Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Constant instrument hopping: the recorder

If it is the novelty factor that gets you going, and making you lose interest in an instrument before you have got past beginner stage, you are never going to get close to mastering anything, or even getting to the level where learning becomes continually engrossing, if not completely effortless, as you would if you reach the level where sight-reading most music is easy.

But as an adult, there is no harm in jumping from one thing to another, if you don't want to settle with one. It is only a hobby after all. Just remember that you won't get very far with anything if you do that.

If you need inspiration to study the recorder, may I suggest you listen to Lucie Horsch, she is phenomenal (and that guy on the theorbo ain't no slouch either ).

I love the recorder and to play it beautifully is not as easy as might seem. Most of us think of it as a starter instrument for children but it’s very popular among adults and the repertoire is endless. Many cities have recorder societies where one can go and play in groups or meet a music partner and there is a great deal of music for recorder and piano so one doesn’t have to play alone. There is a woman on you tube who gives fantastic tutorials on beginning the recorder. I’ve wanted to learn it for years.
I studied clarinet for years,attended years of music camps and played in many amateur ensembles. But my dream was always the piano. I’ve studied piano on and off for decades and finally feel I am getting somewhere. Right now my passion is the accordion and the piano.lessons are not unaffordable but finding the time to work on both is a huge challenge-particularly if I want to prepare for a lesson.
If I had the time I would return to clarinet-I played several sizes,continue with piano and accordion,and start to explore the recorder,the flute and the mandolin. For me I want to play instruments which sound beautiful when I hear great musicians play them. I also love the oboe and studied for a while but at my current age I don’t have the strength to blow that thing.
For decades I was tormented by the desire to play them all-there’s nothing wrong with it-enjoy what music that you can. It’s all wonderful and each is a gift in its own way.

Thanks for an old wise man's advice :-)
Yeah that label sounds more or less accurate to me, various subjects have interested me since my childhood, A few I took up seriously, some I've dabbled in, with the rest it was just a quick glance. I would say though -as you implied- hat going at least halfway should be the threshold for someone to consider himself a Renaissance Man. :-) Alas that has not been the case for me as far as my musical journey is concerned.

Anyways, after talking with my teacher, and reading your helpful posts, I'm gonna stay with the piano (and learn simple familiar pieces that I enjoy to keep me motivated), and also keep the recorder- and the harmonica- to blow into for the heck of it, like, for times when the piano might feel boring due to practice pressure for example.
Actually, I believe it works better for me that way, rather than dedicating all the music time to just one instrument.

@Adagiette: Great air control. It's really difficult. But does it not sound lovely? It sounds so soothing, very peaceful and old-school...like Baroque <3

@alans: Oh the accordion , heck of an instrument.... you sound very like me haha... Yeah sometimes I wish we could at least dabble with some of them and take up a few seriously, like those multi-instrumentalist people.
As for your love for the recorder, I'd say have a go at it, initially just for the hack of it ...especially since you have the opportunity to play in groups or ensembles. I simply lack such opportunity where I live. My teacher particularly emphasized this point for learning the recorder seriously, i.e playing and practicing with a group, especially a Baroque style group with a harpsichord player.
I taught myself to play simple (and lovely) folk melodies using the Stephen Goodyear book. You could try it as well, no harm in that.

Among phenomenal recorder players, I've always been a fan of Michala Petri--heard her once in London when she was young.

meghdad, I'll share my experience, it might be of some interest:

Before taking the piano, I had been playing guitar for over a decade. During my guitar period I was drawn at times to other instruments - violin, Saxophone. What I noticed during that time is that trying to play a violin/sax piece on the guitar can be an interesting and educating experience - but on the other hand, can really emphasize the limitations of the guitar. It probably goes the other way around.
In that sense, you may take into consideration what type of music you enjoy more.

I took the piano as a tool to learn more complex harmony and to experiment with rich jazz chords, and considered it a second instrument at best. When I got more advanced and expressive on the piano, the guitar started fading into the background.
Since the piano poses many challenges, there are times when I feel like I'm not getting anywhere with it, and then I run back to the guitar, to feel at home again. But over time it happens less and less. Piano becomes more fun as you progress. Also, as mentioned, the fact that you don't need any jam track or accompaniment is a huge plus. You play all the music, it all you. Harmony is so powerful, and for me it was enough of a reason to switch to piano...