First instrument played seriously...

[rocketman]

I played the piano starting at the age of 8 and then guitar at 13. I'm asking this question for two reasons. First, I'm curious to see how many people started on something other than a guitar. Second. I'm currently teaching my 7 year old music. He of course sees me playing the guitar and wants to play that, but I'm a firm believer in learning music theory first. This is much easier to do properly on a piano than on a guitar. He's learning to read music and scales right now. He does enjoy the piano and I will teach him guitar, but not until he has a good grasp of theory first. He's actually moving faster than I thought so it's not a big deal (he'll be on the guitar in a few months).

 

As a side question, for those that started on piano first, do you think it made your guitar playing easier? For me, it's a "big yes" because I visualize the notes I'm playing on a guitar rather than patterns on a fretboard.

[DamienAzrael]

My first instrument was saxophone...The only good thing I got out of it was learning how to read music....I wish I could play piano....But I don't think I've got the discipline to learn a new instrument at this point.

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

i started on trumpet, played in youth bands and such, was very good @ it

played piano, started guitar, everything else just kinda took a backseat

[Ian Martin]

Guitar was first for me.

 

Since it is all patterns though, I really don't have a hard time finding my way around piano or any other instrument for that matter.

 

Do I think starting on guitar hindered me? No, I don't think so. I think if someone is eager and hungry enough to learn "MUSIC" (not just learn an instrument), it doesn't matter as long as they have a firm grasp on what they are learning and how it applies to every instrument.

 

Major kudos to parents who 'force' their kids to learn instruments as kids...mine never did...and if anything has hindered me, that'd be it.

[littlekenny]

I played the recorder for a little bit when I was in third grade I think, that was it though until guitar

[rmngretsch14]

Guitar was my first serious instrument, which brought me to want to play anything with strings. As I was playing mostly Dylan songs I picked up harmonica/blues harp too. After taking theory in highschool I play a little piano, and actually it helped me create my own, admittedly rudimentary fretboard logic, so I guess guitar led me to self teaching myself to try anything.

[SRV-Zeppelin]

I played piano for 8 years and drums for 2 before I ever picked up a guitar, and it's helped me tremendously.

 

Interestingly enough, I don't use any theory at all in guitar... I just play. I know where all the Es are, and that's about it...

[AXE®]

Damn Jesse...

I started music with the trumpet in the 3rd grade and Guitar in the 5th,one slowly phased out as the other took over my life completely...

[djroge1]

I started with Guitar at age 10 and I also started with barre chords. My brother wanted me to play rhythm guitar to the song "Takin' Care of Business" so he could play the lead part. I was playing for a year or two before I ever learned any open chords.

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

axe, we must be related or something

except i got all the good hair

hehehe

[AXE®]

It's growing back.

Gots some gray, but it's cool.

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

better to have some grey area in your hair, then lack of grey area in your brain.........................

[Notes_Norton]

Started on drums in the Jr. High school band.

 

In a couple of months, I switched to saxophone as soon as a rental became available. I consider the sax my first instrument.

 

Playing in bands all my life I picked up a little bass, keyboards and guitar (mostly bar and other movable chords), "doubling" on those instruments when there was a need. But I didn't consider myself a player of those instruments then, just someone who could learn a song on them.

 

When saxophones went out of style for a while during the psychedelic era, I played bass for a couple of years. Bass is fun.

 

Then I bought a second hand flute from a fan, she showed me the embouchure, I bought a method book and taught myself.

 

Bought a used Gibson ES-330, but it hung on the wall of my studio mostly gathering dust for years.

 

Later I bought a wind synthesizer. Really liked it, and it became my main learning focus for a number of years.

 

Finally, about a year and a half ago, I decided to get serious on the guitar. I took to it rather quickly (or so my guitar playing friends tell me) but it is my 7th instrument and I did have a couple of years playing bass for a living, so I came to guitar with a good deal of the fundamentals already under my belt. I consider myself adequate for gigging, and I do what I do well, but there are a lot of things I still cannot do on the guitar.

 

Guitar has taken the place of the wind synthesizer as the instrument I spend the most time practicing on (after all, it is the one that needs it).

 

On stage I now play sax and wind synth most (the one I play more depends on the gig), guitar next, flute after that, and keys or percussion controller next (depending on the gig).

 

Notes

[surfpup]

Bluegrass banjo. I was about 13. Didn't last long. The rolls require maddening precision, and I have a sloppy right hand. Dropped it after a few months. Picked up the guitar two years later at 15.

[Flight959]

I achieved level 8 on the triangle before moving to the guitar..

 

Regards

Flight959

[Tim Plains]

Always been guitar.

[retrosurfer1959]

Piano but it was too hard to carry around with me so I went to the guitar as the primary but I can't stay away from other instruments so I also play Bass, Drums, Mandolin, Keyboards, Uke and Harmonica. and I play at the Chapman stick although 10 strings kinda blows my mind should have started when I was younger.

 

Axe don't sweat the grey hair after 40 if you have hair you face it you won. I have really messy hair, more cowlicks than straight hair (so all through life everyone use to tease meand call me dennis the menace now pushing fifty I have a great spiky stylish haircut and most of the friends that teased me wear hats to cover the egg head look. revenge really is sweeeet.

[Bluemoon]

The recorder was my first.

[Thermionik]

.

.

 

Viola..... well, violin, but the sound of cats being tortured was dire, so viola was a little more mellow, and cello was to expensive. Personally I dug those giant bass things, but I was only ickle.....

[elessar820]

Major kudos to parents who 'force' their kids to learn instruments as kids...mine never did...and if anything has hindered me' date=' that'd be it.

 

[/quote']

 

I have to disagree there. My parents force fed guitar lessons on me as a kid and I hated it. I rather would have been out playing with my friends. Sure I knew kids who were forced and enjoyed it, but it isn't the greatest thing when your teacher teaches out of the same book for four years even though you knew it inside and out and when I got a new book, it was just a new edition of what I had AND the only thing outside of book he'd teach was music my parents wanted to hear. It took the fun out of it, especially when he disabled the vibrato arm on my old jazz box because he though it was a distraction. So eventually I quit. When I got back into playing, I wish I still had the lessons now that I have a genuine interest in it, but would I do that over again, only if I had a different teacher. Many of those same kids who I knew that were also forced won't touch an instrument now.

 

Oh yeah, I started on guitar and after I quit I started over on bass before getting another guitar, a POS BC Rich Bich bronze series.

[rocketman]

Wow, I must say that I didn't expect this much variety, gray hair and all (he he he). This is very enlightening to me.

 

On personal note my father (God bless his soul) was very strict about my brother and I practicing piano an hour a day. After a while I told him that the time I would learn would be when it interested me, not when he forced me. The ironic thing was that he was very upset when I told him I wanted go to music school. He wanted nothing of it even though I got accepted to Berklee and Eastman. In retrospect I made a better choice going into engineering school. Right now my son is very excited about music, but I'm going to have to think hard about things as he grows older.

 

"Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected." Red Buttons