/ot/ - off-topic

>>1686994
I’m an amateur pianist trying to get back into a practice routine when I work full time. I’ve been working on Hanon’s exercises to get better at dexterity and finger control. I’m also trying to learn all the keys in major and minor. I am ashamed I only ever learned them in major, so music in minor confused me. The most frustrating part so far is knowing I don’t have much time to dedicate to music between my job and my other hobbies, but I am working on pieces by female composers which gives me motivation to practice.

nice thread. Lately I've been looking for an acoustic guitar for traditional practice and all neo acoustics have the skinniest puniest arms in existence, they're pathetic and I hate them. Also everyone now days only buy brand instruments like yamaha or some shit, the prices are insane for someone who isn't going play for life even as a hobby.

>>1687020
> Also everyone now days only buy brand instruments like yamaha or some shit, the prices are insane for someone who isn't going play for life even as a hobby.

Some stores sell extremely cheap guitars, like Five Below in the USA sells guitar for $20. Could be good for a total beginner. But I would be afraid of having to retune it so often. It is suspiciously cheap. Yeah I know what you mean, I wanted to learn guitar but the prices are intimidatingly high.

>>1687022
I know!! if you want an affordable one you'll have to go to the toys section of walmart. I was able to find a 75$ one on amazon, a little above my 60$ budget, but I was so done with going store to store looking for a cheap one.

>>1687022
I had a really junky Yamaha that I had bought from a garage sale and I got the most practice out of it for several years, I just participated in forums about mixing and trying to amplify the usefulness of more aged instruments. I think secondhand instruments especially more playful types of electronic keyboards are more satisfying to practice with as opposed to splurging on something new and "high-tech" that you really don't need much ingenuity for and is unnecessary until you're certain you need it. I think the most knowledge i ever got was from experimentation with amps, pedals, and synths that I had no idea what to do with until I spent hours playing with them on the floor. I haven't touched a keyboard in a few years but it's very versatile and there are so many options that have been lovingly sperged about in depth online.

I really want to learn an instrument. My first choice would be the drums which I really love but there is no way I can afford the eletronic drums right now and the acoustic drums are out of question.
So I wonder how hard is the guitar if I intend to learn it by myself? Where should I start? Every teacher online seem to have their classes like they were tailored for people with some music background, feels very overwhelming when I have no experience at all and they're just throwing terms I have never heard before.
Also, I keep hearing how I should get an acoustic guitar before an electric one, does it really matter or it's bullshit?

>>1687047
cool af, which forums did you frequent nonners?

>>1687048
If you're mechanical and especially intimidating by reading music, drums are a good idea. You definitely need to 'borrow' some time with a set to figure out if it's a leap you want to make though. I wouldnt choose a different instrument out of price alone if you're truly more attracted or better suited to another one. Before you select something like guitar though, trying to learn the fundamentals of notes at the very least will help a lot, chords aren't hard for the most part though. Some people are more musically inclined than others, if I remember correctly Thom Yorke never bothered learning to read music and was able to identify by sound

>>1687048
on acoustic vs electric, in my opinion, it depends on what you want to get out of it. Acoustic guitar (the classic ones) help with muscle and finger strengthening and elasticity a lot more than electric ones because is easier to create sound on an electric guitar. So for great fundamentals go for acoustic, for fun go for electric.

>>1687063
I started out electric in spite of being urged by several music purists that I need to build technique from acoustic and I never regret it. Acoustic can make beautiful sound but music for me was not classical at all so using pedals and amps was more than half the magic and enjoyment. I never liked the feeling of acoustic. I definitely could see more patient people who like clean sounds preferring acoustic though. You definitely only need an acoustic if you have a beautiful voice, for example.

I will be starting singing in a choir next week. I’m tired of only consuming art and never producing anything. Wish me luck nonnies! My singing is horrible, hopefully they don’t kick me out and I can learn

Do other nonnies have like… vocal dysmorphia? What the hell do I sound like? I've always been told that I have a really great voice, but I feel ashamed of singing and my body refuses to project because I have always been quiet or hidden my voice. I feel like I sound wildly different on so many mics (singing or talking) and it freaks me out.

