We asked Taylor Robinson Music instructor, Lesson Coordinator, and instrument guru Brian Roy about the most common questions asked by potential students. Here are the questions we hear most about how to get started with piano, guitar, voice, bass, and drum lessons:
Piano/Keyboards:
Q: What equipment do I need to begin piano lessons?
A: You’ll need some sort of piano or keyboard, of course! While full-sized pianos have 88 keys, any keyboard with at least 67 keys is sufficient for beginning lessons. You’ll also need a piano bench or stool and a sustain pedal (if you’re using an electronic keyboard). The best electronic keyboards have an attachment to hold sheet music.
Q: I want to learn traditional piano and theory, but I only have an electronic keyboard. Is a keyboard okay to use for practice?
A: Absolutely! An electronic keyboard is more similar to a piano, in theory, than an electric guitar is similar to an acoustic guitar. The learning curve between a keyboard and an acoustic piano is minimal.
Q: What is the difference between unweighted, half-weighted, and weighted keyboards?
A: Unweighted keyboards have very little resistance on the keys and are most common on synthesizers and are best suited for students interested in electronic music. Half-weighted keyboards are meant to emulate the feel of an organ, which itself has half-weighted keys, and are best suited for students interested in an organ. Weighted or “fully-weighted” keyboards are meant to emulate the feel of a real piano and are best suited for students interested in piano.
Q: What kinds of pianos are there?
A: There are three types of piano: Upright, Baby Grand, and Grand. Upright pianos are the most common and generally the best for your home; your grandmother might have had one! They fit up against the wall and take up very little space compared to the others. Baby grand pianos are similar to grand pianos, but their resonating body is smaller. Baby grand and grand pianos both have a lid which opens and closes to different levels to help control the volume of the instrument. Unless you have a room entirely dedicated to your piano and a lot of expendable income, the upright piano is your best bet!
Q: Where can I get a piano or keyboard?
A: Keyboards are available at almost any major instrument retailer, online or over the phone. Acoustic pianos are usually sold in specialized, local piano shops. You can often find good deals on used or slightly-damaged pianos on websites like Craigslist. Often, people are moving and aren’t able to bring their piano with them (they’re very expensive to move), so you can sometimes find quality upright pianos for just a couple hundred dollars, or even for free if some small repairs are required.
Q: What considerations are there to purchasing an upright or grand piano?
A: Acoustic instruments need to be tuned regularly, and pianos are no exception. With regular daily use, you should get your piano tuned about once every six months. Even if the piano isn’t played regularly, changes in temperature and humidity will cause the piano to lose its tune. Piano tuning is done by a professional and usually costs about $70-$100 depending on your location, so expect to pay $150-$200 each year for tuning. You also may need to repair or replace broken strings, beaters, or keys over time, so a piano is certainly an investment!
Guitar
Q: What is the difference between classical, acoustic, and electric guitar?
A: Classical and acoustic guitars are both technically “acoustic” instruments and look quite similar, so this can be a bit tricky! Acoustic guitars are the most common, and generally what we recommend when you’re beginning lessons. The strings on an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar are in the same places and the same distance away from each other, but acoustic guitar strings have higher tension (i.e. they require more force to press down) than electric guitar strings. If you’re new to guitar entirely, electric guitar strings can sometimes feel uncomfortable due to their general thinness compared to acoustic strings. Classical guitars are used mainly for Spanish Classical and Flamenco music and are wound with nylon strings, rather than the steel strings of an acoustic or electric guitar, and the strings are farther away from each other.
Q: Is it difficult to switch between the three types of guitar?
A: All standard guitars have 6 strings and have the same standard tuning, so the music theory and scales you learn on one instrument translate quite well to the others! However, the difference in technique can take some time to master instrument-to-instrument. Most professional guitarists can play all three types of guitar, but have a preference as to which instrument they play the most.
Q: What is a 12-string guitar?
A: 12-string guitars are similar to 6-string guitars, but each of the 6 strings has a second string which harmonizes with the standard strings. If you’re a beginner, it’s best to learn on a 6-string guitar before learning 12-string.
Q: What size of guitar should I get for my child?
