Are You A Musician?

[countryboy]

Are there any amateur (or pro, semi-pro) musicians out there? Interested in chatting about the music you like to play, favourite instruments, etc.?

I started playing the guitar when I was 11 yrs. old and have never kicked the habit.

 

[VanIsle]

I wish! Not so much that I could play the guitar but my husband used to. He has 3 guitars. He has a regular acoutic (I bought it over 30 yrs. ago and can't remember the name) and he has a lovely electric Gibson and a few years ago he bought himself a 12 string. He used to pick up his guitar and sit down and sing and play everynight when he came home from work. I loved it. He has a lovely voice. For some reason he seemed to lose interest and he picks up the guitar only on rare occassions now. Our son also plays but he actually plays better. Maybe that has something to do with "Dad" not playing anymore. We go out camping and everytime the guitar comes out, after 3-4 songs, Dad hands the guitar over to our son. Our son comes here no less than 4 days a week because I look after the kids that many days and he goes and sits on my bed and strums the guitar. He said he keeps leaving it laying on the bed in the hope that his Dad will start to play again. It was so good for all of us. I think it mellowed any cranky moods that might have been brewing from a bad day and it kind of set the pace for how the rest of the day went. He picked up his guitar the other day and played a song and I felt hopeful. After about 5 minutes he put it down again. I really miss those days.

 

[countryboy]

I wish! Not so much that I could play the guitar but my husband used to. He has 3 guitars. He has a regular acoutic (I bought it over 30 yrs. ago and can't remember the name) and he has a lovely electric Gibson and a few years ago he bought himself a 12 string. He used to pick up his guitar and sit down and sing and play everynight when he came home from work. I loved it. He has a lovely voice. For some reason he seemed to lose interest and he picks up the guitar only on rare occassions now. Our son also plays but he actually plays better. Maybe that has something to do with "Dad" not playing anymore. We go out camping and everytime the guitar comes out, after 3-4 songs, Dad hands the guitar over to our son. Our son comes here no less than 4 days a week because I look after the kids that many days and he goes and sits on my bed and strums the guitar. He said he keeps leaving it laying on the bed in the hope that his Dad will start to play again. It was so good for all of us. I think it mellowed any cranky moods that might have been brewing from a bad day and it kind of set the pace for how the rest of the day went. He picked up his guitar the other day and played a song and I felt hopeful. After about 5 minutes he put it down again. I really miss those days.

I'm much the same. Lately, I've been getting back into it again and it's good therapy for sure.

I keep a Martin "Backpacker" guitar in the living room and pick it up while I'm watching TV once in a while. It's a small guitar (for campfires, etc.) but a good one. I also have a Fender Stratocaster (electric), a Martin acoustic, and an Ovation 12-string acoustic. I don't play as much as I used to (kids grew up and moved away), but one of my daughters is learning how to play now - she is a singer and sends me words to the songs, phones me to hum the tune to me, and then I make up chord charts for her and email them back. I guess everyone needs a bit of motivation, eh?

Hopefully your son's efforts will get your husband going again...

 

[lone wolf]

Once upon a time.... Then I came up on the losing end of a battle with a fire hose. I still tickle the strings but a four finger dance on six of them up and down 24 frets has to wait for those days when Uncle Arthur is away. I had to pawn the P bass for groceries and rent but the old Yammie acoustic sits across the room to tempt me.

 

[Northboy]

Guitar, Bass and sing.
Wife plays tenor sax.

I write a lot of songs nobody hears, but it lets me vent.I have a little 4 track recorder.

 

[Nuggler]

Once upon a time.... Then I came up on the losing end of a battle with a fire hose. I still tickle the strings but a four finger dance on six of them up and down 24 frets has to wait for those days when Uncle Arthur is away. I had to pawn the P bass for groceries and rent but the old Yammie acoustic sits across the room to tempt me.

