What musical instrument would you love to play?

PTH2009 · 26-02-2021 12:26am #1

What musical instruments would you love to be able to play ?

I could do a bit on Guitar in the my teenage years but can't remember the last time I played it. I'd prob struggle to tune it now tbh

Anyway I'd love to be able to play the Uilleann pipes but I'd say you'd have to be gifted. It looks such a hard instrument

Cee-Jay-Cee · 26-02-2021 12:30am

Same. Went to guitar lessons for a year when I was 13 but stopped and never picked up the thing again. Would love to be able to play one now and have bought new strings for the guitar which I have in the attic (it’s over 37 yrs old now but will get me started) Have been looking for some online tuition videos or apps but haven’t decided on any yet.

Say Your Number · 26-02-2021 12:35am

I'd love to play fiddle, or else this weird yoke called a hurdy gurdy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyznoWJDHI

Day Lewin · 26-02-2021 12:37am

The banjo. I love that metallic happy sound.

It doesn't look too hard to play, either, but last time I inquired (ages ago) they were very expensive, much more than I could afford at the time.
And now I have arthritis in my hands and probably couldn't press the strings anyway :-(

Carpe diem, comrades: life is short.

ypres5 · 26-02-2021 12:58am

electric bass. it's very underrated but when you hear one of the greats playing on an album like jack bruce or john entwhistle it's mind-blowing how much it adds to the experience

ILoveYourVibes · 26-02-2021 3:46am

Shrug. None.

Its a lot of work ..learning then maintaining that level.

endacl · 26-02-2021 3:59am

Piano.

I studied classical guitar to degree level. Also play trad flute and whistles, and a bunch of assorted stringey things. I learned piano as a kid, but gave it up when I was 10 because I wanted to play guitar. Never occurred to me to do both!

My biggest musical regret is quitting piano.

As an aside, don’t give up on the uilleann pipes idea, OP. The other half picked up a set about 7 months ago, and is going great guns. A decent practise set from a good maker ain’t cheap, but you won’t lose money on them.

26-02-2021 4:21am

The violin.

I’d love to be able to just play the fúck out of a violin.

poisonated · 26-02-2021 4:26am

The didjeridu!

FanadMan · 26-02-2021 4:40am

endacl wrote: »

Piano.

I studied classical guitar to degree level. Also play trad flute and whistles, and a bunch of assorted stringey things. I learned piano as a kid, but gave it up when I was 10 because I wanted to play guitar. Never occurred to me to do both!

My biggest musical regret is quitting piano.

As an aside, don’t give up on the uilleann pipes idea, OP. The other half picked up a set about 7 months ago, and is going great guns. A decent practise set from a good maker ain’t cheap, but you won’t lose money on them.

Bloody show-off!

(Extremely jealous by the way)

I've played the guitar and harmonica for close to 40 years. But would always have loved to learn the piano and violin. I've tried violin a few times but just too small for my fingers......but my fingers are too small for piano (or else I'm just not destined to play piano)

OP - get yourself a guitar and start again. You'll probably find that spark again and fall in love

Wanderer78 · 26-02-2021 6:16am

I'm delighted with myself, been playing more guitar during shutdown, definitely improving, instruments require patience and persistence

parttime · 26-02-2021 7:25am

Day Lewin wrote:

It doesn't look too hard to play, either, but last time I inquired (ages ago) they were very expensive, much more than I could afford at the time. And now I have arthritis in my hands and probably couldn't press the strings anyway :-(

Day Lewin wrote:

The banjo. I love that metallic happy sound.

Day Lewin wrote:

Carpe diem, comrades: life is short.

Check out Andybanjo, on Google. Based in Kent. Some cheaper banjos, but they are proper instruments. I bought a five string from them for 250 euro, and it sounds and plays great.
Also you can by very soft strings if you want.
You really should buy one, it's a lot of fun!

Mr. CooL ICE · 26-02-2021 7:49am

Saxophone.

Learned piano up to grade 2 when I was young, but gave up due to boredom. Bought an electric bass in my teens and played that to an intermediate level, whilst playing in bands and gigging throughout Ireland and Europe. Wanted to learn drums but couldn't due to them being too damn noisy.

But saxophone is something that I've always wanted to try. There's something that so damn sexy, yet cheeky about it.

Adyx · 26-02-2021 8:16am

Already play guitar and bass but I'd love to be able to sing. I was forced into the "National Children's Choir" in primary school but I hit puberty fairly early so I used to just pretend to sing. What's worse is as bad as I think I'd sing now, I've heard recordings of my voice speaking and it's so much worse than what I hear in my head. Would have loved to do music in school but it was a CBS and music was only for girls schools apparently. Both my sisters played multiple instruments. Still, managed to pick up some theory over the years and picked up a keyboard and some nice plugins to knock about on too.

fryup · 26-02-2021 9:11am

the piano,

there's a stand up piano in my local i would love to be able to play it and serenade the ladies in the process,

or the harmonica handy size carry in your pocket, tried to learn it but it's damn hard

Foweva Awone · 26-02-2021 9:13am

I used to play piano really well, finished all the grades, also got up to about grade 5 in violin. I always wanted to play the harp, it just fascinates me. Someday!!

riffmongous · 26-02-2021 9:15am

Mr. CooL ICE wrote: »

Saxophone.

