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All-purpose musical instruments thread

KC Jan 08 2006 03:56 PM

I'm re-teaching myself to play the guitar ... correctly this time. I dabbled in and out of the guitar as a yute, even had an ax that I would kill to have back now, but now I'm going to learn the right way. KB bought me a DVD guitar course for xmas and I recently picked up a second acoustic guitar from the Musicians Friend website that just has some really sick post-holiday prices on some stuff. I find it very relaxing practicing chromatic scales that would bore the hell out of a young kid trying to learn to play. After a week or so, I did what every kid did in the 70's I re-explored the beginning to Stairway to Heaven with only one or two muffs and now I used the right fingers and kept my thumb behind the neck the whole time. "Does anybody remember laughter?" Who here plays something?

ScarletKnight41 Jan 08 2006 04:00 PM

I played the piano, under duress. My parents went out and bought a baby grand, and then announced that my brother and I would have to learn to play it. I never progressed very far. The good news is that a few years ago they were able to convert the baby grand into a play piano, so at least the thing gets some use now.

KC Jan 08 2006 04:08 PM

I have a dusty Yamaha keyboard that I'm going to break out too this week, but I didn't want to go off too much in my initial post. I think I'm knocking on mid-life crisis' door.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 08 2006 04:09 PM

I have a bunch of instruments that I suck at equally. I've played guitars in lousy bands for years and have progressed over the years a little, but I've never properly tried to learn the thing and it shows. I've been listening to a lot of country and country-inspired inspired music the last six or eight years and been playing old country songs with a friend of mine, so I finally broke down and bought a 5-string banjo and an F-style mandolin last year (from Musician's Friend!) that I can now butcher, as well. I like the mandolin and am getting better at that. Banjo, not so much. How's that DVD? Edit: I went off too much in my first post for you. And for that, you're welcome.

KC Jan 08 2006 04:14 PM

It's cool. I never took a music lesson in my life. I taught myself as a teen- ager to play stuff, like the beginning to Stairway to Heaven, from books and stuff but starting from scratch and breaking old habits is fun and interesting to me. This is the course

MFS62 Jan 08 2006 04:47 PM

Cello when I was a kid. Was asked to try out for the Westchester Symphony Orchestra when I was 14. But I couldn't handle the daily commute from Queens to Mount Vernon by public transportation. Then I discovered girls, a very nice way to occupy my time, and much more fun "practicing". Later

seawolf17 Jan 08 2006 05:02 PM

Violin and piano as a kid, picked up guitar when I started singing with a band in high school. I almost never play anymore, but I have a "studio" set up in our spare room in the basement with my keyboard set up, music all over the place, and my electric guitar on a stand. Acoustic is in the case right now. I think I'll noodle around a little tonight.

Iubitul Jan 08 2006 05:02 PM

I always played a mean air guitar... My oldest plays the drums well enough to be the second percussionist in the all-state concert band. Last year they even played at Lincoln Center...

Johnny Dickshot Jan 08 2006 05:08 PM

I played trombone until my junior year of college. Never progressed beyond being 'OK' -- I always got good sound, but didn't like to practice. Picked up the baritone in college and realized how hard the t-bone was comparitively. I regret now that I told Mom to give my horn away rather than store it in my apartment. Ms. Dickshot is a terrible trumpet player, but she has a horn at least.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 08 2006 05:25 PM

If we're talking kids, my oldest plays the clarinet very nicely. My middle guy is in his third year of playing the trumpet, and those skills are transferable to the Shofar - he rang in the Jewish New Year in style this past fall.

Farmer Ted Jan 08 2006 07:11 PM

I took a basic bagpipe course when I was still living in NYC. I can't play a lick, though. So, I took two harmonica classes recently and can play a few easy tunes. Looks like we have enough talent for a shitty garage band.

