Dan Gould Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 We have so many pros, and it seems more than a couple of accomplished amateurs but who plays a musical instrument with the most modest of skills? I ask cuz I grew up playing guitar, rising to something like a modestly skilled intermediate level, never had a lesson after 8th grade but continued to play until college. I stopped playing and when my brother asked for my guitar, I let him have it. Flash forward 22 years or so and my wife decides to buy herself a used guitar because she wants to play with our nephew who is learning the bass. So when I was home to visit the folks I found all of the sheet music still in my boyhood desk. Now after a month I am playing just about every night and really surprising myself how much is coming back. Some songs I even think I am playing better than I used to (thank God for the "Made Easy for Guitar" book series!). So if you play but only for yourself, tell us about it. In the meantime anyone got a home remedy for blisters on the tips of the fingers of my left hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 And if you used to play and stopped, why did you stop and do you regret it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 (edited) I play trombone with "no skills" whatsoever. No "jazz time". Just can't get it. Why I still keep my horn is a mystery to me. But the fact that I don't play very well gives me a great appreciation for those who do. Edited October 31, 2011 by John Tapscott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Well John at least you don't have to beat yourself up over missing out on gigs for trombonists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 anyone got a home remedy for blisters on the tips of the fingers of my left hand? Pickle juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 A certain Texan baseball pitcher with a penchant for fried chicken and beer says the same thing. But he's a righty, so I don't know ... Actually in all honesty its just one finger, and I didn't even notice it until today at work. Won't stop me from perfecting the opening to "The Heart of the Matter" when I get home tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Really, what you're going to want to do is to turn that blister into a callous, or so I've been told. I know they're essential for bass players, not sure about guitarists, but I think it's the same deal. You want to harden the blister, not heal/soften it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I can play very simple blues piano. Jimmy Yancey is a great favourite. Got quite proficient at this when I was younger, but seem to have lost the urge to play now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 (edited) I can play very simple blues piano. Jimmy Yancey is a great favourite. Got quite proficient at this when I was younger, but seem to have lost the urge to play now. I look forward to "Bill F and Eric Clapton Play Jimmy Yancey: Live at The Manchester Free Trade Hall' ***** I dabbled with a guitar for a few years in my 20s and can strum along behind raucous pupil Xmas carols. I do a mean 'Good King Wenceslas/Ghost Riders in the Sky' medley. Edited October 31, 2011 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I can play very simple blues piano. Jimmy Yancey is a great favourite. Got quite proficient at this when I was younger, but seem to have lost the urge to play now. I look forward to "Bill F and Eric Clapton Play Jimmy Yancey: Live at The Manchester Free Trade Hall' For that gig I'd hand over to my friend, Paul Woodrow. We both played piano at school in the 50s, the difference being that he continued to play every day and now at the age of 70 has a hell of a technique. He can be heard on this clip on organ with the Rooster Blues Band from Calgary, Alberta (where he now lives) backing Chicago blues shouter, Lou Pride. http://www.bu.edu/today/2007/tsai-center-gets-the-blues-tonight/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 And if you used to play and stopped, why did you stop and do you regret it? Turned out I was no damned good. No one within earshot regrets it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I stopped playing and when my brother asked for my guitar, I let him have it. I hope you didn't hit him too hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 well, I'm a very amateur pianist. Some people play Fantasy Baseball, I play Fantasy Bud Powell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 well, I'm a very amateur pianist. Some people play Fantasy Baseball, I play Fantasy Bud Powell. I've got that Bud Powell Trio record on Fantasy. Yeah, that's a good one. And if you used to play and stopped, why did you stop and do you regret it? Turned out I was no damned good. No one within earshot regrets it. Legit question deserves a legit answer. I played for a long time. Like 40 years. During the 15 or so, I'd say I was semi-professional. Worked weekends. Had a day job. Needed both the say solvent. Then my day job turned to 24/7/365 travel, and it was keep the day job and quit playing or... So I just play for myself now. Not ideal. But best I can manage when I can't touch a horn or piano but maybe once a week. Wish it wasn't so. When I retire, I hope to play more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I stopped playing and when my brother asked for my guitar, I let him have it. I hope you didn't hit him too hard. I should have, since he turned around and gave it to someone else. Otherwise I'd have taken possession from him and have a beautiful Epiphone guitar again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 I'm a self-taught guitarist, play everything by ear and never learned a lick of music theory (I tried on several occasions and failed horribly). I've been playing for over 20 years but I reached a certain level and never really made the next leap. It's cool, I enjoy it as a hobby, I may not be the most technically proficient player, but what I do play feels honest. That's the key as far as I'm concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted November 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Entirely by ear as in, you don't know the names of the chords you pick out? FWIW, what prevented me from progressing further was (and I know still