Fil-Am Vets Rondalla
Do I need lessons in order to play an instrument and write music?
Hey, I’ve been playing bass for about 3 years now.
In terms of knowing scales or other things that are learned from taking lessons I don’t anything about them.
But are they necessary to be in a band or write music?
How much does a person need to know?
Do I have to know how to read music?
Are there any famous musicians who never learned how to "play" their instrument?
Not necessarily. But, being able to read music will come in handy, believe me. Even though I had piano lessons for three months and bailed out because my teacher forbid me of spending my time on writing my own music, I had learned before her. Having a chorus class helped me understand music theory, therefore helping me be able to read music on my own. You can create anything with an instrument without being able to read music, but in the future you might need that skill. If you want to play a song that you haven’t played in awhile and have forgotten, you can go by the music. If you are in a band, (not saying this can’t be done without the sheet music) but if the parts were written out, it would be easier to keep track of your own part and your transitions. It can be done without it, it’s just more concrete and accurate with it.
12 Responses to “Do I need lessons in order to play an instrument and write music?”
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December 15th, 2009
Posted by admin in how to play instrument | 12 Comments »
You need to know how to play!.. I know a few guitarist who can’t read music and plat by ear….and they are insane on the guitar..It’s amazing. Being able to read music will be helpful though
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You can learn pretty much everything in music on your own, but it’s a lot faster and easier to have an instructor, whether it’s a legit teacher or just a friend who knows a lot about how to help you out with it.
If you’re going to write music, knowing theory helps a lot, otherwise you’ll be trying to do it intuitively which can take a lot longer to come up with something that sounds like you want it.
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bass player 10 years
well it depends on wat u wanna do. like if u wanted to b in a band where the other ppl write the music for u then yes u would need to kno how to read music but if u were in a band where U wrote the music then its differentcuz u kno wat the song should sound like in ur head and its always good to kno a few chords and things like tht but u dont really need to kno a lot
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No. it isnt necessary to have lessons in order to write music, a simple ability to read and write tab is enough to write music, if you dont know scales and things it doesnt matter most songs stay in one scale so just find on online you like and use the chords from it to create patterns and riffs, its pretty simple and just aslong as it sounds right it doesnt matter what you knew in order to get there. hope i helped:)
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personal experiance
i dont think you have to learn cus i learn to play the piano all by myself..i bet u can do it too!!
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Neither Jimi Hendrix nor Lindsey Buckingham could / can read music, and both were / are self-taught guitarists.
Many professional musicians can neither read nor write music and even for session musicians it isn’t always a requirement, but it depends on what they will be playing.
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In my opinion if you should play an instrument you should be able to read the music. Im guessing to be in a band you should at least know how to read the music. A person should know at least the basics of playing an instrument. I don’t think theres’ a famous musician who never learned how to play their instrument or how would they have become famous then. The musician should be known for how well he or she plays it.
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Not necessarily. But, being able to read music will come in handy, believe me. Even though I had piano lessons for three months and bailed out because my teacher forbid me of spending my time on writing my own music, I had learned before her. Having a chorus class helped me understand music theory, therefore helping me be able to read music on my own. You can create anything with an instrument without being able to read music, but in the future you might need that skill. If you want to play a song that you haven’t played in awhile and have forgotten, you can go by the music. If you are in a band, (not saying this can’t be done without the sheet music) but if the parts were written out, it would be easier to keep track of your own part and your transitions. It can be done without it, it’s just more concrete and accurate with it.
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I’m a Guitarist and a writer so I’ll tackle this one ;D, I’ve never taken a single guitar lesson or a single theory lesson. I just practice and play daily and it will come, I will say it would probaly be easier if you had a teacher but its possible to NEVER speak to one. I can play Guitar scales or chords without it and write songs as well. I recommend you at the very least google some scales,theory though, It really does help you understand it all better. Knowing theory doesn’t mean you have to make music like a math problem but it helps you understand things much better and when you run into problems you can fix them yourself.
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Yes. and you have to be like a profesional too know all those words that have to do with music. music is complicated so if you’ve played an instrument for more than two years you might still not be able to. plus, you have to know all these words like arpeggios, staccato, Coda, crescendo, dynamics, legato, and all of that. I’ve played the violin and the piano for over two years and might still write music terrible. i dont even know what arpeggio is.
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oh heck no I’m a self-taught bassist and i am very good at what i do (not to sound like an ass) but really if u teach yourself the right stuff you will be fine.
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I guess not, but It’ll be a lot easier if you want to play chords and progress with them
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