Straight beginner

[incognito25]

Hi !  I'm on almost 19, I took few years of classical piano when I was younger ( actually 3 years) before unfortunately stopping in my first year of High school. Now a grown man, I regret...
I'm a big fan of funk (Marvin Gaye is my all time favorite artist,)
I'm considering the "self taught" option... I don't want to read music I just want to play whatever I hear on radio and have fun.

My questions are:

What should I learn to be able to play ?
Is it possible to learn jazz/rnb/blues/funk without classical ?

Thanks for the answers

[smileyface]

I'm a self taught pianist so I don't know much about technical stuff but what could help is learning the 12 major scales and playing jazz like rhythms to get a feel with them, maybe using a metronome to help you out. I may not know a lot about jazz, but I do know rhythm is important. Also try listening to a lot of jazz, really observe how they play and what rhythms and notes pop up the most and try to recreate it. Learning already written jazz songs could be as easy as going on YouTube and looking at tutorials if you cant read sheet music and it could get you a good idea on how to play. Also, learning chords could prove to be a big help, and if you get the right scales, chords and rhythm, improvising jazz and blues should come pretty easy with practice. Hope this helped and good luck!

[quantum]

I don't want to read music I just want to play whatever I hear on radio and have fun.

It's like saying, I don't want to learn to read but I want to play the role of Hamlet.  I saw the play live and it was cool. 

Or I don't want to learn to read, I just want to enter the film industry as an actor and build my portfolio.

Or I don't want to learn to drive a car, I just want to operate a big red fire truck.


Some activities have prerequisites that come with the territory.  You're not going to get there faster by taking shortcuts. 

Say you learned a few pieces on your own and eventually want to join a band.  The band has a repertoire of say 200 pieces, and is constantly adding to it because all members can read music.  How would you feel then, having to depend on Youtube tuts and rote learning to learn all that music?  All of a sudden, that fun shortcut ain't so fun anymore. 

Since you have a clear idea of the music you want to learn, even more reason for you to learn to read music.

[j_menz]

The band has a repertoire of say 200 pieces, and is constantly adding to it because all members can read music.  How would you feel then, having to depend on Youtube tuts and rote learning to learn all that music?  All of a sudden, that fun shortcut ain't so fun anymore. 

Since you have a clear idea of the music you want to learn, even more reason for you to learn to read music.

https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=572127

Irving Berlin, Dave Brubeck, Pete Townsend........etc.....

[lojay]

As opposed to not straight?

[the_fervid_pig]

I don't think Erroll Garner read music either. It's certainly possible to play jazz & blues by ear, even to play along with a band shouldn't present a problem as long as you have a good ear, a good understanding of chord progression and a reasonable "vocabulary" of licks and fills you should be able to get by. There may be times when it's an advantage to be able to play by ear, such as if you get requests for a certain song and don't happen to have the music.

[gregh]

I would say yes, certainly it's possible to learn to play jazz and funk without classical. And it's a great skill to be able to play by ear, to have an ear-finger connection so that what you hear in your head is what comes out of the instrument.

But I'm baffled as to why you wouldn't want to be able to read music. There are a number of advantages to that, one of which is that you can buy books on how to play jazz and blues and then play the exercises in them.

[quantum]

https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=572127

Irving Berlin, Dave Brubeck, Pete Townsend........etc.....

Point taken. Yet, I remain firm on my argument. 

I'm not saying playing by ear or learning by rote isn't a valuable skill to have.  What I am saying, is to consider why one would willfully ignore an information storage and retrieval system that would lead to a more efficient and productive workflow?  Why would one willfully ignore a medium of communication that facilitates the transfer of ideas between musicians? 

[maximas]

Learning theory and how to read actually helps me play by ear tbh. I think at least learning the scales and playing some beginner classical pieces will help you a lot, there is no need to follow it through however. The more you play the more familiar you will become with the theory behind music, and the easier it will become to play by ear, good luck!