I taught myself clarinet over the holidays before 6th grade, and was a year behind. A year later, I was the best in the group. Now, I'm the best in the school.
I didn't find it all that hard to learn, though I've had the added advantage of excellent sight-reading skills and years of music experience prior. I think the hardest thing is actually getting the sound out of it when you start, depending on what reed you start on.
My friend (who plays percussion) was trying to learn when we were leaders on music camp. You have
no idea how funny it was to watch him get the basic notes... the teachers here start us off on a size 1 or 1 and a half reed. I'm using a 3 and a half, and it was a new one. Even
I was having problems getting a note out to start!
