6 years down the line. My advice to anyone getting started

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neverenoughfunk wrote:
Deep Purple wrote:
neverenoughfunk wrote:teaching yourself... you do a little here and little there... with a teacher... it becomes a routine...
Unless you set yourself targets and routines. At the point where I started getting better at playing I started practicing every day and trying to learn one new song every week.

You don't need a teacher to set a routine - you can do it yourself.
just curious... how may targets and routines have you set for yourself and you did not get the required results? i.e. started college and finished, home projects, etc...
Don't forget though, the "desired results" are going to be different for each person, and everyone has a different approach to learning.

I have ADHD so I have to force myself to do things and structure things myself. Teaching isn't always the best route for me as I prefer to pick my own path.
Sweet child in time...

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Deep Purple wrote:
willdub1 wrote:I think you're wrong there. the whole point of having a good teacher is that you wont be second guessing yourself. the whole point of having a teacher period is to stop you wasting time trying to learn from other people and randomly experimenting not knowing why something sounds good when it does.
Knowing whether something sounds good has little to do with having a teacher - it has a lot more to do with musical appreciation.

I taught myself to play guitar and piano without any help from a teacher and am very good at both. Most of what I got was from books, friends, listening to records, etc. Just because I didn't have someone who formally called themselves a teacher it doesn't mean I wasn't taught.
I agree with both of you! I too am self-taught, but I have heard from the musicians I most respect (George Duke in particular) that the best way to begin is through education, preferably college and composition too, but education cannot teach you the most important stuff - that's learned by doing...practicing, writing, and most importantly today since it's what is being lost to the past - playing with others.
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I'm mostly self-taught, but the times when I took lessons were the ones that I improved the most. A combination of the two is vital so can find your own musical identity :)

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I'm new to music production, etc. but I'm a professionally trained classical musician and I definitely think that having some lessons can have a HUGE benefit on your music education. Lessons can get expensive so if you want to be cheap about it (totally understandable) you can just take a few every now and then. Even attending masterclasses in your instrument (or any instrument, really) can be very beneficial, and even cheaper than private lessons in many cases. Music playing is a different world-- it helps to have someone to show you around a little. Just thought I would throw my two cents in ;)

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I think as a 'producer' is mainly interested in composition you should start by working through a book on music composition such as Michael's Hewitt's:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1598 ... ge_o03_s00

Also - semi-competent use of a keyboard to play so you can input notes quickly and play around with melodies and chord progression in real time is going to be a huge boon..so you will need to put in some serious time practising playing scales and chord progressions -although whether classical piano lessons with their emphasis on site-reading staff notation and playing classical pieces is what you need is perhaps more moot.
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You should still learn the basics of mixing though, but yeah composition and arrangement first, in my opinion.

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It's not been a year since I started to make music(noise). I think the greatest revelation to me was music theory. We have this old piano, I started with it. Soon I picked midi controller. Basic theory is there, you can grab it from the internet. I'm sure that the good teacher for the instrument is good way to go.

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Interesting subject.

I actually found that learning music theory made my production worse because I was thinking too much about what's "right" and what's "wrong" based on the technical constructs of music theory, instead of going with what "sounds good".

RZA is famous for this. Amazing beats - learns music theory - beats quality reduced.
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JC Biffro wrote:Interesting subject.

I actually found that learning music theory made my production worse because I was thinking too much about what's "right" and what's "wrong" based on the technical constructs of music theory, instead of going with what "sounds good".

RZA is famous for this. Amazing beats - learns music theory - beats quality reduced.
I think you're just using music theory wrong. It's not a set of rules to be followed when composing at all, it's an aid to composition. If you want ignore what 'makes sense' that's perfectly acceptable.

Don't look at at theory as a constraint, look at it as a tool.
Sweet child in time...

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I actually did the opposite to what was said in the OP, and it took me to the next level. I just dived into learning everything that I needed to learn, until I had everything in the back of my head.
The results? Now I can make music without having to actively think of all the technical aspects of music production, as these technical aspects can really be a sinkhole and take away your attention from the most vital part - the music making itself, and make you lose your first perspective and the original idea of the song, etc.

Not saying that the OP is wrong, of course not, obvisouly it worked for him, but I think that it's pretty personal how to approach the whole music production thing.
But of course I've always played an instrument so I suppose I already had that thing in my head and didn't have to dive into it as much as the OP suggested.

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Aloysius wrote:How would you know what a good teacher was when you're just starting out? I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube with great advice and others by people who look ''pro'' but really haven't a clue what they're talking about.

If you managed to ''get there'' in 6 years, I reckon you took a short cut. Making the same mistake you did seems like the best thing anyone could do.

well, thats pretty easy... if he gets you to the level you wish, then he is good for you.
Ff all he does is: look at my fingers, I press here, here and here, thats Am, why? just because, just follow me and remember. That not a good teacher in my opninion, If he teaches you why is it Am, and the theory behind chords, and basic understanding on chords, then he is probably better, and you'll see you would stick with him, because you know he is better for you

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Deep Purple wrote:I think you're just using music theory wrong.
It's not so easy to "un-see" it. The same happens when people have a natural talent (affinity) for creative writing and then, later in life, pick up grammar books or look into formal writing education. The result is sometimes that they begin to second guess everything they write, which makes their output stiff and void of creative sparks. You really can "know too much".

I'm not saying that learning music theory is necessarily a bad thing. It really isn't, and it can greatly help to make sense of music. But there are people who are good at creating music because they don't understand it on an intellectual level, but an emotional one. If they overthink it, creativity may well get doused.

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rod_zero wrote:I agree 100%, I f I was starting again I will get music lessons first.
Agreed, education is important in ANY area you want to excel in.

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Thank you for your advice. Lately I have pondered about what to do overall in music. I just never had that clear realization until u now mentioned it. Yeah, it would be worthwhile to stay musical as opposed to so technical. The instrument and being a musician first being more important. Agreed

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PatchAdamz wrote: Education is important in ANY area you want to excel in.
:tu:

The height of a building is determined by the depth and the width of it's foundations...

Focus on the fundamentals first :wink:
No auto tune...

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