Pervasive things them Yammie acoustics. Find one with a green label!!8O

Decent guitars for not too much money. Mine spends most of it's time in the case these days. ??

 

[countryboy]

Once upon a time.... Then I came up on the losing end of a battle with a fire hose. I still tickle the strings but a four finger dance on six of them up and down 24 frets has to wait for those days when Uncle Arthur is away. I had to pawn the P bass for groceries and rent but the old Yammie acoustic sits across the room to tempt me.

Had a Yamaha 12-string electric once and it was one of the best guitars I ever had. Made the mistake of trading "up" to a Mosrite at the time...dumb decision. That's too bad about your fingers though...does playing make it worse or is it like therapy?

 

[lone wolf]

Had a Yamaha 12-string electric once and it was one of the best guitars I ever had. Made the mistake of trading "up" to a Mosrite at the time...dumb decision. That's too bad about your fingers though...does playing make it worse or is it like therapy?

For the fingers it's great! Forearm, elbow and shoulder is the problem. My son is playing semi-professionally and my grand daughter has taken an interest. I found her a half-scale guitar that is remarkably good - and she's learning. The music is still in me. It comes out when it can. For me, the best part is I got to hand on some of the gift ... so I have a legacy

 

[Dexter Sinister]

I've got a Goya nylon-string guitar and a Stratocaster. I learned (self-taught actually) on the former in my foolish youth, thought it might be a babe magnet. It wasn't. I got the Stratocaster because there were certain sounds I just couldn't make on the Goya. I'm not really much of a musician, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler have nothing to fear from me, but I like to try to play some of their stuff. And I can sing a lot better than they do (but how hard is that?), thanks to some classical training in my youth that my mother insisted on. She thought I could be a competent operatic baritone, a career prospect that filled me with loathing. Tenors get all the best roles anyway. In musical terms I think of myself as a stone-fingered kitchen and campfire guitarist, those are the only venues I've ever performed at, and actually I do it mostly for myself in the privacy of my study, it's great relaxation therapy for me.

 

[countryboy]

For the fingers it's great! Forearm, elbow and shoulder is the problem. My son is playing semi-professionally and my grand daughter has taken an interest. I found her a half-scale guitar that is remarkably good - and she's learning. The music is still in me. It comes out when it can. For me, the best part is I got to hand on some of the gift ... so I have a legacy

LW - Your grand daughter will soak up the influence big-time. My 2 daughters started out listening to me play them music when they were still in the crib. I got the older one a 3/4 guitar when she was 4. She still has it (it was a good one). She works for the Canadian Opera Company now...still trying to make a career out of music, but she didn't forget that early influence. Daughter no. 2 is also a good singer and she plays guitar now too. For her, it's a hobby and that's good.

I was their "back-up" at school concerts and all kinds of things when they were younger and boy, those were the days. We had a ball.

I played professionally for a while in my younger days but didn't like the scene so I decided it would remain a hobby.

Keep up the good work - the world needs more music and less "noise!" It gets people's energies straightened out (or something like that).

 

[countryboy]

I've got a Goya nylon-string guitar and a Stratocaster. I learned (self-taught actually) on the former in my foolish youth, thought it might be a babe magnet. It wasn't. I got the Stratocaster because there were certain sounds I just couldn't make on the Goya. I'm not really much of a musician, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler have nothing to fear from me, but I like to try to play some of their stuff. And I can sing a lot better than they do (but how hard is that?), thanks to some classical training in my youth that my mother insisted on. She thought I could be a competent operatic baritone, a career prospect that filled me with loathing. Tenors get all the best roles anyway. In musical terms I think of myself as a stone-fingered kitchen and campfire guitarist, those are the only venues I've ever performed at, and actually I do it mostly for myself in the privacy of my study, it's great relaxation therapy for me.

Dexter, I wish I could sing. I'm not bad at banging out a tune on the guitar but the vocal part is my weakness.

Couldn't agree with you more on the relaxation therapy...it works for me too.