Hey,
I am writing a paper at the university where I talk about pros and cons considering learning music in an autodidactic way, and the methods in which it is done. In that regard, I was hoping someone on here would be kind and answer a few questions which I can use in the research paper.
Thank you very much!

Age:
Country:
What instruments do you play (singing counts)?
How long have you been playing?
What inspired you to pick up the instrument?
How did you learn the instrument?
Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why?

Once again, thank you

Age: 28

Country: USA

What instruments do you play (singing counts)? Guitar only

How long have you been playing? Owned 15 years. Serious playing the last 5.

What inspired you to pick up the instrument? My dad, he can't play but he always had one when he was younger so he decided to see if I would enjoy it so I had something other than video games.

How did you learn the instrument? Started with a teacher for about 2 years, self-taught after that.

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why? I would have stuck with a teacher but tried to find one who played the same music I enjoyed. I think thats a big reason why I gave it up for 10 years.

Age: 20

Country: USA... or Canada. Whichever you would rather label me as.

What Instruments do you play? Well, guitar, Mandolin, I can Scream, and I can sing.

How long have you been playing? Guitar-6 1/2 years, Mandolin- I have had it for a year, but it was at my grandfather's house. I just got it back two weeks ago, so let us say... One Month. I have been singing for 3 or 4 years(I was in a choir in high school). I have been screaming for two.

What inspired you to pick up the instrument?
Guitar: A friend had one. I grew up wanting to play violin, but a guitar was more affordable when I really decided to play, so I got that instead( I have a violin as well, but I concentrate on guitar too much to pick up my other instruments!).
Mandolin: My father likes them a lot. He got it for me last Christmas. 30 minutes later I came out of my room at my grandfather's with the Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin mastered. Best mandolin song that isn't Celtic.
Vocals: Opeth. That and Cradle of Filth. I think Dani Filth has the craziest highs ever.

How did you learn the instrument?
Guitar: I taught myself from books, cd's, dvd's internet, etc. Every available source that has some wealth of information is where I learn from.
Mandolin: Ear. I have a book on basic Mandolin music, and Mandolin chords, but I don't really utilize them(I only pick it up about once a week for an hour or so).
Vocals: I was taught in high school to sing. Screaming came from The Zen of Screaming DVD Series. I learned how to do it without damaging vocal chords.

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why?

I don't know how I feel about this one. I would have for maybe the first year or two, but after that, I would have stopped taking lessons to teach myself. The reason why is because it would have allowed me to perfect a few techniques and learn properly the first time around, as opposed to having to re-learn all the things I did wrong.

[quote name='Sollesnes' date='Dec 12 2011, 01:05 PM' post='557601']
Hey,
I am writing a paper at the university where I talk about pros and cons considering learning music in an autodidactic way, and the methods in which it is done. In that regard, I was hoping someone on here would be kind and answer a few questions which I can use in the research paper.
Thank you very much!

Age: 28
Country: Colombia
What instruments do you play (singing counts)?
Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Vocals

How long have you been playing?
15 years

What inspired you to pick up the instrument?
A videoclip from Guns n Roses

How did you learn the instrument?
The basics from a private teacher, then through imitation from videos, and after a couple years from instructional videos from advanced guitarists such as Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci.

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why?
I would've contacted a master in the instrument and try to make a program with him\her to follow a logic step by step process but at the same I would've kept the habit of learning pieces of music by ear. It would've been much faster in this way I think.

Oh goody, I love surveys. I hope I provided good information. If you need more elaboration, please let me know. Good luck with the paper! -Brandon

Age: 20

Country: USA

What instruments do you play (singing counts)?
Electric and acoustic guitar; piano

How long have you been playing?
Piano - 9 years; Guitar - 3 years

What inspired you to pick up the instrument?
Piano - I wanted to be able to play like our church piano player; Guitar - YouTube video

How did you learn the instrument? Piano - teacher with great lessons; Guitar - self taught using internet

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why?
Piano - No, lessons from a teacher was a good thing. I needed to learn theory face-to-face. But I should have stuck with it. I dropped it out when I played guitar;
Guitar - I would do it somewhat differently when I first started. Although I would have remained being self taught, if I had joined GMC from when I first started guitar, I think I would have been a bit better today. But I'm not sure if I knew about it yet.