Edgy DC Jan 08 2006 07:35 PM

I play guitar... poorly. Mandolin... worse. Harmonica... painfully. Piano... abusively. I sung a solo at church today, though.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 08 2006 10:55 PM

I started with the school band, too. For me it was the alto sax in the 6th grade. I played that through 10th grade and would like to blame marching band for my social ineptitude, but I'd just be lying. I love picking up used instruments on the cheap that I have no idea what to do with. The first thing I did when I moved to California was buy a ukulele and I tried to learn "Tonight You Belong To Me" as performed by Navin R. Johnson and Marie Kimball Johnson in "The Jerk", but that's no easy tune to play. I've picked up through various joints these used instruments, too: Accordion (fun and difficult) Glockenspiel (a big xylophone) various percussion (bongos, wood blocks, egg shakers, triangles, etc.) Violin (Very, very difficult. I wanted to learn some of the fiddle arrangements from "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", but even stringing it and tuning it was really hard. The violin won). I've also got on loan a cheap lapsteel, but haven't even cracked it yet. The CPF band needs a bass player. We've got a a brass section and guitar players all over. A ska band? Archer's boy can play the drums, but we won't be able to get him into bars for gigs. Someone might have to switch for the good of the team. Look's like Edgy's up front... Edit: Slugger was a geetar player, I recall. He hasn't showed his face, has he?

seawolf17 Jan 08 2006 11:05 PM

Bass players and drummers are impossible to find. We made my friend buy a bass and start playing. Not that he was a bad guitar player; he was good. But he hated soloing anyway, so it made more sense for him to switch. We went with the standard singer-guitar-bass-drums for a bit, until my guitarist could teach me enough chords to play a little rhythm while I sang. Similarly, I interviewed a kid at a private boarding high school in CT this fall who played bass; he and his friend the drummer were in about fifteen different bands at school, because they were the only people on campus who played their respective instruments.

Rockin' Doc Jan 09 2006 12:07 AM

My lack of artistic talent is surpassed only by my total lack of musical ability. I'm decent with electronics, so I volunteer to run the sound board for the CPF "house band."

Methead Jan 09 2006 09:09 AM

I played the trombone too, From 4th grade all the way through the end of high school. Didn't touch it for a couple years, but got back into it in college jazz band. I was always a good player... I guess it came easy. To me it was like "music-by-numbers". I learned notes, but it was real easy to think in terms of 4-3-2-5-2-3 when figuring out something a little more difficult. I hate that musical education a lot of times consists of practicing scales... and reading music... but they never really connect the two. The thing I learned by playing in the jazz band was how much the scales would have helped me to improvise. Anyway, I still have both of my horns... the original, bought used from a teacher who lived in the neighborhood, and the upgrade I got in 7th grade with the F-attachment. Haven't touched 'em since college though.

Vic Sage Jan 09 2006 02:09 PM

My brother had played clarinet in school, and we still had one in the house, so when it was my turn to choose a band instrument, i was told by my mother to pick the clarinet, so she wouldn't have to buy something else. I played clarinet from 4th grade thru 9th grade, at which point it dawned on me how uncool the clarinet was. The clarinet was a girl's instrument. All the boys played either trumpet or sax. To keep me from quitting, my teacher got me playing the BASS Clarinet, which is a big-ass instrument, similar to a Baritone Sax. This phase of my musical career culminated in a performance at Carnegie Hall with all the all-city orchestra. The chart for bass clarinet is rather limited, which meant i had alot of 4-measure rests to count off. But i did have a 1-measure solo at one point... so there. I tried to switch to guitar lessons, but mom wasn't coughing up for those. Instead, she forced piano lessons on me from ages 8-12, but I never practiced. Eventually, however, i learned enough music theory in HS to figure out how to sight-read adequately (using the guitar chords for my left hand), and i've retained a passing interest over the years in noodling out old showtunes and standards on a piece-of-crap upright. I don't play in mixed company, but i'll sit down once in a while when i'm home alone and pull out a fake book, playing EBB TIDE, MY FUNNY VALENTINE, AUTUMN IN NY, and the like. I've tried to teach myself guitar, but my student is lazy and untalented. At this point, i can pluck out "suicide is painless" and "smoke on the water", but what's the point? My chance to be that cool kid playing guitar out behind the school, with the long-haired hippee-chicks looking on lovingly, has come and gone.

sharpie Jan 09 2006 02:50 PM

Clarinet abysmally in grade school. Took guitar lessons in junior high but never got any good. Played drums for various musician friends but not terribly well. Still, I thought I was okay. Then, my son wanted to play drums. We bought a drumset which I would've really wanted at his age. Well, I sat down behind the kit and I can't play for shit anymore. My son has given up on it, too. It sits in the basement, mocking us.

