Campfire, friends, food, and someone playing the guitar. How great would it be if you were the one playing guitar?
Different ways of learning
If all you want is just to be able to play that one song, don't bother with anything else, just :
- go to YouTube
- find a tutorial (for beginners)
- and practice
If you want to be a little more entertaining, but don't feel like taking classes:
- YouTube is still your friend
- Search for 'songs with just two/three chords'
The above will work if you put some time in it, but don't kid yourself, being able to copy what others do is not exactly playing. It is fun though.
If you are looking to learn things from the bottom up, you can find yourself:
- a human real life teacher
- an online teacher
There is more than just better learning when using a real teacher. (S)he will also pay attention to your posture, to the way you hold your hands and so on. These are things that are not always possible with online teachers. Some teachers use Skype, they would be able to notice a thing or two too. Another advantage of real life lessons is, lessons are often given to groups of people. When you learn together, it is more fun.
Practice
Practice is key for learning to play whatever instrument. The problem with all the above ways of learning is that you have to sit yourself down and practice. Best way is to practice often, daily. Make a schedule and stick with it. Practice can be dull. This is the #1 reason for people to quit trying to learn to play an instrument.
Yousician
That is where Yousician comes in. This app makes practice fun. Great fun.
- There are lessons you can take in your own time and pace,
- There are some lessons on music theory,
- They will tell you when you are wrong, or late, or early,
- There is a game like interface with points and bonus points. This will make you want to try again and do better,
- There is practice mode with adjustable speed
- There is a friendlist. You can add people you know or people you don't know but who you want to compete with,
- There is a weekly challenge with songs in different levels
- There is a section where you can add your own song (even with YouTube background music)
- There is a user forum,
- There is a facebook page maintained by users. Here you can ask everything. Get help when you are stuck. Show off your new instrument. It is a very enthusiastic community,
- There are multiple instruments you can practice with: guitar, piano, bass, uke
- You do not have to pay for it (but it is sure more fun when you do),
- and much more
No Payment
The app can be used on many different devices and is free to install.
Without paying you can use the app WITH feedback for 20 minutes a day. When your time is up, you can still use the app but WITHOUT the feedback. At that time you can only play the songs you have already played before. This is however a great way to try it out.
Small note: you have to use all free minutes, to start the 24-hour counter.
Trial
If you like you can start the 7-day trial. At this point you have full access for 7 days. You can play as many minutes WITH feedback as you like. Keep in mind though, if you don't cancel the trial before the 7 days are over, you will be charged for full.
Large Payment
There are different payment plans. The least expensive one is the yearly plan, but you do have to pay the whole sum at once. It is not a monthly payment.
There is a monthly payment, but that one is slightly more expensive.
X-Large payment
This is the highest payment but also grants the most fun. With this plan you can use all lessons of all instruments all the time, 24/7. Of course this is only worth the money when you want to play multiple instruments.
For me the big win is, that with Yousician you can spend as much or as little time on practicing as you like without being bored quickly.
Note
When you pay for a single instrument plan, you can still use the 20 minute daily free time of all the other instruments.
