Self Taught??
 

Who here is self taught?
Do u prefer it over having an actual teacher?
Discuss


oh yea im new btw :wave:

iam poor i cant afford a teacher LOL

so iam self taught on the drums

i wish i had a teacher tho 2 give me some tips

yea i was thinking about getting a teacher
but im poor too :mad:

you should checkout youtube videos they help me...somewhat

im tryin to self teach myself guitar

I started out guitar self taught for 5 years then took 2 years of jazz guitar lessons to sorta' refine my theory and skills. I'm self taught at piano, but would really love lessons one day.

I enjoy taking lessons, my teacher is an awesome Rastafarian guitar player who's just fun to jam with... I just wish I didn't have to pay him for stuff like that, but he's great at helping me with my theory.

yea so far i've been self taught for about 3 months and i would really like to get a move on on my skills but its hard when you dont have a professional teaching you....yea youtube helps but there is not anyone there to take you on one on one

I'm self taught, but I believe there are many advantages of having a teacher.
One thing about guitar is that you can never stop learning. Even if you feel confident that you're a pretty good guitar player, there is something out there to learn, a new riff, a new song, a new genre etc. Having teacher is more like having a mentor or guide. They can show you things that you are not aware of, but they can only pass on hints and tricks, and the right way of doing things, they can not pass on talent. In the end all musicians are self-taught by the fact it is up to them to practice, practice, practice.

I think this is a very true.

I`m self taught (in a sense - although i reffered to books and magazines in my youth)!

I don`t recommend it, i hit the wall after a few years and pretty much gave up improving. It was my sons interest years later that got me going again, and now with the information on the net its SO easy to have the questions you want answered.

I would`ve been a whole lot happier if i`d have paid for a few lessons, for someone to teach me to play Johnny B Goode or something, and then expain how that relates to the blues and major scales! Stubborn pride stopped me - idiot i was!

I'm self-taught on bass guitar. Taught through classical lessons on piano.

I play guitar self taught. When I first began I sucked but I refused to take lessons. Some would say that's an extremely bad choice, but, I think music is from the heart and as long as you sit down and take the time and play for the right reasons and not give up once you hit a dead end It'll all come together. The main reasons why I would rather be self taught is when you have a teacher they are teaching you how it is done the standard way or their way. That's cool and all but your music is a part of you and the way you hold your neck and all that's all you. Another reason is you just feel so much more accomplished and you can just think to yourself yeah that's all me I figured that out with blood sweat and tears with no one to stand over my shoulder. It takes longer and it's harder but hey. Really, in the end though what should really be considered is: is it fun? doesnt matter if you suck or what just as long as YOU like what you are doing.

i tried to learn by myself....didn't work out
so I got a teacher who is classically trained...so I'm learning notes and scales and stuff

but I also use tab...and write riffs and stuff
I taught myself hammer ons and pull offs..and triplets

so I'm kinda both I guess

I'm self-taught at guitar. I have not really been playing a long time. But when people teach me things it takes out the sense of accomplishment when I succeed because I feel liek I only did half of it. I don't know if thats other people or just me but that how I am.

I recommend to go to teacher only to study the basics and rest comes by itself.

I self taught myself how to play guitar. For alto and tenor sax my friends in band taught me. I really need to get lessons.

true. i got lessons for a few years, but it was to get a foundation for learning the rest on my own. my teacher believed in exploration and self discovery, so after teaching me all the basics and theory, i pretty much went from there

I've been playing guitar for 12 years and got 2 years of lessons at the start. I'd say lessons are super-beneficial because it gives you a basic education that makes learning other instruments that much easier. Learning stuff you don't enjoy helps to make you a more well-rounded musician too.

If just wanna learn one or two ramones songs you probably don't need to pay for lessons.

i self taught myself drums, been playing for a year, and i play about 2 hours a day, ive progressed greatly.

as guitar, not as passionate about, but ive taken lessons for almost 2 years, but i find ive progressed so much more on drums, compared to guitar

i completely agree, i had a year of guitar lessons at the start. self teaching yourself is great but hard just because learning all of the theory you need to know is tough without a teacher. i went back to lessons for another six months to learn some more theory and finger picking techniques. teaching yourself is great but having a teacher makes you progress so much faster.

My pops taught me some of the basics on bass guitar. But after a scale and a couple of songs, it was all on me. I've been playing 14 years.

It's almost been a year since I started taking lessons... I'm much better then when I started but, it feels as if I could have more out of it already..

Thats a good strategy.

I was self-taught for around half a year and I wasn't getting anywhere. I could play but I didn't know anything about really playing and what being a guitarist is. Then I started getting lessons and after a year and a half of lessons was asked if I'd be interested in teaching at a music school. That's all down to my teacher though. His knowledge of theory and his skill are second to none.

maybe you should practice more.

I practice everyday for about 2-3 hours but, I suppose I could get in a few more hours.

I'm a self-taught guitarist and it's REEEAAALLY evident that I've never had a lesson.

Damn, if I practiced that much as long as I've been playing, I would be a master.

Master - 10,000 hours of playing

That's about 2.5-3 hours a day for 10 years.

well it's not just practice, it's how you learn and progress.

i've seen guys who play for a year stomp on dude's who've been playing their entire life

Yeah, but when you've been playing your entire life you find ways to implement the techniques you've learned in more ways then if you've only been playing a year or so.

actually the biggest challenge is overcoming the self-defeatist attitude you present. everyone has to get over the hump of being a beginner. stop thinking you 'can't' do something just because you're still relatively inexperienced or lack the patronizing nod of a 'real' teacher.

sooooo true

Exactly!

I went to classical piano lessons when I was a child, but then grew out of them and started to teach myself more jazzy, contemporary stuff. I then taught myself to play guitar.

There is nothing wrong with being self-taught. So many amazing musicians are self-taught. But I also think sometimes having that extra knowledge of music theory is a big help.

no it totally is, especially when you start to write your own stuff. my cousin is self taught on guitar and finds himself with a lot of restraints when writing music, theory is not necessary but a HUGE help

I took lessons to learn my first instrument, Trombone (ftw), and I taught myself drums and a little piano. I want to learn guitar, but mostly so I can just write for guitar.

I have a guitar and tried to play it self taught, but I've never been able to do much of anything with it.

well look up some guitar lessons on the net, that's how i started. if you're just trying to learn just through straight playing, you won't really get anywhere with it.

also, learn to read tabs. i have a friend who is completely self taught and is realy good. all she did was start learning simple songs she liked on ultimate-guitar.

eh, honestly, while tabs can be easier to learn from sometimes, you shouldn't really depend on it alot when trying to learn a song. you should first try some ear training, cause it'll help with seeing subtle differences in music and being able to tell if you're playing correctly or in tune. hell, even learning how to read sheet music can be more beneficial, because it shows you things like tempo that tabs can't really show and if you're ever in a situation of teaching a song to instruments like piano or trumpet, it allows for better communication in how everything goes.

also, LEARN MUSIC THEORY. like the person above said, it helps you greatly if you want to write songs and with music in general