What musical instruments do ya'll play?
Posted by isaytomatoes on Sep 26, 2009 · Member since Jun 2009 · 209 posts
I never really learned to play an instrument, though I attempted piano starting at age 18 and took voice lessons for several years. I tried cello one summer and made it through the first Suzuki book but then stopped. I consider myself a music drop out.
But i am living vicariously through my family. DH plays piano (clarinet, too, but it's been years). DD plays piano, violin and saxophone, and DS plays saxophone and guitar.
Our instrument collection includes 4 saxophones, piano, dulcimer, recorders, guitars, violin, and the ancient clarinet, all the way down to the Kazoo which I now favor.
Just curious what you all play, how long you kept at it, what instruments you have floating around your houses.
I play tenor saxophone, and unfortunately the alto clarinet (hate hate hate). I've played the sax since 6th grade, the clarinet since 10th, but I don't really play a whole lot anymore. I stopped regularly practicing after freshman year in college, and now it's just kind of depressing when I practice :/
Kind of like going to the gym... I avoid and avoid, and then when I do it, I think "why don't I do this more often?" and then it never happens...
I play flute, I am a music teacher. I guess I can play the other band instruments not as good of course.
My passion is the piano though. I really really want to play.
Viola. I started when I was eight. Original viola player, not a violin convert. Played all through high school, was principal in my youth orchestra. Did a music minor through a conservatory attached to my uni (see the "college major/career aspirations" thread in the kitchen sink for the full story). Nowadays I'm a very active community orchestra member who jams in chamber groups when there's a chance (although I'm starting to get some major shoulder pains from the involvement).
I met DH in an orchestra, so we are a musical pair. Instruments in my house include:
Viola
Electric Piano
Guitar
Xylophone
Electric Drumset
Acoustic Drumsets (2, at last count)
Five million percussion things (castanets, triangles, etc)
A Chinese wooden alto flute
Chinese gongs and woodblocks
Besides the viola, the guitar is mine and I can pick at the piano. (The alto flute is mine too but it is more a souvenir). Oh, and I've sung second alto in choirs.
I have come to accept my lack of practicing, but every once in awhile I think I should do more. It's like... what's the point, when I'm good enough to maintain my current level of playing?
Vocal chords :)>>>
Things I "play:" (the colon looks weird in there but i was always taught that punctuation goes inside quotes...sooo. yes.)
ukulele
recorder
kid size accordion
flute
bassoon
bass guitar
Things I play well:
flute
bassoon
I like having a lot of instruments, but I wish I spent more time just sitting down and messing with them and making stuff. It's been a long time since I've recorded anything :\ I'd looooooove to learn to play the cello, but I don't have money for lessons or anything. sighs.
PiP, you make me laugh so much! Tee hee!!
I can play:
french horn
tuba
trombone
piano (very badly)
but I don't really play any more. French horn is my first instrument and the only instrument I own now.
But I started tuba when I was 14 and that turned into my main love - but I could never afford to buy one, and then I just never thought of it anymore.
Hmmm, maybe I should look into this (once we have moved)
Shelloid, there are all kinds of adult band opportunities--community bands, etc...
Native American flute
I can play Beethoven's 9th Symphony "Ode to Joy" on the recorder. Not the whole song though.
Wow, there are some super musical vegwebbers on here! I'm very impressed. Ponycakes, that's awesome that you have an accordion. I wish I could play one.
I took piano lessons from the age of 9 to the age of 16 I think. I quit because I hated practicing. Sometimes I go to my parents' house and take out Mozart's Fantasy in D minor and try to play it, but I'm not very good anymore.
When I stopped playing the piano I decided to take up guitar so that I could play more of the music I liked (The Beatles), but I never got too far. I own an acoustic and an electric guitar but I can't play them very well.
I play me. I've been singing since I was 5. jave had some professional training. Would love to be in a group again!!
Shelloid, there are all kinds of adult band opportunities--community bands, etc...
yeah I know....I've had bad experiences in a few (see the career thread), so I lost confidence / inspiration.
Maybe I'll play tuba again someday.
I play guitar and bass. I played the recorder when I was in elementary school. I have a keyboard and will be taking piano lessons soon. I can keep a beat on the drums, but I want a set so I can actually get really good. I can also sing, but I scream better than I sing.
I am also a music teacher. I began piano at 7, trumpet at 12, and had sung pretty much since birth. Trumpet was my primary instrument in college. Since I was on the path to become a band director I had to take 1 semester of each band instrument. I got a "B" in percussion class, but I was pretty good at the clarinet, bassoon, and the other brass instruments. Now that I teach elementary school, I mostly sing all day. I play a pretty mean recorder though.
The only instrument I have "mastered" is the the violin. I played through high school as the concertmistress and a violinist in the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra. That was so great! In college I just dabbled, played random gigs, and enjoyed it. I like not having to practice it all the time anymore. Luckily I haven't lost too much skill!
I'm becoming "fluent" in ukulele and I can carry a simple tune on piano. I looooooove to sing, but that's just for myself.
Vegweb band!
I'm not great at it, but I can play the ocarina. :D My beloved Songbird OoT replica seems to be missing atm, though. :'(
Vegweb band!
Dude...BACKED!
I've been playing piano for years, I always wanted to when I was little (probably because my parents didn't force me to!) In high school I played flute and a bit of trumpet. I've also been teaching myself guitar. My voice could be better, but I think it gets me by. :)
I've been playing the sax (mostly alto) since 7th grade. Since being in college, I don't play nearly as much as I'd like to, but I still dust her off every once in a while to soothe myself with a little Gershwin. I find it therapeutic. :)
I also play clarinet, piano, and flute, but not nearly as well. My most recent musical obsession has been a Tibetan singing bowl I bought during a yoga retreat. It's a profoundly beautiful instrument, and the sound that emanates from that bowl is unlike anything I've ever heard before in my life. Nothing I could do justice to with words.
I think my musical background makes me especially sensitive to sounds. Sometimes I completely lose myself listening to the sound of wind blowing through trees or crickets chirping at night. Learning to play musical instruments definitely had a significant impact on how I hear the world.
I play and flute and piccolo well; piano, clarinet, and guitar not so well.
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