Looking for a quick and fun way to learn new stuff?
Try learning a new instrument! It’s really fun, but not very quick.
Please also check out my article 12 ways to improve musicality
Table of Contents
My Experiences
I love to play all sorts of instruments.
Guitar is and has been my main instrument for a long time; and I’m definitely happy and grateful to play guitar.
But whenever I see a bass, drum set, basically any percussion, piano, or bowed string instruments, my fingers start to itch.
And I start imagine some cool music to play on that instrument.
So, at some point I figured I might as well admit the fact that I love playing different instruments and make the most of it!
Here’s some ways that I hope/think that it helps musicality and guitar playing. (Of course there’s some downsides, too – “having” to practice more and maybe carry more gear)
Connect the Dots Afterwards
I’ve been curious to learn how my brain will change its perceptions about life and music from playing different instruments.
You won’t know unless you try. You won’t really know how things relate until after you learn them.
Sometime, I guess, you gotta trust your intuition and chronic desires. And see where they will lead you.
And equally as curious about how different languages affect ones perceptions and experiences about life.
Is learning a different instrument like learning a new language? I’m not sure but I think it has lots of similarities.
Pros and Cons of Some Different Instruments for Multi-Instrumentalists
| Inst. | Pros | Challenges | Unique Musical Properties | How it Improves Your Musicality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guitar | Portable. Versatile. Once you get over the initial stages, “pretty easy” to learn a lot music. | Very versatile, but for many types of music, not the main instrument. To get to same level as other instruments in some genres can take a lot of dedication. | Chords, melody, rhythm, versatility. The linear but also very non-linear way that guitar works. Also, the sound of the plucked or strummed strings is a very appreciated/well-loved sound. | A little of everything! |
| Voice | Beautiful melodies. Versatile. Can sing almost anywhere! | Unless some just “gets it”, intonation and tone production are long-term projects | Infinite Expressiveness – one of the most personal ways to create music. | Great for ear training! |
| Drums | Fun! The Engine of the Groove. Great for producing! | Lots of gear. You need to have super solid time & groove | The beat maker | Great for rhythmic training. You’ll develop better time if you stick with it! |
| Bowed String (Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass) | Tons of amazing music. Sounds very beautiful. Versatile. | Intonation and bowing present serious challenges | One of the instruments most like the voice, also 400 years of written music | Great for ear training! |
| Bass | Fun to play bass lines! Also, great if you want to produce your own music! | For guitarists, it’s actually a whole new mindset, even if you can play all the notes! | How good, simple bass lines can really affect the music | Great counterpoint training, and builds great perspective about how music is really created. |
| Piano | All the notes at your finger tips! Amazing amounts of music written for piano! Great for composing and arranging! | Some famous stuff on piano will probably take many years of dedicated practice. Left and right hand coordination! | Hear and see everything. Piano displays the 12-tone musical system in a linear way. Many harmonies and counterpoints can only be played on piano. | Harmony and how melody works with harmony. You can see it all, plus you can hear how the different parts sound together! Great way to develop left & right independence. |
| Horn | Amazing amount of expression! In some genres, it’s the king and queen like jazz. Horns will sound good in almost any genre. | To sound decent will take some practice, until then most people just have practice 🙂 | Much like the voice, but in a more versatile way than the strings (in many regards). Lots of cool effects and tones only exist on horns. | Develop a better sense of melody, and also general ear training – you still have to intonate. |
| Percussion | Lots of fun. Most people can learn to play shaker fairly well. Versatile and a good 2nd instrument. | Not as easy as it looks! Especially to play really well. Like drums – need great time & groove | Subtle but can really add to songs. The type of instruments with the most. Every culture has a few unique percussive instruments. | A great way to improve groove & time. |
Improving Your Ear (Violin & Voice)
If you play a traditional fretted guitar, then you probably haven’t had the chance to refine your ear like you would if you played violin or learned to sing.
At times I’ve felt a sense of “intonation vertigo” with my guitar. There’s always been some note that never really seemed exactly where I wanted it. Or if it was intonated, then some other note became out of tune. (Sure, getting the guitar intonated, tuning the guitar, and using newer strings help)
To be fair, tons of guitarist play in tune. And also, a lot bend notes (and thus use their ear to play in-tune).
How does singing improve musicality?
Learning to sing forces the brain to really consider what every note should be.
Learning to sing has proven a more challenging study for me than learning the guitar. But, the reward is that I have improved my ears.
