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Has anyone on the spectrum self taught themselves to play instruments?

MsGyver

MsGyver

New Member
If so where did you start? I tried teaching myself to play guitar but I quickly got very lost and discouraged, mostly because I've never had a problem teaching myself how to do something. Music is one of my passions and I don't want to give up learning about it! <3 Any suggestions would be helpful :)
 
I taught myself the guitar. I started with accompanying songs I knew, just the chords, and later I tried to pick melodies. But I was 17 at that time and had tons of time since i had no friends. I later tried the recorder, clarinet and accordion and got as far that I liked to listen to myself playing. But only songs I know and like, not from sheet music.
 
Guitar, drums, piano (latter in progress). Guitar was when it was just old fashioned tab books or by ear, replaying a record over & over again (wrecked loads of vintage vinyl doing that). It doesn't come in a day..or a year unless you're gifted. I am not. But I ended playing in many bands & earned a wage for a while.

A LOT easier now with online videos & tabs etc. Pause button in particular. But piano, I still find sheet music & plodding the old fashioned way the best.

End of the day, hard work, daily hour at least practise and in a few years. .some progress ;)...keep it up!
 
I sometimes led parades thru the house with my kids (and now with Chihuahuas) tapping on the bottom of an empty coffee tin. Never took a single lesson.

* Tip: The plastic ones are just as good. In fact I prefer their more subtle but richer sound.
 
I tried to learn guitar for many years, had lessons and worked hard at it. But with limited success, though I enjoyed it. Really I realised that unfortunately hard work wasn't gonna be enough. I'm not musical. Might try some more though...
 
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MsGyver said:
If so where did you start? I tried teaching myself to play guitar but I quickly got very lost and discouraged, mostly because I've never had a problem teaching myself how to do something. Music is one of my passions and I don't want to give up learning about it! <3 Any suggestions would be helpful :)
Click to expand...

Have a cousin who taught himself to play the piano. He just somehow knew how to play, without ever taking music lessons.
 
Many years ago I was given a fancy harmonica as a gift and simply figured out how to play it.

No lessons at all...just spent time at it.
 
When I was about 4 years old, at around the same time I was finally getting around to learning how to walk and how to talk, I figured out on my own how to play the piano by ear -- just one-finger melodies at first, and then chords.

I never reached professional musician skill level, however.
 
I know the difference between say, a G key and an A key from a Youtube video. I've had no formal training.
 
I can play a pretty mean stereo, but that is it. Anything more takes something that I do not have, talent.
 
MsGyver said:
If so where did you start? I tried teaching myself to play guitar but I quickly got very lost and discouraged, mostly because I've never had a problem teaching myself how to do something. Music is one of my passions and I don't want to give up learning about it! <3 Any suggestions would be helpful :)
Click to expand...

Hi MsGyver! Yes, I taught myself how to play the piano, and then advanced to the keyboard/digital piano and organ. They all require the same musical theory to read notated sheet music. My mother, however, was already a pianist and gave me a foot up with reading notation. I later discovered my gift for sight-reading sheet music and song writing. I've reached the point where I want to work at music professionally when I've immigrated to Thousand Palms, CA from South Africa. I should be out of South Africa in under 2 weeks, after getting my passport.
 
Roy Nel said:
Hi MsGyver! Yes, I taught myself how to play the piano, and then advanced to the keyboard/digital piano and organ. They all require the same musical theory to read notated sheet music. My mother, however, was already a pianist and gave me a foot up with reading notation. I later discovered my gift for sight-reading sheet music and song writing. I've reached the point where I want to work at music professionally when I've immigrated to Thousand Palms, CA from South Africa. I should be out of South Africa in under 2 weeks, after getting my passport.
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You sound like you have much talent with regards to piano playing, sheet music theory and song writing. Good luck with taking your musical talent to the next level! As one recently diagnosed with Aspergers, I have always been fascinated with those who are great at playing a musical instrument, and those who love to write their own songs, too. It's because since youth, I always had dreamed of playing original relaxing and inspirational type songs on the piano, to complement my very good singing abilities.

I just think it's a whole lot easier for me with regards to stage presence, if my focus is on singing and learning to play piano at the same time, while being seated, than standing. Then I can concentrate on my playing and singing and showing natural personality and feeling there, without worrying about cameras and movements too much, instead of trying to be someone else as a singer standing, where I would have to show some hand, arm, leg and body movements on stage that do not seem natural to me, and which seem more rehearsed and fake.

These days it seems like a great singing voice won't go far, unless something else is there also. This means I feel I might need either some entertaining, extraverted, unique and/or believable stage personality, besides my voice, to take me as a singer to the next level. Singers must have some great luck, but also must be seen as fascinating entertainers, to make it far it would seem. That's why now my focus is on piano, and learning to read sheet music well, and with a desire one day to have songs written by me and/or with collaboration from one with Autism or Aspergers, than could understand.

Thanks for posting. Hope to see you around!
 
I was taught to play clarinet and to read, I then tried my hand at many different instruments with little to no instruction. Mostly I made irritating noises, but could reasonably claim to have taught myself most of the other reed instruments I could get at school - oboe, bassoon, tenor and soprano saxamophone, and it doesn't really count bass clarinet.
 
I taught myself to play guitar, and I'm currently teaching myself piano! YouTube is definitely great for a lot of instruments, but for guitar I just kind of went on Songsterr and worked it out from the tabs on there - it quite straightforward with a good layout, I'd definitely recommend it!
 
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