Learning music/piano

Piano takes a lot of time, and most importantly, dedication. Check ebay, they usually have things fairly cheapish, or go to a music store, they might have a cheap package for you! I stress again......dedication. Good luck!

Not at the point to be dedicated yet. I'm spread thin so the decision to dedicate all depends on how it goes in the beginning.

Anyone have ideas on how to jump start autodidactic piano lessons?

Visit a store or got online we bought our Yamaha Keyboard here
they also match other advertised prices in the store.

Ours is similat to the 159.00 model

Somebody else will be able to tell you if the Suzuki method is any good - but it appears you are able to autodidact:

http://www.allegromusiconline.com/suzuki.htm

http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Education/Methods_and_Techniques/Suzuki_Method/

http://www.suzuki-music.com/


Says a lot about kids, though - I assume adults can learn via it too??? -anyhoo - I am sure someone who knows what they are talking abut will come along soon.

I dunno about San Diego - but here second hand keyboards are literally a dime a dozen in shops that give people pitiful amounts of money when they are in trouble, or have stolen something, in return for goods.

They're called Cash (or Crime) Converters here...

Oh, thanks, Craven. I've given this some thought too, but here too, the time and dedication are spread a little thin.

Your paws wouldn't span an octave.

Well, how 'bout a recorder, then?

Good idea Roger...I started on recorder at age 9 and enjoyed playing it for many years. As a matter of fact I ended up playing in a recorder quartet, as the instrument is easy to master.
I recommend Craven take it up before deciding on a time consuming dive into piano

Good advise Panzade.....I think there is a reason why parents put their kids into piano lessons when they are around the age of 3, because it's super hard and it takes many many years to begin to be good. I can play a little bit, but I can't imagine just jumping into it hard core.

Craven, Nothing, and I mean nothing will ever replace the sound of a real piano. I've tried 'em all. A capo on a guitar is a limiting thing and like a cheat sheet.

As for a recorder, they're just a poor man's reed or flute.

Sorry, folks. If you're going to learn to play an instrument, start with the real thing. If you find that you don't have the bent for music, then be a worthy listener. It hurts my heart to know that there are no more people out there who can play a bugle.

Piano's are expensive.....I know I wouldn't want to fork out a whole **** load of money on something I wasn't sure if i'd keep using.

Stand up, you would be surprised at the churches who would sell you an upright for next to nothing.

Yes, I guess you're right. All it takes is some looking around....good one Letty!

Oooooooooh, Letty, you've dissed my favourite instrument, the recorder.

Nothing beats the beauty of a well-played alto recorder. Marion Verbruggen can make you weep when she plays, it is so beautiful.

Hmmmm, piano. Definitely an investment. There used to be software years ago, that allowed you to learn using your computer. It's true that the sound on a keyboard is not the same as a piano - but there is truly a financial differential. I bought quite a nice one at a local hock shop, for a kiddie who wanted to try the piano. He could get some decent sounds out of it. Whooooo, and the space required for a piano.

I agree with Letty.. re the piano, but I differ in that I think a keyboard could be a help, along with being in touch with a real piano. To me, learning happens fastest, for an adult anyway, when the brain absorbs new information by means of fairly short practices, repeated often - sort of like language, with the fingers involved. I think a keyboard could help with that part of learning that imbeds the behavior deeper or more securely in the brain.

Not that an intense session or two or two hundred is harmful, but that I think pulsed repetitions are really useful.

Not that I am such a great pianist. I had music lessons as a child, in my one span of "middle class childhood" back in Illinois, for five years, and haven't had a piano since.

I was slovenly at practicing, used to practice just before the lesson, with, ahem, Sister Mary Edwardine, in the convent parlor. But I remember the pleasure, when the heat wasn't on, to be playing the Moonlight Sonata and have it flow. That isn't that hard a piece, but it's quite a rich experience to play...

Re a real piano, when I was a lab tech intern at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, a couple of us used to go over to the community center and fool around on that piano. This other tech could play by ear and I could begin to remember the pieces I used to know back in Chicago... all free.

Beth, perhaps it's the holes on a recorder that always gave me some trouble. I dismiss nothing. what did them guys play when they wanted to subdue a cobra? A mongoose.

The Indian flutes - bansari and venu.

http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/bansuri.html