Music If you could learn to play any musical instrument

[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 :)

 

[JOJO1985]

[QUOTE =“格雷格·伯恩哈特，邮编：4905532，会员：1”]物理论坛，你知道，你在网站上:)[/ QUOTE]
顺便说一句，what you like to play?

 

[RonL]

[QUOTE =“格雷格·伯恩哈特，邮编：4905532，会员：1”]物理论坛，你知道，你在网站上:)[/ QUOTE]
顺便说一句，what you like to play?

I wish I could play something, but I do not.
When I was very young, I played the coronet in the school band. My favorite song that I learned to play very well was "she wore blue velvet":)

 

[RonL]

[QUOTE =“格雷格·伯恩哈特，邮编：4905532，会员：1”]物理论坛，你知道，你在网站上:)[/ QUOTE]
顺便说一句，what you like to play?

Is that what I said in Chinese ? looks like too many of my other posts

 

[Medicol]

How can a musician regenerate or rewrite the musical notes for a good song he just heard a few times ?

 

[Pythagorean]

How can a musician regenerate or rewrite the musical notes for a good song he just heard a few times ?

Depends on your musical memory. I have to listen to pieces repeatedly, phrase by phrase, to reproduce them. My brain starts wanting to do its own melodies and I have to recheck the actual melody.

Though with constant practice, transcribing pieces, you develop your ear and it becomes easier.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

How can a musician regenerate or rewrite the musical notes for a good song he just heard a few times ?

A lot depends on the complexity of the music.

Most popular music has simple background harmony and rhythm patterns, which can often be learned or at least approximated almost instantly, so one basically picks up the melody accompanied by an obvious pattern. I used to do that on the guitar as a student (over 40 years ago). I've also for example played the violin along with folk music which I've never heard before, without any music in front of me, picking up the tune and harmonies as I go along (sometimes with a fractional delay or gap where the next move is not obvious), just following the patterns. It's just like singing along with something; you can guess a bit on the first verse and gradually get to know it as it goes on. If you know guitar chords, you can just hear the chord as a whole and play it automatically.

Even classical music has memorable patterns if you are familiar with the composer's style. I have on more than one occasion spotted an inconsistency (notes or phrasing) when sight-reading, for example when something on page 2 has a subtle difference from the equivalent passage on page 1. It's like someone said something just now, and now someone has said something similar but phrased it in a slightly different way, which is easily spotted.

In contrast, some of the Rachmaninoff I'm playing tonight is incredibly difficult to memorise; I always wonder how the composer knew that what appears to be cascades of random notes when played slowly would turn into amazingly rich and complex music at speed. The notes are far too fast to sight-read; I just have to keep playing them in different ways until my hands know them. An important trick is not to focus on too small a section for too long; it works much better if you keep moving on to new sections and don't come back for a few minutes, so that the pattern so far can get programmed into your longer term memory before the next iteration.

 

[Pythagorean]

A lot of classical music has common phrasing, like the 5-3-5-1 arpeggio and follows some elaborate rules for constricting melody options.

One of the more difficult tasks is reproducing timbre (attack/decay shapes) particularly on guitar. David Gilmour has always had some wild sound architecture behind his notes - classical players like Paco de Lucia and Sergei Orekhov have very unique flourishes in their arrangements.

 

[JOJO1985]

I wish I could play something, but I do not.
When I was very young, I played the coronet in the school band. My favorite song that I learned to play very well was "she wore blue velvet":)

I do not know "coronet", where do you come from?and you know I come from China?

 

[lisab]

I do not know "coronet", where do you come from?and you know I come from China?

A Cornet is a type of horn, similar to a trumpet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornet

Welcome to PF, we are glad you're here :)!

 

[RonL]

I do not know "coronet", where do you come from?and you know I come from China?

The coronet, as Lisab said, is a horn instrument and can have a very brassy or a soft mellow sound.
I live in Texas, USA.
I just made a guess, based on the reply heading of your post. I see lots of instructions on things I purchase, written in Chinese:).
One can never be sure of anything on the internet, lots of people make lots of assumptions. Sometimes it is best not giving too much detail about identity:)

 

[JOJO1985]

The coronet, as Lisab said, is a horn instrument and can have a very brassy or a soft mellow sound.
I live in Texas, USA.
I just made a guess, based on the reply heading of your post. I see lots of instructions on things I purchase, written in Chinese:).
One can never be sure of anything on the internet, lots of people make lots of assumptions. Sometimes it is best not giving too much detail about identity:)[/QUOT
Thank you. It's very late at USA, you sleep so late...

