Questions tagged [self-learning]
For questions about the process of learning an instrument and musical theory without formal instruction.
244
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Sing a song when playing by ear
Learning to play by ear is a long journey; thus, it may not be easy to note which way is good for myself. My question is that I should sing a song, hum a song, sing do-re-me or sing C-E-G when ...
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3
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49
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Modes by ear tips and tricks
Going to learn all the modes by ear. But finding info about is this strangely hard?
Ionian and Aeolian is the same as major and minor, right?
And what about the rest, you guys got any tips?
So far I'...
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3
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78
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Learning Piano/Keyboard VS Singing VS Beatboxing
Preface:
I'm interested in learning 3 skills: Piano/Keyboard, Singing, Beatboxing.
I can devote around 2-3 hours daily. I want to "self-learn" (i.e. without tutor). I want to reach moderate ...
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8
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2
answers
979
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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 ...
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1
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Practice routine as a self-taught, I have about 1000 hours to invest, what to focus on? [duplicate]
Assuming that talent does not exist and that the skill of a musician is directly related to the time spent learning, it follows that investing 1000 hours into learning, with a daily practice routine ...
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3
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133
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How to study part-writing as a self-taught musician?
I've recently picked up Schoenberg's "Preliminary Exercises In Counterpoint" after reading most of "Fundamentals of Musical Composition" as he indicates there and in other texts ...
1
vote
1
answer
124
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How do I write the roman numeral symbol for 6 chords and tritone substitution chords?
Am6 in the key of A minor. (or just 6 chords in general) Is there a correct way to write this or do I just write "i"? I can't use i6 cause that obviously means an inversion.
What about 6 ...
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3
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115
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Do you find it easier nowadays to practice and learn music that what it used to be years ago? [closed]
Judging from my own experience, I believe that nowadays is much easier to find good teachers and material to practice and become really good.
For example, I am middle aged and was a fan of Queensryche ...
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1
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2
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193
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Learning cello fingerings without owning one
Okay this is going to be a weird question but bear with me, I promise I'm not crazy.
Let's say I really wanted to learn cello. Now due to the fact I am not currently able to rent/buy a cello, this ...
1
vote
1
answer
77
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How do you write a chord that has add#9, add-9 at the same time? [closed]
I'm confused about how to write a chord that has add#9 and add-9 at the same time. This is an example. What are the notes?
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95
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Best Rigorous Introduction to Music Theory? [closed]
I've been pretty intensively playing classical and jazz trumpet (albeit as a hobbyist) for about 13 years, and I've been wanting to get into composition. I haven't had too much training in music ...
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8
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11
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2k
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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 ...
- 557
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1
answer
190
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How to study Bach's harmony? [closed]
I'm interested in studying the music of J.S. Bach, but I don't know where to start. The main reason I'm studying it because I'm very interested in Bach's harmony, so that would by my main objective as ...
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How to tell whether the soundpost of a violin needs adjustment?
I am aware that soundpost should be adjusted by a professional luthier when the violinist desires e.g. brighter sound. But as a beginner, I don't think it is relevant for me for now.
Does the fact ...
- 321
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votes
3
answers
173
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Best way to learn as an adult [duplicate]
I want to learn how to read music and play properly, I kind of have a little experience in treble clef already.
My main goal is to learn how to play by ear and basically play whatever song I want, so ...
- 21
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5
answers
396
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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 ...
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E-bass tuned correctly but E string too loose
I'm self-taught and new to bass, and I tuned my bass today (E-A-D-G, E being the lowest), but the E String seems a bit loose (It hits the neck sometimes, and I can bend it much further than the other ...
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4
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984
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For a self-taught bassist, what is the best way to learn to make bigger jumps
Take this tab for example:
How can I learn to jump from the B to the D, to the E, and back to the B as fast as possible?
- 752
3
votes
3
answers
288
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How to self teach myself sheet music reading (for piano)?
I am a self taught pianist, I play mainly by ear and I look for tutorials or synthesia on YouTube. However, sometimes some pieces do not have a synthesia and are really subtle to play by ear (ex. ...
2
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2
answers
209
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How does one transcribe a fast rhythm from memory?
There is a song I know from childhood, and I'm in the process of transcribing it from memory. I can write down the pitches (I use numbered notation), and I can transcribe the rhythms except when the ...
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3
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How to make a custom tuning for fingerstyle guitar
Kent nishimura, i rarely see him used standard tuning.
I want to know how does he get his Tuning for the songs he is arranging, i dont need to know how he arrange his songs since that seems to be ...
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3
answers
424
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How do I practice relative pitch effectively?
The cause of a lot of my anxiety, and the reason I've been too frustrated to practice music for the last few months, is because I do not have an effective way to work on my relative pitch. I taught ...
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How to sing with mix voice without raising my larynx and still being comfortable
Range:E2-E4 then F4-G4 is my break. I can sing an F4 in what I think is my mix sorta comfortably but slightly higher I tense up and my larynx rises. The only way I can sing the G-B range is by yelling....
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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 ...
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1
answer
49
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How to start learning flute? [closed]
I would love to learn and play with flute. Could you suggest me some introductory books or websites for the beginners, and also what brand of flute is good for beginner (less than 300 dollars…)?
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electric bass frets and tabs
Hi all I'm a newbie on bassing and I'm learning tabs now
this tab
G ------------------------------------
D ------------------5-----------------
A --------2-5------------5----2-------
E ---3-----------...
