<p>Hi, I've been playing violin since 1st grade (so about 12 yrs) and I really want to learn piano. Anyone have any experiences with learning a second instrument? I am pretty good at the violin and I can play songs by ear. But, the hardest part of piano I can think of is playing with 2 hands... and thinking about 2 sets of notes/chords.</p>
<p>How hard/easy will it be? Basically, I want to be able to jam out on the piano for fun and still sound good.</p>
<p>As someone who personally started off playing piano when she was younger and started learning violin in middle school, I would say that it would be hard in some areas and easier on others. You would need to know bass clef notes for your left hand, how to be able to time both your hands together according to the music, and the chords/intervals. Obviously some of the stuff such as flats, sharps, etc still apply to piano music, so you would probably be able to read the music alright.</p>
<p>Learning piano may be a little difficult for you since it is a different feel than the violin, but since you know the treble clef notes, I say you have part of it down. As long as you keep working at it, you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>Having a decent knowledge of music theory also makes it a lot easier (e.g. already knowing how to read bass clef well). The rest is just instruction and practice.</p>
<p>Living in a house of string players who took up piano as a second “fun” instrument - it will be easier than it would be for a nonviolinist. Your brain is already used to sending different signals to each of your hands (fingers and bow) so some of those neural pathways are already in place. </p>
<p>Obviously, you can use whatever strategies work for you as a violinist - do you find that listening to a piece makes it easier to learn, for example? One technique that my kids piano teacher used was to have them learn each hand separately and practice it alone until it was fluent…and only then to try to put both hands together.</p>
<p>Does ukelele count? if not no, I don’t have experience with a second instrument haha</p>