If you could learn to play any musical instrument

[dlgoff]

How about the Lute?

 

[David Carroll]

Yes, the Lute!

 

[RonL]

How about the Lute?

David Carroll only locked me in for 27 minutes, my afternoon has now gone to a couple of screwdrivers and two hours of slack-jawed listening

 

[dlgoff]

David Carroll only locked me in for 27 minutes, my afternoon has now gone to a couple of screwdrivers and two hours of slack-jawed listening

Glad I could be of help. :D

 

[RonL]

Glad I could be of help. :D

I gave you a like, but my wife's not so happy

 

[neyzentanburi]

I play traditional ottoman turkish musical instruments:
ney, tanbur, kemençe, ud, kanun, lavta, rebab
and some western instruments in turkish style:
chello, violin, flute, guitar, clarinet ! :)

 

[dlgoff]

I gave you a like, but my wife's not so happy

Well, promise her this after you're done with the Lute.

 

[DiracPool]

I've been playing the guitar for close to 15 years, and perform live in electric and acoustic acts, but I'm not really all that good at it, even though I've put a lot off effort into being good. I basically play background rhythm chord progressions with an occasion riff or simple solo, and I only get away with it because the other guitarist(s) in my band are really good, and can cover for me if I screw up. Sometimes I'll do one or two solo performances in an acoustic act and it's always an anxious performance. I also have a keyboard which I use to write songs and set up rhythms and beats to record on my old school Tascam. But I'd never dream of playing the keys live, the learning curve is too high there, so I abandoned that a long time ago.

The problem is I started too late. From my experience, if you wait until after middle school (even high school may be too late), then your musical learning and expression is relationally interpretive rather than organic. What do I man by that? Well, it's kind of like learning to speak a new language later in life where you may hear a sentence and then have to mentally convert the foreign sentence into English (or whatever your native tongue is), rather than just "understanding" it on the fly. Or vice-versa trying to formulate a foreign sentence by mentally translating it from one language to another. Gerald Edelman spoke of these as primary versus secondary "repertoires" in his book Neural Darwinism, whereby the primary repertoires are ones that are "hard wired" in pre-adolescence (4-12), or what Piaget refers to as the pre-operational/concrete operational phases of development. Secondary repertoires are those that develop after this critical period, and that for the most part have to work around the primary ones.

In light of that, I love my parents but if there was one thing I would change about my childhood is that I would have wished I were forced to take music lessons from as early in life as possible. And specifically a harmony instrument, such as the guitar or piano. I remember learning the recorder in middle school or something, I think it was mandatory for school or my mom wanted me to learn an instrument and picked that one for whatever reason, I don't remember, but that didn't do much. You need to learn a harmony instrument and feel the relationship of the chords and the scales. So, if I ever do have kids one day, they are going to get a military regimen of schooling in both the guitar and piano. Once they turn 18, if they never want to play an instrument again, that's their choice, but I can't think of giving your children anything better than the gift of music.

 

[David Carroll]

I've also heard that if you cannot roll your 'r's by the time you're around 12, you'll never be able to do it. I would roll my 'r's as a young child because my sister taught me how, but if that never happened, I'd basically be forever handicapped to the vast majority of the world's languages.

I took German in High School, and it took me forever to master the backthroated 'r's. To this day, I think that's an annoying sound, so I hate pronouncing a lot of German, French, and Hebrew words. But other languages are no problem.

By the way, did you know that there are only three languages in the world that has the retroflex "r" sound that English has? English, Mandarin, and some obscure language in Botswana.

 

[RonL]

I've also heard that if you cannot roll your 'r's by the time you're around 12, you'll never be able to do it. I would roll my 'r's as a young child because my sister taught me how, but if that never happened, I'd basically be forever handicapped to the vast majority of the world's languages.

I took German in High School, and it took me forever to master the backthroated 'r's. To this day, I think that's an annoying sound, so I hate pronouncing a lot of German, French, and Hebrew words. But other languages are no problem.

By the way, did you know that there are only three languages in the world that has the retroflex "r" sound that English has? English, Mandarin, and some obscure language in Botswana.