Learned piano up to grade 2 when I was young, but gave up due to boredom. Bought an electric bass in my teens and played that to an intermediate level, whilst playing in bands and gigging throughout Ireland and Europe. Wanted to learn drums but couldn't due to them being too damn noisy.

But saxophone is something that I've always wanted to try. There's something that so damn sexy, yet cheeky about it.

+1 for sax

bigar · 26-02-2021 9:17am

Fretless bass. So many songs from my youth have it so it would be half a nostalgia trip.

fryup · 26-02-2021 9:21am

ypres5 wrote: »

electric bass. it's very underrated but when you hear one of the greats playing on an album like jack bruce or john entwhistle it's mind-blowing how much it adds to the experience

and here's the master at play....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lf10U0yZrs

he's so nonchalant about it, just another day at the office

Wanderer78 · 26-02-2021 9:23am

bigar wrote:

Fretless bass. So many songs from my youth have it so it would be half a nostalgia trip.

Love to try one

fryup wrote:

and here's the master at play....

Legend!

cee_jay · 26-02-2021 9:26am

I'd love to be able to play the saxophone or piano.

I started teaching myself ukulele back in October which has been quite fun.

I studied classical flute up to Gradw 8, but quit when I started college. I wish I had kept it up now,. I can still play it reasonably well, but nowhere near the level I used to be at. I also played tin whistle and recorder in childhood bands in school.

Omar Devone Little · 26-02-2021 9:39am

Piano.

chopperbyrne · 26-02-2021 9:42am

Guitar and piano.

blackvalley · 26-02-2021 9:44am

Would love to be able to play mandolin or four string banjo .
On a slightly different note ( pardon the pun ) I sometimes look at people who are really good on an instrument but just never bother playing . Think if I ever mastered an instrument id never put it down .

fryup · 26-02-2021 9:51am

quick question - if you can play a guitar does that mean you can play a banjo?

hynesie08 · 26-02-2021 10:25am

fryup wrote: »

quick question - if you can play a guitar does that mean you can play a banjo?

No, but it gives you a decent headstart.

fryup · 26-02-2021 10:34am

different discipline? strings closer together?

hynesie08 · 26-02-2021 10:43am

5 strings, different tuning, different chord shapes, but if you've been playing guitar at a reasonable level you'll pick it up quickly, you just can't sit down with a banjo and a songbook and start picking.

JustAThought · 26-02-2021 10:45am

I had (private) lessons as a kid and was really creeped out by it - the guy used use my class to have his lunchbreak in and spent mist of the time eating his sandwiches and drinking tea by himself - he was so careful to keep asking me if it was OK because he was hungry. I was 8 & afraid to say no thou I knew it was wrong. Really creepy guy - always holding my hand and smoothing down my nails. Freaked me out. I finally said it to my parents who took me out of the private class and ( really unbelievably) sent me back to the same place to do group classes (with a different teacher) which I absolutely loved! Played in & off for years & then went back to classes as an adult - loved it!

I found playing an instrument super de-stressing even if you start new insteumwnt and are ‘bad’ at it - you’ll soon get better and before long you wil be really enjoying the weekly successes & won’t believe how far you have come!

For another instrument I play and hd a few years tuition in I found online classes with a crowd called UDEMY - lots of music teachers have online classes with them and you can search your level and instrument and watch through their demo classes to see who might suit your needs and if their teaching style and level might suit you! I got 14 online (prerecorded) classes for twelve euro! I had just rung a major dublin music school I used attend who was still charging e28 per class for a zoom leason - payable as 280 for a term of 10! The covid has really changed some things and for the better! Its really well worth looking online and giving it a go!

I’d love to be better at the ones I play but if I had to choose a new one I think the banjo or Irish flute would be in there!

Bob Harris · 26-02-2021 10:51am

I'd like to be able to sing well.

seamus · 26-02-2021 11:14am

I've played guitar for about 20 years. Largely self-taught. A friend's brother initially gave me some lessons, and then I just went buying songbooks, downloading tabs and figuring out songs by ear.
I know the basics of music theory about the different notes and scales and sh1t, but never went any further than that. No idea how to read music. You don't need that to bang out most rock tunes.

One of my kids started guitar lessons, starting with classical guitar and proper reading music and stuff, which I decided to follow along with. Opens up a whole new dimension in visualising music on the instrument and how notes hang together.

My wife did all the piano grades when she was growing up, but we never had a piano, so we decided to get one from Santa. A digital one, not a huge expensive standy-up yoke. I always wanted to play so I've spent the last 6 weeks learning from a decent book. Really enjoying it.

Studies have proven that practicing anything for ten minutes every day yields better progress than one or two long sessions every week, so I'm going by that philosophy; just sitting down and hitting the keys at least once a day when I have ten minutes, even if I'm not moving forward in the book, and only practicing a few scales or simple songs. You get a great buzz from being able to feel tiny steps in progress; playing songs fluidly that you struggled with a week or two ago.

I'd advise anyone who's had this niggling desire to learn, to just go ahead and do it. Buy an entry-level version of the instrument, find the top rated self-teaching book on Amazon and resolve to sit down for a few minutes every day to practice.

What musical instrument would you love to play?

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