Instruments

What instruments does everyone here play? What do you want to learn?

I've played piano/keyboard for at least 10 years now, but the last 2 or so have been very sparse as I've had other commitments. I really wish I had continued lessons when I moved, but I never got around to sorting that out. :( I'm hoping that I'll pick it up again over the summer, but lessons will cost too much now so I'll have to get back into it myself. I alwayas amaze myself when I can still remember how to parts play of some songs that I learned years ago!

I also play drums, that'll be almost 6 years on and off now, with the last year off :P. I wanted to start younger but my mum booked me violin lessons instead, which I hated and gave up after less than a year. ¬_¬ I haven't played much lately because I don't have the confidence (or time) for playing them in my house, but I still love them. Not to mention I had to pack them away to make room for my bookshelves...

If I were to take up another instrument it would be the acoustic guitar. That said, after taking the violin I know how much stringed instruments can hurt the fingers and I'm not looking to build up calluses on my hands... Perhaps I'll just play the melodica again if I find a cheapish new one (played it for almost year in music class in primary school until we had to move on to other things).

The clarinet?? We were taught the recorder briefly here, but thats a hole different bag of cats! :P

I've got rather small hands too (according to the tape measure here my full handspan is 7 and a half inches, although I do have very flexible thumbs), but they've always been quite nimbleand again, flexible.

One thing I forgot to say about the piano: I much prefer playing the piano over the keyboard! It's just the way the keys move and feel that gets me going... Ahh.. I miss having a piano around the house...

Played piano from the age of 4 till about 18 regularly, although not much now - anything from classical to jazz to rock. Gave up at the end of school, mainly because I'd got bored of it.

Started playing around with guitars at about 14 - 8/9 years now - started learning a few chords on mum's old classical guitar, got a cheap bass a year or so later to do my mate a favour for his band and played all sorts since. Entirely self taught on those. Just bought a Gibson SG 1961 reissue - first decent electric I've had.

Also capable of playing some very simple drum stuff. Only ever given it a few goes, but the theory and piano lessons since the age of 4 meant I picked up the simple stuff quickly. Technique is no doubt terrible though! Melodica would be really cool though - love the sound of those :o)

I've played the flute for 17 years and the piccolo once in awhile. I play in a flute choir (8 flutes) and get the chance to try out alto and bass flutes sometimes.
Tried teaching myself piano when I was 12 and can play the easy stuff.

Wow..now this is my kinda thread ;)
Well..i started on playing an organ..when i was about 7 years old...i remember i had this small green colour organ..
Later on one day i had gone to this egyptian friend's house.. there i saw this unusual kind of drum..which was flat at one side and open at the other end..
Started learning that..lately came to know it was an arabic drum..usually used to make belly dancers dance :)

After i had learnt that..i came onto acoustic guitar..learnt it thoroughly..got an electric guitar..and then a bass guitar ;)
Now i can play any instrument given to me..and work as an audio engineer..;)
Cheers :D

I played the piano from 10-13 but then lost interest in it.
I wanted to learn a little guitar this semester but then I had a kitchen accident and have to wait till my finger heals so I can start over again.

I played piano from 11 - 13, self taught. Haven't even attempted to play in years though and I don't think I could anymore anyway.
Tried taking up the guitar a couple of years ago but gave up on that (long, long story).
I really wanted to learn the Cello but I hate strings. They annoy me to bits.

Other then that I'd love to learn to play the sitar (even though it's strings), didgeridoo (which I can't and not just because I'm female) and drums (not your regular drums but say a Djembe for instance). Problem is I don't have the patience and attention span for any of those right now.

My boyfriend has a couple of djembes, among other random drums and extra cymbals along with his regular drum kit. We had a "stress relief" day at our school 2 years ago (there is one every year for the 4th years only) and we had a cool guy teach us some stuff on the djembe. :P It was quite fun but I prefer other types of drum.

Oooo! I forgot! I used to do trash drumming! That was so fun! A huge cleaned out oil drum that comes up to your waist and old bits of wood covered in duck tape! It is just amazing, especially when you have a room full of people with the drums and you get a jam going. ;)

Oh man! Trash drumming sounds like awesome fun! They have drumming groups every now and then down the road here. Not trash cans but bongos. Just a room full of people jamming together. Haven't been able to go but I like the idea of that sort of thing.