This post has been edited by thefireball: Dec 12 2011, 03:33 PM

Age: 44
Country: England.
What instruments do you play (singing counts)? Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Keys, Mandolin, Banjo etc.
How long have you been playing? 31 years
What inspired you to pick up the instrument? 70's Rock/Metal and Eddie Van Halen.
How did you learn the instrument? Self taught through Books and Magazines. (We didn't have DVD's and Internet back then!!!!)
Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why? Would definitely have used a Teacher if possible. A more structured learning process would have been more beneficial in the long run. Self Teaching from Books etc. was quite difficult as you didn't realy know whether you were approaching things correctly or not.

Age: 29
Country: USA

What instruments do you play (singing counts): Piano and Guitar

How long have you been playing: Piano- 9 years Guitar- 4 years

What inspired you to pick up the instrument?

Piano- Listening to Vince Guaraldi play the "Peanuts Theme" in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Guitar- Started playing because a buddy of mine was learning, and that made me want to learn how to play as well. He eventually gave it up, and I stuck with it!

How did you learn the instrument?

Piano- Lessons with an instructor. Guitar- Lessons with an instructor and Internet resources(Read: GMC!)

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why?

Piano- Would not do anything differently.

Guitar-I don't really think I would have done much differently here either, because with a live instructor and resources such as GMC I feel I get the best of both worlds, so to speak. Perhaps I Should have been a bit more organized in my learning, but other than that I would not do anything different

Age: 24

Country: England

What instruments do you play (singing counts)? Guitar

How long have you been playing? 8 years

What inspired you to pick up the instrument? Seemed like a fun venture, who wouldn't want to be a rock 'n' roller?

How did you learn the instrument? I began with lessons from a university student, who mainly knew how to play the basics and campfire songs dealing with mainly open chords. I then moved to a teacher who was more technical, showing me Van Halen and Led Zepp. style playing. The next teacher was on an even higher technical level, who was in a progressive metal band, and gave me a glimpse of more 'outside the box' guitar, some concepts that weren't covered in classic rock or pop punk. Lastly, I had a few lessons from a friend with a degree in music, who taught me material along the lines of 'Maiden and 'Priest, NWOBHM-type stuff. Between lessons, I'd also grab a guitar mag. called Total Guitar every now and then, and in more recent years, I've learned off youtube, GMC and other such sites.

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why? I would've stuck with one teacher for a longer period of time, to have progressed more in that area, rather than just skimming the surface. I also would've told myself to not give in to tabs straight away, and that an attempt to figure the song out by ear would be beneficial.

This post has been edited by dark dude: Dec 12 2011, 08:33 PM

Age: 31

Country: USA

What instruments do you play (singing counts)? Guitar

How long have you been playing? 19 years

What inspired you to pick up the instrument? My father and grandfather were both musicians and I wanted to learn how to play something too. The reason I chose guitar is because I would listen the bands I loved at the time and I wanted to be able to play their songs, guitar seemed like the obvious choice to me.

How did you learn the instrument? I took leasons at first and then eventually started playing with other musicians. Once I started playing with other musicians I stopped taking leasons and tried to pick up as much as I could from them.

Would you have done it differently today (self taught vs teacher)? If so, why? What I would have done differently is I would have paid more attention to my instructor and tried to pick up as much as possible from him. I also would have practiced more when I was younger. I feel like a wasted a lot of time and ignored some great tips from a very experience, amazing classical guitarist. Shame on me, I guess.

Just finished writing my paper.

Thank you very much everyone, I highly appreciate you taking your time!

This post has been edited by Sollesnes: Jan 8 2012, 03:16 AM

Awesome!! You are welcome. Hope you get a good mark.

Glad to have helped! Hope you do well!!