Your Musical Instrument

[Bramblethorn]

He clearly never listened to Type O Negative

Or, he listened to TON and it made him feel a kind of way that he couldn't deal with. Wouldn't be the first person to discover their bisexuality after listening to a few minutes of Peter Steele.

(He gets a brief affectionate mention in one of my stories here: the characters are at a goth concert, playing a game where the object is to spot people wearing velcro, latex, fur and feathers.)

 

[Bramblethorn]

In the 1980s I "played" and sang live in the Eurovision Song Contest ( details vague for obvious reasons). I didn't win, but it was the biggest gig I've ever done. Yamaha lent us two Yamaha DX7s, which weren't yet available to the public. They sounded incredible, but I stuck to Fender Rhodes after that until the Kurzweil K2500 came out.

In that case I've heard you performing!

 

[Belegon]

Played bass guitar and guitar all through high school. Started with the guitar to try and impress girls, of course. Found out that for some reason bass suited me better. Played bass for my high school jazz ensemble and pep band, played along with a few guys in garages over the years. Never managed to be consistent enough with my practice to get to the point where I could make money at it, but it certainly has helped me appreciate the gifts of others better than I once would have.

 

[MetaBob]

I taught myself acoustic guitar in college, then fell in love with surf music and bought a Stratocaster. Once I played a Telecaster, I'd found my favorite. I played guitar for many years before deciding I'd probably be better on bass.

I was right.

So now that's mostly what I play. I own too many basses, but they're hard to sell once I get my hands on them. And they all do something different. I gravitate toward Fenders and G&Ls. I don't read music well, but I learn very quickly by ear; on bass, I can have a piece ready to perform in a few hours. Guitar takes a few days.

It's nothing like writing. Writing is a solitary endeavor; music is best played with, or for, or in preparation for performing with, other people. I enjoy being in my low-key [bass joke!] band at work. We play out a few times a year. I can also dabble in lapsteel, penny whistle, and harmonica. I've built my own ukuleles, whistles, and guitars in the past, from scratch. That was fun.

WHAT IS THAT RACKET!?

 

[LynnKorey]

I really like handpan. Actually, I can't play it but I enjoy listening to those beautiful melodies. As for what I actually play, I've been learning the ukulele for a little while now. I'd say I'm still very much a beginner, but that's what I love about it. It's an incredibly accessible instrument, and there are so many easy songs to play on the ukulele that you can feel like you're making real music almost right away. It's an incredibly rewarding and relaxing hobby. It's become a really important creative outlet for me.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I checked, and there were a few threads on this subject a long time ago, but nothing recently as far as I could tell.

Do you play a musical instrument? What? How long? How good do you think you are? What do you like about it? How important is it to you?

Is it your favorite instrument? If not, what is? Why?

If you are a musician (or even if not, and you just like listening to it), how do you compare playing music to writing, if you do at all?

Played saxophone all through school. I was good enough that they didn't kick me out. That and I sang in an acapella chorus that was number one in the world at an international competition. Well for eight minutes anyway. Then the second chorus in the competition took the stage. LOL

 

[Erozetta]

I can sing "The Perfect Drug."

That's it, just the one song. And not well.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I checked, and there were a few threads on this subject a long time ago, but nothing recently as far as I could tell.

Do you play a musical instrument? What? How long? How good do you think you are? What do you like about it? How important is it to you?

Is it your favorite instrument? If not, what is? Why?

If you are a musician (or even if not, and you just like listening to it), how do you compare playing music to writing, if you do at all?

I started out as a musician. I've been studying music since I was 4 years old, but I never got a break or anything like that. Actually, I got really burned out from music. The community in my area is extremely competitive and extremely toxic, with some amount of deeply ingrained nepotism going on too now that I think about it. I mentioned it before that things are so bad that there had been multiple suicide attempts due to this on the young population.

I'm a music teacher by day though, that was the path I went on through university. However I'm currently not working within the system. Instead I'm giving private lessons while I focus on writing and being a librarian, because music is a total dead end, and I'm seriously burned out from it.

I play the piano, the guitar, and a little of violin. Out of all the three the guitar is my main instrument. I love it because of its versatility, and how much of a companion she feels to me.

The thing about playing music and writing though... I actually never thought about it. For me I know that both experiences are linked, but the only thing that I get from music in my writing is the mood. A proper soundtrack can set the tone of a scene in any movie, and the sound of my surroundings is usually what drives me when I write. Even the lack of music, or silence (which can be more distracting than no silence for me) can change the subtext of my drafts.