I've heard of trash drumming, its soo cool. I remember the first time i heard em' was on a T.V show named as (60 seconds of fame)..I guess i aint wrong, I liked it soo much that i started drumming at every solid place i had access to..let it be ( my desk, table, door ) :P
I know these arent trash solids :D but drumming is so addictive :D

Violin for me is one of the hardest instruments to play..lol

A second hand one would be much, MUCH cheaper. I got mine for less than £100 over here, so if you got her to look on Ebay or something and just make sure you get it tuned right then it'll do for starting. Warning though, they are a complete pain for tuning and even a slight knock can put them off, so you better have a good ear!

As I said, hated the damn thing...

Ohh yea..tuning is for sure a great problem, i mean not only for violin, but also tuning a guitar atimes is a huge headache..lol
Basically, tuning any string instrument is a waste of time for me, i guess, cuz whnever i have that eagerness in me to pick up my guitar and play it, always i have to tune it first, which gets on my nerves..:D

violin, ukelele, guitar, recorder, clarinet, flute, tenor saxophone, alto saxphone, bass clarinet, oboe....piano

hmm...what else...

I'm so glad I made this thread as it made me remember that while on holiday last year I randomly bought a lap harp! I've been meaning to try learning it properly because its a stringed instrument that is kind on the fingers but I have yet to tune it properly... One of my friends plays a full sized harp properly so maybe I'll go ask her to help tune it. :)

harp?? umm, how does it looks like?

A proper harp? Well I don't know what her two are like but I know she has an electric one. :P

My lap harp sort of looks like this.

hmm, i'd say, learning one at a time would be much better, believe me, u can never stick to a single tab, cuz after playing an instrument, the eagerness increases, and then eventually you wanna learn more of it.

Go get an instrument, which you really admire, and then fall onto the line of music production :P

I play the idiot. Also bongos, triangle, rubber band, under arm, air guitar, turntable, lagerphone, tambourine, maracas, and computer keyboard. Am I not a virtuoso?

Cymbals r the best at displacing energy. Crash! they go and everybody covers the ears. I love that

Played piano which I started learning at age 6, but because I moved a lot (almost every 2 years, if not every year!), I had to change teachers. Probably why I stopped at age 17. I figured I'd had enough!

What I would have liked to learn: saxophone (when I was 16), cello (still want to!) and harp (always liked the sound of that instrument, such beauty!).

My dad had to learn the violin when he was little (his mother was a famous opera singer, and his father, a violinist), but he never liked it. Now he *hates* violins, but he still has an ear. A few years ago, I hired a girl and she and I became close friends. One day she told me she was learning the violin and insisted on playing for the store's 2-year party. Oh my, was it bad... It wasn't her fault though, since her teacher was also at the party and played just as badly. My ears were screaming from all those wrong notes! So, violin IS quite a hard instrument to learn, but it can be done, with the right teacher!

violin isn't hard....just hard if you have a bad teacher. I learned it when I was 8 or 9.....quite simple.

Or maybe that's just me---who finds learning any instrument easy.....but everyone was playing violin at the same age in various local schools.

I've played piano for 7 or 8 years. In fact I have a recital coming up. I'm playing the Maple leaf rag by Scott Joplin.

I played Clarinet for a year, electric guitar for a year, an recorder when I was waaaaaay younger.

Huh, no, I never learned the recorder.
I didn't have any musical learning in school, until high school where I took one course that was art&music, and I learned the history of music and did a research on Giuseppe Verdi.
However, I learned to read music when I learned the piano.

Jessica:
my grandfather (a professional violinist who refused that *I* learn his instrument) always said that learning the violin to play professionnally was very hard, but it was easy and simple to learn the moves, so I suppose it's "easy" in that sense.

Personally I don't think *any* instrument is easy to learn.

Actually, some instruments are easy to learn. The thing is that all instruments are difficult to master.

Violin is very hard to master, as is piano.

no one is talking professionally----I don't think? the original question was what do people play or want to learn to play....not what do people play professionally----which is a whole other level.

I don't play professionally, but I found every instrument I had an interest in easy to learn, and learn well....and teach myself too. (I was offered some paying jobs to play...but didn't want to).

oh---and I have taught others as well. NOT fun----although I suppose it is more tolerable when you are getting paid:)

I was never talking professionally. I was responding to:
"Personally I don't think *any* instrument is easy to learn."
Mastering and being professional are two totally different things.

Exactly, learning any instrument is not at all a hard task, but once you get hold of it, and wanna Master it thoroughly, it gets complicated, not 'impossible'- any desire could be fulfilled once you know the basic of it.

