It started with a $4 microphone, the beginning of what was to become a new digital recording studio. Two years later, teacher Matt Brenna and his band have finished their first CD. It’s self-titled, Big Fat Buddha, and includes 12 songs written by Matt. It’s available on iTunes, or at bigfatbuddhaband.com Congratulations Matt!

I started simple. I performed solo at church talent shows and recitals. (I’ll tell you stage-fright can be quite a rush.) But I enjoyed it! I used to be shy and my public speaking skills were not the best. I found that with a guitar between me and the audience, I could come out of my shell easier. I guess I thought that I could always use it block the tomatoes and broken glass being hurled.

Since then I have run an open mic, been in three local performing bands, been a member in several jazz and classical ensembles, performed at events, and partook in countless “jam sessions”. I couldn’t be happier with the boosts in confidence and communication ability that performance and group practice has given me. I can’t leave out how crucial group play is to developing rhythm and awareness.

Seeking out venues to play in front of people is not hard in this town. There are several places that run a weekly open mic. Tap Root, Organic Oasis, Phillys’s, Kaladi Brothers are just a few of them. Almost any church would gladly welcome someone interested in playing during the services or as a special.

I encourage you to get outside your comfort zone and try something daring. Realize potential you never thought you had and take the next step in developing your musicianship and your character. Ask if your teacher is putting on recitals or for tips on how to find groups and performance opportunities.

I have no idea where this idea started. Acoustic guitars are generally much more difficult for beginners. They’re harder to hold because they’re bigger and wider, and harder to make notes and chords on because the strings are farther from the fingerboard and under more tension. Electric guitars are simply easier to play, and if a child wants to play rock styles there is no way to get a rock sound from an acoustic guitar.

So my recommendation to parents is always to consider what sort of music their child listens to and wants to play. If you’ve got a daughter infatuated with Taylor Swift who wants to strum chords and sing modern country music, she’ll want an acoustic guitar and will be inspired to overcome its initial awkwardness. If you’ve got a son into metal or classic rock, there’s absolutely no reason not to start with whatever electric guitar he thinks looks coolest. Self-motivation is the most important factor in musical success, so shop with an eye for whatever guitar your child seems most excited about spending time with.

In terms of cost, there is very little difference. A small amplifier loud enough for any house can be purchased for less than $100, and both electric and acoustic guitars are available in serviceable models for less than $200. These aren’t instruments that would satisfy an advancing player, but they’re a lot better than the first couple of guitars I learned on.

Finally, be very careful about buying used guitars unless you’re an experienced player. I have no reservation about recommending used digital pianos from pawn shops or Craigslist because electronic devices made of plastic are much less prone to damage from temperature and humidity changes. And trying them out is very simple – they either work or they don’t. Guitars, being made of thin woods, are much more fickle, and any guitar that’s been sitting unplayed for awhile is likely to have repair issues that wouldn’t be evident to a beginner. Guitars bought new will often require minor adjustments after a few weeks also, but that’s a service most stores will provide as part of the purchase.

True, nothing beats the sound quality and expressiveness of a good baby grand piano. I know – I used to own one. But I got tired of having to pay to have it tuned and adjusted every few months as the weather changed. I also got tired of it taking up most of an entire room and filling it with more volume than I could reasonably produce at night when I wanted to practice.

So I sold it and have been reasonably happy with a good digital piano. It’s never needed tuning, it can be turned down to whatever volume level is desired and I don’t have to worry about my 9-year-old daughter doing it any harm when she gets especially enthusiastic. And like all kids, she loves to repeat songs to hear how they sound in the voices of different instruments, not just the piano. And now that she can play a little and is “composing” her own tunes, she likes to record them onto a computer and make her own CDs.

The model we have at home now sells for about $1,500, but I wouldn’t recommend spending that for a child just starting lessons. My daughter’s first instrument was a little keyboard purchased at a pawn shop for about $75 at the age of 4, and she played it very happily for several years. It fit easily into her bedroom and the keys were easier to press than a digital piano with weighted keys.

Buying a digital piano is easy. For young children, I recommend visiting a pawn shop and getting a cheap 61-key model. They’re almost indestructible and the shops will take back anything that develops a problem within 30 days. Adults and advancing players will want a full-size 88-key digital piano with weighted keys, a fixed stand and damper pedals. These can be obtained at any local music store starting at around $600. You can easily spend four or five times more, but the inexpensive starter models are generally fine until you’re ready to upgrade to an acoustic piano or a full-featured synthesizer.

At some point, any serious student will want a real piano. Our digital piano is very practical, but in truth it is not nearly as rewarding to play as my old baby grand. Acoustic pianos have become a challenge to shop for now that the Anchorage market no longer supports an actual piano store. The only source for acoustic pianos now is Craigslist, and good instruments that are priced right tend to move rapidly. So before shopping, I’d recommed talking with an experienced piano tuner about different brands, sizes and price ranges, and make arrangements for this person to accompany you when you go to someone’s house to listen to anything that seems appealing. A piano technician can tell you very quickly how well an instrument has been maintained and identify any repair issues that would not be evident to a typical player.

A piano technician can also evaluate the sound quality of a piano in someone else’s house and offer at least an idea of how it might sound in the type of room where you plan to put it. The same piano will sound very different in different rooms, depending on things like size, windows, ceiling height, floor coverings and furniture. Shopping with an expert who has been to your house will dramatically improve your chances of finding a piano that sounds good there.

After you find something you like, the next step is moving it. I recommend a mover who advertises and specializes in moving pianos, and every tuner will have a couple of favorites. Once it’s in place, your new piano will need an initial tuning and another one a few weeks after it’s settled into the heat and humidity levels of its new home. A humidifier-dehumidifier system costs a few hundred dollars and will prove a bargain in fewer tunings and better tone. Plan on professional tunings a couple of times a year at the beginning of winter and summer, and you’ll have an instrument you can enjoy for a lifetime.

I’ve been teaching music for 16 years and I hear the same questions every day:

How are you able to hear a song for the first time and immediately know how to play it?

How do you keep so many songs in your head and never look at sheet music?

How do you start to improvise your own solos?

How do are you able to move songs into keys where you can sing them better?

How do you start to write your own music?

They’re all basically the same question, and they all have the same answer – you just learn the rudiments of music theory.

Admittedly, this is a subject that is rarely presented clearly in books or on the internet. And it can’t be learned simply by reading about it. You need to be guided through a process of systematically applying it to the music you want to learn. Because I had a hard time finding teachers, it took me years to start to see the patterns. But now I know it’s basically a simple form of math. There are just 12 notes in all of music, and most melodies use only 5 or 6 of them. Even simpler, the vast majority of songs are built with no more than 3 or 4 guitar or piano chords.

The trick, and this is something that can be taught in just a few lessons, is learning to recognize these notes and chords in much the same way you once learned to recognize colors as red, blue and yellow. In only a month or two of studying theory, it is common for students to be able to hear a song on the radio, recognize exactly what its notes and chords are, and go home and play it.

When you’re ready to stop reading music and start creating it, let your teachers know you’re ready to start learning some theory. They’ll be delighted to start sharing the secrets…

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