Do you play an instrument? What's your favorite thing about it?
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Or have you played something else in the past? What's your favorite piece to play?
Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read
wrote last edited by [email protected]I picked up a steel tongue drum out of pure serendipity and I can't keep my hands off of it. The good quality ones that are hand tuned by an artisan and crafted from the highest quality steel will sound good no matter how you hit it. I started just bopping random notes with mallets, then tapping patterns with my hands, and whatever I do it sounds great and feels zen and beautiful. I don't really play any songs on it, just patterns, but it's like the audio version of a warm bubble bath.
There are mass market dinky derpy ones off of Amazon and they're completely different instruments. If it sounds like a gong or a bell it's a cheap one. If it sounds like the ethereal thrumming of the deep forest magic it's a good one.
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Ah, I love this. I really love bluegrass, so a mandolin has always been playing at some point in my life. They look like they'd be super hard to play
hard covers many dimenssions.
The strings are tighter and in pairs so pressing needs more strengh than anything else I've tried. No bending either. If you are worred about finge strength it is is about the worst choice.
it is tuned very logically in fifths and so much easier to pick up in any key than a guitar which isn't consistent. You only need to learn I few chords and then move them wherever you want them. But guitars are much more likely to use a capo so this may not matter.
it is light. If you are carrying it this might matter (compare to a solid body bass with amp).
now forget everything above: while it is true it is irrelavant. time spent practicing is the largest factor in playing anything. If you are willing to practice the 'hardest' instrument for 8 hours a day for years but the 'easiest' one you find boring and won't practice more than ten minutes per year: the hardest instrument is going to be easier for you. So pick something - anything and commit to sticking with it.
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I play a little bit of the harmonica. It's gotten out of tune a little bit over the years and no places near me will repair it.
But what I'm really proud of is the set of ceramic bowls I've collected over the years to make what is called Jal tarang. Water needs to be filled in them to specified levels and struck with wooden sticks to make a musical note. Tuning it is an exercise of its own but I love playing it when I can find the time. Sounds really nice.
Here is a virtuoso of the instrument playing a song:
So buy a new harmonica. It's cheap
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Or have you played something else in the past? What's your favorite piece to play?
Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read
Over my lifetime I've learned to play like 8 or 9 musical instruments, from "can squeak out Mary Had A Little Lamb" on a harmonica to reasonable on the piano. I took band class in middle and high school and was a reasonable trumpet player, though it's been awhile.
I'm mainly a guitar player. I've tended toward 6 string acoustic, finger style. I tend to like the guitar because it can hold up on its own, it can be a solo instrument in a way that a trumpet can't. Show up to a social gathering with a trumpet, see if you're allowed to play it, compared to showing up with a guitar.
My favorite piece to play on guitar is probably a solo guitar arrangement of Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer. This is what I aim for with it, and I've got...most of it, not quite that clean.
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Viola sounds amazing but yes, fun pieces are written for violin.
Do you know any great viola music that is on par with great violin music?
Mozart famously loved violas so he frequently gave them some love and he wrote Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major where they are the star of the show.
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Is it the skin flute?
Not at all - just be having a good time.
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Iāve played the trumpet for 27 years now, and have played the pipe organ for 3. Both of them professionally, and the issue with picking a favorite is thereās a ton of fantastic music!
On the trumpet Iād recommend a listen to Buglerās Holiday, or Great Gate of Kiev. Possibly my favorite gig as an anecdote was an old Catholic Church in a poor part of the city. They had built an elevated stretch of subway what felt like inches from the church and the priest had to stop his homily every 5 minutes so the subway could go through. The organist ended with the Hallelujah Chorus and it might be the reason I have tinnitus but it was the most heavenly sounding space to play in!
On the organ, I played Schrienerās adaptation of Louis Vierneās Maestoso in C. Straight from the get go itās a fantastic piece to rattle the floors and wake up a church. Iād also recommend Scottās arrangement of Hymn of the Cherubim as it is much softer and a good idea of the breadth the instrument can cover style wise.
I'd like to learn to play the organ. I have an old Allen MOS-2 in my workshop that I started doing a MIDI conversion on and just haven't had time to finish it.
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Or have you played something else in the past? What's your favorite piece to play?
Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read
I learned in this order: clarinet, trumpet, piano, penny whistle, kalimba, guitar, and harmonica. I donāt actually play most anymore, the joy of music to me is in performance and I was never good or passionate enough about instruments to perform with them.
