Do you play any instruments?

[Flick James]

I play guitar, mandolin, bass and tenor banjo. The tenor banjo is for Irish traditional, not bluegrass or dixie, it's four-string and played as a single note melody instrument for jigs and reels and the like, not chords.

So, only stringed instruments. I've been toying with picking up an Irish flute and seeing if I can handle a wind instrument.

Was it difficult to learn to play the mandolin?

Going from guitar, yes, because the strings are tuned at the same interval as violin, so all chord fingerings are different. I play it more as a melody instrument for Irish traditional music, so in that regard I think it's a easier melody instrument than guitar. However, the scale is so small that if you have big hands or fingers like I do, it can be awkward. An octave mandolin or greek bouzouki, if it's tuned the same way as mandolin, is an octave lower but if you have big hands it works better. Tenor banjo is the same, an octave lower than mando. With that however, it's actually a stretch and you can't play Irish trad melody unless you DO have long fingers. Since I play mostly Irish trad these days I've been thinking of switching to flute and get away from plectrum instruments, since they don't fit as well with Irish music as fiddle, flute, bagpipes, etc.

Mandolin is a great instrument if you're trying to play American folk music, however, like old time or bluegrass.

[lester1/2jr]

guitar mostly

[Derf]

I can plunk & strum a guitar well enough to perform in church. I also play baritone, which I played in high school & college and then took a 25-year break from. I started back with it about 6 years ago, and I'm just barely getting my lip back. I also play a little trumpet (poorly), a little trombone (poorly), a little keyboard, and the occasional recorder (which I'm learning to help me record my own massage music). I lead music at my church, so I sing more than anything else.

[Raffine]

bagpipes

I SERIOUSLY want to learn to play the bagpipes.

I caught myself looking up pricing online the other day for practice chanters...

[Flick James]

bagpipes

I SERIOUSLY want to learn to play the bagpipes.

I caught myself looking up pricing online the other day for practice chanters...

Are you talking about Scotish pipes or the Irish Uillean pipes. The Uillean pipes are fascinating. They are played sitting down, and you use a bellows attached to you elbow to provide air instead of blowing into a tube. They are more versatile than the Scottish bagpipes that are louder and played standing up and that you see in parades and such, in that they are fully chromatic. Scottish pipes are diatonic with a flat 7th so you are limited to only Scottish pipe tunes. Uillean pipes are what you hear all over the soundtrack of Braveheart. They are so much more expressive and have that awesome warbly sound. It bothered me that Braveheart was about Scotland, yet the Irish bagpipes are all over the soundtrack. But then there's no way the Scottish pipes can pull off what you hear in the soundtrack so it makes sense.

[The Burgomaster]

Does this count as an instrument?

[Raffine]

Are you talking about Scotish pipes or the Irish Uillean pipes. The Uillean pipes are fascinating. They are played sitting down, and you use a bellows attached to you elbow to provide air instead of blowing into a tube. They are more versatile than the Scottish bagpipes that are louder and played standing up and that you see in parades and such, in that they are fully chromatic. Scottish pipes are diatonic with a flat 7th so you are limited to only Scottish pipe tunes. Uillean pipes are what you hear all over the soundtrack of Braveheart. They are so much more expressive and have that awesome warbly sound. It bothered me that Braveheart was about Scotland, yet the Irish bagpipes are all over the soundtrack. But then there's no way the Scottish pipes can pull off what you hear in the soundtrack so it makes sense.

Fascinating stuff! Thanks!

I went to a concert a couple of years ago that featured someone playing a set of Uillean pipes and was fascinated by them.

Right now though I'm actually more interested in the Scottish pipes.
Frankly, I want to play something that is good an' LOUD for a change.  

That reminds me: when I was in college I marched in a couple of parades playing crash cymbals. That rocked! 

[Flick James]

Are you talking about Scotish pipes or the Irish Uillean pipes. The Uillean pipes are fascinating. They are played sitting down, and you use a bellows attached to you elbow to provide air instead of blowing into a tube. They are more versatile than the Scottish bagpipes that are louder and played standing up and that you see in parades and such, in that they are fully chromatic. Scottish pipes are diatonic with a flat 7th so you are limited to only Scottish pipe tunes. Uillean pipes are what you hear all over the soundtrack of Braveheart. They are so much more expressive and have that awesome warbly sound. It bothered me that Braveheart was about Scotland, yet the Irish bagpipes are all over the soundtrack. But then there's no way the Scottish pipes can pull off what you hear in the soundtrack so it makes sense.

Fascinating stuff! Thanks!

I went to a concert a couple of years ago that featured someone playing a set of Uillean pipes and was fascinated by them.

Right now though I'm actually more interested in the Scottish pipes.
Frankly, I want to play something that is good an' LOUD for a change.  

That reminds me: when I was in college I marched in a couple of parades playing crash cymbals. That rocked!  

