Wassup everybody, so the question is “why you should learn to play an instrument“. I believe that if you create music, your aim should always be to get better. Actually that goes for anything… i’m trippin’ LOL. If you are reading this, there’s a good chance that you create music so I’m guessing that you want to improve your skills. This is one of the reasons for this very website. Many beatmakers and DJs that I come across have no idea how to play an instrument. This is very understandable if you were not in an environment where you didn’t have access or means to instruments. However, nowadays there is no excuse. Whether it’s for a guitar, keyboard, or whatever, anyone can save up and do what they have to do but, I still haven’t answered the question of why you should learn to play an instrument. Well, I have 3 reasons why.
Musical Vocabulary
We all know terms like quantize, bars, drum loop, swing and stuff like that but that’s not all there is to know. When you understand terms such as minor scales, octaves, diminished chords, ect. that opens a whole new world in your music production. This is because you will understand how and why things sound the way they sound musically and not just technically if that makes sense.
Develops Your Ears
Another reason why you should learn to play an instrument is so you can improve your sense of hearing. I’m not talking about being afraid of becoming deaf. I mean when it comes to hearing things in your head, knowing how to play an instrument gives you a better chance of getting it out. Imagine the ability to think about a melody in your mind and to quickly play it on an instrument (which anyone who is musically inclined can actually do over time). However, non musicians struggle with that at a much higher rate.
Independent of Sampling
The third reason in my humble opinion why you should learn to play an instrument is so you don’t have to depend on samples. This reason actually goes out to the sample based producers but there is no love lost. I”ll be the first one to tell you how much I love sampling, but it’s very beneficial to have options. I remember listening to an interview with JDilla where he mentioned issues with a sample he wanted to use. Basically he couldn’t get the sample cleared so what did he do? He replayed the sample his “damn self” on keys LOL. Having the ability to play an instrument strips you from the need of using samples, but also gives you the power to mesh samples with live instruments which to me is top of the line beatmaking!
If you want to learn how to play the piano, I have a FREE course (CLICK HERE) right now that will get you started on the right track to being a musician. These are just a few thoughts of why you should learn to play an instrument. And speaking of Dilla, here’s a video of me explaining even further why you should learn to play an instrument. Thanks for reading, and feel free to share your thoughts.
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