Self taught or taking lessons (Page 1 of 4)

Howdy Ozy,

  Actually I took a few lessons in the beginning of a "classical" nature just to get the mechanics correct (posture, position, picking style etc.), and self taught with the help of a whole bunch of novices like myself sharing what we learned in jam sessions and garage band type environments.

  If I had it all to do over again (and I could have afforded the lessons), classes would have been the better way to go.  I say that because I missed out on all the music theory that would have opened new vistas for me in music.  Learning that stuff now after 36 years of playing the darn things, and finally getting to the point where I might be knowledgeable enough to put some of my stuff to music.

Take Care;
Doug

I'm mostly self taught.  I've used chord books and now the internet.  I wish I would have had the passion over the years because I would play for a few months then quit for several years (as many as 20 years at on time).  Now that I am retired, I allow myself to have the pleasure of practicing every day.  It does make a difference.  Really, I feel I only started about two years ago, as opposed to 40 years ago.  If I would have kept at it, who knows, I might be a lot better than I am now.

I started at age 10 learning piano, and kept up my studies through to about 18. I learned the theory, did exams etc, but didn't want to take it further. At age 20 I wanted to learn guitar so I taught myself from song books with chords, tabs and musical notation. One I remember well was The Songs of Leonard Cohen. It had all 3 notations in so I could quickly work out how it all fitted together. Together with listening to the songs, which are not so complex, that's how I started. After that I teamed up with friends who were good guitar players (much better than me) and started to play and sing in the folk clubs in the 70s.
I stopped playing in the 80s and have recently started playing seriously again after a break of about 15 years.
I now run a folk club in my local area and try to encourage people to come here and play. I rarely sing in public but this may change as the folk club develops and I start to write my own songs again. Haven't done that for 30 years.

Self-taught on guitar and self-torture on harmonica.  However, I already had a solid foundation of knowledge about music in general from having been instructed as a bass player and horn player from way back.  I learned how to read music playing trumpet and trombone and tuba.  I took up upright classical bass, and learned a lot about foundation and rhythm through that.  Years later I took up electric blues bass, which is where I learned to put together a riff on a chord without having it all written out for me.  I started using chord charts then and haven't 'read' music since.  In fact, earlier today I was trying to read some music to work out a riff and couldn't remember the notes from bass clef to treble and had to ask for help (in the acoustic forum). 

- Zurf

My teacher would definitely say that is a good way to learn.

I'm Self taught. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

Classically trained by Craig Sams.(1986)private lessons@ Harvard on the hill. ( NRCC)

I knew how to play piano, Mr. Sams asked me to show him my most impressive piece of music. I played the outro to 'Layla',mixed with the intro to 'Fur Elise', with a tad of 'The Munsters' mixed in, and we began from there.(that was the one and only time I ever made Mr. Sams smile) I have a quote from Mr. Sams taped upon the wall in my music room. It reads, "practice the fundamentals over and over, until the fundamentals become instinctive."

I learned from  Mr. Sams for one full year and he moved on to bigger and better things elsewhere.(???) I have no idea where he went  but I am forever grateful to him for getting me started and headed in the proper direction. We covered a lot of ground in very short period of time. I hope to cross paths with him someday in the future.

Thank you Mr. Sams

Thanks folks!

Awesome, I seriously envy those who have done so!

It would seem the majority are a blend of self taught and books and collaborative doing.  And then there are some who are blessed with the ability to just pick it up.  But, in the end all that matters is just playing and loving it.

Cool 

Out of curiosity, I am trying to recall what they call the Music style up there in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada??

Thats some of the music I am learning in my "Olde time String Band" group class.  My teacher,  Seth Austen, loves that stuff and he leads our class with a fiddle, while I and one other member plays guitar and and there are several others who play mandolin and fiddle.  It's great fun and challenging!