>>1687098
This happens to everybody.

>>1687088
good luck nonny! keep us posted on your progress.

Nonna who magically found a free violin, hope you'll be here. Thanks for the thread, op!

>>1687124
omg true! free violin nonna, if you're out there, we are rotting for you.

>>1687126
>we are rotting for you
KEK Yes, we are!

>>1687098
Yes, even though I’ve been told I have a good singing voice, it actually freaks me out to hear my voice recorded, even when it sounds good. It’s something you get used to though. One thing that helped me get over it was recording a lot of harmonies myself, layering them in Reaper or Audacity. You’re forced to pay attention to the other voice to harmonize well, but you’re not worried about how you sound. And the end result is a pretty harmony. The more you record and mix your projects, the more your voice will come to seem like just another instrument. And you’ll even be able to actually like yourself. Sometimes I listen to my recordings and I think “yeah, I killed it there.” I never would have thought that when I was starting out. Keep at it and keep recording!

Kinda retarded excuse, but I have delayed practicing music because of my small hands. I used to be decent at piano and my teacher didn't want to continue with me because I couldn't reach a full octave on one hand. I've tried guitar and bass but I'm struggling still.

>>1687821
Not a bad excuse at all, pianos are made so big that even a quarter of men don't have the "ideal" hand size for it:

> For instance, it takes into account that the majority of men and women have hand span sizes smaller than 8.5", the hand span that is conceived as the "ideal" average for our contemporary day piano. This percentage was around 80% and 25% respectively for women and men, which makes 8.5" not a convincing size in terms of an argument for how our contemporary pianos are constructed.

If you don't want to play recital piano, I think there are still a lot of cool things you can play, it depends on your genre. For other instruments, I know with guitar there's such a thing as "parlor guitar" where the body is smaller and the fretboard is narrower. Dolly Parton plays one iirc. Ukulele is of course a classic for small hands, and there are even bass ukes if you want to try one out.

>>1687048
aw nonna I wish I could teach you. I have a career in music and guitar has been sort of my primary instrument. In my view, the easiest way to learn was on a really cheap strat dupe and a tiny amp, you can get all that secondhand for $100 (I know I never spent more than that, I had no money). Even though I had learnt music theory it was basically no use when I started playing, everything I learnt was applied to the piano. I just started playing songs I liked.
I'd just advise you only seek teachers or online lessons when you run into a hurdle. It's easy to be really uncomfortable in front of a teacher, I never liked it, and to this day when something's really in my way I'll look for a lesson on YouTube or ask a musician friend.
I started learning by looking for songs I like that didn't have too many chords, or no overcomplicated riffs, and I'd learn and play along with tabs and chord charts. It took me 7 years to be interested in looking at sheet music (getting into classical fingerstyle) so don't worry about knowing how to read music right away.
I almost only play on acoustic because of the genres I record in nowadays, but I was in garage, jazz, funk and heavy bands, where a ton of things were easier to reach and play on the electric's neck. Learning basic chord positions and how to switch between them is gonna feel a lot easier (and make the hand stretching less painful as you get used to it) on an electric. Just don't get a thick-necked Les Paul or anything like that, faux Strats or Teles are fine. Like the other anon said though, the second you switch to acoustic, you're definitely gonna feel it's tougher, so whichever way you like. I preferred to ease myself into tougher guitars progressively rather than start with them straight away but it wholly depends on how you learn best.
I remember I started playing drums a few months before guitar. If you ever come back to it, I think it's really the sort of instrument where having an in-person teacher (face to face with 2 drum kits being really helpful imo) is the best approach, it's way too physical to be explained without someone correcting your posture or gestures on the spot. With guitar, you'll usually identify your issues as they pop up and quickly get good at problem-solving and self-teaching, because it gives you a lot of leeway in terms of how you do things. There's never a right or wrong way with any instrument, but there are a thousand more things with the drums I needed someone to point out for me than I was able to notice myself with the guitar.
Hope you have fun learning music!

