Anyone play an instrument, or fail to?

Tardful Slakerly II

I have a guitar gathering dust, I can play whatever chords and I remember learning the pentatonic scale but I never got proficient enough to hold my own. I can strum this or that. I haven't picked the thing up in years except maybe to see if I remember the fingering. Fingering is very important, as everyone knows.

I'd love to be able to sing but I have little range and sound pretty bad anyway.

How about y'all?

Mickey H

Tardful Slakerly II wrote: »

I have a guitar gathering dust, I can play whatever chords and I remember learning the pentatonic scale but I never got proficient enough to hold my own. I can strum this or that. I haven't picked the thing up in years except maybe to see if I remember the fingering. Fingering is very important, as everyone knows.

I'd love to be able to sing but I have little range and sound pretty bad anyway.

How about y'all?

Absolutely.

Mars Bar

Drums and the guitar

Lucifer MorningStar

I play with my flute a lot.

ArtyM

I used to play a mean Annie's Song on the tin whistle.
It was all I could play, and I played it over and over.
My poor parents, how they suffered.

Bipolar Joe

Guitar, ukulele, keys and slowly learning drums. I prefer playing ukulele of the lot, but I always wanted to be a drummer since I was a kid. I'm gonna start a one-man punk rock band!

EDIT: Also own a violin, but it's really difficult and can't afford lessons .

Greenmachine

I have a guitar gathering dust in my parents house. I live in a tiny little flat, I have little enough room as it is. If I got a bigger place I might look at picking it up again.

orchidsrpretty

I play the piano to level 8(the highest). I'm left handed and have failed to master the guitar or similar instruments. I do play a very good rendition of glenroe on the tin whistle though.

LizzieJones

I could play the flute a few years back. I would love to pick it up again but they are very expensive to purchase new.

Links234

I play a bit of guitar, not great but I enjoy it a lot so don't beat myself up about not being all that good.

Knex*

Been playing guitar for years, and miss it severely whenever I am away someplace and can't play it. Great way to relax and looking back on it, deciding to put the effort in to learn it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Played drums a little before, but left it to the wayside when I started guitar. Might go back to it, although piano is next on the list for me , I would think.

MacBizzle

Playing guitar for about 5 years now.


Christ I'm awful.

Peregrine

I gave up guitar and piano I was pretty good at them too. Probably my greatest regret. I want to pick up at least one of them again.

Shakespeare's Sister

Piana, fiddle and can sing.

Tardful Slakerly II

MacBizzle wrote: »

Playing guitar for about 5 years now.


Christ I'm awful.

I laughed. That's the spirit.

Banjo String

Whistle and the pipes.


I cannot play the Banjo btw.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I'm a limited, but enthusiastic, piano player. Can knock out a few swing and big band numbers without making a total show of myself.

Peregrine

Banjo String wrote: »

I cannot play the Banjo btw.

WHAT

You mean all this was just a lie??


Now I'm forced to go with the other non-musical interpretation of your username.

Alf. A. Male

Bought a great guitar as an expensive way to find out I am brutal at it, seriously awful. Then my niece needed a better guitar to express some serious talent. Turned out my only musical ability is facilitating hers. Best money I ever spent.

Rud

I play bass in a band and i play a little guitar also.I quite enjoy it.I would recommend to everyone to learn an instrument during their lives

Knex*

Rud wrote: »

I play bass in a band and i play a little guitar also.I quite enjoy it.I would recommend to everyone to learn an instrument during their lives

A ukulele?

Badly Drunk Boy

I can't play any musical instruments but I've got a bit of a collection of them. When I was in Egypt, I bought a bongo and a rababa (a 2-stringed thingy), a concertina, a psaltery, a harmonica, and this week I got a theremin. I also have custody of my brother's fancy-schmancy keyboard. (He doesn't have room to store it).

I've never put any serious effort into playing any of them. I really should try...

MacBizzle

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

I can't play any musical instruments but I've got a bit of a collection of them. When I was in Egypt, I bought a bongo and a rababa (a 2-stringed thingy), a concertina, a psaltery, a harmonica, and this week I got a theremin. I also have custody of my brother's fancy-schmancy keyboard. (He doesn't have room to store it).

I've never put any serious effort into playing any of them. I really should try...

You really should.

Tardful Slakerly II

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

I can't play any musical instruments but I've got a bit of a collection of them. When I was in Egypt, I bought a bongo and a rababa (a 2-stringed thingy), a concertina, a psaltery, a harmonica, and this week I got a theremin. I also have custody of my brother's fancy-schmancy keyboard. (He doesn't have room to store it).

I've never put any serious effort into playing any of them. I really should try...

I would very much like to play with an expensive keyboard in my own time. It should be easy to look up and play some stuff, slowly, but all the same.

MacBizzle

Why haven't you played guitar in years OP?

DrumSteve

I play the drums.

Tardful Slakerly II

DrumSteve wrote: »

I play the drums.

I don't believe you.

MacBizzle wrote: »

Why haven't you played guitar in years OP?

I've lived in a few different house shares which make it more difficult, and I'm kept busy with other things somewhat. It is a commitment to practice and I suppose I never saw myself as being good at it.

Davarus Walrus

Tardful Slakerly II wrote: »

I've lived in a few different house shares which make it more difficult, and I'm kept busy with other things somewhat. It is a commitment to practice and I suppose I never saw myself as being good at it.

That's a very salient point in fairness. I haven't house-shared since I was a student, but there was nothing more tiresome that some loser plucking away on an acoustic guitar in his room. Usually mixed with smoking weed, a misguided belief that he was the next Bob Dylan, and failing exams.

monkeysnapper

I bought a saxophone about 4 years ago and have tried learning it on and off , I taught myself a couple of tunes and played a bit of jazz scales. I don't think I'm to bad when I'm making **** up on jazz scales but as soon as I start a tune I know I sound terrible to me.

My neighbour and my wife said you sound ok, good even... I just started believing it when my 7 year old niece heard me and said I was pretty bad. My advice is always ask a small child for a honest answer.

My real problem I have learning saxophone is it's such a noisy instrument to learn and I hate anyone listening to me .

BrensBenz

Classical and acoustic guitar and (the much under-rated) ukulele. No singing!
Chet Atkins best describes my musical education:

"I'm confessin' I never took a lesson,
All these notes are a matter of guessin'"

When I first started to show promise on my £4-19-11 plywood guitar, my dad suggested lessons, but I declined. I got and still get tremendous satisfaction from hearing a tune I like, figuring out the chords myself and finding a key where I can play the chords and melody line together.

I mean no disrespect to trained musicians - I regularly stare at monitors to try and see HOW they do it and I would probably recommend "some" lessons to beginners. After all, "somebody" taught Shakespeare his grammar and spelling......!

I think it's sad to see so many instruments neglected and abandoned. I've heard many reasons for this but there is only one reason really: the amount of music trapped within and the desire to release it was outbalanced by the prospect of thousands of hours of practice, frustration / ecstasy and sore body parts.

delw

Have a guitar gathering dust as well,got lessons as a child many years ago but never keep it up which i regret,have any bordies taught themselves to play guitar online?