STUDYING AN INSTRUMENT AT HOME
Studying to play a musical instrument at home can be an exceptionally rewarding experience. It can also, if managed badly, be stultifying and frustrating. It IS possible to achieve amazing results on your own, but it is always advisable to have a music teacher. You will probably visit your teacher once or twice a week (or he/she will come to you) but you will have to plan your study routine carefully.
There will be the inevitable scales, theory, set pieces and familiarisation exercises to deal with, and you should be rigorous in your execution of these. If you have to learn a scale, then practise and practise until you can play the scale in rote fashion, but ALWAYS remember that you have to be reading it from a score whilst practising, and NOT recalling it from memory.
So, having stressed that careful, disciplined study and practice are essential in learning your instrument, there are a few do's and dont's to consider. Don't let constant repetition dull your enthusiasm if you are working on something you find particularly difficult. Give it your best shot, then leave it and come back to it. When you approach the problem again afresh (it may only be 10 minutes) you'll be surprised how your mind will have overcome some of the issues you were experiencing previously. So, don't overkill a problem by bashing away at it. Give it your best, and come back to it later. Turn your study time to another exercise.
If you are really keen, you probably have a 'party piece' that's really quite beyond your playing ability, but which you'd like to try and master 'in between' serious study and lessons. It's fine to do this, but remember that the piece you are trying to master will be achievable if you study properly anyway.
Most importantly, learning a musical instrument has to be fun. If you don't find it fun you will never accomplish your ambition. If your practice session gets to be particularly frustrating, then go and read a chapter of your favourite book, and then come back and face the music!