Hello,
I’m a 45-year-old adult with absolutelly no musical training, I have big hands, and I can’t even sing on key. I would like to learn how to play an instrument. Is this a realistic goal? What instrument should I choose? I wrote to three difforent musicians and got three answers: “Mr Harmonica” says I should get a chromatic harmonica, “Erik the Flutemaker” says I need a bamboo flute, and someone from a recorder store says I should get a recorder. I know that this forum will give more unbiased advice.
Is penny whistle the best choice? What other instuments should I look at? Can someone recommend an instuction book or song book that doesn’t require me to read music? I may learn that eventually, but I want to start off learning the instrument.
Here are my criteria for choosing an instument:
Easy to learn
Suitable for a variaty of music, including classical
Cheep to start out on, but has room to grow if I actually do learn how to play the thing
What do you think? Also, about how long will it take for me to progress to the “intermediate” stage?
Well, the whistle would seem to meet most of your criteria, except, perhaps, for classical music (some have done it, but it’s not as well suited for that as is its cousin the…er…recorder). It is very easy to get the basics of. If you’re really unsure of your ear (you mentioned having trouble singing on key), you might want to learn music reading along with learning the instrument…at least until you gain confidence in matching the sounds you produce with the sounds you hear (I doubt you’re actually tone deaf…few people really are…but you may need some basic ear training). Lots of people learn to play by ear, but if you’re not confident in your ear, that may not be the best option for you to start with. A good book that teaches both playing and music reading simultaneously is the Bill Ochs tutor…I think it’s just called “The Clarke Tin Whistle” or “Learning the Clarke Tin Whistle” (it can be used with any D whistle, however).
Whistle is a good place to start. I’ts easier to play
for a beginner that most instruments, certainly
more so than flute and probably harmonica.
It has limitations, because it’s hard to reach sharps
and flats which you might need to really
play classical or jazz, but it’s fine for a great
deal of lovely music which you would
need to play anyhow before progressing
to difficult stuff. Also it’s pretty inexpensive
and very hard to break or wear out.
As to rate of progress, the name of the game
is this: if you enjoy playing and practicing,
then you will improve. If not, then you might
as well do something else with your time.
But if it’s for you, in a couple of months
you can play nice things. You might do some
searches on books, etc. and others
will chime in. Best
But if you have absolutely no experience, you might want to actually think about piano lessons for a while.
Piano will give you basic music fundamentals and will make moving on to ANY other instrument many times easier. Piano is widely viewed as the “universal” musical instrument, and just about anything can be played on it.
There are people 45, 50, 60, and over who take piano lessons all the time. It’s not just for little kids.
While I’m a major proponent of taking piano, unless you have an instrument to practice on, lessons are an exercise in futility. I know…I took piano for years as a kid (it’s how I learned to read music), but my parents couldn’t afford an instrument, so I had to practice by catching practice time when I could at my grandparents’ or at the home of a friend. Used pianos in playable condition cost thousands of dollars (and even electric pianos ain’t exactly cheap). Whistle will give basic music fundamentals too, and is one heck of a lot more affordable.
Yeah, if you don’t own a piano forget it. But if you have one, or if you want to invest in one, I’d say piano is a fine way to go. It’s always in tune (and if it’s not it’s not your fault). But it takes a long time to get good enough to play classical music on it. If you want to play popular piano, that is easier. There are methods where all you have to do is learn the right hand (not much harder than learning recorder) and then memorize the chords for the left hand. If you learn the major and minor chords you can play a lot of stuff. Add the sevenths and diminished etc and soon you can play any popular song from a songbook that has guitar chords. It’s kind of a cheating method but it’s not really and it sounds good and it’s not that hard.
You can get an electronic keyboard with piano size keys for a few hundred.
If you don’t want to do piano, recorder is the better bet if you want to play classical. Spend the money for a nicer one right off so it sounds good and plays easily.
If you want to learn the easiest (in terms of learning the notes and fingerings–not in terms of getting good) instrument the fastest, try the whistle. You can always learn recorder next if you decide you want to be able to play more stuff.
Thanks for the quick replies. I’m very grateful. I hope my origional post didn’t sound like I was critisizing those musicians who recommended their favorite instuments. I’m grateful for thier advice, but I posted here as well because I wanted to cover all my bases before committing to an instrument.
I’m in a small town, but will be in the city this week and plan to visit the music store. I’m probably going to get a whistle, but haven’t ruled out harmonica. Piano is out of the question because of the money and because it won’t fit in my little cabin.
I think you’re on the right track, Dwight. Get a whistle and a harmonica. For whistle, a Sweetone might be the best price to quality ratio. Get one from Jerry Freeman if you want to guarantee a good instrument.
If your local store has Acorns or Little Black whistles, I’d stay away from them. I haven’t had good luck with them. Oaks and Generations are a better choice. Look up the tweaking pages on the main website. Sweetone is good too. Getting one from Jerry is a good idea.
