[doublewuzzy]

We've spent a lot of time talking about other musicians, but what about YOU? What do you play? How long have you played? What made you start, and why did you choose to play what you do? Tell us!

[Riv]

Okay... I have played flute and piccolo for the past 4 years. To be totally honest, I originally chose flute because it's small and portable, but I've grown to really appreciate it as an instrument. I can play a bit of Irish penny whistle. I'm hoping to learn to play melodica.

[whichtitch]

i play the violin, wish i could play the harp!

[Cosmia]

I play violin terribly, and guitar mediocrely, and ukelele hardly at all. I started playing guitar because I wanted something to sing along to.

I think we should have a 'post your shitty cover versions here' thread.

[whichtitch]

haha yes i agree!

[Wanbli]

Not a skilled musician in the least
My weapon of choice - the Dondo or Odondo aka Talking Drum

[doublewuzzy]

Not a skilled musician in the least
My weapon of choice - the Dondo or Odondo aka Talking Drum

Oh man, we played those when I took West African Music in grad school. SO bizarre... but in a good way. RF should start arranging THAT into the JNew band.

[Jordan~]

I can whistle out of tune! And play Ode to Joy on keyboard.

[ursulabear]

i can play a few things on mandolin ( i am learning slowly), and yarn & Glue on xylophone.

[Becca]

mainly: guitar, oboe (and English horn, if I had one)
to a lesser degree: piano
to an even lesser degree (like really really bad): banjo, cello

I wish there were more hours in the day. I really need to start practicing piano again so I don't suck as much. And I wish I could have kept up with cello, but it hurts my wrist really badly. I freaking looooove cello, though.

[doublewuzzy]

I think we should have a 'post your shitty cover versions here' thread.

I'm on board! Who goes first?

[Ceb]

I've always been obsessed with harps. They're so large and sensitive! (Just how I like my men! )


This is my Lyon and Healy Prelude lever harp... Well, it's not mine, it's a rental... I've had it for a bit over a year. I'm not that great and the music I play on it is definitely not... complex, but the lever harp is a diatonic instrument which kind of inhibits me...unless I were to learn some crazy lever flipping, which celtic harpers do.

I can play a bit of Sawdust and Diamonds... Like a few seconds.

Here's a picture of me playing it for those who missed it in the "I bet you're pretty" thread.

Edit- Later in life, I'll be getting a teacher. This is my last year (for now) with a harp, as I'll be moving and I need every penny I can get. :[

[doublewuzzy]

I thought that soundboard looked a little narrow... lol.

I have played the clarinet for about 16 years and it's what I went to school for/have all my degrees in (along with one in education - sadly there is not much use for classically-trained musicians unless you play the violin, cello, piano, or have a doctorate, and the economy is bad for music teaching as well).
I also play a bunch of other random instruments at varying levels of proficiency, but that was for my degree (flute, oboe, sax, trumpet, horn, trombone, 'cello, guitar - which I am terrible at - and I took a couple voice lessons once).
I started learning piano about 7 years ago but was pretty bad; I still don't know proper technique and stuff because most of the skill I developed was from playing Joanna Newsom songs.
I've played harp for about 4 years as well, and it's definitely may favorite over anything else, but it helped that I had a really great teacher.
I also own a bunch of random things, like 4 recorders, an accordion I don't know how to play, and a melodica. Hopefully getting a uke soon...

[aerinha]

Just the pianner, for about 23 years! However, I am no genius--I stopped taking lessons in high school. I can sight-read music pretty well though.

[Becca]

Doublewuzzy, feel like you can truly understand the plight of a music major in terms of actually doing something with the degree. I get really irritated when people go "well, can't you like, teach or something?" Do you know how many oboe students there are in any given town? Seems like the best bet would be to continue to doctoral level and teach in a university, but that has never particularly appealed to me. Are your degrees in performance and education, then? I have toyed with the idea of going back to school in any variety of things, including music. And I know that would be about the least practical thing I could possibly do but it's the only thing I have any background knowledge in, and it'd be cool to get a higher level degree just to have one. But then I would have spent a bunch of time and money to probably be in the same stupid place I am now.

