Any Musicians?

[WhoseLineFan]

Is anybody on here a musician? If so, what musical instruments do you play?

 

[Deleted User]

Is anybody on here a musician? If so, what musical instruments do you play?

Yes!! As an amateur musician.

My main instrument is trombone (tenor and bass), which I've played since I was about 10 years old. My latest venture with this is joining a jazz/swing band as bass trombonist.
I also play drums, and was in a rock band for a while.
Also dabble in guitar/bass.
My stretch goal is to be fairly competent at playing the piano, but that's a whole different world of skill.

And there's only so many hours to practice

Do you play anything? Edit: Of course I see from your profile picture you play alto sax. That has got to be the coolest instrument.

 

[Clementine_3]

Musician? No. Not even close, nor will I ever be.
I do bang around on my guitar, got it less than a year ago and can almost play some chords. Oh, and I can almost play the opening riff to 'Folsom Prison Blues', almost.

 

[Deleted User]

Musician? No. Not even close, nor will I ever be.
I do bang around on my guitar, got it less than a year ago and can almost play some chords. Oh, and I can almost play the opening riff to 'Folsom Prison Blues', almost.

That begs the question of what is a musician?

My wife maintains that to be a musician you need to be able to at least read music. I disagree, as some of the most talented performers in history could not read from sheet music.
But hey, I realised some time ago which fights to pick

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Can't read music. Never had a lesson. But 1 time, I amazed my friends with a jam on small Casio sampling keyboard. They were like wtf? That sounded good!

 

[basic 101 user]

I'd like to shamelessly recycle a recent post from Kaat 72's "Music Memorabilia" thread, (where I run my mouth even more than normal).. Sorry to any who have slogged through it once before, but I think it speaks to a number of questions raised recently; What constitutes true musicianship / artistry, how important is ability to read / write sheet music, and what kind of music do you like, what do you dislike.

And the story amuses me every time I hear it, what else matters?

Spoiler: The blah, blah story.

While I can't swear the following is true, I have heard it from multiple sources through many years, with enough consistency and detail to believe it is true.

I never really knew any of them, but there were three great uncles, on my father's side. Kurt, Sven, and Wilhelm were all from the "old world", all classically trained, concert musicians. I believe it was Sven who was the viola player; He had a long and successful career in Southern California, playing with the L.A. philharmonic, and doing session work for movie and record studios. He worked on many of the major Frank Sinatra records, and frequently told of just how thoroughly professional "Old Blue Eyes" was. The man would often come into the studio three minutes before recording was to start, and crank out six or eight tracks in a row.....usually in a single take, bang on the money. No mistakes, no retakes, no ****ing around.

The musicians who backed him up were selected precisely because they could keep up; Place a written score in front of them, and they were expected to be able to read the music, and perform it without any warm up or rehearsal.

When Frank Zappa went shopping for musicians on one of his projects, it was that very quality that led him to my great uncle. Sven was handed his sheet music for the session, and was quickly stumped. He studied it for a while, then finally had to ask......"Excuse me, Mr. Zappa......there must be some mistake, I don't believe I can play this for you; I'm a viola player, and the music you have given me appears to be something written for a flute player, perhaps a piccolo?"

And Frank Zappa said... "Oh, when I wrote it, I knew you couldn't possibly play it.....I just need you to try and play it, do your very best; That will be the exact sound I'm after."

Edit: On review, the story likely leaves the impression I am unimpressed by anything less than total mastery, ability to sight read; To the contrary, I also have the utmost respect for the primitive and spontaneous; The undisciplined but brilliant.

Spoiler: The personal blah, blah.

As far as my own musical abilities, there are none.
In grade school, I played the clarinet for several years, but never rose above the level of a parrot, robotically playing back a sequence of notes; No true spirit, spontaneity, or ability to invoke an emotional response in the listener. And sheet music may as well have been hieroglyphics. They tell me I had very good embouchure, could bend a note well, and hit an admirable range from high to low; But at the end of the day, a bad case of "stupid fingers". Stringed instruments have always baffled me, and I can say I have tried.

I had a gorgeous instrument handed down through generations; Ebony wood with German silver fittings, where all the other kids had plastic and chrome. But I was far more into the way it emerged from its fitted case, and the gorgeous individual components built up into a whole; The craftsmanship, geometry, and operation of the keys and transfer bars. Little wonder I went a different way; All that was left for me in music, was to be a bitchy critic of other people's creative output.

Since it came out in the early '80s, the movie Amadeus has always spoken directly to me. Driven to utter madness, by the relentlessly frustrated desire to create; While it seems to come so easily to others, as if touched by God.

 

[Deleted User]

Look what I get to play..
It's hard work, but fantastic music.

 

[WhoseLineFan]

Yes!! As an amateur musician.

My main instrument is trombone (tenor and bass), which I've played since I was about 10 years old. My latest venture with this is joining a jazz/swing band as bass trombonist.
I also play drums, and was in a rock band for a while.
Also dabble in guitar/bass.
My stretch goal is to be fairly competent at playing the piano, but that's a whole different world of skill.

And there's only so many hours to practice

Do you play anything? Edit: Of course I see from your profile picture you play alto sax. That has got to be the coolest instrument.

Actually, that is not me playing. This is who is playing it: http://whoselineisitanyway.wikia.com/wiki/Cece_Worrall-Rubin