Tips & Tricks: Are Fiddle Lessons for Me? 5 Reasons You Should Consider Them.

I have always envied those people who have enough confidence to pick up a new instrument and teach themselves how to play. I think it is a great skill and sadly one that, even as a highly trained musician, I do not have. I really like to take lessons every time that I start a new instrument. So far in my life I have taken violin, oboe, guitar, piano, cello and bodhran lessons. I do not play all of those instruments well, and actually only am willing to play a few of them in public. Some I haven’t played since.

Here are a few of the reasons that I like to take lessons when I am learning a new instrument:

1. Guidance – I like to have the guidance of someone watching over me to see that I am not developing bad habits.
2. Trouble Shooting – I like to have help figuring out what is going wrong and how to fix it. I try to figure it out on my own at home, but there are just times it helps to have someone else tell you what you are doing.
3. Demonstration – I learn well from books, but it helps to have a teacher play something for me so that I can observe what is being done.
4. Questions – I like to ask a lot of questions… You can ask pretty much anyone who knows me. I like to poke at things from all directions to gain a better understanding of it.
5. Accountability – I like having the pressure (good pressure) of going to a lesson every week to keep me on track and on my toes. I do learn relatively quickly because I have the background in other instruments, but I need that push to keep on it.

Happy learning!