But yeah...I'd love to be able to get back to that and piano...and also learn harp...and accordion!!! And I kinda feel like it'd be useful for me to learn the other woodwinds. I was able to acquire a cheap sax that I was learning for a while, but I really effing hate the saxophone. Always have. But I wouldn't mind learning clarinet and maybe flute. I played clarinet for like a week in high school when I almost joined the marching band, but I ended up opting out b/c I was worried it was messing with my oboe embouchure. I dunno. It felt wayyy more natural to me than sax ever did, though. I would loooooove to learn bassoon but those are a little more difficult to acquire. I wonder how transferable oboe skills would be to bassoon? I mean, they're both double reeds...I got to play a BASS OBOE once and it was AWESOME!!! Thing was as big as me (I'm super tiny, btw--might have something to do with why saxophone felt so much more awkward to me than clarinet).

[doublewuzzy]

I got to play a BASS OBOE once and it was AWESOME!!! Thing was as big as me (I'm super tiny, btw--might have something to do with why saxophone felt so much more awkward to me than clarinet).

I've seen a Heckelphone before. I was touring around with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra like four years ago and we played three pieces that used it - oboe fingerings, bassoon reed. As for going between oboe and bassoon, the switch shouldn't be difficult at all. It's probably easier, in some respects - you never hear bassoonists complaining about reeds.

As far as degrees go, it's pretty much a losing battle, I think: you finish one and want to delay the real world as long as possible, so you go and get another... and then another... until you're a doctor! That doesn't appeal to me anymore, though it once did. All my degrees are in performance but I doubled up with a bachelor's in music education. I took all my certification tests and everything, so I can legally teach in New York, but with the economy as bad as it is, people aren't leaving their jobs. A lot of performance majors do education as a back-up, but even now that doesn't work - it's practically just as hard to get a teaching job now as it is to really use a performance degree. I'm substitute teaching and holding my breath for something to open up SOMEday.

I guess it also depends what you make of it. If you accept that you won't be a touring soloist or the principal player in a major orchestra (not every singer-songwriter can be as successful as Joanna Newsom, for analogy's sake), you can make something out of it. I don't necessarily regret what I did - I had a really good education, and I enjoyed it - but it's tough to make some things work in the real world. ESPECIALLY now.

[claire]

I've played piano since I was a small child, with varying degrees of seriousness. Took lessons from ages 8-13 and then one semester in college. I started playing guitar at 14 but was never any good at it. I did teach myself to finger pick in college, but now I almost never play since I realized I'm actually good at piano and concentrated my efforts in that direction.

I also studied cello for two years in elementary school but quit because I didn't like my teacher. I think I will always regret this.

[Kevdo]

Compared to most "forums" there seems to be a lot of variety in instruments here, not so common ones at that - It's good to see!

I've recently (in the last 9 months or so) started playing the ukulele. It's a frickin' lovely wee instrument and such a joy to play. I just started palying it again after a few months of "downtime" and just realised how much I missed playing it. Just been covering a few songs (not very well) but having fun is the main thing.

Oh Claire, I'll need to check out your MySpace at some point again, I'm sure you've got much more material since last time I checked.

[Kevdo]

Well I might as well post a video, eh? Was listening to M. Wards "Fuel For Fire" this morning and thought I'd give it a shot. Still strugling at the chorus as the playing and singing puts me off! argh!.. anyway...

M. Ward - Fuel For Fire (ukulele cover)

(still learning)

Edit: Changed video.

[polliwog]

I mentioned earlier in one of the threads that I had given my uke to my granddaughter last year. I finally got to where I couldn't stand not having one, so today I ordered a Lanikai LU-21B Baritone, like the one above, from Amazon. It should arrive in a week or two. I can hardly wait!