My favorite always was the trumpet. I love the sound and the feel of it. Itās just got a punch and energy that I havenāt gotten from other instruments. I havenāt played since I was a teen though because itās just too loud for me to be able to practice without bothering people.
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So buy a new harmonica. It's cheap
The one I have, Hohner Super 64x, is pretty expensive, at least for me.
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The one I have, Hohner Super 64x, is pretty expensive, at least for me.
Has it got the shifter on the side?
Ya I'm thinking special 20 or whatever.
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Has it got the shifter on the side?
Ya I'm thinking special 20 or whatever.
Yes it has a scale changer. I love playing it when I can but I will admit I could never do justice to what it is capable of.
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I have been playing acoustic guitar since childhood. I like when I listen to a piece that marvels me, then I work on it a few minutes every day for months, and eventually I start to render part of it good enough that I can find the same pleasure as listening but from the other side. One of my current study subject is Prelude nā°1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. https://youtu.be/Pmry5uquwDI
It's such a classic, I played it some years ago when I still took classes. It's not difficult on the left hand except the part where you have to slide a subset of fingers (around 1:13 in the video) while keeping your index planted I used to absolutely dread. Maybe that's just me, in any case the version you linked is really excellent
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Viola! I like its range of sound and the fact that we get our own (alto) clef makes me feel special. But you end up playing a lot of lame parts when the violins get all the melodies and solos.
Is it the same instrument that Jordi Savall plays and adapts for ? in french it's called Violle de Gambe so not 100% sure it's the same thing
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Or have you played something else in the past? What's your favorite piece to play?
Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read
I used to play the recorder as a teen (it's still deeply engraved in my mind), I even got to play on a contrabass recorder (about 1,7m tall!) but I've been a guitar player for about 20 years now. I got this bad girl about six years ago :
The lower strings below E are D, C, B, and A. D is super handy for medieval pieces, others relatively less frequently so but you can always tune them a little bit for any chord progression
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Mozart famously loved violas so he frequently gave them some love and he wrote Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major where they are the star of the show.
Beautiful piece, I can see why you love to play it, too! Must be super fun to bounce back and forth with the violinist and carry the melody.
I think one of my biggest regrets is stopping playing violin. I will pick it back up one day when I have more time, nothing else has brought me the same kind of joy, not even the other instruments I've learned over the years.
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I used to play the recorder as a teen (it's still deeply engraved in my mind), I even got to play on a contrabass recorder (about 1,7m tall!) but I've been a guitar player for about 20 years now. I got this bad girl about six years ago :
The lower strings below E are D, C, B, and A. D is super handy for medieval pieces, others relatively less frequently so but you can always tune them a little bit for any chord progression
Recorders sound incredible in consort! I play the tenor myself. Glad to see another player of early music around here.
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Is it the same instrument that Jordi Savall plays and adapts for ? in french it's called Violle de Gambe so not 100% sure it's the same thing
I play early music, and what we call a viol de gamba is a different thing; the viola is fretless and held under the chin like a violin, while the viol de gamba is a renaissance/baroque-era fretted instrument that is held between the legs and comes in treble, tenor, and bass sizes.
Savall plays the latter.
To further confuse the matter, there's a renaissance-era instrument called the vielle that is played more like a modern violin or viola.
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I play early music, and what we call a viol de gamba is a different thing; the viola is fretless and held under the chin like a violin, while the viol de gamba is a renaissance/baroque-era fretted instrument that is held between the legs and comes in treble, tenor, and bass sizes.
Savall plays the latter.
To further confuse the matter, there's a renaissance-era instrument called the vielle that is played more like a modern violin or viola.
Thanks for the disambiguation... I could have sworn that the viol de gamba was fretless ! but after looking it up I can confirm that it's not.
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Thanks for the disambiguation... I could have sworn that the viol de gamba was fretless ! but after looking it up I can confirm that it's not.
Yup, they use wrapped gut frets. They're moveable so that the musicians could adjust intonation in the period before equal temperament was invented.
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Or have you played something else in the past? What's your favorite piece to play?
Edit: thanks for everyone that has replied. This has been so heartwarming to read
When I was younger, I played the viola and I loved it, but moved to a school that didn't have that and we couldn't afford any lessons. I tried piano (one of those simply piano courses and a keyboard) and I actually liked that as well, but time got away from me. I wish I could actually play, it looks so amazing. Jealous of all you talented musicians.