is) getting "full barre" chords to sing out properly. I'm going to keep working it but even when I was younger, it was very hit or miss, and my hands aren't any bigger now. I don't know though - maybe I should buy one of those hand-shake grips to strengthen my fingers? If I could get the barre part down maybe I could manage the rest eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Several years ago I got a Yamaha alto saxophone for Christmas. I took a series of lessons from a Julliard graduate who taught music in the Portland Public School System. He was big on learning to read music which, frankly, I never got. I also practiced way too much, thinking that it would get me where I wanted to go faster. As it turned out, I pretty much burned myself out. That and the fact that you could put my affinity for the horn in a thimble and still have plenty of room for your thumb. I never got the breathing part down very well or the idea of sound projection. I guess I was at this for about four months and then just gave up. I still have the horn. In May of this year, I won a really nice Gibson SG electric in an auction for tsunami relief in Japan. I'd been thinking about taking guitar lessons anyway, so my winning this just put things that were already percolating on the front burner. I've been taking lessons from one of Portland's resident guitar gods, a guy by the name of Steve Bradley, since June. I'm doing reasonably well (certainly better than i did with the saxophone) but making it a point not to practice too much. Of course, then the question becomes how much is too much and how little is not enough. My teacher has what people in the business call "magic hands", I mean he is incredibly good. He's into roots rock from the '50's and early '60's, so we work on tunes like "Honky Tonk" and "Can I Get A Witness", although we did dabble with "Song For My Father" a bit since he plays this at his gigs and it's one of my favorite songs. I've also been pulling a lot of stuff off the internet that I work on independently and I also play with my brother and another friend of our's every week or so. Now that I"m retired, I can devote as much time to this as I choose without it getting in he way of other things. I'm having fun and learning a few things, so it's all good. Not sure where I'll be a year from now, but that's part of the fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 I did learn things like chord charts and tablature, I just couldn't fathom standard notation. I stopped looking at tab over 10 years ago, I just put the record on and figure it out that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 gigs for trombonists. There's either a joke in there or an oxymoron... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Several years ago I got a Yamaha alto saxophone for Christmas. I took a series of lessons from a Julliard graduate who taught music in the Portland Public School System. He was big on learning to read music which, frankly, I never got. I also practiced way too much, thinking that it would get me where I wanted to go faster. As it turned out, I pretty much burned myself out. That and the fact that you could put my affinity for the horn in a thimble and still have plenty of room for your thumb. I never got the breathing part down very well or the idea of sound projection. I guess I was at this for about four months and then just gave up. I still have the horn. In May of this year, I won a really nice Gibson SG electric in an auction for tsunami relief in Japan. I'd been thinking about taking guitar lessons anyway, so my winning this just put things that were already percolating on the front burner. I've been taking lessons from one of Portland's resident guitar gods, a guy by the name of Steve Bradley, since June. I'm doing reasonably well (certainly better than i did with the saxophone) but making it a point not to practice too much. Of course, then the question becomes how much is too much and how little is not enough. My teacher has what people in the business call "magic hands", I mean he is incredibly good. He's into roots rock from the '50's and early '60's, so we work on tunes like "Honky Tonk" and "Can I Get A Witness", although we did dabble with "Song For My Father" a bit since he plays this at his gigs and it's one of my favorite songs. I've also been pulling a lot of stuff off the internet that I work on independently and I also play with my brother and another friend of our's every week or so. Now that I"m retired, I can devote as much time to this as I choose without it getting in he way of other things. I'm having fun and learning a few things, so it's all good. Not sure where I'll be a year from now, but that's part of the fun. Cool that you're taking lessons from Steve Bradley, did you ever catch his 'Chamber music of the New Surf' (my term) gigs with Jim Mesi?I play C-melody sax, not as well as Trambauer, or the guy who lived in my apartment bldg 30 years ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Cool that you're taking lessons from Steve Bradley, did you ever catch his 'Chamber music of the New Surf' (my term) gigs with Jim Mesi? Wow, I'm surprised someone actually knew who this was. I go back to the early '70's when it comes to Bradley. We used to see him at the old White Eagle when he was fronting Steve Bradley & The Rhythm Tones. Then later at places like Frankenstein's or the Rock Creek Tavern when he was with The Sleazy Pieces. That was a great bar band. I used to see Mesi with Brown Sugar, a group that included two other local legends, Lloyd Jones and Paul DeLay. Never saw the surf show. I stopped going to clubs many years ago when the smoking was out of hand, so I missed a lot of local musicians and bands over the years. Now that smoking is banned in all public places in Oregon, I'm starting to get out a little more. Mesi is a monster on guitar. Crazy good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 gigs for trombonists. There's either a joke in there or an oxymoron... OK you guys, that's enough of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 gigs for trombonists. There's either a joke in there or an oxymoron... OK you guys, that's enough of that. What's the definition of an optimist? A trombone player with a beeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.