classically when I was younger, but eventually left it alone in my late teens and twenties. I probably wouldn't have if I'd been allowed to do more Jazz as I always wanted ...
barrymac's user avatar
  • 287
8 votes
2 answers
991 views

Teaching music to my 4 year old

I gifted an 8 key toy piano to my son (Image above) more than a year ago. He played with the toy on and off. Recently he started playing rhymes on the piano after listening to pre-recorded rhymes from ...
Mohit Jain's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
550 views

Normal exercise time when learning guitar?

I'm self-learning guitar for a year now, I come from a programming background and I am prone to "larval stages" when learning ^_^ My maybe biggest challenge so far is to stop playing when I'm tired ...
bbozo's user avatar
  • 221
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

Complete Classical Guitar Course-Guide?

Here's my situation: I have been playing guitar for 10 years, learning all the stuff on my own. I began with simple acoustic songs and after some time I started to play electric guitar, I studied and ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 183
8 votes
2 answers
414 views

Warnings/Comments/Suggestions for low brass player learning tenor sax?

Let me start by saying that trombone is my main instrument next to piano and I've been playing it for several years. I had a fleeting thought about attempting to learn tenor sax. I'm already ...
cemulate's user avatar
  • 703
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Learn to write music

I enjoy music very much and often find myself writing a part of a song, or playing a tune in my head. The problem is, even if I do manage to write what I am creating mentally onto paper, there is ...
Pamdee's user avatar
  • 83
8 votes
3 answers
4k views

How can I develop a high register on a brass instrument without creating tension?

Lately I've been reading about how trombonists (or any other brass instrumentalists) tend to develop tension in their neck or torso when playing in the higher register. In working to decrease ...
SRiss's user avatar
  • 1,259
8 votes
3 answers
32k views

How can I learn 48 holes tremolo harmonica?

Probably not the best harmonica to start with, but this is the one that I used to play around with when I was a kid. So, I just picked it up at the store and thought it might be easy to learn. And ...
Sufendy's user avatar
  • 1,944
7 votes
4 answers
701 views

How do you keep yourself motivated when you are doing mostly self-study?

There are numerous reasons one might have to resort to mostly self-study - lack of good teachers in the vicinity, lack of good players to interact with face to face, lack of time/money to attend ...
talonx's user avatar
  • 687
7 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is smoking & playing horns really incompatible?

I've recently been to a funk jam with a nice horn section. I've later met them at the break, they were smoking cigarettes one after other, but still, they seemed to have incredible breathe. I know ...
Bigood's user avatar
  • 417
7 votes
6 answers
2k views

Would it take less time to learn the guitar fretboard if it were tuned to all fourths?

Does it take less time to learn the fretboard when all strings are fourth apart, EADGCF, and then adjust your learning for the standard tuning of EADGBE ... vs... learning in standard tuning from the ...
Randy Zeitman's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
2k views

Would it be a good idea to memorize relative interval positions on guitar?

It seems like if I memorized the relative intervals between the notes on each string, it would help a lot with quickly making chords and such. It seems a lot easier than trying to memorize individual ...
コナーゲティ's user avatar
7 votes
9 answers
794 views

How to teach the staff to a teenager?

A friend of mine who is 18 has played guitar for practically his whole life, except he's only played by ear and tablature. He's been playing piano for a year and a half now, but he's never learned to ...
Arradras's user avatar
  • 179
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

Fingers 'stuck' on keys

I keep finding that when moving my hand and playing a note - especially when crossing my index finger over my thumb - the note is already held down by another finger. i.e. I'm not lifting the note ...
Mr. Boy's user avatar
  • 9,802
7 votes
7 answers
65k views

Learning guitar without making noise

This might sound like a stupid question but I'd like to ask if and how it is possible to learn guitar without making noise at all. I'd like to prevent making noise other people in the same flat could ...
Frame91's user avatar
  • 173
7 votes
4 answers
400 views

Are "unobtrusive drum studies" possible?

I have and idea to take some drum lessons with the goal to learn more about rhythm which I really like. I think it may be good to take also some homework from the teacher, but the ordinary drum set ...
h22's user avatar
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