Just curious if anyone here plays an instrument of any kind, what, for how long, and what style of music?

I've been learning how to play guitar for about 3 years now. Pretty much my whole teen and adult life I kept saying I wanted to learn to play the guitar but it never crossed my mind that I should just go out and buy one.

My wife surprised one year for our anniversary with an Ovation Applause (decent starter guitar) and a nice hard shell case.

Since then it's all been up hill. Taking lessons and learning how to play some good rock songs. Some beginner stuff and mostly 80's stuff that I grew up listening to it's been quite fun and amazing that I can do 2 completly different motions with opposing hands

Any playah's out there Piano, trombone, guitar, trumpet, kazoo, violin, banjo, nose flute ?

Very sadly, no. Completely tone-deaf. And nobody will teach me how to play drums.
My musical ability is limited to the opening chord for Smoke on the Water, and chopsticks.

I am muchos impressed with anybody can play.....anything, actually!

For 6 years I played clarinet. The day I graduated high school I packed it up and never looked back. Now one of my roommates is a musician and plays the piano and sings.....and he's damn good too.

Uhm, I am pretty good at playing the Vagoo.

Played the piano for 12 years, and still counting.

I'm learning that you really don't have to musically gifted to learn to play an instrument. If of course helps shorten the learning curve but in all reality if you're dedicated and apply yourself to practicing regularly, learning is possible

I played piano for 12 yrs, classical. then I played bass for a couple years, metal.

I've played the piano for 5 years (ish) and French horn for 10 years. However, since neither are dorm friendly I only play when I'm at home on break.

Both I'm mostly familiar with classical.

Oh, and I also play handbells, but that's terribly difficult to do by yourself

I've played piano for about 3 and a half years, and right now I'm talking Royal Conservitory I also played the bells for a year, and I would really like to learn to play the drums

I play keyboard a bit and I do a lot of digital music sequencing (such as this theme for my website - that's not me singing, but the music, sequencing, and mixing is all me )

I (also) played French Horn for a good number of years. Like... 8 or something. It was fun sometimes, but too many complications in my life forced me to put it away for a while. So... I haven't touched the thing in like 6 years now. Its still sitting in my basement allong with all my music and crap I think.

Not for nothing, but we do have a music forum that these sorts of threads really should go in...

I play guitar, some bass, some drums, and some piano.

I was wondering why I never see any music posts in A&E..... good call Psion.

Hey, I started music at 5 on piano. I kept that up until my freshmen year of high school, so...9 years I played. I started the trumpet in 5th grade and I continue playing. This is my 8th year(?) playing trumpet. I've also started singing in the Men's Acapella group last year.

psshaw.

I play electric and acoustic guitar. I've been playing for about 5 or 6 years now, and I mainly play punk. I also play classic rock, alternative, grunge, etc. Even country sometimes.

I also sing. That instrument is the microphone. I sing punk and classic rock, alternative, etc. any kind of rock, really.


I used to be able to play the drums. and keyboard.

Blues harmonica for a while, but I really recognize myself as a singer. A cappella all the way.

I played clarinet and later bass clarinet for a combined total of probably 7 years or so. Meh.

Yea putting this post in the Music forum would make sense if I was wanting to get to know a little bit about the folks who post in the music forum but actually I was just curious about the peeps that post here and if any of them play anything.

If on the other hand I want to start asking peeps about music theory or song composition I'll be sure to post it there.. Thanks for not moving this

Guitar since I was 9. I'm now 24
Violin since 12
Cello since 13 (no longer play. At all.)
Upright bass since I was 14
percussion since 14
Piano off and on since I learned how to read music

I play everything. I have a funny standard on music. Music is good if it sounds good on an accoustic guitar without back up. Metallica songs actually fall in that range LOL

- What does it mean when a guitar player is drooling out both sides of his mouth?

*The stage is level.



- Whats the difference between a Violin and a Viola?

* The Viola burns longer!



- Why do cellists stand for long periods outside people's houses?

* They can't find the key and they don't know when to come in!



- What's the difference between a bass and a trampoline?

* You take off your shoes to jump on the trampoline!



- Why are orchestra intermissions limited to 20 minutes?

* So you don't have to retrain the drummers!






...




:o


*Ducks and runs like hell*

DRUMMER JOKES!

What's the difference between a percussionist and a drummer? Percussionists play timpani, snare, chimes, vibes, etc. Drummers hit things.

How do drummers shuffle? Throw all the cards up in the air and then pick them back up.

