Any Musical Instruments passed down in your Family?

[michael sam wild]

I was thinking about the opposite some days ago.

 

My wife plays lovely piano - Scott Joplin rags and such - but couldn't be dragged to the dark side of the force - it is, the oom - pah to back my playing -.

 

I'm the first - and only - musician in my family, so don't know what's going to happen to my two fiddles and my Morse when I kick the bucket. Anyway, surprised myself with the soppy idea of a child of mine playing my Morse at the same time I play my Suttner... oh, well

 

Cheers,

Fer

 

I don't ever want to part with my Morse, but will have a go at teaching my younger brother (6 y.o.) or maybe in the future, my own children.

My father has a nice old wood flute, which he doesn't want to part with either, but every now and then I give him a little tweak of what he's going to do it when the time comes. I'm hoping he'll teach a relative, as it's such a lovely flute and be pretty bad if he were to sell it... not hearing anymore folk-tunes coming out of one end...

 

Other than the flute and concertina, my grandparents generation don't play any musical instruments, let alone talk about them, so I guess it's up to my father and I to start it off.

 

Hi Patrick

 

What kind of tunes are you playing at the moment. Nice to see another generation taking it up!

Cheers

Mike

[d.elliott]

Dick,

 

I inherited two concertinas, one is a metal ended aeola treble, and the other is a 12 key English system miniature, both from my great-uncle Harry

[Ptarmigan]

Dick,

 

I inherited two concertinas, one is a metal ended aeola treble, and the other is a 12 key English system miniature, both from my great-uncle Harry

 

Hey, you certainly picked the right family to be born into!

 

Cheers

Dick

[Ptarmigan]

Hands up anyone who hasn't done at least one totally stupid thing in their life !!

Robin

Hey Robin, I hope you are not still waiting for any hands to go up?

[david_boveri]

my great aunt's accordion is still in the family. my grandma's cousin has it in her attic, which leads me to believe it is probably becoming worse and worse as time goes on, as an attic is no place for an accordion! when i see her later this spring, i may ask her for it. i know she also has the fiddle her and her siblings all learned on so long ago, but that it is unplayable now. unfortunately my great aunt's concertinas is long gone--it was cheap and german made, so they probably threw it out long before she herself came to the states later in life. so, although i am not the first in my family to play the concertina, i am definitely the first to play one made out of "solid wood" as my grandma's cousin calls it.

 

a friend of mine is quite lucky--she's inline to inherit her family's ~$100k antique steinway!

[synchopepper]

When I was twelve years old I asked for a banjo for my birthday. My favorite great-uncle, who had been a well know musician and the member of a colorful religious sect that fielded famous vaudeville march and jazz bands from 1907 until 1927 gave me a really great banjo. Other than a couple of pairs of bones and a ukulele from my father it was my first folk instrument and is still one of my most prized possessions.

 

Many years ago I wrote an article about this strange sect's musical traditions which can still be found here:

http://israelitehouseofdavid.com/music.html

 

In plate #37 of the article the banjo player second from the right in the back row is holding this banjo which is a Gibson Mastertone TB Grenada. The trumpet player second from the right in the front row was my great-uncle. This specific banjo is also featured twice in Gibson's 1926 Banjo Catalog. It was appraised last year at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan at $10,000.

 

Now if someone would just give me a $10,000 EC!

[Ken_Coles]

I was thinking I didn't inherit any instruments, but I realize I'm mistaken.

 

I have taken over caring for the family house built for my great grandparents in 1889. I spend part of each year there. Among the contents not claimed by any cousin is a monster of a piano, an old square grand, circa 1870s. At least one great aunt and probably my great grandmother played on it. Though it has an iron frame, no respectable piano tech will work on the obsolete design. It makes a decent table. If someone offered me cash for it I'd happily sell.

 

My first musical instrument really was trumpet. It was my older brother's. So I guess he passed it down to me. I got it all fixed up nice years ago. It is small bore and hard to play, but I wouldn't sell or give it away just yet. No kids so it will go somewhere else when my time comes.

 

Ken

[michael sam wild]

When I was twelve years old I asked for a banjo for my birthday. My favorite great-uncle, who had been a well know musician and the member of a colorful religious sect that fielded famous vaudeville march and jazz bands from 1907 until 1927 gave me a really great banjo. Other than a couple of pairs of bones and a ukulele from my father it was my first folk instrument and is still one of my most prized possessions.

 

Many years ago I wrote an article about this strange sect's musical traditions which can still be found here:

http://israelitehous....com/music.html

 

In plate #37 of the article the banjo player second from the right in the back row is holding this banjo which is a Gibson Mastertone TB Grenada. The trumpet player second from the right in the front row was my great-uncle. This specific banjo is also featured twice in Gibson's 1926 Banjo Catalog. It was appraised last year at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan at $10,000.

 

Now if someone would just give me a $10,000 EC!

 

 

That was interesting link! Only in America eh?

 

 

Does Dan Worrall know about them , any concertinas used by the musicians?

Mike

[Anglo-Irishman]

Does anyone here have a Musical Instrument that has been passed down in their Family?

 

 

Yes, several! Not ancient heirlooms, just instruments my parents had. I played with them as a child, played on them as a youth, and later inherited them (privelege of an only child!)

 

1. My mother's autoharp. I still have it, it's still playable, and I still play it occasionally, though for performance I use a larger, newer, chromatic 'harp.

 

2. My father's mandolin. A Stridente, made in Naples, bought second-hand around 1941. Still with me, but no longer in playable condition. (The story is that, before he married, my father had a melodion. Apparently my mother - a woman of taste - said something to the effect of "That thing or me!" So Dad took it to a pawn shop to sell it, but swapped it for the beautiful mandolin instead. Having learned fiddle as a youth, he soon learned to play it, and taught me later.) I still play mandolin in folk groups, having purchased a collection of different models.