Well, a full set of Scottish pipes will definately be loud. I went to a birthday party in L.A. for a guy who was a percussionist for a lot of cultural music groups. They had a piping and dance session that was incredible. Three Scottish bagpipers, the full pipes, along with a couple of drummers, and groups of both Scottish and Irish dancers dancing sets to the music. It was in a big backyard and the sound of the three pipers playing together absolutely filled up the place. It was sonically very intense, then throw in the dancers (some of them were hot, too) and the brown ale I was drinking and talk about an intoxicating experience.

Either way, yeah, get the practice chanter. Just don't get discouraged when you realize you're going to sound like a cat in heat for a while.

[Flick James]

Oh, and Raffine, let me give you some IMPORTANT advice.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BAGPIPES MADE IN PAKISTAN. I'm not joking. They seem very attractive because of the price, and some sites will tout them as a great value and comparable to pipes twice the price. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I can't count the number of times I've seen posts on related forums by experienced pipers who say the same thing, or who say they wasted their money on a set of pipes that just can't stay in tune. If you're going to play bagpipe, get ready for some expense. It's not cheap. However, you can work up to it by starting with a chanter, then a practice set, and gradually work your way up to a full set. Do your research before you buy, and go to forums about it and get some good advice.

[Raffine]

Either way, yeah, get the practice chanter. Just don't get discouraged when you realize you're going to sound like a cat in heat for a while.

You should hear me on oboe! 

Oh, and Raffine, let me give you some IMPORTANT advice.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BAGPIPES MADE IN PAKISTAN. I'm not joking. They seem very attractive because of the price, and some sites will tout them as a great value and comparable to pipes twice the price. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I can't count the number of times I've seen posts on related forums by experienced pipers who say the same thing, or who say they wasted their money on a set of pipes that just can't stay in tune. If you're going to play bagpipe, get ready for some expense. It's not cheap. However, you can work up to it by starting with a chanter, then a practice set, and gradually work your way up to a full set. Do your research before you buy, and go to forums about it and get some good advice.

Thanks again for the advice! Considering what I had to pay for my bassoon it'll hopefully seem like a bargin.
'New car or new instrument?" is not a outrageous question.

I'm going to make myself wait at least a month or so to make sure this isn't a passing fancy. A few years ago I thought I would stop breathing if I didn't immediately get myself a hammer dulcimer. I never got one but I continued breathing - even to this day. 

[Flick James]

Either way, yeah, get the practice chanter. Just don't get discouraged when you realize you're going to sound like a cat in heat for a while.

You should hear me on oboe! 

Oh, and Raffine, let me give you some IMPORTANT advice.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BAGPIPES MADE IN PAKISTAN. I'm not joking. They seem very attractive because of the price, and some sites will tout them as a great value and comparable to pipes twice the price. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I can't count the number of times I've seen posts on related forums by experienced pipers who say the same thing, or who say they wasted their money on a set of pipes that just can't stay in tune. If you're going to play bagpipe, get ready for some expense. It's not cheap. However, you can work up to it by starting with a chanter, then a practice set, and gradually work your way up to a full set. Do your research before you buy, and go to forums about it and get some good advice.

Thanks again for the advice! Considering what I had to pay for my bassoon it'll hopefully seem like a bargin.
'New car or new instrument?" is not a outrageous question.

I'm going to make myself wait at least a month or so to make sure this isn't a passing fancy. A few years ago I thought I would stop breathing if I didn't immediately get myself a hammer dulcimer. I never got one but I continued breathing - even to this day. 

Sounds like we have some similar musical leanings. Yeah, I felt the same way about bagpipes, but I never got any because they're freaking expensive for a decent set. If you like Irish bagpipe music, let me recommend some groups that have great players:

Bothy Band
Planxty (Liam O'Flynn is one of my favorites)
Dervish (more recent group)

Great stuff. Of course there are other instruments included like flute, fiddle, mandoling, etc. but Uilleann pipes work better as an ensemble instrument than the Scottish pipes. Great piping though.

[Pilgermann]

I don't play so much as dabble in instruments, but I'm sometimes told I'm better than I think.    Anywho, I can make sounds with keyboard instruments, drums, guitar, and bass guitar.  I'd love to learn a wind instrument (melodica doesn't really count, I've got one of those).

[Flick James]

I'm suprised nobody has joked about playing the kazoo.

[Raffine]

I'm suprised nobody has joked about playing the kazoo.

The joke used to be "I can play the radio and record player" - but nobody knows what a radio or a record player is any more. 

[WildHoosier09]

In a former life (college) I played tuba. Ironically since it was a small school I played in both the pep-band belting out "go team go" from the sidelines as our football team lost (they really sucked, mostly I used these games as a time to catch up on my chem homework in between belting out various pep songs) as well as played in the chamber orchestra wearing a tux. Sometimes this would be in the same day, same tuba, same player, same everything just different music and very different settings.

Alas, I do not actually own a tuba and they are really expensive so it is a skill that is slipping away from me as time goes by.