Hard to be confident without making an attempt, pretty sure most of us sounded arse on our first go!Originally Posted by morg176
Not traditionally
Has anyone ever wanted to learn an instrument but was lacking in confidence to make the attempt?
As cliche as it sounds, I'd recommend starting off with a guitar or digital keyboard. They're probably the easiest (they don't feel like it at first) to learn and can be accompanied with things like backing tracks that cover bass, drums etc. to keep you interested in playing along to. That and the free tutorials/lessons for guitar and piano on sites like youtube are just so more comprehensive compared to other instruments like violin and saxophone which aren't as easy to just pick up and play.
I'd say it's the same for violins, but I really recommend buying a good branded used instrument, e.g. a used (but not abused) Takamine, Martin or Taylor acoustic as they're often 40-50% below RRP value despite sometimes being only rarely played and just offer so much more bang for buck than entry level instruments. Oh and avoid any beginner instrument package deals like the plague.
The quality branded used gear keep their value so if you lose interest a few months down the track they won't turn into a paperweight that you can't sell. The melband forum instruments sale section in addition to ebay are two good sources to find some quality used gear.
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