6 Common Mistakes Beginners Make When Learning an Instrument

Mistakes are inevitable in the learning process. What matters most is your ability to recognize and overcome them promptly. Let’s go through several common faults beginners make when mastering musical instruments and suggest practical steps in fixing them.

Lack of fundamental exercise

Like with any skill, when you start learning an instrument, the typical mistake is ignoring the basic practice. Beginner players may be tempted to rush into playing their favorite songs instead of getting a solid foundation. However, the initial success may soon turn into frustration from slow progress. Although it may seem tedious, a regular practice routine is necessary to develop muscle memory, strengthen technical skills, and speed up further learning.

How to tune up:

• Establish a regular practice schedule, at least 30 minutes every day.
• Celebrate your progress by tracking results in the progress journal.
• Split your exercises into thematic activities, such as warm-ups, technique, and main repertoire.

Skipping music theory

Many beginner learners feel reluctant to learn theory because it does not seem as exciting as practical exercises. Still, learning music theory is indispensable in the educational process since it gives essential knowledge for reading music, improvising, and composing. Young musicians can get comprehensive skills only by understanding scales, chords, and musical structure.

How to tune up:

• Combine theory and practice: study musical concepts through the songs you are playing.
• Start with simple things: first, intervals, scales, and chord progressions; then, move on to harmony, rhythm patterns, and the structure of the music pieces.
• Leverage technology: learn interactively with apps like Tenuto and Simply Piano.

Wrong posture and technique

Taking the right position and holding the instrument correctly are vital parts of the learning process. However, it’s typical for beginners to have poor posture and develop incorrect playing habits. The proper playing approaches are established for a reason, and any misalignment can adversely affect your playing or even cause injury over time. Therefore, beginner students should focus on appropriate positions and techniques for a pleasing sound and comfort.

How to tune up:

• Always control your body position and how you hold or touch the instrument. For instance, a violin player shouldn’t tense the shoulders or neck too much to avoid movement restriction.
• Professional guidance is preferable. You can take lessons or watch video instructions.
• Invent funny memorizers. For instance, to keep the correct palm position when playing the piano, imagine cupping a bubble.

Playing too fast

Beginners often feel tempted to speed through pieces as they want to impress. If you play too fast, you disregard accuracy, make mistakes, and develop bad playing habits. The way to technical perfection lies through continual slow practice, accuracy, and control.

How to tune up:

• Don’t rush! Take your time to practice at a medium speed.
• Increase the tempo only after reaching clean and precise playing at a slower speed.
• Spot the hard sections and those where you make mistakes. Repeat these parts separately until you can go smoothly through them.
• Raise your speed incrementally by 5-10 BPM at a time.

Neglecting warm-ups

Almost like in sports, if you start the main part without warming up, it can cause excessive tension, poor technique, and even injuries. Preparatory exercises help develop finger strength, train agility, drive overall playing skills, and reinforce control. Without them, you would struggle to advance your playing,

How to tune up:

• A 10-minute warm-up is usually enough to prepare for efficient playing.
• Each instrument has its specific warm-up practices. For instance, for guitar, you can do the following:

1. Chromatic exercises, such as a 1–2–3–4 pattern on each string.
2. “Spider” exercise: changing strings to improve left–right hand coordination
3. Major and minor scales to warm up both hands.
4. Arpeggios across strings to connect fingerboard positions.

Purchasing the wrong instrument

Choosing your first instrument is a crucial step that also poses several potential areas for mistakes. First, you can pick the instrument you don’t really like. If the sound and feel don’t excite you, you are likely to lose motivation for further exercising.

Another potential error is starting with an instrument that’s hard to master. Although a true passion for the violin can urge you to persevere, some beginners may quickly become frustrated, as the violin is notoriously difficult. It’s reasonable to start with something more straightforward, like a ukulele. This small guitar relative can give you skills and confidence to inspire you for the further journey.

Apart from this, you can also fall into a trap of buying the wrong instrument type. A poor setup or excessively large size may impede your practice.

How to tune up:

• Choose the instrument you are really interested in.
• Prioritize options that are simpler to master, unless the violin or oboe is a dream of your life.
• Seek professional help when selecting an instrument.
• Visit a music store, try instruments, or even take introductory lessons. Professional stores like Everest Music provide all these opportunities as well as comprehensive recommendations from musical experts.

We all make mistakes when learning. These tips are aimed to help you avoid what you can and timely fix the rest. What you need to remember is that music involves a great deal of passion and creativity. If discouraged, give yourself a little break to restore your motivation and joy from what you do.