How should you learn music?
There are no strict rules. The image of the hard discipline to play music is more a myth than reality.
As a start, it doesn’t make sense to learn music without being a music listener.
That is what should give you the envy to start playing music.
The reason why babies start to speak is coming from the desire to communicate after listening to their parents speaking to them.
Learning music should be pushed to the envy to (re) produce a sound that you have in mind, so it starts by knowing what you want to play, usually, a style and an instrument, or simply just a song.
Never lose the fun in the learning process and don’t look for perfection at any stage because it’s the opportunity to give up. Unless you are a famous top player with very high exposure or competing for a prize, you don’t have to play perfectly each note but just the best as you can at the moment you are performing.
It’s primordial to practice, so planning regular practice time is crucial to improve. It has to become a routine if you really want to get better.
The level of fluency you want to have with your instrument dictates the time you have to spend on your instrument.
By fluency I mean, how far you want to master your instrument and music. Do you want to be able to improvise or just play a song/piece you like? how difficult is the song/piece?
This is when a good music teacher is invaluable. And honestly, they are very hard to find. When I look retrospectively at my teaching period, I think I have failed to do teach properly to many of my students.
An important part of my time learning music was by myself but I had also been in schools, both classical and non-classical ones.
I would definitely tell you to find the best musician in the style of music you want to play in your community. There is no point in going to a classical music school if you aim to be a Latin music player. It’s a possible path but it’s going to be a long detour to get to where you want to be.
My best advice is to go to local concerts where they play the style of music you’d like to play and ask the musician in the gig where and how they have learned. Never be afraid to ask, it will save you time and money, and believe me, it will help you to get where you want to be faster than trying to figure it out by yourself.
Ask the right people to find a good teacher, be consistent in your practice, find some other people to play the music, have fun and remember that playing music is not a competition but a way to convey emotions through sound.
One thing that keeps the motivation going on is to see your favorite musician live, it’s the best inspiration you can get.