The music will either happen or it won't. An instrument is only the last link in a long chain. It helps if you like the look and feel of it though...Just do it.

Cheers,
Andy

I have three and a half year old twins. My son Emil enjoys music a lot, he gives me a different reply every time I ask what instrument he would like to play, but my daughter Elisa always replies very matter of fact like "I want to play the Stick".
We'll see what happens when they are old enough to actually play (for the moment they bang on the instruments that are everywhere around our house!).

I also think it's completely possible to learn the Stick as a first intrument. Like the piano in fact. Many saxophonist learned with a recorder before a sax and that is probably a question of money and nothing else.

Thanks for all the responses. I figured it wouldn't be much more difficult than the piano. I guess what I really wanted to know about was the availability of instruction materials -- in particular, whether the existing instruction materials can provide a solid start (without assistance from a private teacher) for someone who doesn't play any other instruments.

I realize that this has already been partially answered...



... but more input would be appreciated.

Note: I wouldn't normally bump a thread that's been inactive for nearly a month unless it was really important, but this one is still in the middle of the first page.

While few in number, the Stick learning materials are quite good. There are several threads here about what are available and you can check the main site at stick.com.

You can get Skype lessons with the top Stick teachers in the world

What I meant was more about how the instrument is extremely new, while this opens up an entire of world of sonic possibilities, that feeling can be incredibly overwhelming to someone who has no knowledge of music, and then very discouraging due to a lack of direction. So without a good teacher this becomes increasingly difficult to know what to do and where to go next. While difficult, far from impossible. It's always good to keep an attitude of "if someone else can do this, there's no reason I can't do the same or similar."

I am curious to know why you would exclude private instruction?

You will learn more with a private instructor in 10 minutes as a new player than an hour with printed materials.

If one were to take 15% of what was paid for the instrument and set that aside for a few months of practice, the learning potential is greatly increased, giving a more solid foundation from which to expand on.

...can't see other possibility as to second and underline this....