Edgy DC Jan 09 2006 02:55 PM

Kids, we've got a bassist and drummer.

Zvon Jan 09 2006 10:50 PM

I play a Dean acoustic electric Performer QSE. Before that I had a real nice old Epiphone acoustic but I abused that with stickers and trips to the beach.

TheOldMole Jan 09 2006 11:16 PM

Have a Gibson Epiphone acoustic guitar and an Iida banjo (like Iubitul, that's a capital I). Don't play either of them too much any more, but in the last few days I've had them out. Then I have this magnificent family heirloom, a square grand piano, no manufacturer's name on it, probably made in the 1860s or 70s.

Willets Point Jan 10 2006 01:45 PM

Harmonica and vocals here. Have a banjo I never learned to play too.

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 01:54 PM

We have a band. We just need a setlist of playable songs. Strong but uncomplex horn lines and minimal guitar leads. "Knock on Wood." "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" "Some Day" "Tears of a Clown" "Meet the Mets" When the horns are ready for some serious phrasing, we'll move on to "Bitch," "Jive Talkin'" and "Twenty Five or Six to Four."

MFS62 Jan 10 2006 02:17 PM

The guys in Chicago call themselves "A Rock and Roll Band with horns" Plenty of horn parts in their songs. If you're looking for a "modern" song that is played by a full orchestra with lots of horn parts, one of the best examples is their "If You Leave Me Now" - one of my favorite songs. Later

Johnny Dickshot Jan 10 2006 02:41 PM

I shall not participate in a band that plays "If You Leave Me Now."

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 03:05 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 10 2006 03:56 PM

Johnny Dickshot: "I shall not participate in a band that plays 'If You Leave Me Now'." Band: "That's cool. You can sit that one out. Take a break and all." Johnny: "You're not hearing me. I did not say 'I shall not partcipate in the song. I shall not participate in a band that plays 'If You Leave Me Now'. Band: "But... I don't...." Johnny: "Goodbye, my friends. May Satan have mercy on your souls." Agreed. The world will be spared my soaring Cetera-esque reading.. Chicago may be a "rock 'n' roll band with horns" but that is not a "rock 'n' roll song with horns." I thought I heard Satan laughing when I nominated "25 or Six..."

MFS62 Jan 10 2006 03:18 PM

It may not be rock, but those songs do have parts for the horn players in our midst. Just a suggestion, trying to be helpful. You didn't specify that it was a rock band. Later

KC Jan 10 2006 03:43 PM

If you leave me now I'll hunt you down and go on a killing spree Ooooooo, no baby please don't go

cooby Jan 10 2006 03:49 PM

I like Chicago, but I gotta admit that song is bad

sharpie Jan 10 2006 03:58 PM

As the drummer, I must insist that, if we have to play Chicago songs, we play Make Me Smile so I can do my solo.

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 04:15 PM

Can you do that solo? Or better, do you have your own original read on it?

sharpie Jan 10 2006 04:26 PM

No, I can't do it so yes I have my own original read on it.

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 04:29 PM

In my mind, we so rock.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 10 2006 04:34 PM

If you need a lead singer, my daughter has an incredible voice.

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 04:41 PM

Oh, dear. They're looking to replace me on day three. That's almost as bad as the last band I was in.

sharpie Jan 10 2006 04:44 PM

No kids. This is an adult-only band (my son is a better drummer than I am at this point).

seawolf17 Jan 10 2006 04:45 PM

S'okay, Edge. She's not technically a member of the board, so you and me and the rest of our singers are safe.

Edgy DC Jan 10 2006 04:56 PM

Phew. Then it's Wolfie, Point, and Me. Hopefully one of us sings low.

Willets Point Jan 10 2006 04:57 PM

I'm a bass. If we sing Four Seasons songs you can take the Frankie Valley parts and I'll take the guy who sings "Sherry baby" in the background.

