Schredds

Ya I played for 4 years and I didnt have a problem learning or writing my own music and never took lessons, by buddy I played in a band with in high school took lesson sand he was learning how to play all kind of different style and he was rapidly getting better with each lesson, maybe it depends on the person, who knows, we'll see.

mr dave

i think this is the biggest factor.

the whole lessons vs. self taught thing seems to boil down to a difference between wanting to develop an ability to play the instrument and understanding the fundamentals of the instrument and its relation to the greater whole of music. you 'can' teach yourself both but one aspect is usually a bit more complicated than the other.

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Astronomer

This is true. It also depends on what background history you have with music. When I was little my mother chauffeured me off to classical piano lessons for at least 5 years. Subsequently, I was able to self teach myself guitar and bass etc because I had that theoretical (and practical) musical grounding.

mr dave

i never had formal training, but everyone i know who was forced to piano lessons by their moms (none of them liked it or wanted to go haha) when they were kids benefited from that knowledge later in life and seemed more apt to successfully pick up new instruments and styles.

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Astronomer

Haha exactly. I hated piano lessons and I hated 'practicing' each week. But now, I'm eternally grateful because my musical knowledge comes in handy.