It was so disappointing when "ladies number one detective agency" did not get renewed for more episodes:L the show was based on life in Botswana, so much fun to hear the sound of spoken dialog.:)

 

[RonL]

Thanks guys for such a wonderful wasted afternoon, anything I could have done today can likely be done tomorrow or the next day (the beauty of being retired.:D
I used to go out and hear Stevie when he was just getting started, I think he might have had to pay the bar owners to perform, it was so tragic his life was cut short.:(

 

[jack476]

I play piano and violin reasonably well, but I'd really like to play organ. Unfortunately, while the university I go to does have a music department, they got rid of the Yamaha Electones they had in a practice lab, and while there is a church that offers lessons it's only to play religious music as a church organist rather than any sort of general skillset, and I can't stand religious music. The other problem is that there isn't a whole lot of new repertoire (Final Fantasy 6 notwithstanding).

I did, however, build a rank of pedals to use with my keyboard, but it's still not the same.

 

[RonL]

I play traditional ottoman turkish musical instruments:
ney, tanbur, kemençe, ud, kanun, lavta, rebab
and some western instruments in turkish style:
chello, violin, flute, guitar, clarinet ! :)

You really sound gifted oo)

 

[RonL]

I play piano and violin reasonably well, but I'd really like to play organ. Unfortunately, while the university I go to does have a music department, they got rid of the Yamaha Electones they had in a practice lab, and while there is a church that offers lessons it's only to play religious music as a church organist rather than any sort of general skillset, and I can't stand religious music. The other problem is that there isn't a whole lot of new repertoire (Final Fantasy 6 notwithstanding).

I did, however, build a rank of pedals to use with my keyboard, but it's still not the same.

What a quandary, after 3-1/2 hours of music that I know I like, this left me bewildered won't say I didn't like it and can't say I did. Do you have an explanation of how it is intended to move the listener ? what mood or setting does it fit

 

[DiracPool]

What a quandary, after 3-1/2 hours of music that I know I like, this left me bewildered won't say I didn't like it and can't say I did. Do you have an explanation of how it is intended to move the listener ? what mood or setting does it fit

I kind of like it, it feels like an uptight and anxious abstraction of Pink Floyd's "Atom heart mother." I love almost anything with organs in it.

 

[dlgoff]

Since this thread is about instruments ...

There's one of these at my Alma Mater.



It's located at the top of this:

 

[RonL]

Since this thread is about instruments ...

There's one of these at my Alma Mater.



It's located at the top of this:

The only way I can think that would work, is laying back in a canoe on that lake, fishing with a rig having no bait on the hook
The scene reminds me of something I think I remember from Star-gate SG1

 

[Danger]

if you wait until after middle school (even high school may be too late), then your musical learning and expression is relationally interpretive rather than organic.

I read in Scientific American years ago that computer programming is dealt with by the language centre of the brain. Perhaps music is the same, although I've always thought of it as an art thing. The ability to learn languages essentially atrophies after about 20 years of age or so.

would have wished I were forced to take music lessons from as early in life as possible.

Don't hold it against them; it might have been a favour. I was forced to take music in school, by the board of education rather than my parents. The result was that I refused to learn it and hated it with a burning passion for the next 30 years.

By the way, did you know that there are only three languages in the world that has the retroflex "r" sound that English has? English, Mandarin, and some obscure language in Botswana.

I've never even heard that term before, but what I read when I looked up it (and secondary links) in Wikipedia suggest that it's not actually done in English. The only English off-shoots mentioned are Yankspeak and whatever it is that the Irish do. Are English people and we Canucks immune, or did they just neglect to include us?

I did, however, build a rank of pedals to use with my keyboard, but it's still not the same.

It seems to me sort of like building a set of pedals for your skateboard when you really wanted a bicycle.

You really sound gifted oo)

Actually, he seems really gifted; we have no idea what he actually sounds like... :p

 

[RonL]

Actually, he seems really gifted; we have no idea what he actually sounds like... :p

Am I the only one that hears the sound when I read the name of an instrument ?:D

 

[turbo]

Guitars are my favorite instruments. I have two very nice handmade acoustics and 4 electrics. There are battery-operated amps available for some flexibility in settings with no AC power, but I prefer the old Fender tube amps. I played in rock/blues bands since my teens and though I played trumpet, flute, harmonica, and keyboards, too, guitar was always my favorite instrument. I had to stop playing in bars after developing sensitivities to fragrance chemicals, but I am reluctant to sell off my guitars even though I'm not making a living with them.

Guitars are very portable, and can be used for multiple types of music. For years, I led a house band that hosted open-mic jams at one tavern, and a couple of other bars in nearby towns. Guitar was ideal for that, since you can use barre chords to transpose keys as needed. I was never good enough on keyboards to be able to transpose, but it's dead easy to transpose on guitar. For this reason, I would highly recommend guitar to the OP and to anybody considering a similar path.

