Lots of Guitarists - Any Other Instrumentalists on Here?

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?

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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 :grinning:

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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.

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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).

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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. :smile:

@andrew and our sister are definitely the musicians in the family.

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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.

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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

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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!!

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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 :blush:.

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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)?

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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!

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40 years of drumming here!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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This just arrived on Saturday. Planning on learning blues slide guitar on it. So far I suck, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

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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.

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That’s good to hear! In person is always best, but sometimes you do what you gotta do.

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