Do you play an Instrument

[dover666]

shehnai? sweet!

[M'Snah]

I play

Bass, guitars, keyboards, Duduk, Zurna, Shvi, Shehnai, Pungi, Xaphoons.

tell your friends they know nuttin.

Xaphoon here too ... Duduk sounds cool too, there's one in McCartney's newest song, isn't it?

[topaz]

so i read

im sure Gasparyan plays on it.

Xaphoon here too ... Duduk sounds cool too, there's one in McCartney's newest song, isn't it?

[CypherOne]

I don't play anything, and it shows

[djsubject]

i play th eXT & the T2

[beej]

In my view, you either have some kind of inherent musical sensibility or you don't.

If you do, then theoretically you should be able to play *any* instrument - it's just a question of learning the interface and developing your skills in controlling it. (That's the part that often takes a looong time )

Now, there are people who don't really have an inbuilt musicality, but still love music, and often make their own music using electronics. Often they will just move beats around on screen to try to find something that sounds good, they will contruct everything out of loops or they will use synths and things to make interesting noises.

There also non-musical people who will sit down at any kind of instrument and fail to make anything meaningful at all, and give up. The ones who find it interesting and persevere usually turn into people in the category above - and can still do some interesting and valid music.

While *I* wouldn't necessarily class these people as "musicians" as such, they are still making music and enjoying it and that's all that counts really. There is plenty of music around that doesn't rely on "performance" or the ability to play instruments - things like experimental music using tape loops and all that stuff - much of the early radiophonic workshop stuff falls into this category. And many composers can't really play instruments, but they still have a great understanding of music. And many incredible instrumentalists, especially orchestral ones, fail utterly when you say "just play" - often they resort to playing snatches of things that they know, rather than just improvising. I actually find this really odd - I think they can improvise, it's just those "muscles" are often not very active and there's a resistence to try new things and not sound good when you're used to playing first class performances of amazing music.

What does it all mean? Make music for the right reasons, strive to make something you think is good and pleases you, and there's bound to be someone else who likes it, regardless of your ability or experience.

It's all good.

EDIT: As an example, there's a guy I know who doesn't really play anything, he just has a cheap keyboard to enter notes. He certainly has extremely basic skills. He doesn't have particularly good engineering skills, he doesn't understand synthesis and program his own sounds short of tweaking a few knobs and he doesn't really write songs or melodies as such. In short, his musical ability is pretty limited.

But he makes *amazing* tracks. He has the ability to put together beats and stuff which are full of energy, sound great, unique and distinctive and to be frank it annoys me 'cos I can't do anything near as good in that genre, even though i have the musical and technical chops.

[Benny Bear]

I play keyboards, guitar and bass. Just got a fretless bass for Christmas courtesy of my wife - not a hard as I thought it was going to be.

Always found it difficult to play anything you have to blow (matron!)

[dry bones]

I've been playing trombone for 26 years, guitar for 5 ( badly ) and writing/recording for eight. I don't think of myself as any one thing, I just apply what I know and think to whatever musical situation I'm in at the time. I'll use loops if that's what I think a piece requires, or I'll sit and record the part from scratch. Whatever works.

[vurt]

i voted yes as i play many,whether other people enjoy my harp playing is a completely different question...

[flippya2000]

I play the keyboard, but not very well - I don't have lessons, just learn to play songs I like when I get spare time & improvise sections when I'm feeling ambitious!

[keyman_sam]

I played classical piano and classical carnatic violin. Completed Grade 8 in Royal College of Music, London and Trinity College of Music, London.

Grade 5 theory in music, but i need to refresh my memory on theory.

[mbell]

I played trumpet for 6 years when I was a kid, including in the shool's "jazz band" for half that. Now I mostly just play keyboards, sorta like what flippya2000 does I guess. But I do have a couple years of classical and jazz theory training from college.

What category do I fit in?

[VicDiesel]

Piano, flute, recorder, bass guitar; church organ at one point. Bought a viola da gamba last year, and my doumbek teacher is talking me into taking up tabla.

[geoffrey]

guitar, bass guitar, octave mandolin(aka Irish bouzouki) and mandola, a bit of kanjira, a bit of keyboard, tried dijiridoo with no success (or is that blowcess?)

[Hink]

I say, who gives a f**k what "someone" says anyway.

Let them think what they want.

don't get many second dates do yah John....

I actually do quite well with women, thank you very much. Not sure what the relevance is though.

errrr sarcasm...