Musical Instruments, do you play one? I play Keyboard

timejim

January of 2002 I started taking lessons. I play using the new Casio WK 3000. Really a professional board, fabulous sounds. I read music quite well. Just do it as a hobby from 1 to 3 hours per day. What about you all? Oh yes, I play all types of music. I especially like Elton John "I guess thats why they call it the Blues". I play as much Beatles and BG's as I can find as well as oldies. Relaxes me.

Dagenais

Yeah, like many Asian-Canadians I was 'forced' to play an instrument.

Piano, for close to 10 years. It was horrible for me. I didn't even know how I got started, all I knew was that I was forced to do it. It was fun towards the end, but a drudgery in the middle of that time.

Then I played Alto Saxophone during Middle school/Jr. High.

I use to have a Casio keyboard. They are pretty well made. My parents gave it away, but if I were to purchase another keyboard it would probably be another Casio, Roland or Yamaha.

motai

Clarinet for six years.

I have taken piano lessons but decided to quit early on.

jimmy p

i learned piano until my tutor died, but im going to buy a bass guitar soon!!

Miles

I play the Piano, Clarinet, and alto Sax. I enjoy the Piano the most. One of my favorite songs to play on the piano is Moonlight Sonata 1st movement. I enjoy listening to the 3rd movement of Moonlight, but I dont think I could ever play something that goes that fast. [8)]

null

I play the piano, I stick to classical. I love blues and some jazz but for whatever reason it's classical that I really feel. I haven't taken lessons in years and don't have a piano avaibile for me to play these days, but I will always stick with it.

What I find so amazing about music is when you play and completely feel the music, it seems like it opens your soul and you express completely your raw emotion through the music.

Anyway I just got a guitar and am just working on getting down as many chords as I can right now. Anyone have any suggestions for songs to start with? If so Thanks [:D] [a)]

Artman

Play what you enjoy. I think you will find the guitar a very expressive instrument, judging by your post. Your piano background should help you learn quickly.

As for myself, I played field drum and concert snare in High school. I bought a house several years ago and the previous owner left a very cheap electric guitar. I started playing that, then I bought a better one that I found at a yard sale. I also play violin, bass, piano, drum kat (an electronic set of drum pads).

I don't consider myself much of an entertainer. I am better at song writing, which is why I learned the piano. I play well enough to show other people who play better how my songs should sound, then they improve on them.

Zero

Sit down and learn to play any Pink Floyd album, especiallt The Wall, and you will be well on your way, simply because those albums cover alot of musical styles and techniques.

Artman

Good advice. I love David Gilmore's guitar work. There is a lot of feeling in his playing, which should apeal to Null.

Zero

Oh yeah, and there are even some piano and keyboard parts for Null to mess around with...I learned to play guitar from David Gilmour, and even though my style has moved on, you can still hear his influence in my playing.[:D]

Mentat

I'm with you, Miles. I've been playing the piano for some time, and have actually attempted (not completely unsuccessfully) to play the 3rd movement of the Moonlight Sonata, but I prefer playing the 1st and listening to the 3rd.

My favorite composer to play is probably Chopin, though, since he wrote some excellent Nocturnes, and I like Nocturnes (particularly that Nocturne in C-sharp that Adrien Brody played in "The Pianist"...I finally found the music to it, and really enjoy playing it).

Descartes

I play the piano and violin, but lately it's been primarily piano. I started playing by ear when I was about five when hearing my mother play Beethoven's Fur Elise, and I found it a profoundly moving instrument capable of producing profoundly moving music.

I too enjoy Beethoven's 14th, "Moonlight Sonata", but I too have some difficulty with the third movement. It's an interesting sonata simply for the fact that he inverted the "normal" progression of movements and started with the adagio to end with the presto. The first Beethoven piano sonata I learned to play was his 8th, "Pathetique", but the first movement is considerably more difficult than the other two. His 23rd, "Appassionata", is also great fun to play.

Chopin is difficult for one of two reasons, imo: physical and/or emotional expression. Many of his ostensibly simpler pieces are simply difficult to express emotionally, because relegating the repetitive chords to mere mechanics leaves the music devoid of feeling, and the quality greatly suffers. His Prelude in E Minor is a perfect example of this.

I thoroughly enjoy most any of Mozart's piano concertos, specifically: 20th, 21st, and 23rd. The second movement to his 23rd, and the 2nd movement to his 20th are my absolute favorites. I can play some of the pieces, but lacking an orchestra leaves me wanting. :)

There are of course an almost infinite number of notable pieces, but we can't discuss them all.

It's great to see people interested in classical music.

Monique

[8)] I wish I could play piano like that [*(]
An old lady, family friend, used to teach me.. but it didn't get much farther than simple songs, I tried to get my hand on some interesting pieces, but didn't know where to look..

I dìd play quatremain though, which was really cool :) I probably still know the piece by heart after 10 years not playing.. but ofcourse I'd need two more hands :)

Evo

I'm self taught on piano. My parents wouldn't let me take lessons because they paid for lessons for my older brother & he wasn't interested. [8)] I never understood the logic behind that. So I'm terrible, but I enjoy playing anyway. The first piece I slaughtered was Moonlight Sonata. It's still my favorite.

null

Will do [a)] Thanks!

Artman

After you learn the notes, a great way to teach yourself piano is to learn the chord forms. Once you learn the major chords you just add the 7ths, 9ths, (etc) minors, augmented and then start to learn the inversions. Then you can play any thing with a melody line and chord symbols. That is how I taught myself piano. I am not overly good, but I can sit down and play or even write music. Beats the heck out of reading every note.[;)]

Zero

Cool!! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask...I can still play most of the Pink Floyd stuff from memory.[g)]