So I Bought a Trumpet...

[Derf]

KYGOTC, cool stuff. I always wanted to be in a band, but apparently never badly enough to go out and find one that would have me. That, and I try to play too many different instruments without mastering any of them (did I just say that where Menard could read it? Yikes!). I'm best at vocals, play guitar well enough to perform in church, play euph well enough to be in an ensemble, and the rest is just having fun in a very amateur capacity.

[Raffine]

Derf, that's really cool you have such a musical family. I was about the only one in my family that went into music, and I wound up with a degree in music and education.

my daughter plays oboe

You have my deepest sympathy. 

Now that's using both hands. Looks like it's leaky.

You also gotta have big hands to play the thing. Small hands just don't fit around it.

[Rev. Powell]

I deeply respect anyone who can master an instrument.  In my life I have tried and failed to become competent on: guitar, clarinet, trumpet, keyboards, and harmonica.  I actually got the farthest on trumpet.  By my sophomore year in high school I had worked my way up to second to last chair, instead of last chair!

I can compose music with the aid of a computer, even though I can't play it back.

I can also carry a tune, on those rare occasions when a melody falls into my narrow half baritone/half tenor range.

I love and appreciate music but I've been cursed with the inability to make it. 

[Raffine]

Slightly OT:

Please enjoy this clarinet-humpback whale duet:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7468761.stm

[Derf]

Derf, that's really cool you have such a musical family. I was about the only one in my family that went into music, and I wound up with a degree in music and education.

my daughter plays oboe

You have my deepest sympathy. 

So then, you teach? At what level? I minored in music, but that's as far as I went with my education in that area. I'm afraid I'll always be a rank amateur, but at least I'm having fun with it. As for my daughter, I give her a hard time about sounding like a wounded duck, but she is actually quite good for her level of experience: She got second chair in her Region competition (several people, including the kid that got first chair, thought she should have gotten first), and she has taken lessons from one of the U.S.'s premier Oboists, a woman who happens to live near us. She actually chose oboe because her uncle (my brother-in-law) who is a band director told her that she would be able to get good scholarships for college if she played an atypical instrument like oboe.

[Patient7]

KYGOTC, I'm really sorry to hear about your head.

[Patient7]

Patient7--you shouldn't give up on things just because you're terrible at first. Look at Britney Spears: She's terrible, and she's made millions! Of course, if you're not a hot, young blonde and a pedophile's dream date, then you might have a more difficult time than she did. 

Well, I used to give up a lot when I was younger, I kinda stopped with that now because I stopped leaving the house.

[Raffine]

So then, you teach? At what level?

I taught middle school band for about ten years. I moved to middle Tennessee to be closer to family and took a temporary job at a non-profit agency until I got a teaching job. That was 15 years ago, and I'm still here!

I do know lots of band directors in the area since I play with several community and university groups, so I'm still "in the loop" in case I ever decide to get back to teaching.

[Derf]

Patient7--you shouldn't give up on things just because you're terrible at first. Look at Britney Spears: She's terrible, and she's made millions! Of course, if you're not a hot, young blonde and a pedophile's dream date, then you might have a more difficult time than she did. 

Well, I used to give up a lot when I was younger, I kinda stopped with that now because I stopped leaving the house.

So you kinda gave up on giving up by giving up going out? 

[AndyC]

I would love to learn an instrument. Keyboard would likely be most practical. But it's just one more thing I need to get around to.

I do kind of enjoy assembling musical arrangements out of sound loops. I started doing that when I needed free background music suitable for news videos I was doing.

Apart from that, I have a good singing voice (untrained), and used to do the odd bit of karaoke. Took second prize in a bar contest once. Unfortunately, that's about the only public venue I've been able to sing in. My wife gets frustrated because she likes my voice, but I can't sing in front of people with less than eight vodka tonics in me. Even in church (no, I do not drink vodka tonics in church).

My daughter is about the only person I have no difficulty singing to, and she loves music. I try to give her every opportunity to listen to different kinds of music and experiment with sounds and rhythms. She loves to sing and make noise, and I have no doubt she will learn to play an instrument. As soon as she's old enough to know what she wants to play, I'll get her the lessons. Been looking for a nice generic music class for toddlers, but not much is available around here.

[KYGOTC]

KYGOTC, I'm really sorry to hear about your head.

Its cool. They found MOST of the peices and put me back together. Now I'm as popular as ever with the females!

[Patient7]

Patient7--you shouldn't give up on things just because you're terrible at first. Look at Britney Spears: She's terrible, and she's made millions! Of course, if you're not a hot, young blonde and a pedophile's dream date, then you might have a more difficult time than she did. 

Well, I used to give up a lot when I was younger, I kinda stopped with that now because I stopped leaving the house.

So you kinda gave up on giving up by giving up going out? 

Exactly. 

Edit:  Actually, my giving up on going out caused me to give up on giving up.