Meddling
January 21st, 2010I Have my Brass
I am a bad person. I am an instigator.
My dad used to play the trumpet and some other horns, and he loves music. But he quit playing, because it’s so loud. You almost have to live on an island to practice the trumpet without annoying people.
I saw Wynton Marsalis in the documentary, Jazz, commenting while occasionally playing a horn. I realized his playing wasn’t loud, and knowing nothing about horns, I figured he had to have a special instrument that played quietly. Apparently, there is no such thing. But I found a weird electronic mute made by Yamaha, which supposedly allows horn players to practice quietly without the back pressure problems a regular mute causes.
I emailed the information to my dad, and now he’s fooling around with his cornet. I may have succeeded in tempting him.
This has to be better for him than watching the tube.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:21 PM
A few years ago I bought a set of 20 harmonicas. Always wanted to find some kind of service that would identify rock songs in a particular key so I could practice crossharp w/o having to switch out harmonicas for different songs. Something that would allow me to find all the Allmann Bros and Stevie Ray Vaughn songs in the key of D so I could make a practice mix.
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Bagpipes also have a volume problem. I’d love to learn to play them.
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The only instruments I really excel at are stereo, air guitar and car dashboard keyboard. I can wail on stereo and play almost anything you can think of.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:24 PM
Practice and instruction can be helpful.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:38 PM
I took a course years ago called “Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless”. For a while, when I had a 45-minute driving commute, I’d wear a harmonica rack and play along when I could. I got to a point where I wasn’t painful to those within earshot and found myself exhilarated when I found that I jammed successfully.
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Difficulty is finding time to be alone while I practice. Right now, exercise would be a higher priority. Supporting my family comes before I get to work on becoming the second famous harmonica player to have grown up in Princeton, John Popper being the other.
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:32 AM
I played guitar for several years pretty casually, but all I have left is my electric. The truth is that I am no longer very interested in that style of music, but would like to pick up a smaller guitar-like instrument for fun, because I’m fascinated with the smaller, simpler instruments that are good for travel. Maybe just an acoustic guitar, although I hate hauling guitars around. My son is of the age where he would enjoy it and we could have some fun that way.
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I am left handed and tried to make the switch to left-handed-style guitar play after four years of conventional play. It was awful. And truth be told, my picking was good enough that way that there was no detriment to playing conventionally. Making the switch was extremely awkward – fingering arrangements are actually more difficult than picking, so I switched back. I don’t know the point of sharing this story.
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 AM
I think if I were going to be serious about acoustic guitar, I’d use a flamenco or classical guitar with a cutaway. They’re much easier to play than steel-string guitars, and the sound is wonderful. If Willie Nelson can do it, you can, too.
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:49 PM
I am thinking about getting a nylon string guitar. We saw the Marc Atkinson Trio at the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival a few years ago and they play Gypsy jazz style music (think Django). He was superb! A work-mate of mine is into classical guitar and is having a custom built nylon acoustic built for him by a local Orlando luthier. When I was at my “peak”, about thirty years ago, I was pretty darn good at blues harp, and yes, Aaron is correct about the key hunt situation.
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:34 PM
Kyle: mandolin?