So, I noticed in another thread that there a lot of guitarists amongst our community. I play guitar and uke, but I’m classically trained in piano. I’m curious. What other instruments do y’all play?
I played clarinet in high school… Well, “played” is a bit of an overstatement. Dabbled with piano in college and now guitar. I’m much better at listening to music than playing though
I played trombone in high school and piano my entire life. I don’t have a piano in the house right now and it kills me. It has pushed me to play more guitar which has been a plus.
I’ve been known to play piano. We have a nice, antique, Steinway concert grand (I have a picture somewhere, I’ll dig it up, since it’s currently in storage) with keys from when you got ivory or nothing.
Well, I say “play” piano …
I have been described as a ten-thumbed, tone-deaf, talentless, noise-polluter*.
But only by those that have heard me …
We’ve had a few visiting piano luminaries tinkle its ivories though, as part of little charity things we’ve hosted. They’re much more impressive with the thing than I am!
(*I’m not really tone-deaf … but I might well resemble the ten-thumbed, talentless, noise-polluting claims).
I played the snare drum when I was in the 6th grade band class.
Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to play the full kit until we mastered the snare and I quickly lost interest.
Beyond that I can play some sweet tunes on the recorder.
@andrew and our sister are definitely the musicians in the family.
Guitar and piano here. A long time ago in college I played tenor and baritone sax, but I don’t think I could get any sound out of one any more.
I should add that I sold the trombone to pay rent during my first semester of college. My parents told me I would regret it, but I have definitely not missed the trombone
Euphonium/Baritone in concert and marching bands in high school and college. Trombone for jazz band in high school.
I don’t have the horns anymore, but we did purchase a piano for my daughter when she started lessons. I’ve been trying to self-teach to see if it can hold my interest before paying for lessons. So far so good!!
I played violin for about a year or so when I was 10 years-old which I stopped playing when my family relocated to a new area since I disliked the new violin teacher (she was an old lady that wouldn’t even play herself to demonstrate what she was talking about which makes learning very difficult). A teacher can make a huge impact on whether or not something is enjoyable to learn and that lady killed my passion for the violin by making it a chore.
Well, it turns out my passion for creating music didn’t completely die since now (26 years later) I’ve recently purchased a violin and started learning again from scratch; apparently playing the violin is not like riding a bicycle since I’m completely horrible and have retained zero muscle memory .
LOL, @Andrew! I never played the trombone, but I found good humour in my peers who used their trombone to make foghorn noises. (In the traditional high school band setting, I much preferred the saxophone and the vibraphone.)
Andrew, have you ever found yourself playing your guitar into front of a piano (before you found yourself piano-less)?
I totally agree with you, man; a teacher has the potential to either make you love something or hate it. That said, congratulations on rekindling your relationship with the violin as an adult!
40 years of drumming here!
At the risk of resurrecting an old thread (Is that even a sin anyway?), I’m a banjoist for my family’s band. I’ve been playing since 13, so about 11 years (I’m 24). Any other bluegrassers/bluegrass lovers here?
I like distinct and authentic music in most genres. I’m not a fan of corporate bland music or average predictability (either coming from Los Angeles or Nashville). Per other comments, I think you are underestimating the reach of folk/bluegrass. The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) brought the genre back and spread its influence. Alison Krauss has long been mainstream too.
I bought a Deering Banjolele some time ago, but it was damaged badly in shipment (i.e., broken neck). I returned it and never learned to play.
I used to own a mandolin, but the doubled strings and short scale murdered my newbie fingers. I’d try another model with a wider neck in the future.
I totally agree with you on your musical tastes. I absolutely hate what Big Music has done to real music…
I do tend to underestimate the reach of bluegrass, I’m sorry…and YES, that movie did a LOT for the genre!
That’s really cool, but I am sorry that it got damaged…that really sucks! Yeah, I totally get that! Building callouses aren’t fun. At. All.
This just arrived on Saturday. Planning on learning blues slide guitar on it. So far I suck, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
So, how’s this going after a few days at it?
It’s going alright, just slow. I’m getting more comfortable muting behind the slide and moving it around the fretboard without a bunch of noise. Right hand muting is still really difficult. I like playing in open D tuning though, stuff sounds better overall. I’m using resources online, but need to get lessons. Problem is, nobody around here plays what I want to play, and I don’t want to hire a guitar instructor who has no specific experience playing slide. I’ve identified an online instructor who I’ll probably go with, but in person would be preferable. I’m optimistic though.
That’s good to hear! In person is always best, but sometimes you do what you gotta do.