Zvon Jan 10 2006 10:18 PM

Edgy DC wrote: .... we'll move on to "Bitch," "Jive Talkin'" and "Twenty Five or Six to Four." If i pass the audition we add "When Im Sixty Four". "If You leave Me Now", as syruppy as it may be, was a great ballad. Maybe it helps if you just went thru a breakup at the time. Loved that song, and it was one of the 1st solos I ever tried to tackle, mostly due to its kindergarten quality.

Lundy Jan 11 2006 09:04 AM

I played the tenor, alto, and bari sax while in high school. I also took piano lessons when I was a youngster. My experiences with the piano are roughly the same as Scarlet Knight's.

Edgy DC Jan 11 2006 09:26 AM

Our horn section just got tighter. Do you still have a horn? Are ye' in practice?

holychicken Jan 11 2006 09:32 AM

My dad is a music lover and he and my mother agreed that teaching the children music was a very valuable skill. The first day I sat at the piano and played it on my own they got me into lessons. So I am a fairly "accomplished" classical pianist. . . however, I am rusty as hell now because it is hard to have a piano in a small apartment. On top of that, i don't have that much money so can't afford one anyway. But I will once I can. :) I also played the oboe, but dropped that quickly. I played jazz saxaphone throughout highschool and college. . .mainly alto, but I played some tenor when it was necessary and played a soprano for a version of Take Five I played the band I was in during HS/college. I played bass mainly in the above mentioned band. The band lost their bass player and drummer for a weekend (when I was a junior in HS) when they were supposed to play in a show. So the night before they asked me to learn the bass. . . never touched a string instrument in my life before that. 15 hours and 6 bloody fingers later, I played in a show. Needless to say, it was a mess. But I bought a bass and played with them after that. Still play it from time to time now. Recently, however, I have turned the the darkside. I bought some tunrtables and have been spinning and scratchin. Much easier to do in an apartment where you don't want to annoy the neighbors. Just pop on the headphones and go into another world. I love music.

Lundy Jan 11 2006 10:11 AM

Unfortunately, no sax since high school. I'm not horny.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 31 2006 03:17 AM

JG and pal Iggy Riley put guitars, banjos, mandolins, harmonicas, and various Class B narcotics into play butchering Charley Pride's [url=http://www.chingonrecords.com/mp3s/SanAntone.mp3]Anyone Goin' To San Antone?[/url] in some not-quite-seedy Phoenix, Arizona hotel room. Anybody else have some stuff to share?

Edgy DC Jan 31 2006 08:45 AM

Holy straight-to-my-hard-drive!

seawolf17 Jan 31 2006 09:16 AM

Zvon posted an mp3 of himself in my Miniwolf Music Library thread. I have two original song mp3s of my high school band, but I hate the way they sound, because we recorded them on the cheap. I'd love to re-record them and really do it right: harmonies, an extra guitar line or two, John Popper on harmonica instead of me, stuff like that.

Edgy DC Jan 31 2006 09:23 AM

Ah, come on. Seo's song needs an instrumental break, more bite in the harmonies, and --- not immaterial here --- much more cowbell. But it's got heart, and he laid it out bare for all to see. Post your songs NOW!!!!

Edgy DC Jan 31 2006 01:17 PM

http://www.learntoloveguitar.com/

Johnny Dickshot Jan 31 2006 01:53 PM

Who's on lead vocals? Seo or Iggy?

Zvon Jan 31 2006 04:38 PM

="A Boy Named Seo"]JG and pal Iggy Riley put guitars, banjos, mandolins, harmonicas, and various Class B narcotics into play butchering Charley Pride's [url=http://www.chingonrecords.com/mp3s/SanAntone.mp3]Anyone Goin' To San Antone?[/url] in some not-quite-seedy Phoenix, Arizona hotel room. Anybody else have some stuff to share? that is EXCELLENT Seo!! Love those harmonies! :) I have plenty of stuff but I have to find a better way to share it here. How do you make it so the song is just a link like that?

Willets Point Jan 31 2006 04:40 PM

Anyone know how to convert a cassette tape recording to a computer file?

Frayed Knot Jan 31 2006 04:52 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Who's on lead vocals? Seo or Iggy? Must be Seo, because as everyone knows ... (wait for it) IGGY PLAYED ... GUITAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!