 

[JOJO1985]

A Cornet is a type of horn, similar to a trumpet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornet

Welcome to PF, we are glad you're here :)!

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Last night the Havant Symphony Orchestra rehearsed the rest of the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations (11 to end - we did from the start to 10 last week); I was playing the solo piano part on my digital piano (as the rehearsal hall piano is unusably decrepit). That was very enjoyable, and went very well, and we particularly enjoyed the big tune in variation 18. Normally as a rehearsal soloist I skip the cadenzas, but this time I had learned them properly, and the conductor thanked me saying it is good for the conductor and players to learn to follow the cadenzas.

I wish I had the speed and strength to play it properly, rather than always being fairly terrified that I'm about to come unstuck. Fortunately, my instincts under pressure are such that I keep the essential structure going even when I lose some details.

I'm really looking forward to having the real soloist join us for the concert. And if you or anyone you know lives in Hampshire, UK, it's going to be a good concert on 6th December, with big Russian romantic tunes - the Borodin "Stranger in paradise" Polovtsian Dances, the Rachmaninoff, and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" Suite.

 

[Danger]

A Cornet is a type of horn, similar to a trumpet:

When they asked me if I wanted to play a trumpet, I thought that they said "strumpet" and answered that I would rather play with one. Ended up in the damned repair department. :(

 

[RonL]

When they asked me if I wanted to play a trumpet, I thought that they said "strumpet" and answered that I would rather play with one. Ended up in the damned repair department. :(

You or the (strumpet) ended up in repairs?

 

[Danger]

You or the (strumpet) ended up in repairs?

I meant that they put me to work fixing them.
On the other hand, if you have to explain a joke it probably wasn't worth printing...

 

[David Carroll]

What I'd like to do is place struts on my guitar in between the manufactured ones to create quarter tones. Sorry for a math question in a general discussion thread, but I was wondering: if I do this, how far between the manufactured struts do I place them? I think I set it in such a way that the ratio of the distance between the lower manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut over the distance between the higher manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut is equal to 2^(1/24) units (since there are 24 quarter tones). Is this right?

 

[Jonathan Scott]

What I'd like to do is place struts on my guitar in between the manufactured ones to create quarter tones. Sorry for a math question in a general discussion thread, but I was wondering: if I do this, how far between the manufactured struts do I place them? I think I set it in such a way that the ratio of the distance between the lower manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut over the distance between the higher manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut is equal to 2^(1/24) units (since there are 24 quarter tones). Is this right?

That's probably about right, but the pitch might not be as accurate as the maths. For a start, pressing down the guitar string changes the tension and holding it down closer to or further away behind the fret therefore also changes the pitch. (This effect can mean that acoustic guitar strings made from different materials can result in different pitches for the same fret position, especially for higher frets). That means that when you add a new fret, you will now need to hold the string down closer to the existing fret, which will actually raise the pitch of the existing note slightly. Perhaps you need a fretless instrument!

 

[David Carroll]

Thank you, Jonathan Scott. :) Why do I say "strut"? Where did I get that from? I hope that mistake is common, otherwise I be sounding like a complete dweeb.

 

[RonL]

Thank you, Jonathan Scott. :) Why do I say "strut"? Where did I get that from? I hope that mistake is common, otherwise I be sounding like a complete dweeb.

Well come on down:D

 

[Pythagorean]

What I'd like to do is place struts on my guitar in between the manufactured ones to create quarter tones. Sorry for a math question in a general discussion thread, but I was wondering: if I do this, how far between the manufactured struts do I place them? I think I set it in such a way that the ratio of the distance between the lower manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut over the distance between the higher manufactured strut and the quarter tone strut is equal to 2^(1/24) units (since there are 24 quarter tones). Is this right?

To make the 12 fret octave on stringed instruments, master luthiers used the 1/18th rule. Each successive fret is 1/18th the distance remaining on the unfretted portion of the board. Not sure how the derivation comes out - probably the relation between frequency, length, and tension:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/waves/string.html

That's probably about right, but the pitch might not be as accurate as the maths. For a start, pressing down the guitar string changes the tension and holding it down closer to or further away behind the fret therefore also changes the pitch. (This effect can mean that acoustic guitar strings made from different materials can result in different pitches for the same fret position, especially for higher frets). That means that when you add a new fret, you will now need to hold the string down closer to the existing fret, which will actually raise the pitch of the existing note slightly. Perhaps you need a fretless instrument!

The 1/18th rule leads to an error that's slightly flat, so the increase in tension ideally cancels out the error. Of course, if you use light vs. heavy strings it probably affects the amount of compensation, but we're probably talking on the order of ~10 cents here.