Learning new instruments

I’ve been learning flute, clarinet, and violin for about a year now and it’s been going fairly well. I definitely don’t sound great on all of them, but I can play a few songs on each and they sound okay.

That might sound difficult to do, but remember that they aren’t my first instruments and that I’m an adult.

When learning an instrument for the first time you’re working on a number of different skills. Some are related to the instrument itself and some are related to music in general.

You have to learn the technique of that instrument. In learning that technique you’re probably also working on finger dexterity and finger mobility. If you’re learning an instrument as a child that finger dexterity and mobility is just developing. As an adult you’ll likely have more developed finger mobility and finger dexterity. Also remember that finger mobility and dexterity isn’t specific to one instrument. All of the instruments above require learning finger mobility and dexterity.

You have to learn how to play certain notes. That might be learning fingerings on some instruments. That might be learning where to put your fingers on a string. But in learning where to play specific notes you’re also working on what those notes sound like, which is ear training, and you’re working on reading sheet music, if you’re working on reading sheet music. You’re learning about notes and note names and what notes are often grouped together and played in a specific order. Those second two things, ear training and reading music, aren’t specific to one instrument. Those skills are involved in learning all of the above instruments as well.

When learning a new instrument remember that you aren’t starting from scratch every time. If you already play an instrument chances are you’ve already started working on some of these skills that are universal to playing music in general.

Use that knowledge to help you learn the instrument.

Use your ear training knowledge to help you. Use your knowledge of music reading and scales and chords to help you.

Use whatever prior knowledge you have because it can greatly lessen the amount of time it takes to learn an instrument.

For example when I first started learning clarinet I learned the first five notes of a major scale and could already play a few songs with that because I knew what songs used the first five notes of a major scale for their melodies. It wasn’t from scratch at all because I just needed to learn the playing technique and the fingerings. The ear training and theory knowledge was knowledge that I already had and I could use to expedite the learning process. I’d started learning flute a little bit before that so I could use some knowledge of flute fingerings to guess at fingerings on clarinet. They aren’t the same instrument, but the fingerings are often very similar.

Whatever you’re learning, use your prior knowledge to help. It can help much more than you realize.

ISJ