i have known many people to teach themselves the guitar and the piano. i have never heard of anyone teaching themself the violin, though I suppose it could be done.
I would heartily recommend a few lessons, even just a half dozen, to get you started, and then you can go off on your own with guitar or piano. with both instruments it's important to learn the correct places for your fingers; getting off on the wrong track means bad habits that are hard to unlearn and that will make advanced techniques much more difficult.
music stores usually are a great source of teachers or advice about teachers. also you can ask your local school band directors, or the music directors at your place of worship if you have one. the musical communities in most cities is often pretty tightly knit.
or if you hear an artist at a restaurant or somewhere, ask if they give lessons; many do.
i took piano as a teenager and briefly studied violin as a kid. my dad is an accomplished musician. those are my creds for this advice.
if you already know how to read music, it will make all this much easier. if you don't, guitar is definitely what you should go for. chord charts can be self taught. but it's worth the aggravation to also learn to read music.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-05-23 01:26 am (UTC)I would heartily recommend a few lessons, even just a half dozen, to get you started, and then you can go off on your own with guitar or piano. with both instruments it's important to learn the correct places for your fingers; getting off on the wrong track means bad habits that are hard to unlearn and that will make advanced techniques much more difficult.
music stores usually are a great source of teachers or advice about teachers. also you can ask your local school band directors, or the music directors at your place of worship if you have one. the musical communities in most cities is often pretty tightly knit.
or if you hear an artist at a restaurant or somewhere, ask if they give lessons; many do.
i took piano as a teenager and briefly studied violin as a kid. my dad is an accomplished musician. those are my creds for this advice.
if you already know how to read music, it will make all this much easier. if you don't, guitar is definitely what you should go for. chord charts can be self taught. but it's worth the aggravation to also learn to read music.
keep us posted! yay.