Comment by gatonegro | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gatonegro | Hacker News Reader

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This got me thinking. When I was young I took some guitar lessons, but the instrument never _clicked_ for me. Now I have a (very basic) Yamaha keyboard, which I thought I would learn to play "at some point". It's been years since I last touched it.

> If you've ever fell in love with a song, or an artist, or totally jammed out to some track in a manner that would be embarrassing had you been observed, or if you constantly walk around with a tune in your head, then yes, learning an instrument is a great idea.

That is very much how I am. I almost feel restless if I'm not listening to music, I wake up with specific songs in my head almost daily; I have a decades-old music collection with all sorts of stuff, from the most commercial pop imaginable to obscure metal bands, or bizarre experimental soundscapes that some people wouldn't even consider "music". Music is one of the constants in my life, and one of the few things that are guaranteed to bring me joy, or peace, or _something_.

> [...] because I'm the kind of person who bounces from hobby to hobby and project to project and rarely finishes anything.

Also sounds like me, 100%. Now I'm wondering if there's an instrument out there that I would be able to stick to. Goodness knows I could use something to keep my brain somewhat in line these days.

Pro guitar teacher here. I recognise some things in what you say that leads me to speculate you might benefit from an accessible wind instrument. The saxophone might be something for you.

Some reasons:

- Wind instruments are fairly physical to play. That can be rewarding/refreshing after a day of playing in the geek world. As an aside, this makes them great for the many people with ADHD/ADD too!

- Most wind instruments are monophonic. The complexity of an accompanying/polyphonic instrument is its own can of worms...

- In many parts of the world, especially the western world, it's relatively easy to find a larger ensemble fairly quickly. The group can be a real anchor point.

Thanks for the comment. I just posted asking about ADHD. What wind instrument(s) do you recommend for ADHD? Would polyphonic instruments pose a problem for someone with ADHD?

The saxophone is supposed to be one of the easier ones to get a musical result out of. It is also fairly physical.

Polyphonic instruments posing a problem with ADHD is not an absolute rule, but I've seen more than a few people, especially at younger age, benefit immensely from a change from piano or guitar to the saxophone specifically.

The reasons could be many. Less reading while still struggling with technicalities, more deterministic fingering, less going on are just a few.

Thanks, I honestly had never considered wind instruments. My only experience with a wind instrument was playing one of those cheap plastic recorders in elementary school.

That bit about them being good with people with ADHD reminded me of a friend I had in university. She had ADHD, and had been playing the saxophone since she was 14 or 15, and said that she found it very relaxing.

I keep coming back to this idea of learning an instrument every year or so, and the last time I thought about it I was considering the violin. I absolutely love the sound of it. But I might have to give this some thought, because apparently I've just been ignoring an entire family of instruments.

You might find drums and percussion instruments to your liking. I had a good friend who likely had ADHD, or something like it, with over-active mind, constantly shifting attention/focus, expressed in his manner of speech and fidgeting (always jumping legs up and down). He was a drummer, and it was very noticeable that when he played drums, his mind could stay focused for hours, and even his fidgeting stopped. It was like his nervous energy would get channelled out of his body into the music.

Seconded, ex-sax player (long story short: lung damage from long ago caused me to have to give it up), the sax is an extremely rewarding instrument. Try a tenor and an alto and figure out which one you like the timbre of best, and stay away from instruments that are too cheap, better a half decent second hand one than a crappy new one. Start off with a #2 reed if you've never played a wind instrument before and figure out if that's good for you or if you want it heavier or lighter.

Don't get discouraged if you run out of wind quickly in the beginning, that will build up fast, and don't overdo it with practice until you've built up some lip strength or you'll end up with claret all over your nice reeds.

Any other recommendations of Wind instruments?

I'm 100% certain that there's an instrument out there for you. Try a few things out, even if they look and sound like toys. Cheap instruments abound but even if you splurge on something expensive, most music instruments keep their value well enough to break even if you decide to sell them in a few years. (As long as you don't buy brand new.)

One thing that _probably_ helped me stick with accordion is finding a role model early on. He's on YouTube and plays the instrument very well and is super friendly and enthusiastic. He never says, "this is the only way to learn X," like a lot of music teachers do. His philosophy is, "I'll show you some techniques that worked for me, give them a try and see if they work for you." I figure I can call myself successful if I'm only ever as half as good as him, in terms of both musical ability and his general outlook on life.

The other thing is, first and foremost, play for fun! Yeah, it's a slog to get through some of the theory and repetition in the beginning but if you get burned out, find something more engaging to do for a while (e.g. mimicking a catchy pop song) and then come back to the theory later, knowing that grokking it will help you play cool stuff later.

There are some musicians on YouTube that I watch regularly, and I remember finding a piano teacher specifically, who had a full playlist of piano lessons for beginners. His style was along the lines of what you describe: nothing strict or super rigid, and he showed a lot of practical examples and applications of the theory to keep things interesting.

> The other thing is, first and foremost, play for fun! Yeah, it's a slog to get through some of the theory and repetition in the beginning [...]

That's what I struggled with when I was attempting to learn. I felt like it required a bigger time investment than I could justify to myself, and with the slow progress I kind of just let it fall to the side. Which is weird, because I usually have no trouble pushing through learning a new skill if it's something I enjoy.

I'll definitely have to give it another shot, since I already have the instrument here. Trying out different instruments to see if one of them clicks also sounds like good advice, so thank you for that!

What are the online resources for accordion that you like? You mentioned an YouTube author. Thanks!

> Now I have a (very basic) Yamaha keyboard, which I thought I would learn to play "at some point". It's been years since I last touched it.

If you have a free moment and you have your keyboard hooked up to the computer use Chrome and give pianojacq.com a try, let me know if I can help somehow.

Unfortunately I don't have a MIDI interface to plug it into the PC, but it's something I had considered buying before. Looks like there are some fairly cheap options available. I'll bookmark the site and see if I can get it done in the very near future. Thanks!

Most synths and keyboards have MIDI over USB nowadays.

Intriguing. I was looking at the user manual just now, and it seems like a USB-MIDI interface would do the trick. I've seen those things sold for $20 or $30 on Amazon. Might be a fun weekend activity to try.

Be careful :) If it sticks you'll lose half your life! But you'll have a lot of fun. Good luck!

As far as ways to lose half of one's life, playing music doesn't sound too bad. Thanks for the advice!

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