What do you call a drummer with two brain cells? Pregnant!

The only instrument I master is my voice and I'm pretty good at that. Freakin' good actually.

I played piano from age 5-12. I've been singing for 8 years now, and I'm getting pretty damn good. I do a whole lot of stuff: broadway, jazz, blues, opera and the occasional pop song.

I also played violin for 3 years back in elementary school, but hated it. Unfortunately I gave up as soon as we had paid enough rent on my violin to own it. There's currently a very small, very out of tune violin sitting in our attic.

I started playing piano when I was 5, and quit lesson a couple years ago to do stuff on my own (like songwriting and such.) I'm 18 now, so I've played that for about 13 years.

In middle school band, I played both clarinet and saxophone and sat within the top 5% of all of the musicians for every concert.

In high school I took up the drums, and according to my instructor, after playing for about a year, I'm at the point that he would normally see people reach on 4 or 5.

Guitar, learned that recently too. Mostly self-taught, but I'm still better than people that have played for a long time.

I also sing pretty competently.

So...not to brag, but I just seem to have musical talent. It's my niche in life I suppose.

What do you do with a trumpet player that can't play?

Give 'em two sticks and send him to the back!

What if he still can't play?

Take away one stick and send him to the front!

Yo! Back off the trumpets!

I pick on myself a great deal but, truth be told, I sing a decent bass-baritone. I little off key but if anyone accompanying can atone for it, I do not sound half-bad.



4MM

I've picked at an out-of-tune piano since like age 8. Taught myself sheet music. School forced the recorder on me like a year later. Age 11 I started playing the trumpet, got pretty good. Age 15 the band needed a French Horn player, got to about an 8th grade level by my junior year of high school (2 and a half years after starting).

Started picking up trombone in my senior year. Baritone and tuba when needed for various performances. Pretty much can play any brass instrument.

Thought about playing saxophone my freshman year of college, so I taught myself that too. I suck at it, but I can improv pretty well. The notes just don't come out well.

Also I took advanced music theory in high school, so I play around with that. I like to arrange music, lets me explore ways to change things to suit what I think it should sound like. Started doing that for my high school. It's a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have an entire show developed by fall.

Ha, that reminded me of one of my favorites:


Q: Whats the difference between an orchestra and a bull?

A: On a bull, the horns are in front and the asshole is at the back...






BTW, any oboe or bassoon players here? Those instruments (double reed) are the only things i've ever attempted to play and utterly couldn't.

I do!!

I'm a music major, so yay me.
I play the flute (that's my main instrument) and I sing (soprano, alto, and/or (higher) tenor, whichever!) and I attempt to play piano, with varied success.

So yes, that is me.

And here are my music jokes:
Q. What is a trumpet player's form of birth control?
A.their personalities!
... can also be applied to newfies, laywers, politicians, etc etc etc.

Q. How do flute players greet each other?
A1. Hi! I'm better than you!
A2. Hi! Oh wow, I played that piece in junior high. Are you -just- starting that now?

Q. What is the difference between a soprano and a pit bull?
A. The jewelry

Q. What is the difference between a soprano and a pirhanna?
A. The lipstick

and done.

I only wish I had some musical talent. I can appreciate a good tune, but when it comes to creating music, I can't tell one note from the next. In fact, in a school musical competition, I was told to mime!

Huh.



But it's nice to know that there are still plenty of people out there who are able and interested in playing.

Hey, Jaeda, kudos to you. Seriously for being a music major. I've heard horror stories from a couple friends about their theory classes. So, best of luck with that. But damned woodwinds...In my Wind Ensemble, they're always laughing with the conductor and the clarinets always have some sort of internal feud happening which keeps them from playing together...Now the brass don't care enough to have feuds, so we always play well.

Yeah, there always seems to be more comraderie among brass than woodwinds. The woodwinds tend to complain about each other more too.

My biased opinion.

It's so true. Woodwinds fight internally. Clarinets are quiet but will stab you in the back to move to first chair. Oboes are just indignant and superior. Flutes are catty prima donnas and piccollos are the worst. Bassoons usually only come on their own or pairs and so not a lot of fighting. Saxes of all types are too busy being silly/stupid to fight.

So sayeth the stereotypes, though they tend to be kinda true.

Wow, actually, that's pretty true of my band. Except the saxes in my band are the "perfect" ones. Seriously, they always seem to play the best and they never get lost. But...but! Last year, Trumpets won "Best Section of the Year in Wind Ensemble". Yep, that was an accomplishment.