You should only have that music mind, if not, then try developing one. Things get easier.

No one should hire a teacher, i personally never hired one, because i had that trust in learning myself, nowadays, teachers charge alot and teach only the basic stuff, learning at own risk involves good practise and mastering mind could be developed esily.

Learn it yourself, as you are gonna play it alone afterwards :P Teacher aint gonna be there alwayz :)

Hmm..learning the basics from someone is different and teacher is totally diff.
Nowadays, teachers charge more, its better to take personal advices from friends etc.
You are right there are alot of people who are unable to learn on their own, but once these people get to knw the basic, it gets easier for them to learn more of it themseleves.

What i am against are teachers, learning from someone is not a problem and could be looked at positively, but not teachers. Because they dont do justice :(
:)

I played the recorder in elementary school as well Voxy. Nothing sounds quite as beautiful as a roomful of elementary kids playing twinkle twinkle little star all at once - ouch!

Without a teacher I would not have learned to read music, nor would I have actually had the concentration to sit down for very long and practice. If you learn from a friend who is learning as well then you're likely to pick up their mistakes.

Comeon, teachers charge alot, and what they teach, is not hard to learn from other sources, i dont hate teachers, its just that I've had bad experiences with them, yea they sure make you know how to deal with notes, but thats all.
Anyone with the eagerness to learn can sit down at once for long and practice.

See, i know alot about music production, because somehow i deal with it everyday, i too could be called a teacher because i make alot of my friends learn or understand music. But, the instruments and the notes, are the same as they were since centuries, i mean a bit of updations here and there, but most of it is the same.
All I say is, teachers don't do justice, because then the actual desire of learning dies, students take learning an instrument more professionaly, I'd rather say, sit, get to know bout the basic stuff, and carry on with your own productions.
I am sorry if this was too confusing. :(

I disagree. I've taken from the same teacher for all 7 or 8 years. She tells me things that I need to work on, teaches me theory, and pretty much just know more about the music than me. She knows what pieces build what finger strength, she knows how to play certain era's technique, all of that stuff is vital. Plus it's very difficult for a person to teach themself, because you can be doing something wrong and not realize it. I think if you listened to a person who taught themself, and then a person who is taught by a teacher, you could definately tell a difference. Plus it's hard enough for a kid to have that kind of discipline.

I don't think that is a fair statement, "teachers don't do justice." Bach was taught, countless others had tutors and such. It's not like they insult music or something.

Learning to play notes and learning to play music are two TOTALLY different things.

Everything depends on yourself and/or your teacher. Whether you're learning an intrument, another language, a sport - anything, is hard to master. That's what I was getting at. (Sorry for the misunderstand, it must be a language problem, as English is *not* my first language, but my third!)

I do agree with Sarosh that teachers overcharge, however there are *many* people that can't learn on their own, or don't want to learn by themselves. Remember, not everyone can be self-taught. Everyone is different. The fact that they overcharge is another problem entirely.
Also keep in mind that the teachers are different, and indeed if you have a good teacher, try to stick with him/her! What they teach and how they teach it usually is a sign that they're knowledgeable (as ForgivenForSure mentions, techniues and theories are vital in understanding an instrument and in learning to play it correctly).
And, like Tartan_skirt says, a lot of people wouldn't learn if it weren't for their (excellent) teachers. I know I sure would not have even taken an interest in Verdi and his work if it weren't for my teacher urging us to discover something other than Bon Jovi!!

Voxy is right too. If you're going to get a recommendation for a teacher, listening to someone play is a good help, but of course, it only works if you have a good ear for that particular music! You'd be surprised how many people listen to a concert and can't "spot" the errors.

In any case, the violin still remains a hard instrument to master (thanks for clearing that up, ForgivenForSure!), but then again, everything depends on the person learning. You can't expect everyone to have the same abilities as you, Sarosh!

Decent reply and pretty much true. But,
You can't expect everyone to have the same abilities as you, Sarosh!
I never had any expectations! What did this mean brother?
Ofcourse i can't and i know that..everyone is good/bad at their own places.
I just shared some of my own personal thoughts.
Cheers

Yeah, exactly, dou. Plus, it seriously depends on the teacher. My piano teacher does charge some, but for families that are having a hard time financially, she gives special rates. She even gives me a free lesson each month.

You definately can't brand all teachers the same, especially when it's in different instruments.

True.. i accept this. Conclusion, it is both teacher's and students effort to learn an instrument..and master it.

Indeed.