Any self-taught musicians?

Any self-taught musicians out there? If so, what instrument(s)?

I learned to play the "song flute" (recorder) back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I finally caught on to reading music, just before the end of the academic year, at which time I could have kept my recorder for the affordable price of $1, but my mother wouldn't agree. Then, in junior high, I wanted to join the school orchestra, but we couldn't afford to rent an instrument, so instead of learning to play the cello, I learned viola, as it was the only available loaner.

Since then, I have begun teaching (or re-teaching) myself acoustic guitar, recorder, tin whistle, and viola, and have plans for ukelele and flute, and anything else I can get my hands on. I kept every music book my kids ever had, and pick them up at second hand stores whenever possible. I am building my collection of newer songbooks, slowly but surely, but a (hopefully) temporary financial hiccup has put that plan on the back burner. I prefer the PVG (piano/vocal/guitar) as they are multi-purpose. So far, I have two Beatles, one Jack Johnson, one Queen, and one Green Day. Since I started out learning the notes, rather than chords, I have discovered that a good portion of the charm of a hit song lies with the artist's ability to elaborate on the written music...I know--news flash!

I always encouraged my kids musically; I bought them each a radio, etc, as soon as I thought they were responsible enough. My oldest daughter played flute for a year, then switched to choir for the remainder of middle school. My son played trumpet all through middle school, and was even in jazz band for two years. At the end of MS, he and all his closest friends dropped out of band and started their own (he plays bass guitar). (They were very good, but since they were into punk music, they seemed to play everything at the same tempo--fast!) My youngest daughter was in choir in elementary school, played flute for two years in MS, and played viola in the community preparatory strings program for three years. Needless to say, all of my children are music aficionados...at least I did THAT right

unk:

 

Ummm, Yeah, sort of.

I play guitar. Totally self taught, but don't read music, I write my own. So not sure if that fits your qualifications. I have also built guitars/amps/effects. Still dabble with recording, arthritis keeps me from doing as much as I would like. I did attend a guitar building school back in 1985 and was hired as their main electric instructor as soon as I graduated. Let's just say I have a unique and gifted perspective of the instrument...

 

I self taught myself for like 2 years on guitar and then took unofficial and official lessons after that, and then gave guitar lessons for awhile. I'm back to self teaching myself now.

 

yarp

 

well i play guitar, bass, write my own stuff ... and i know music theory, at least enough to write my stuff ... and i never had a music teacher ... the closest to that i had was learning a few tips from a friend

 

I taught myself guitar and harmonica and a little bit of mandolin and I'm teaching myself the violin. Although that is proving to be difficult.

I'm really not very good at anything but I do understand music theory better than some really talented musician friends..which really only proves learning music theory doesn't mean shit lol.

I can read music but very slowly. I have to translate it like a foreign language, I can't sight read

 

Self taught here on the bass and 6 string guitar. I started playing bass because I'm a shitty guitar player.

 

I think it sort of balances out, like I've known some people I think had better skill on the guitar than me but didn't know much theory and so they were limited in what they played and difficult to jam with too.

 

Yeah, I play guitar. Can't read music, but that's what tab is for. I've written five songs of my own. The list of songs I've learned to play from tablature are as follows:

Dust in the Wind
Blackbird
Behind Blue Eyes
I'd Love to Change the World
From the beginning
Stairway to Heaven
Fire and Rain
The Needle and the Damage Done
And some obscure songs no one would recognize.

 

Frank Zappa was completely self taught according to his biography and his son. My brother showed me the 7 major cords on the guitar and I went on from there, but I know harmony and analyses pretty tight. I can improvise all night long, sit in with a band I've never seen or played with before and I can read music and charts. It depends on how deep you want to go, you don't need a music teacher to learn theory. Hell I learned almost everything I know from Guitar Player magazine.

 

Wow, ZM--I'll have to check out that magazine!

 

Hopefully this was sarcasm...

 

I started out playing violin in school then I tough myself guitar I'm good with strumming and rhythms but other than that I suck on guitar. Now I am teaching myself to play the bass and drums.

 

http://www.guitarplayer.com



Good luck m8

 

I guess I'm kinda constantly engaged in teaching myself the keys, guitar, ukulele and harmonica and that has been the case for several years. I'm also in love with several different types of hand drums, someday I'd like to get a guitar teacher to take me to the next level, then go off on my own tangent again.

 

Self taught guitar and trumpet. Just bought a small keyboard so I'm trying to learn that. Saving up for an electronic drum set or a djembe.

 

I know what you mean about being in love with hand drums, Brudof...if they weren't so freakin' expensive, I'd have some of those, too :drummer:

 

not really. I think it depends on the person and how one's brain works. Learning a little bit of theory helped me understand music better, and obviously if someone really delves into theory they're going to have a great understanding of music. However, I have a friend that can pick up any instrument and figure out how to play it in 5 minutes and write 5 beautiful songs on it by the end of the night, yet he's never studied music theory.

 

I'm self taught on all these instruments...
http://www.ourstage.com/profile/rjhangover/songs

Self taught recording too.

 

Jesus is an epic song