And interestingly enough, learning to play the violin (I started studying sing before studying the violin), has built upon my solfeggio studies. Finding and hearing where a minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th fall on the violin (and viola!) have helped my musical brain tremendously.
And now I hear much better on the guitar how I want certain notes intonated. And how I can better go about making the most of the equal-tempered frets on the guitar.
I think most people naturally bend certain notes to get them a little better in tune on the guitar – and/or add vibrato if a note isn’t so exactly intonated. Now I am more aware of this because on violin and viola every little finger movement really changes the pitch of the note!
Please check out Play What You Sing and Sing What You Play
Thinking in Harmony and Counterpoint (Piano & Guitar)
Piano and guitar (and many other similar) help musicians see and create counterpoints and harmonies.
Some instruments usually only play one note at a time. Unless someone has reached a very high level of mastery (overtone singing/playing, for example), then it’s basically one note at a time.
Of course, a musician could imply harmony like in the Bach Violin Partitas and Sonatas or John Coltrane’s use of “sheets of sound”.
Learning piano allows a musician to see and hear harmonies and counterpoints while simultaneously playing melodic lines.
Improv Exercise by Jesus Molina
I’ve been practicing this improv exercise suggested by Jesus Molina.
It’s really fun and once you get the bassline rolling, it feels like your flying. You get play the bassline groove and solo on top of it. It means you can play all sorts of polyrhythms and also hear how different note relate to each other. It also allows to create variations, etc while keeps a groove (that doesn’t require a backing track)
Focusing on Rhythm and Groove
Playing drums is very soothing and also very fun!
To play a note on the guitar in time basically requires synching up the right and left hands. But in drumming, you usually just use on hand to play in time.
In other words, you can focus on the groove more and less on the left/right hand coordination. Plus, you don’t need to think about harmony and melody (as much).
Of course, you could play just rhythm on guitar with just one hand, but then the guitar is basically a percussive instrument!
Also, by learning from drummers, you get a chance to learn from people who have spent more time and energy than (probably) anyone else on time, rhythm and groove.
There’s so many great tutorials by drummers on YouTube and elsewhere about this fundamental building block of music that you gotta check it out!
Playing Bass
If you play guitar, then from a technical standpoint, bass can be learned quickly.
To really play bass will allow a guitarist to take on a completely different role in music. It’s mind-expanding!
Ever since dabbling 🙂 with the bass, I relate to bass players much better.
By dabbling in drums and bass, I also understand the drum-bass connection to creates the framework for most music.
Even if the drums and/or bass aren’t present my mind will instinctively fill in those parts.
Of course, you can play bass parts on the guitar. It’s not quite the same, but hearing the bass part on the guitar (as opposed to just a lower note on the guitar) allows a guitarist to play the bass part with more groove and authenticy.
This applies to many types of music, from salsa to jazz to classical.
Multi-Instrumentism Can Help to Create Music
Most great western classical composers usually played more than one instrument. Or they played piano and used that to conceive of the multiple parts to their music.
Other (big) reasons to learn multiple instruments: composition, direction/band-leading, conducting, and production.
Of course there are composer in every genre. In bebop, a lot of the horn players (besides playing multiple wind instruments) played piano.
Most musical directors can play at least some of the instruments in the band or orchestra. A lot can play a primary instrument, sing (at least solfeggio) and play piano. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence.
A lot of great producers play multiple instruments. I use the word producer loosely but 2 great examples that come to mind.
Stevie Wonder and Prince.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I hope you consider learning some more instruments – or at least something typically played on another instrument. Of course, please don’t give up your primary instrument, either!
Even if it’s not so practical (in the short-term), I’ve really enjoyed learning multiple instruments.
I’m learning (besides guitar): bass, drums, congas, bongos, cajon, djembe, piano, violin, viola, cello and voice!
Best wishes and have fun playing music!
Here’s another example where I play guitar, drums and bass:
A Little Multi-Instrumental Storybook
(Daily) Practice Makes Progress!
Best wishes to everyone on their musical journeys.
And to all the folks seeking to be multi-instrumentalists, please leave a comment below and/or send me a message with your ideas, thoughts, & questions.
Practicing one instrument can be challenging. But trying to practice multiple instruments every day can be even more challenging – at least to me.
| Pros | Cons |
| Lots of fun | Hard to get as much done on any one instrument |
| Learn new musical ideas not available on one instrument | Easier to not improve on an individual instrument |