 

3. A family fiddle. It was in our house because my father was apparently the only fiddle player in his generation. I played it quite a bit as a student, but when it cracked, I didn't bother to replace it. (I had a concertina by that time )

 

4. Dad's two-key Hohner Echo Harp mouth organ in C/G. I still have it, though it's badly out of tune. I cut my teeth on it (musically and literally ), and above all it greatly eased my first encounter with the Anglo concertina.

 

5. I don't know if this counts as "passed down", but when I was about 10, my father had a 5-string banjo given to him in a desolate condition somewhere in the Outer Hebrides. He restored it a bit, and I learned to play it, and later I restored it completely. It's now a classic, nylon-strung open-back, and a fine playing instrument.

 

But the most valuable thing my parents bequeathed to me - apart from musical genes - was the notion that music is not just something you listen to on the radio, at church or at street parades. It's something you do at home. And it was valauble that my parents didn't either deter me from messing around with their instruments, or force me to learn them. I was able to explore them at my own pace, as children do with other important aspects of existence.

 

Cheers,

John

[LDT]

Nope. Never inherited any instruments.

[spindizzy]

Nope. Never inherited any instruments.

 

I blame the parents!

[CaryK]

When I was twelve years old I asked for a banjo for my birthday. My favorite great-uncle, who had been a well know musician and the member of a colorful religious sect that fielded famous vaudeville march and jazz bands from 1907 until 1927 gave me a really great banjo. Other than a couple of pairs of bones and a ukulele from my father it was my first folk instrument and is still one of my most prized possessions.

 

Many years ago I wrote an article about this strange sect's musical traditions which can still be found here:

http://israelitehous....com/music.html

 

In plate #37 of the article the banjo player second from the right in the back row is holding this banjo which is a Gibson Mastertone TB Grenada. The trumpet player second from the right in the front row was my great-uncle. This specific banjo is also featured twice in Gibson's 1926 Banjo Catalog. It was appraised last year at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan at $10,000.

 

Now if someone would just give me a $10,000 EC!

 

 

That was interesting link! Only in America eh?

 

 

Does Dan Worrall know about them , any concertinas used by the musicians?

 

Mike

 

This is a bit of thread drift, but I grew up in northern Indiana about 40 miles from Benton Harbor, Michigan where the House of David was located. When I was small, 6 or 7, our Mom took me and my six siblings up there to spend the day at their amusement park. This would have been around 1957 or 58. I clearly remember seeing a number of well-whiskered old gentlemen setting on the porch of a large stone house and younger fellows with long beards running some of the rides. I believe we spent time at their baseball stadium and riding a miniature train around the grounds. The pictures at the link above stirred a really nice memory for me. Hadn't thought about the House of David in years and was unaware of their musical legacy. I do remember hearing that they fielded a great baseball team.

Edited March 18, 2010 by CaryK

[Fergus_fiddler]

 

But the most valuable thing my parents bequeathed to me - apart from musical genes - was the notion that music is not just something you listen to on the radio, at church or at street parades. It's something you do at home. And it was valauble that my parents didn't either deter me from messing around with their instruments, or force me to learn them. I was able to explore them at my own pace, as children do with other important aspects of existence.

 

Cheers,

John

 

That's really beatiful. And is a very good guideline to have into account, even more now: yesterday my wife made a test & realized that 'we' are just 2 weeks pregnant. I've no words.

 

Cheers,

Fer

[Anglo-Irishman]

[That's really beatiful. And is a very good guideline to have into account, even more now: yesterday my wife made a test & realized that 'we' are just 2 weeks pregnant. I've no words.

 

Cheers,

Fer

 

Fer,

Congratulations!!!

When it arrives, you'll be surprised at how small a human being can be - but also how fast he/she can grow!

 

My little granddaughter is just 18 months old, and - like the digital native that she is - is always pressing buttons, or anything that looks remotely like a button. I'm in two minds whether to introduce her to my concertina or my autoharp first. With two musical parents and three musical grandparents, she should be able to press the right buttons pretty soon.

 

Cheers,

John

[frw]

 

But the most valuable thing my parents bequeathed to me - apart from musical genes - was the notion that music is not just something you listen to on the radio, at church or at street parades. It's something you do at home. And it was valauble that my parents didn't either deter me from messing around with their instruments, or force me to learn them. I was able to explore them at my own pace, as children do with other important aspects of existence.

 

Cheers,

John

 

That's really beatiful. And is a very good guideline to have into account, even more now: yesterday my wife made a test & realized that 'we' are just 2 weeks pregnant. I've no words.

 

Cheers,

Fer

 

 

Congrats to you and your wife Fer!!! That is awesome. My wife and I have 5. They grow up quick. I think one of mine will take my concertina.

 

Farion

[Fergus_fiddler]

Thanks everybody for your kind words!!! I'm really excited & feel a mix of happiness and being scared to death at the same time This is our first child - and, probably, the only one; given the fact that we both are just entering our forties -. Anyway, the new arrived just in time: 18 March is my wife birthday, and 19th is Father's Day in Spain

 

Being a person who would grow in a home with two languajes, don't think he/she would have much problem learning music as a third languaje, so we'll give it a try!

 

Cheers,

Fer

[Ptarmigan]

That's really beatiful. And is a very good guideline to have into account, even more now: yesterday my wife made a test & realized that 'we' are just 2 weeks pregnant. I've no words.

 

Cheers,

Fer

 

Fergus, you say 'we' .... but tell me, which one of you did she TEST?

 

Cheers

Dick

[Ptarmigan]

Nope. Never inherited any instruments.

 

I blame the parents!

 

Yeah, you got that right. People just need to learn to choose better parents!