 

[jack476]

What a quandary, after 3-1/2 hours of music that I know I like, this left me bewildered won't say I didn't like it and can't say I did. Do you have an explanation of how it is intended to move the listener ? what mood or setting does it fit

It plays during the final battle sequence of Final Fantasy 6. The piece itself has already been written about at length http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-vi-s-dancing-mad-a-critical-analysis-157570.phtml

Note that it's divided into 4 movements, not an 18-minute long loop. The third movement was actually what made me want to learn to play organ.

Supposedly there's some connection to the Divine Comedy, but I've never read that so I can't comment on it.

It seems to me sort of like building a set of pedals for your skateboard when you really wanted a bicycle.

Well, it works. Sort of. I live in a dorm room and was on a limited budget, I couldn't well drop $2000 on an Electone or Roland organ, now could I? :P I have had some success interfacing it with Hauptwerk though. But there really is no substitute for the real thing, sadly.

 

[Danger]

Am I the only one that hears the sound when I read the name of an instrument ?:D

No, I'm sure that the asylums are full of them...

 

[RonL]

It plays during the final battle sequence of Final Fantasy 6. The piece itself has already been written about at length http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-vi-s-dancing-mad-a-critical-analysis-157570.phtml

Note that it's divided into 4 movements, not an 18-minute long loop. The third movement was actually what made me want to learn to play organ.

Supposedly there's some connection to the Divine Comedy, but I've never read that so I can't comment on it.
Well, it works. Sort of. I live in a dorm room and was on a limited budget, I couldn't well drop $2000 on an Electone or Roland organ, now could I? :p I have had some success interfacing it with Hauptwerk though. But there really is no substitute for the real thing, sadly.

Thanks jack476, I found at the very bottom of your link, a 10 minute piece that would open and play, with a little effort I might be able to develop a bit of an ear for this level of music.
I will put some time into this:)

 

[RonL]

No, I'm sure that the asylums are full of them...

Nah...that's why they put me here by myself
I would like to play the banjo, but because of my early years in Arkansas they say I might flash-back:D

 

[Danger]

 

[Pythagorean]

Russian 7-String: I can almost do the first quarter of this song on a western tuned six string classical (I'm learning it by ear) but some of the flourishes are hard to reproduce.



I play keys and guitar. I've started playing around with drums a little bit, too. At one time or another, I meddled in mandolin, violin, and trumpet - learning bowing for violin is a lot of work, so is learning the embrochure for trumpet. Mandolin is more my style of those three, but lately I'm really trying to focus on keys and guitar to get show ready.

 

[Danger]

(I'm learning it by ear)

I admire your innovative nature, but fingers work better.

 

[jack476]

Thanks jack476, I found at the very bottom of your link, a 10 minute piece that would open and play, with a little effort I might be able to develop a bit of an ear for this level of music.
I will put some time into this:)

This is a better recording (in a studio, not someone's phone camera). Also, IDK what it is because I've never had trouble with it myself, but the organists always make mistakes on the third movement when they're playing live.

 

[Danger]

the organists always make mistakes on the third movement when they're playing live.

Maybe it's time for a smoke break?

 

[RonL]

This is a better recording (in a studio, not someone's phone camera). Also, IDK what it is because I've never had trouble with it myself, but the organists always make mistakes on the third movement when they're playing live.

OK that worked great, I kicked back the recliner, shut my eyes, let it flow into my ears and enjoyed quite a bit:)

 

[gfd43tg]

Probably violin or viola. When I was in elementary school I took lessons for the guitar, only because my friend played bass and wanted to start a band, so I just went along with it. I had no passion to play though. His family I think is musically gifted, both him and his sister are musicians.

I dropped the guitar after less than a year and he is still playing the bass, 15 years later or so

 

[Bandersnatch]

Lacking any constraints (money, time, etc.), what musical instrument would you learn to play and why?

Given the choice and absent constraints
Of resource, talent and time scarcity
I'd learn the heartstrings of a woman fair
To play the chords of well-tuned unity

 

[JOJO1985]

Is fantastic ?...Welcome to PF:)

What's the PF?

 

[JOJO1985]

What's the PF?

OH,sorry, I think I know...physics forums...
and thank you.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What's the PF?

Physics Forums, you know, the site you're on :)