Edgy DC Jan 31 2006 05:05 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 31 2006 05:11 PM

Sing with A Boy Named Seo Rain dripping off the brim of my hat It sure is cold today An' here I am a-walkin' down Sixty-Six Wish she hadn't done me that way Sleeping under a table in a roadside park A man could wake up dead But it sure seems warmer than it did Sleeping in our king size bed Is anybody going to San Antone? Or Phoenix, Arizona? Any place is all right as long as I Can forget I've ever known her Wind whippin down the neck of my shirt Like I aint got nothin' on But I'd rather fight the wind and rain Than what I been fightin' at home Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. Mail People writin' letters back home Tomorrow she'll probably want me back But I'll be just as gone Is anybody going to San Antone? Or Phoenix, Arizona? Any place is all right as long as I? Can forget I've ever known her?

Zvon Jan 31 2006 05:11 PM

Willets Point wrote: Anyone know how to convert a cassette tape recording to a computer file? LMAO....fray slays. This, I can do. Theres afew ways, the easiest being you get a patch cord that will enable you to hook your cassette player up to the PC. Usually a double speaker type jack to a small stereo headphone jack. Out from the cassette deck to the line in or mic jack(some have both) on PC. If you get it right, the cassette player should play thru your desk top and then you can use your standard windows recorder (in accessories) to record it to the drive. Its a crude way to do it, but takes minimum necessities. I have this program called CoolEditPro 2.1 that i use to record. But i still hook up the cassette deck the same way.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 31 2006 10:21 PM

Iggy was singing lead and trying out the banjo for the first time. I was assisting on vocals and learning mandolin on the spot. We do need all that stuff Edgy said, especially the cowbell, but what song couldn't use some cowbell. Very imperfect, but it was fun to make and it cuts me up everytime I listen to it. Zvon, as for the link thing, I just uploaded the song to my webserver. If you need me to a host something for you, PM we and we can hook it up. Edgy, that learn the guitar site looks pretty well put together. Is that something you use, or just stumbled on now?

Edgy DC Feb 01 2006 08:44 AM

Just stumbled on last night.

soupcan Feb 01 2006 09:08 AM

Zvon wrote: Theres afew ways, the easiest being you get a patch cord that will enable you to hook your cassette player up to the PC. Usually a double speaker type jack to a small stereo headphone jack. Out from the cassette deck to the line in or mic jack(some have both) on PC. If you get it right, the cassette player should play thru your desk top and then you can use your standard windows recorder (in accessories) to record it to the drive. Its a crude way to do it, but takes minimum necessities. I have this program called CoolEditPro 2.1 that i use to record. But i still hook up the cassette deck the same way. Wow, sounds great I'm gonna try it. Guess what though? I don't think I even HAVE a casette player anymore!

cooby Feb 01 2006 09:11 AM

Kinda off subject, but I saw an article in Newsweek suggesting that you can make an automatic cat feeding device with your old VCR

soupcan Feb 01 2006 09:54 AM

cooby wrote: Kinda off subject, but I saw an article in Newsweek suggesting that you can make an automatic cat feeding device with your old VCR Yeah just kinda.

cooby Feb 01 2006 10:14 AM

Na uh, they are both recording devices recycled for another use!

Zvon Feb 01 2006 02:57 PM

="A Boy Named Seo"] We do need all that stuff Edgy said, especially the cowbell, but what song couldn't use some cowbell. Zvon, as for the link thing, I just uploaded the song to my webserver. If you need me to a host something for you, PM we and we can hook it up. agreed: ....and I might take you up on that Seo. Thanks for the offer.

Zvon Feb 01 2006 03:02 PM

HAHAHA... I actually found the sketch. I'm Bruce Dickinson. Yes, THE Bruce Dickinson. The song is great, but it could use more cowbell. Guess what... I got a fever. And the only prescription, is more cowbell. http://www.devilducky.com/media/12491/

KC Feb 13 2006 04:45 PM

Any guitar players have any input on electric guitars under three hundred dollars. I've been shopping and googling ... I keep getting drawn to this in black and would like to make a decision soon. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=518661

Zvon Feb 13 2006 06:03 PM

My experience is you cant go wrong with an Epiphone. Electric or acoustic.