Robert Booth Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 yes, it is the music which is the common thread that sews it all together. For me, at least, it is being able to hear a melody or interesting arrangement and work it out that causes the most pleasure. I would assume that most of us are under that musician's compulsion to realize the music however one can; I had a good friend who would stop working, put down his chainsaw in the middle of a clearcut, and pick out a tune on a blade of grass clenched between his thumbs. Once the tune was firm in his head, he'd smile, shake his head and go back to killing trees. Later, in camp, he'd teach it to me and another guy and off we'd dash, playing whatever he'd heard in his head. Very satisfying. Also, it is fun to hear how things sound on different instruments, each giving it's own voice and version. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 (edited) I should have said "... has the capacity for puffery and self-aggrandizement." I thought so in the beginnig, but -- this is not a competition, who plays the highest number of musical instruments. And even if I can play the birbynė, this tells you nothing about the quality of my playing. I think it's just about the joy of music and producing music on different devices, exploring the peculiarities of different musical instruments. Sebatian Edited October 21, 2008 by Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catty Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 ...this is not a competition... Quite. The competition ruins it for so many people in so many ways. In my line of work, I have apt opportunity to nurture beginners. In my 40 years of playing, I've seen so much tentativeness as to make one fear the process of music-making and creativity. This has led me to adopt a very friendly attitude toward beginners, and children. But I veer from the topic.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Suck and blow as they will, the little ones just can't get a discord out of it, and it's always in tune. Well, no. Hole 6 and 7 together on draw produce a dissonance, more pronounced, when you play more holes together which span 6 and 7; the same in the upper octave. Many people do have problems with the draw notes on holes 1, 2, 3, slightly bending them without notice. Funny! As a child, I always got harmonies out of my father's C/G Hohner Echo Harp long before I learned to play it properly! Maybe I was just talented enough to instinctively avoid that alleged dissonance - but that's another thread Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Funny! As a child, I always got harmonies out of my father's C/G Hohner Echo Harp long before I learned to play it properly! Maybe I was just talented enough to instinctively avoid that alleged dissonance - but that's another thread Maybe the sense for harmony ripens only with the age of the player... Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I have tried quite a few instruments so I could play along with other people as well as having a new challenge. In the process I think I've learned a lot about style as influenced by those instruments and this understanding has had a positive impact on my playing style, I hope!. If I pick up a new instrument my first move is to try to get a noise out of it, and that can be tricky , then a diatonic scale. It's harmless fun innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidjit Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 bodhran bodhran (which is safely hung on the wall)? a bodhran (which is of course a musical instrument but not necessarily when I play it) Oh, I also have a bodhran hanging on the wall.... I'm starting to notice a theme here....maybe I need to buy a bodhran (don't know what one is)to hang on the wall? Whats hanging on the wall? A Guitar, 2 ukuleles, a Mandolin, tin whistle and of course a bodhran! I started out 40 years ago too, with guitar and 75 years ago playing on the linoleum And always in my pocket some spoons. (instruments of evil, like the Bodhran) I use tea spoons. They fit in the shirt pocket a treat. Easy to smuggle into a session. My first instrument is voice I now own 3 Melodeons And of course my beloved Lachenal Anglo Just back from a course on making a Melodeon. Photo's on my, myspace. Check it out. Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidjit Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I keep reading in various thread people mentioning other musical instruments...so how many other than the concertina can you play and what are they? I love to play every musical instrument I can lay hands on. At the moment I tend to prefer jug and kazoo. Jug? As in the thing you put beverages in? How do you play that? After the contents of said jug are consumed, one purses one's lips and blows across the top and promptly passes out! Do you really not know LDT? You get a nice resonant gallon cider flagon or similar with a smallish neck, but not TOO small and blow 'in tune' raspberries into it to provide a bass line. The jug amplifies the farted-bass effect. It has Hillbilly connotations (empty moonshine jugs presumably?). And hence 'Jug band'. Only spoons compete as an instrument that allows you to have some fun when you didn't bring your 'real instrument' and want to join in with ad hoc music situations...you go scavenging in the host's kitchen and you're ready to join in the fun. I really didn't know. Is that like skiffle making instruments from what's around? Yes thats how the washboard got in on the act. And the Mangle i.e. the fore runner to the Hurdy Gurdy Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Yes thats how the washboard got in on the act. And the Mangle i.e. the fore runner to the Hurdy Gurdy Wonder if this thread will still be "live" on 1st April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptarmigan Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Wonder if this thread will still be "live" on 1st April Not if David finds the master DELETE THREAD Button, first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidjit Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 (edited) I keep reading in various thread people mentioning other musical instruments...so how many other than the concertina can you play and what are they? Talented lot you all are. Oh just wanted to be number 100 !! Yey !! :P Bit of a big kid really Chas Edited October 26, 2008 by fidjit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterT Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Oh just wanted to be number 100 !! Yey !! :P Perhaps I wanted to be a Dalmation . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdormire Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 New rule--one should not neglect other instruments in order to play the concertina--I know have a nice blister on my right index finger from playing slap bass after ignoring the instrument for over a year to concentrate on the concertina. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Bradshaw Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 So do concertina variants count ? Having spent a lot of time trying to decide between the English, Anglo, and MacCann (acquired by mistake and unsuccessfully sold) the winner is ...... the MacCann !! Oh ya, also try to play the flute, radio, and CD player.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catty Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) New rule--one should not neglect other instruments in order to play the concertina--I know have a nice blister on my right index finger from playing slap bass after ignoring the instrument for over a year to concentrate on the concertina.Alan Two weeks ago I filed off my right-hand fingernails that I'd fastidiously maintained for maybe 20 years for classical guitar playing--as I'd finally committed to upright bass playing. That's fodder for a whole other thread--something I've struggled with more than anything. I suppose the challenge of remembering tunings for each family of strings, or fingerings for various squeezeboxes, can be cerebrally stimulating in a GOOD way...although I typically experience it as annoying at best. Edited October 27, 2008 by catty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 Yes thats how the washboard got in on the act. And the Mangle i.e. the fore runner to the Hurdy Gurdy Chas My mum suggested I learn to play the washboard when I was on my quest to find an intrument to play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdormire Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 New rule--one should not neglect other instruments in order to play the concertina--I know have a nice blister on my right index finger from playing slap bass after ignoring the instrument for over a year to concentrate on the concertina.Alan Two weeks ago I filed off my right-hand fingernails that I'd fastidiously maintained for maybe 20 years for classical guitar playing--as I'd finally committed to upright bass playing. That's fodder for a whole other thread--something I've struggled with more than anything. I suppose the challenge of remembering tunings for each family of strings, or fingerings for various squeezeboxes, can be cerebrally stimulating in a GOOD way...although I typically experience it as annoying at best. Frailing nail is still there Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdormire Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 My mum suggested I learn to play the washboard when I was on my quest to find an intrument to play The concertina is easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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