Yeah, my harmony class makes me want to stab my eyes out. Or better yet, my "prof"s eyes out. She's retarded and can't teach theory at all.

Our band is pretty good. Our director just makes fun of anyone if they're being stupid, and his sharp sarcastic retorts keep us all in line.

I'm doing a double major, actually, with sociology. Music is just an expensive hobby for me. I'm nowhere near good enough to go anywhere professionally with it. Although I'd love to play in Carnegie Hall (hahaha, yeah right!).

And brass players are awesome. Flutes and clarinets are like bitchy girls, always fighting with each other. But the brass are the fun guys that you always want to hang out with.

I play piccolo too... but I try not to let it get to my head

I played piano as a kid. And then Trombone. I used to be great at reading music but I've forgotten all of it.

Now I occasionally play electric guitar, but that's it.

Now, in terms of a Mod, this thread will stay here for a little bit, and then I'll move it to the Music Forum, once people have gotten a chance to look at it. That work?

Works for me...

Speaking of the brass section. I played trombone for 7 years (2 of that bass trombone) and our section minus first chair was the biggest group of screwups in the joint.. but boy did we have fun

Yeah, I've heard that theory kills graduate students.
My high school band played at Carnegie Hall about four years ago! Unfortunately, I wasn't in Wind Ensemble that year so I missed out. But I hear it's fantastic...
And, the brass players? The rumors are all true, we know how to have the most fun.

Yup yup.

Of course, we still have our little quirks. Like trumpets generally being arrogant jerks. Trombones acted like they were high 24/7 (and i'm sure some of them were). Tuba players were like the brain damaged alcoholics of the group. And the horns... we were the mental-disorder bunch. Kind of like a schizo with ADD and a hint of idiot savant.

But we all knew how to have fun, damnit!

You had more than one horn?!? :o

Nah, we had two horns once. Then the other one graduated. But I was friend with all the manic trumpet players, so it was all good.

I played trumpet for a very short while. I had a little skill with it but my band teacher was a total dick, and blamed us trumpets, me specificaly, for us not doing great at a contest. Even though he's the jack ass that didn't get us in tune and that's what we were marked down for. Oh, well. Everyone needs a fall guy I suppose. So anyway I quit because of him, and didn't pick up another instrument until just a couple of years ago, and the one I picked up was called a Dumbek. Unfortunatly it belonged to a friend so I had to go out and buy a small handdrum. I want a Dumbek (basically it's a mid-sized handdrum) or an even larger handdrum. I love the sounds they make.

Other than that, I've been look for a good set of Pan Pipes to pick up but so far no luck. I'll keep up the search though, I'm sure I'll eventually find them.

Drake

Depends on which orchestra I was in actually
School band was either two (highschool) or three (juniorhigh).
In the actual orchestra I played in though - the EYO (Edmonton Youth Orchestra) - we had 8 horns total. Four for each division (senior orch/junior orch), though occasionally we would shuffle people around as the need arose. Getting to play with the senior orchestra was pretty damn cool (if indimidating and extremely difficult!) for us.

Now, at band camp... oh babeee! We had like 20 of us running around, plus teachers. One day we made copies of some 16th century or whatever (all I knew is it was OLD) honest to god hunting-horn music, grabbed a bunch of stands, ran out into the courtyard (this was on a college campus)... and just belted out these hunting tunes for like three hours!
Now that was an experience i'll never forget. We had so many horns playing so loud, you could literally hear the music echoing off distant buildings. Crowds gathered, people stared, and later on we got in shit from other teachers about "making such a racket".
All I know is that felt and sounded so very, very fucking cool.

we're all talented, who knew?

This is the oddest collection of web-comic goers on the web, I believe

Maybe that's why we're such a great community Alt. we're all odd.

Drake

With all the interest shown here, it's surprising that the music forum isn't busier.

I visit the music forum on occassion, but I've most of the discussions are about bands that don't interest me and I don't have a high enough interest, nor knowledge level, to start threads of my own. So I just be quite and stick with a few on going threads. I poke in and out of the other ones, and have even found some decent music that I had never heard of but hell I just need to talk to Psion for that.

Drake

I know. Maybe I'll start some threads over there.

For those of you the band stuff in school and debating which group (brass, woods, etc) had the most fun? You're all wrong. It was the metal heads in the back of the class listening to their own music and making fun of all of you that had the most fun