Dwight, I had your same problem when 46. So you get a head start.
Answer is: whistle.
Growing to intermediate stage? a few months.
Now, which type, standard or low whistle?
I say LOW:
Normally, you should have reached the age where close-up vision starts failing you. Hence, with a low whistle, so you can focus when you squint to check that nasty squeek came from your ring finger. (Seriously: no, never look at your fingers, or just for a photo–makes a nice avatar here)
Also, very soon, you ears will be impaired too, so you won’t be able to hear the high tones of regular pennywhistles. They can be quite high: I know because the dog reacts. (Seriously: bs. I have no dog. My cat flees through the window, is all. Thus I know I reached high C.)
The earlier you fight arthritis, the better. If you thought you were ok, low whistles reveal the opposite.
Whistles also postpone prostatic disorders. They keep you young
You might also want to check out the Native American flute. I’ve met many people with no musical training at all that can get quite good in a fairly short period of time (of course it’s relative). It’s very easy to learn.
It can be used for a variety of music, and although it can be done, it doesn’t lend itself well to western classical music.
As far as cost is concerned, you’ll probably end up starting out by spending from $50 to $100 (US) initially to start out with a flute (there are some plastic ones around $30-60 and an instruction book (I’d recommend “Flute Magic - An Introduction to the Native American Flute” by Tim R. Crawford with Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl.)
Don’t rule out the piano. The electronic keyboards are relatively inexpensive and you don’t need a huge space (you don’t even need the whole 88 keys). They will play any kind of music from folk to classical and back. You can find a teacher very easily. And as Cran said, it will give you the best basis for learning music.
Harmonicas are cheap, easy to play and portable. And for the additional cost of getting a chromatic one, it isn’t really a huge expense.
Whistles are where I want to be, though. I love the sound, I love the simplicity, portability and variety. Though I’ve heard a guy play the William Tell Overture on a whistle, I really wouldn’t consider it (or the harmonica) a great choice for classical music.
Now the question about ‘intermediate’ requires some thought. What do you mean by it? I’ve had music lessons as a child, and played one instrument or another since I was 8 (piano, guitar, recorder, hammered and mountain dulcimer, whistle, harmonica … and a few others) but never really concentrated on any of them other than dulcimer and whistle.
I’ve been whistling for four years, and consider myself to be a rather advanced beginner or maybe…just maybe intermediate. This is what I mean by ‘intermediate’. I know a few dozen tunes, but only a few of them well enough to keep up with others. I have a rudimentary grasp of embellishment, and I’m not afraid to play the high notes. With practice I can make a tune sound like I want it to, but I can’t do that automatically with a new tune. I can sight read, but not play with any level of confidence by ear. I have a better sense of solid rhythm than most people, which I consider to be my only advanced skill.
Hope that we could answer some of your questions. If you decide to go with a whistle please stick around and become a regular! In fact, even if you DON’T go with a whistle, stick around and become a regular!
Go for the whistle! I started at age 58 about two years ago. Can’t sing for didly or dance for that matter. Got big hands too.
Haven’t had so much fun learning something new in - I can’t remember when.
I’ve been playing for two years and don’t consider myself an intermediate player - just a pretty good novice who can piss off his cat anytime he wants to. Seriously, there are musicians on this board who play better than I ever will but most will also tell you that you can spend the rest of your life with the whistle and continue to get better and better.
-If versatility is primary, I think recorder beats whistle for a beginning player-better IMHO for classical music than the whistle and
can play Irish-style music as well. You can always take up the whistle later
with skills learned on the recorder. OTOH, the recorder lacks the whistle scale, tone and response so treasured by chiffers.
-I’m not much qualified to comment on choice of recorders, but I agree with the choice of a soprano Sweetone for an inexpensive first whistle. They can be played well indeed, and should be in every whistler’s quiver.
I just got back from the big, bad city. This is what I learned:
Music store people aren’t as helpful as Internet people
Instruction books assume that the victim knows how to read music
Keyboards are on sale
My mother misses the family piano that she gave to my sister a while back
SO— I bought a keyboard. I will use it to learn music. Then, I will put it back in the box and give it to my mom for her birthday. (I’ll have to learn fast.) In the unlikely event that I become a keyboard virtuoso, I could keep the keyboard and buy another for my mom. Maybe I should get a third one for the lobby at work? (Maybe not, I work in a children’s dental office.)
Right now, the low whistle seems to be the most appealing. It’s low-tech, cheap, and portable. I don’t know if this little detour will be helpful, but at least I will know how to read music when I start the whistle.
BTW- It is possible to play wonderful classical music on the chromatic harmonca. Listen at www.MrHarmonica.Com
This instrument is very easy to learn because it has only 1 melody string. The other 2 are drones. You can strum it like a guitar or bow it like a violin. The melody can be played with a sliding stick, like a steel guitar, or you can slide your finger up and down the frets. It’s not as cheap as a whistle, but it is much more versitile(and Quiet!)
