Musical instruments you like to play, or think are neat.

[Hazel_1914]

Probably most of us love music.

What instruments do you play? And what do you like?

I do not play "cool" instruments (strings are hard to figure out) but I've really been enjoying the reed-organ. The concertina would have been a lot more portable come to think of it. Best part: reed organs are versatile and fun, don't need electricity unless it's one of the late models, are a major special interest as well as a collector's item. Also, they are one of the cheapest keyboard instruments you can play as most people do not see them as worth keeping around.

But here's a thread for rambling, bragging, infodumping about favorite instruments. I don't care if you play the tin whistle or if you conduct the Philadelphia Symphony. If it's music and you make it, here's a spot for it.

 

[tazz]

About 25 years ago I learnt to play saxophone and harmonica, neither to anything more than very basic level. I liked the harmonica because it was cheap and portable, and all I needed was half a dozen blues riffs and that was enough to have fun improvising.

As a child I learnt to play piano. My father could play to concert standard although he never did as a career. His brother was a professional composer and pianist. I farted around with electronic keyboard in a band at a company I used to work at. We did the odd party gig for friends and colleagues.

I haven't played anything for years. I keep toying with the idea of picking up the harmonica again - I have some stashed away in a box somewhere although the reeds are probably shot by now.

 

[Sasha22]

Drums I learned a bit of piano and guitar as a kid, but drums works for me because it feels more ordered and categorical. I'm not very experienced at it but I like it a lot.

 

[Outdated]

I don't have a single musical bone in my body, I was always a little bit jealous of people with that talent. My mother's family were all very musical though, Mum used to play piano, piano accordian, and the banjo.

 

[Loren]

I mainly play guitar and sing. I play piano, but, I'm rusty. My main instrument is my voice. I love to sing and I have been singing in whatever capacity Ive had the opportunity to, from the time I began speaking.

Some of my favorite instruments (of which I do not play), are:

Cello
Sitar
The Djembe
Various, Tibetan, string instruments

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I enjoy playing my banjo, a Deering Goodtime 2. An intro model without a resonator, but has a beautiful tone. I play Scruggs style. Right now I'm learning Steve Martin's "Tin Roof" a wonderful tune with lots of left hand technique and an ending played up the neck.

 

[Shevek]

I don't play, but I do some drumming with my fingers, and imagine how I might build a keyboard that actually works with the human hand instead of with the mechanical parts of an acoustic instrument.

 

[Dagan]

Guitar, bass, drums, vocals

 

[Magna]

I don't play, but I really like seeing and knowing the different types of electric guitars. I think the interest started because a friend of mine in my younger days played guitar and when we'd go to clubs to see live music he'd know all the different types of guitars the musicians would be playing and I'd ask him about each type.

There are so many different brands and models and the designs are very interesting to me. I like being able to recognize many types by sight.

The obvious ones being guitars like the Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strats and Telecasters, but also the Gibson SG, Melody Maker, Flying V, Fender Jaguar, Jazzmaster, PRS (Paul Reed Smith), Rickenbackers and so many others. Ovation made some electric guitars too.

 

[zhulan]

My husband inherited a couple of mountain dulcimers from his uncle and I had them refurbished. I used to practice quite a bit -- using a Jean Ritchie book for beginners. I haven't played in several years. There is a local mountain dulcimer group that gets together (on Zoom during the worst of the pandemic) to share what they've been learning. I have never participated because I don't like to perform with anyone listening. For me, it was a very private pleasure.

 

[NDR2]

I never liked music lessons. My parents had me take violin lessons in 2nd Grade, which I had no interest in and eventually quit. I took guitar lessons after that, but I didn't stick to it. But I've always loved to sing.

Many instruments can sound good in a good song. One that's not used particularly often but really appeals to me is the tin piano.

 

[Owl]

I grew up playing trombone and really loved it. But life and chronic stress got in the way and I wasn't able to keep it up. One of the problems I discovered was that it isn't considered a solo instrument, so it was hard to find satisfying music to play when I wasn't part of a band or orchestra. When my access to bands and orchestra's got left behind I couldn't find much that I wanted to play. I always meant to pick it back up but not until I wasn't in an apartment anymore, no desire to piss off the neighbors with loud playing. And living in my own house just never became a thing and the years go by.

A few years back I was discussing this situation with my father and it came up that the recorder had been more or less dropped from orchestra's during the classical and romantic eras in part because it wasn't loud enough. And that the lovely recorder playing I had experienced of his when I grew up was the result of his self teaching, not from any expensive tutoring. Granted the set up kit to learn still costs money but only a small fraction of what most other instruments cost. I was able to get a high quality student instrument for around $35 (semi professional quality ones start at around 10x that, concert professional quality ones about 100x), two volumes of a respectable method book aimed at teaching Baroque era music to people who already had a background in music for around $50 ish, and a few minor accessories for small change. I've been at it for around three years now give or take and really enjoy playing.

 

[Dagan]

Speaking of the kinds of guitars and instruments, the brands, I didn't realize it right away, but I am very particular on the shapes, sizes and colors that I can even stand to play. I definitely don't want to purposely be this way. I just am.

 

[AndyFBlues]

I play mostly guitar but also a little bass and harmonica. I love to sing.

 

[Jeff T]

Ondes Martinot, and the Theremin. No, I don't have either, but they can sound pretty wicked. If I had musical ability they would be my choice.....

 

[elgat0verde]

Bass, Guitar, my voice

 

[Crabcore]

I started with drums when I was super young, transitioned over to guitar, bass, and virtual synths in my teenage years, and more recently, got sucked into (virtual) modular, trackers and livecoding environments (yes, I consider them all to be their own instrument, since they can all be jammed and improvised with!).

Nowadays I'm all digital, though -- DI guitar and bass (no amps), full electronic drum kit, etc. Pretty much everything relies on having a PC in front of me, but that doesn't really bother me much.

I did do vocals for one of my songs one time (and made an entire music video for it), but it has a lot of swearing and I can't post it here. lol

 

[NDR2]

Another instrument I like the sound of is the harpsichord. It often sounds good in a pop song.

Those with sensory issues may want to keep the volume low on this one:

 

[Catwoman]

Electric guitar.

 

[Misty Avich]

I play the piano but only with one hand. But I have a keyboard and I play a tune while controlling the rhythm beat in the background with my other hand.

My mother taught me to play tunes one-handed on the keyboard when I was 4. She could never play with two hands either. But it's still nice to be able to play thousands of tunes, something a lot of people can't do.

I can't read music though. I just learn how to play a tune from memory. I recognise the right keys and just go from there.