When you decide to delve into the world of music, and learn to play an instrument, you are immediately bombarded with a plethora of choices. What style to learn, what instrument to learn, how to learn, and more. Today I will talk about how I chose the violin, and the thought process to go through when trying to choose an instrument and how to start your journey as a musician! When I was nine years old, there was a presentation at my school one day where various professional musicians came to play and talk about their instruments to the school. I suppose the idea was to get us excited about music and encourage us to sign up for the music lessons at our school.
I was very inspired by this presentation, and it was my initial motivation for picking up the violin. I remember that after watching these musicians play for my school, it seemed obvious that I was going to play the violin, and my little nine year old self assumed it also was obvious to the people around me. I went home that day and told my dad about the music presentation, and that we were going to soon have the opportunity to take music lessons at school. When he asked me if I wanted to join, and what instrument I would play, I told him "the violin... obviously." A few long weeks of waiting later, I had acquired my violin, which was my grandma's that she played for a few months during college, and all the necessary accessories, including my shoulder rest, rosin, and music stand. After starting the music classes at school, the rest was history. For other people, the process of choosing an instrument can be very different. Many children that start playing much younger than I did, don't have a say in the instrument they learn. Their parents decide on one of the more common instruments, like violin or piano, and don't give it a second thought. When people learn as adults, the decision could be much more difficult. There are many more things an adult learner may take into account, including the perceived difficulty of the instrument, the price, the how convenient it is to transport from place to place, etc. My advice is to not initially take any of that into account. Try to listen to your favorite kind of music, and see what instrument you are most drawn to. After you have decided on one, or a few, think about all the other factors that might come into play. Also, remember that you can always pick up a secondary instrument later if all goes well with the first one. Once you have decided on an instrument, look into buying one. I always recommend, at least for violins, to go to a nearby music store, and talk to the people that work there for instrument recommendations. If there is someone you know that already play that instrument, bring them along too to test out a few different instruments so you can hear the sound and choose one you like the best. This part could be a challenge, but just do your best. Don't worry about choosing the "wrong" instrument. There isn't such thing as a wrong one necessarily, they are just all different. The next step is to make yourself some sort of learning plan. This could be lots of different things. It could have goals, timelines, resources, and many other things, but it's always important to have some semblance of a plan, to help keep the motivation up. When choosing to play an instrument, you are just grazing the tip of a giant iceberg, but just hold on, because it'll be a wild ride!
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Alani SugarAlani Sugar is a young fiddle and mandolin player from Maryland. She has been involved in the region's music scene since she was 15 years old, and has the attention of musicians and music lovers alike in the area. She currently works as a professional musician and teaches fiddle and mandolin lessons online via Skype Archives
January 2024
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