Were You Self Taught ?

[SpiderTrap]

Wondering if others were " self taught " , as myself . by that I mean not having a continuous instructor . I tried instructors briefly , but none seemed to help... seems they DEmotivated me more than helped ?? Yes it took much longer by watching others play , VHS tapes , books , charts , Green's Wheels etc . Way before any internet ...a long struggle but finally made it to a comfortable level . Also taught myself to sing , something I never thought possible .....Trick is to stay in a comfortable key and not strain....by transposing keys if necessary and experimenting ......

[ChalkLitIScream]

I was self taught. Started with the piano first. Funny story actually, I learned a popular pop song at the time, just by pure memorization. Had no idea what notes were, no theory, nothing. Just learnt the order of the keys until I got it down pat!

I'll admit, I did use some Internet help for chords atndmitnd stuff. The aha moment with scales came when I realized that Barre chords all follow a pattern, and that there weren't a billion different shapes for each chord to memorize.

I'd do it again if I could, it was fun!

[tippy5]

Self taught. I learned some real bad golf swings a teacher could of nipped in the bud at that youthful time.

[Wade Hampton]

I'm basically self-taught, especially on my first instrument, mountain dulcimer. Then came mandolin, then five string banjo, then harmonica, THEN guitar.

Mandolin is the only instrument I've ever had formal lessons on, and those only lasted two or three months.

Fortunately, I have the ability to pick up and play many stringed instruments without having to work too hard at it - I've been told that I'm a natural musician in the same sense that some people are natural athletes. All I do is just look for the similarities between them (which are many and manifold) rather than the differences (which I find unimportant and mostly irrelevant.)

Just as fortunately, I seem to be able to get away with that. My philosophy is, whenever I'm composing a piece or working up tunes written by others is to ask myself:

"What is the simplest way I can be musically effective with this?"

That doesn't mean dumbing it down, or skipping important chord changes and turning everything into a three chord bang-away song with no subtlety whatsoever; what it does mean is that I ask myself how to convey the piece in such a way that it will work best for those listening.

I got past the whole "the more complex it is, the more musically important it must be!" attitude a LONG time ago. It easy to make things more complicated, but, paradoxically, paring musical pieces down to true simplicity and delivering them effectively can be quite challenging.

In my opinion, musical complexity for musical complexity's sake is for college sophomore music majors (who get dazzled by all the possibilities,) and for the sort of musician who's destined to remain eternally at an intermediate level.

Naturally, your mileage may vary.


Wade Hampton Miller

[rsmillbern]

I took a group class in the 7th grade at school on semester.
I inherited a mandolin that year and taught myself a couple songs.

After that I tool classical lessons for about 6 months when I was 16 or 17.

So, with 40+ years of playing off and on (sometime a lot, sometimes very little) I consider myself pretty much self taught.

Recently I have been seriously considering taking some lessons. I plan to, I just need to get a second car before it works to take lessons were I am interested..

[Mahoganymadness]

Does using the internet count as self taught? I remember looking up some basic chords, and using various websites to lookup songs I wanted to learn with the chords above them when I first started.
I didn’t really know even basic theory until about 2 years ago. But all of this has been online.. if you ask me I don’t consider that self taught though

[Dru Edwards]

Self taught. No internet when I learned back in the '80s. I used my ear more back then.

[Samogitian]

I self taught guitar watching youtube videos. It was pretty easy, because I had a strong background - formally learned violin, later piano, some other instruments and was told by my teachers I have perfect pitch (a little sceptical about that) - I constantly annoyed them by not learning from sheet.

[Tico]

Self taught in the 1960s listening to vinyl LPs of Joan Baez, Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel.

Put the needle down.
Listen a few seconds.
Lift needle.
Figure out what I'd just heard.

Lather Rinse Repeat ... over and over.
For years that's how I learned music.

Eventually I could instantly hear all the chords for many (not all) songs without even touching a guitar.
I don't have perfect pitch, so I do need to play along on guitar or piano to find the key.

But I can hear the "shape" of chords without touching a guitar.
I can tell the guitarist is playing the D shape then the G shape, then the A shape ... and that they are not playing the C shape, then the F shape, then the G shape ... even though both are the same I IV V pattern.

[cotten]

Basically, yes, I was self taught as a guitarist, though I have a couple of degrees in music. That is, I didn't take guitar lessons, though I would often pick up a tip or two from someone who plays better than I do, or at least differently. I have adapted and adopted over the years and developed my own particular way of playing. I suppose that means I am self taught, but not really.

cotten

[jpbat]

Yes, self taught all the way.
In everything, seems like I got some problem with academics in general.

Pros and cons :
- Since you reinvent the wheel, it can be a little bit squared, but this is your wheel.
- You never stop learning things, so you live in perpetual amazement.

[Steel and wood]

I took lessons for nearly four years and then went on from there.

[chitz]

Self taught here too.

I regret not taking lessons early on, but not much point now.

I'm as bad as I'm gonna be.

[AndrewG]

I had two or maybe three lessons with the late avant-garde guitarist Derek Bailey when I was about 13, but am self taught apart from that. Seems only a few people know of Mr.Bailey which is a great shame, although his music is challenging and far from conventional: https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/78...arde+guitarist

[Nymuso]

Entirely self taught by ear a long time ago. It should be noted that any good musician is self taught to some degree. If not, he is only as good as his last lesson and will never surpass his teacher.