Maybe you don't have time to travel to a music teacher's studio every week, or perhaps you just want a little extra help at home. Use tutorials from the BBC.
You can find anything on the internet these days, including virtual music lessons for a wide variety of instruments. Whether you want tips for perfecting your bowing technique, information on how often to tune your piano or where to find a paying gig, the BBC's Play It Again section on their website offers a little help for both the beginner and advanced musician.
Organized by orchestral family (strings, brass, winds, keyboards, etc.), tips on most of the major instruments are available on the site. In addition to text-based material, video clips are also included (though the clips were not working for me when I visited the site). Even if you can't access the video clips, several useful tips are still available. Especially helpful for beginners or those who simply want to find out a little more about a particular instrument, Play It Again offers advice on everything from the electric guitar to the organ.
For those aspiring musicians who want to take their skills a bit farther, Play It Again also offers several links to music organizations and orchestras, in case you want to join an ensemble, find a paying gig or attend a symphony performance (although these links will be most useful for UK residents).
And above all, don't forget to visit the colorful, kid-friendly Guide to the Orchestra and listen to clips of music by Leonard Bernstein, Beethoven, Elgar and Stravinsky.