A: If you go to a music store, they’ll help you decide! In general, students younger than eight years old should use ½ size instruments, students eight or nine through twelve or thirteen should use ¾ size instruments, and older students should use a full-sized instrument. This can vary depending on the height and hand size of the student. ½ sized and ¾ sized instruments are real instruments, not toys. Once your child has grown out of their smaller instrument, it still makes for a good travel or beater instrument.
Q: I want to learn electric guitar. What equipment is necessary?
A: Other than the guitar itself, you’ll need an amplifier, a 1/4in TRS instrument cable, and a guitar strap. I recommend purchasing a nice, leather, wide guitar strap rather than one of the cheap thin ones at the front aisle of your music store, often adorned with a cool pattern from your favorite band; your back will thank you later.
Voice
Q: Can anyone learn how to sing?
A: Pretty much! Voice lessons are like having a personal trainer for your voice. There are a lot of physical components of lessons which can improve your voice, in addition to work developing your ear (i.e. ear training)
Q: I think I might be tone deaf. Will lessons help me?
A: Whoa, there. Hold up. Are you sure? Do yourself a favor and search the web for a “tone deafness” test. There’s a bunch of them online and they only take a minute or two. Tone deafness is genetic and affects only 1-4% of people, about the same as the number of people with perfect pitch. Relative pitch is what the rest of us have, and relative pitch is trained. Most professional musicians have relative pitch. If you are, in fact, tone deaf, a genetic condition, there is, unfortunately, a limit to how much vocal lessons will help your singing.
Q: What equipment do I need for my voice lesson?
A: Yourself, your voice, and a tall glass of room temperature water or warm tea! You absolutely do not want to practice singing using a microphone. There are many different types and brands of microphones, and each affects your voice in a different way. While this effect is subtle, it’s best to practice singing acoustically, even if you plan on performing using microphones in the future.
Drums
Q: What drum set should I get to begin learning?
A: Before you learn how to use an entire drum set, it’s important to get started with your right and left-hand technique. You should start with a drum practice pad (usually $20-$35) which is sold at any music store that sells drum materials. And sticks, of course! They’re fairly quiet and respond like a snare drum. Once your snare technique is ready, it’s time to look into getting a drum set. Some people like to piecemeal their drum kit, drum-by-drum, while others will buy a complete kit.
Q: What are the different types of drums?
A: There are tons! The most common parts of a drum kit are the snare drum, tom-toms (rack toms and floor toms), and a bass drum. There are many types of cymbals, as well, such as the hi-hat, ride, crash, and splash. A rudimentary drum kit usually has a snare drum, a couple of rack toms, a floor tom, a hi-hat, a crash cymbal, and a ride cymbal.
Q: Is an electronic drum kit okay to use?
A: Yes, but they feel very different. While it’s generally best to have an acoustic drum kit if you’re learning anything other than electronic or hip-hop music, electronic drum sets are decent substitutes for practice. They are usually less expensive, take up less space, and much quieter so they can be great options for kids, beginners, and apartment-dwellers.
Electric Bass
Q: Which electric bass should I begin with?
A: We recommend beginning with a 4-string bass. There are also 5-string basses (with an extra lower string) and 6-string basses (with the lower string and an extra higher string), but 4-string basses are industry standard.
Q: Other than the instrument, what equipment do I need to play bass?
A: You’ll need a bass amplifier and speaker cabinet (or a combination amp, which has a speaker and built-in amplifier). Most beginners will start with a combo-amp because they’re more portable and less expensive. You’ll also need a 1/4in TRS instrument cable and a strap. Electric basses are pretty heavy, so you’ll want a nice strap. Wider straps help distribute the weight of the instrument more effectively, and leather straps with padding are the most comfortable. Your back will thank me later!
Q: Should I play bass with a pick or with my fingers?
A: Some bassists prefer one method over the other. Purists will say “only play with your fingers!” and punk-rock bassists will say “screw that!”. A pick will give you a punchier and more consistent sound, but fingerstyle tends to be more versatile and useful for jazz or virtuoso playing. I strongly recommend learning fingerstyle and learning how to use a pick once you’ve gotten to an intermediate level of fingerstyle playing, though you may just want to stick with fingerstyle.