Have you ever had the curiosity or interest to learn a song you like? Me too! Well... I think we all have. And let me tell you, playing songs is a lot of fun, especially if you love them.

Maybe you've never played an instrument in your life, but you want to start. Now, you may be wondering: What is the right instrument for me, will I be good enough, how many hours do I have to practice, will I have enough time?

Well, in this article I will help you answer all those questions. So don't worry... Playing an instrument is amazing, it allows you to explore your creativity and get to know facets of yourself that you might not have known before. When we play an instrument we are free, because we can express ourselves freely. That's why many people deal with stress, anxiety, or depression by playing an instrument.

To make it much easier… I will make you a list of the steps you should follow if you want to learn to play an instrument:

Decide what instrument you want to play

I know it sounds silly, but many times deciding which instrument you want to play is difficult. Remember that depending on the instrument you play, you will have different roles when it comes to making music or maybe playing with a band. To choose which one is right for you, answer these questions:

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Depending on the genre of music you like the most, you can choose which instrument to play. I know this sounds complicated since in all songs the instruments vary. There are guitars, keyboards, or just a melody composed by a violin.

For example, if you like jazz, saxophone and drums are the right instruments for you.

If you like the genre of rock you might be drawn to the guitar, but there are still other great instruments you can learn to play. Remember that you have a wide variety of instruments whether they are bowed strings, woodwind, brass, or percussion.

Exploring your options by trying out different instruments is an important step in finding the perfect match for you.

1.2. How much is your budget? Instruments are not usually cheap…

This is the most important part because without a budget you can't buy any instrument.

You can more or less get an idea of what is the right instrument for you just by having a budget because some are more expensive than others.

For example, the typical instrument that most kids get as a gift is a guitar or keyboard, but why?

They are usually inexpensive instruments. Let me explain more in-depth, some guitars and keyboards are sold in combos, and they are usually cheap. Nowadays you can buy a guitar and amplifier (along with other accessories) at a very affordable price.

The downside of this is that since they are so inexpensive, they are usually not very good quality instruments or accessories, but it is a very good option to start with. If you are curious, you can take a look at Amazon, Guitar Center, Sweetwater, or Reverb to see what offers they have.

You should also take into account the amount of space you have in your house or room. If you decide to learn to play bass, guitar, violin, or keyboard you won't have any problem with space. As they are (relatively) small instruments you only need a cover to protect them or a stand to support them. But if you decide to learn to play drums, it's a bit more complicated.

Don't get me wrong, drums are one of the best instruments out there! But noise and space can become a problem if we don't consider them in advance, so make sure you have enough space for this instrument. And considering the noise, you have many options. The first one is that you can choose to buy an electronic drum set, which does the same function as an acoustic one, with the difference that you can control the sound and not make your neighbors hate you... hehe.

And the second one is in case you prefer to play with an acoustic kit. For this you might have to buy some low-volume cymbals, these are used by drummers to practice and not make too much noise. If you live in an apartment, you should probably buy one of those. You can also buy some low-volume drum heads, it depends on what you want to do.

Before you choose an instrument, it's important to assess your skill level to ensure you're making the best choice.

How much free time do you have to practice?

If you don't have much, don't worry.

Over the years it has been said that if you don't play your instrument many hours a day you will never improve, and although that's true to some extent... People often exaggerate. With just two hours of practice a day (or even less) you can improve a lot. So don't get carried away by these comments, you don't need to have 8 or 12 hours to practice.

Of course, professionals do practice that amount of hours. Remember that you are just starting. If as time goes by you decide to dedicate yourself professionally to the instrument, then your practice hours will increase. But in the meantime, just focus on practicing for at least an hour a day. Believe me, that will be more than enough.

Now that you have at least a basic idea of which instrument might be right for you, you should start with the most important part...

Where and with whom are you going to learn? Do you like music academies? Or do you prefer private lessons?

The best advice I can give you is this

Learn by yourself as much as you can! On the internet you can find free courses, you can find free sheet music, and even exercises to practice. You have no idea how many millions of people have learned to play an instrument without anyone's help. However, if you have the opportunity to take lessons from a professional musician... do it.

You can enroll in a music academy, or watch private lessons with a teacher. The positive thing about this is that you can learn from the experience of another musician, and that's amazing. Just make sure you choose a reliable and responsible teacher!

I hope that after reading this article you will feel encouraged to play any instrument. Which one did you decide on and why?

If you don't know yet, don't worry. You will. If you liked this article, please share it with your friends, especially those who are interested in playing an instrument but don't know which one yet. This article can help them!