Any multi-instrumentalist?

Reuben03

Hey guys, So I want to learn guitar, bass, piano, drums and singing every day except for maybe Saturday and Sunday, I love all these instruments, but they've been sitting in my house unused for a long time.

I am making a schedule to learn all of them, I would say I am a beginner at all of them, but Piano I am best at, I suck at sight-reading though.

Also, People say learn one instrument at a time, but I disagree, I know you should learn one language at a time and I agree with that. But for me, I feel like if I am only learning Bass, I will leave out all of the other instruments unused and looking at all these instruments unused makes me feel bad.

Also if I learned one instrument at a time, I would want to fully master it until I move on to the next one, and since I am a slow learner that will take 10 years or more, so I am not waiting that long. I'M GONNA LEARN ALL OF THEM NOW!!

Also, I feel like if I learn and become good at an instrument that will help with my singing practice because when we learn an instrument, we'll make mistakes, same with our voice because our voice is an instrument.

Also, Is it safe to do a huge warm-up of singing straight away in the morning?

I am planning on practising each instrument including my voice for half an hour to an hour a day, now some piano teachers tell me to practice 4 hours a day! Now that's ridiculous!! I don't care if it's broken up or 4 hours straight, that's stupid!!!

Reuben03

Okay cool, I wrote a schedule, hopefully I don't give up!

Reuben03

Also, I will be posting on the forums every day to get as much help as possible. I had this course for a year I should be finishing volume two by now, oh well, at least I'm not taking shortcuts.

Klaus_T

i like your way of calculating here:
"Also if I learned one instrument at a time, I would want to fully master it until I move on to the next one, and since I am a slow learner that will take 10 years or more, so I am not waiting that long. I'M GONNA LEARN ALL OF THEM NOW!!"

you will obviously only have 1/5 of the focus per isntrument, so "mastering" each instrument will also be delayed. but there are overlaps. music theory, you will need it for all of it, and you only need to learn it once. i would do that with a piano (it is the best instrument for music theory in my opinion), start with music theory there, and piano lessons. you can do "mechanical" and technical exercises on guitar and bass (they are similar) and on drums (paradiddles etc).


don't overdo it or overwhelm yourself. it is a process, it is easy to stress out about lack of progress.

stay focused and it will happen sooner or later

sjonrokz4u

Yeah agree with @Klaus_T dont overwhelm yourself. That’s too many instruments at one time. Pick an instrument and learn theroy on that instrument then stRt exploring other instruments. Otherwise you’ll just tread water and have super slow progress on all of them. Don’t bite off more than you can chew or youll just end up giving up

Reuben03

Thanks, guys, Currently Piano is my main instrument and I am taking Piano lessons.

I agree, 5 instruments is a lot and especially for a beginner.

I am starting to watch Rick Beato's Better pitch series or whatever it is called.

Are 3 instruments too much? Piano, Vocals and Drums.

I want to learn Drums to help with my rhythm and I don't know why but playing the drums energizes me.

maybe, I will learn Guitar and Bass every once in a while for fun.

sjonrokz4u

You do whatever works but any instrument takes time discipline and dedication if you want to get good on it. I could easily see you putting in four or five hours a day for three instruments

bentk

Make sure you can spend quality time on something, and do it consistently. If you practice guitar 1 time every 2 weeks, you won't progress very well. Even if you spend an hour or more on it. Practice a few things consistently, and get good at those. Focusing on one instrument is probably a good idea (for now), especially if you also need to learn the 'musical language' AKA music theory and applying that music theory to playing and/or composing. The great thing with music, is that you learn the language of music with all instruments. I guess with the voice it is easier to avoid the 'language' of music if you wanted.

I said 'a few things' earlier on. I don't mean a few instruments. Take music theory for example: you can put time in sight reading, learning intervals and spelling chords several times per week, and progress well with all 3 of them. With an instrument, you need to adapt to it first, especially if you are completely new to any instrument and/or music. However, i want to clarify that you can work on several aspects of something throughout a week and do that consistently.

I agree that the piano is an amazing starting place and combining that with music theory. Build up some musical skills and learn to play songs and/or sight read on the piano.

Consistent practice is the best practice. It doesn't mean every single day, but every day IS very good. Repetition is your friend. There are many books, teachers, online videos that you can use to do quality practice.

Jcb

Well I'm a beatboxer. I play the flute, the Piano and the Erhu. Did I mention the Kalimba and the toungedrum for relaxion. If I wanna practice the flute tunes on the fly I blow into my cuped hands. And I'm able to produce 3,2 octaves by blowing into a bottle without refilling it. So here is the way I do it. The first thing I do is to find out how to play a scale. And then there are Instrumental Families. If you Played the Cello befor for example (like me) then playing the erhu might not be that complicated. Samething Goes for electric Bass and guitar. The other Secret I used in order to learn so many instruments in this short amount of time are as follows. 1. I choose something to replace the Instrument. For example if you wanna learn Saxophone cut a Straw and Blow into. (Or do it like me and blow into a tube you found in a weird corner in your bath. And use this to learn a New flute embessure that way you get free Vaxination) what also helps is if you don't try to sightread exactly but hum the melody first and apply what you heared on the Instrument. That way you don't have to Focuse on two things simultanlously.

paulnian

I get what you’re saying—juggling multiple instruments is exciting, and I’ve found it helps to mix things up to keep from getting bored. I used to dive into guitar, drums, and piano all at once. It felt great to switch between them, and it really boosted my overall musicality.

For singing, I’d start with a light warm-up in the morning and build up slowly. Jumping into intense practice can strain your voice. And about practice hours—when I was learning, I found that 30-60 minutes a day was plenty. Trying to do four hours a day felt overwhelming and didn’t really help me improve faster.

charlie_v

I have played a range of instruments in my life, including rhythm guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals.

You can get to a basic level of competence with all of these when working on them together. If that's your goal, that's fine. But if you're playing live, you'll still only be able to do one at a time, unless one is vocals!

Whilst I've sung my whole life, I've never had singing lessons before. What I'm discovering with KTVA is that a whole vista of knowledge and skills need to be developed. This will take time. 1-2 years may provide some competence, (much more than can be achieved working on 5 instruments at the same time), but I can already see there's YEARS of work to become really good.

So it depends what your goal is. If you want to muck around on lots of instruments, go for it! Nothing wrong with that. But if you choose the one you love, you'll feel a passion grow, which draws you further and further in. I find I'm itching to rehearse my singing every day now: never had that before!

If those instruments hanging around is causing you distress, sell them! :-)

It'd be really interesting to hear from you again in 6 months, if you've worked on your singing every day during that time. I'm reckoning you'll have developed a passion you didn't expect!

paulnian

I totally get why you'd want to dive into all those instruments at once—it's exciting to learn different skills! That said, you might want to keep your practice sessions shorter at first, like 30-45 minutes each, so you don’t burn out too quickly. I tried juggling multiple things at once when I was learning guitar and piano, and it worked out as long as I didn’t overwhelm myself. As for singing, I wouldn't jump into a heavy warm-up first thing in the morning; start with some light stretches and scales, then gradually work your way up to more intense stuff. It’s all about finding that balance and listening to your body.