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0
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47
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How can I train my ear? [duplicate]
So, months ago I started to study how to play guitar and piano, I already got to play some songs, but I feel very awkward playing something by ear. Therefore, i'd like some tips on where I have to ...
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2
votes
3
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632
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Fingers touching adjacent strings while playing guitar
Need advise, bought guitar last week and gone throught 100s of vids on youtube for biginners, how to hold, tune,chords all that but one thing that is discouraging me is my fingers touching the other ...
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2
votes
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answers
113
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Hard to focus/hear music when lyrics are present
I have this issue : lyrics overshadow the music for me.
I try playing Jammin from Bob Martley on bass, I'm (about) fine for the first two bars, at the first bar of lyrics I can feel my focus being ...
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8
answers
3k
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Any good methods to memorise scales? [duplicate]
I'm a beginning music student interested in learning music theory, and many texts that I've read speak about the importance of committing scales - at least the major and three common minor ones for ...
- 653
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5
answers
1k
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Properly counting notes from sheet music
I'm beginner piano player. I'm trying to play easy song from notes like below:
In whole song I'm counting notes: 1 2 3 4. Because I can see that the shortest note is 1/4. But there is an exception in ...
8
votes
4
answers
2k
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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?
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How to develop a musical ear when even singing poses great difficulty?
I love music and would love to develop a musical ear. My problem is that I can't get started. All tutorials that I find start at a more advanced point compared to where I am at. I can't carry a tune. ...
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2
answers
124
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My Flute Notes Just Don't Sound Nice
I last had guidance in playing my flute in 6th grade band class and I've been solo since. (About 7 years ago) So naturally everything I know, I gleaned off the internet. My notes are starting to sound ...
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3
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How should one work with missing digital staff on entry level keyboard?
I am currently trying to find a good entry level keyboard for getting back to learning to play after 20 years. I had a few years of grade school classes playing a brass instrument and some self taught ...
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4
answers
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Disturbing fingertip-scar in playing guitar
My husband likes very much to learn playing guitar. But he has a scar on two fingertips of his left hand. This causes problems in pushing the strings hard enough to the neck of the guitar. (It is not ...
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3
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121
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Do you need a specific practice schedule to improve? [closed]
I have played music for most of my life and tried to learn everything that I either wanted to learn or felt that I needed to learn to progress. I have also never seen the point of having 30 minutes ...
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2
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80
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what are some good practices for sight reading sheet music? [duplicate]
I'm teaching my self to learn the piano, currently I've started learning sheet music. I feel as if I'm not progressing as fast as I'd want and I'm hoping to find some practices to make my sheet music ...
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1
answer
115
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Learning the piano and theory without a teacher? [duplicate]
I recently ordered a keyboard, and I plan to buy online courses to learn the piano and theory. I can afford a teacher, however, due to some circumstances in my life, it's hard to attend the lessons at ...
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1
answer
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Am I too old? Is it too late? Starting, Resuming, or Mastering an instrument [duplicate]
Age is a commonly expressed concern in studying music, and there are many questions on this site addressing "late starts" from a variety of perspectives. This post is intended as Link ...
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What do musicians mean when they say "learn music, not instruments"?
I started playing the piano about 2 months ago. Various people have told me several times to "try to focus on music more than the instrument", but I don't quite get the notion. It'd be great ...
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How many repetitions of a piece I'm learning should I do before the notes become permanently embedded in my memory? [closed]
Do people forget songs once they master it and don't practice it for months and years? I am practicing many songs and doing ear training and scales and chords and many things in parallel. Hence have ...
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Interval calculation (Eb-B#)
I'm trying to name the interval Eb-B#.
We know that E-B is a perfect fifth. And by taking Eb-B, it becomes an augmented fifth. But what about Eb-B#? I cannot find a suitable name for this one.
Thank ...
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4
answers
426
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How to not forget songs and build a big repertoire
I have been playing guitar for a while and every time I am confronted with the situation that I have to play songs without looking at the chords/lead sheet etc. I just seem to forget everything. I ...
9
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7
answers
2k
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Learning to identify Chords Progressions by ear
I have no problem identifying instruments, the different role they play in a song, the scales and modes of a song etcetera etcetera. I even understand harmony and the logics and theories surrounding ...
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votes
3
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555
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What's a good approach to learning bass guitar without having a bass guitar amp?
I have an electric bass guitar at home and I would like to learn how to play it. I do have some knowledge in playing the guitar and I own a nice acoustic guitar, which can be amplified but does not ...
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2
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How much harder is learning guitar on a 1/2 classical?
I'm an absolute beginner starting to learn guitar and all sources I have seen/asked so far heavily recommend to get a regular-size steel-stringed guitar. I do however have access to 1/2 size classical ...
- 141
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Should I switch thumbs when C4 switches from bass clef and treble cleff?
I just purchased a digital piano, and playing some synthesia to get a feel for it. I am using default settings where notes for right hand is shown in green, and notes for left hand shown in blue. Game ...
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4
answers
241
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How do I progress without a cello teacher during COVID lockdowns?
I’ve been playing cello for four years now and I want to get better, but I don’t know how. I started playing when I was placed in the wrong course at school and I ended up in the experienced class ...
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votes
1
answer
129
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Read sheet music trouble [duplicate]
I'm new. I got some trouble when read this song, I don't know Bm(b5) meaning. Also some word "Bb" "Dm",... I know it suggestion note make from chord in treble & bass clef. But sometime it lack a ...
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