>>1687821
You can do it, you'll find something adapted to your hand size. I have small stubby hands and still can't do full barre chords on most acoustics, but the second I touched a Carvin, it took barely any effort to perfectly reach anything I wanted.

I always dreamed of becoming a professional musician.
When I was 11 I went to a "high school" (not murican) specializing in music and already played the piano in front of an audience a couple years later. I was so passionate about it, I practicied ridiculous hours every single day, thinking I'm gonna be the 2nd Lang Lang kek
But when I was around 16 I discovered japanese rock and from that day on I completely forgot about piano and studying for school and only wanted to become a guitarist. My grandpa who was in a band when he was young gifted me his 50yo accoustic guitar but I wanted the same electric one as my fav musician. After school I even worked a shitty job on a field to be able to afford it. But I somehow never bought one. Now it's 10 years later and I feel full of regrets. I could have been so good at this age, maybe even my dream of being in a band could have become true?

Playing an instrument as an adult and just praciticing by and for yourself just doesn't feel the same when you grew up with everybody constantly kissing your ass for your talent. I can't even touch my old piano without becoming sad.
How do you motivate yourself, nonnies? Does anybody else also want to play in front of people instead of just as a small hobby?


>>1687821
About your tiny hands issue: that's not just a shitty excuse, I'm super tall with gigantic man hands and always had a much easier time than my shorter female classmates. But imo other instruments like most wind instruments or maybe even violin might even be better suited for the average female body?

>>1687821
There are still some songs you can play and feel free to ‘cheat’/ accommodate to your hand size.

>>1687821
I really hate the whole thing about small hands.
I remember when I was a kid and my piano teacher was like “your hands are too small! You definitely can’t play professionally” and what happened to child me? I got extremely unmotivated and stopped giving a fuck about music instruments because “hurr durr yur hands are not the size of construction shovels!!”

almost 2 months since the start of my last period and all tests have been negative this is so fucking fun(wrong thread)

>>1687048
If you really love the drums, you should go for them. You can get these foam practice pads to use at home and use your teacher's drum set for now. Don't worry about not having a music background either. The nice thing about learning contemporary music is that you don't really need much theory. Almost anybody can learn the music theory needed to play in a day or two and a good teacher will be fine with helping you through it.

If you want to pick up guitar, just start with the type that work best for the music you like.

>>1687022
>>1687024
I'd really recommend going for a more expensive guitar even as a beginner, like in the $200-300 range new, $100ish used. Unfortunately, your odds of getting an acceptable quality instrument are really low below that price point (it'll be hard to keep it in tune, it might have a weird tone quality, and could even hurt your hands, since shitty factories don't bother to file down frets). If you pay a little more at the outset you'll have something that is easier and more fun to play, plus you'll be able to make most of your money back if you decide to get rid of it.

>>1689379
Try playing Rocksmith. It's not the same as actual lessons or more focused practice, but it's a lot more motivating. Once you get past the initial hump, you can start playing with other people and live your dream. 26 is a really normal age to pick up new hobbies so don't worry.

>>1687821
Just adjust your technique and be patient. Your hands will stretch more easily with practice and you can often come up with easier fingerings than the way a piece was originally played. I play bass semi professionally and I have tiny baby hands but it's never been an issue.

I need help. I really want to start posting covers of my favorite songs to YouTube as a way to get in the habit, but perfectionism is killing me. I keep thinking I need to make a full production, which would take a long time to do drums, guitar, and piano. The shorter way is to do piano and voice, but even then I get worried my piano accompaniment won’t be good enough, or I’ll blow it somehow.

I want to do this to have fun and get used to the feeling of putting out music without taking it so seriously. What’s a good way to get used to putting simple music out there quickly without obsessing over complexity, production, and numbers?

>>1691813
I guess it's just practice. I don't know if you have open mics around your area but it's a great way to get used to performing live before you start focusing on production. Most of the musicians I know don't bother producing their own stuff or outsource it to studios.