Any musicians on the forum?

I play guitar and piano. There is a broad range of styles in the area of guitar. My interests tend toward acoustic fingerstyle i a style known as "chord melody". On piano that would be called "cocktail piano". I have never really understood why the difference in terms other than the word "piano". I have never been inclined to sing and never developed much taste for electric guitar, especially when cranked up and distorted. Anyway, that is my take in a nutshell.

55 years is a long to be doing something. You must be really, really good by now. :cool:

Tony
 
I'm not really a musician but for the last 15 years I have been chording my Epiphone left handed guitar and singing. I do 4 songs twice over each morning from a collection of just over 1,070 songs. Love to sing those old songs, mostly but not only country songs. Apparently, playing and singing is really great for keeping me away from dementia and Alzheimer's. So far so good! Touch wood!
 

Music is a GREAT pastime, especially in retirement. I have read on a number of occasions that learning something new, especially a new language, chess, various puzzle solving ideas, and learning/playing a musical instrument are supposed to help stave off dementia or at least aid in the use of one's aging mind.

Also, the hobby can be as inexpensive (or expensive) as you want it to be. Beyond the initial purchase of the instrument, it is your choice as to whether to teach yourself or take lessons, buy music to learn, etc.

Unlike physical sports (though playing an instrument is considered a physical activity to a lesser extent), you can continue for as long as your body continues to function well enough. Segovia played concerts well into his 90s.

Tony
 
I started playing guitar back when I was in High School. I'd practice at my house then go out on weekends and jam with other local musicians. Then later I started playing in bands and doing gigs. Just local stuff, nothing fancy but I was having a ball.

And that's what I did till 2010 when I decided to make a switch from playing out and about. I did some research and we put together a little modest recording studio. Then we started writing and posting our own songs on SoundCloud. That worked out great and put a whole new twist for us playing music. Right now though we're in limbo cause of the corona bug..

I'll put our band link below if you're curious. They're just some homemade tunes we wrote and recorded while learning how to do it all on the fly.. :unsure:

Go to our web page, here
 
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tbeltrans said:
I play guitar and piano. There is a broad range of styles in the area of guitar. My interests tend toward acoustic fingerstyle i a style known as "chord melody". On piano that would be called "cocktail piano". I have never really understood why the difference in terms other than the word "piano". I have never been inclined to sing and never developed much taste for electric guitar, especially when cranked up and distorted. Anyway, that is my take in a nutshell.

55 years is a long to be doing something. You must be really, really good by now. :cool:

Tony
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I absolutely love chord melody on the guitar....you can play melody and Chord changes with being very inventive. You made a great choice going down that road. I played in groups always...so it was either rhythm or lead. I have to admit that I have pushed the distortion button for many years. :)

Well, my parents got me my first acoustic when I was 13. I was so excited that I open tuned it to a major chord and played "Louie Louie" for days until my fingers hurt so bad I HAD to stop.
 
My dad was a musician and started me learning on his knee at the piano. Over time I wanted to go outside to be with my friends so when he set his alarm clock nearby and told me to practice until the minute hand reached a certain point I got creative and slowly moved the hand ahead. It was a great idea until he started waking up way too early. Busted.

I got tired of learning classical pieces and wanted to rock which was not allowed but it comes out now that I'm all grown up. Sadly, my keyboard will go away along with my drums and a couple of guitars. But, am taking one guitar as my friend's son plays. Yay!

Wanted to play drums as a teenager but that was also not allowed. A friend gave me his old guitar and I struggled figuring out what the heck to do with it. Picked up the harmonica and went to town playing blues with my friend.

Over the years I have slowly allowed myself to study guitar and finally know the extended minor blues scale in any key up and down the neck. Not a big accomplishment to most but a major deal for me.

Now, my wrist and shoulders hurt and I can only play for a short while.

The jerk owner thinks he can play bass guitar and invited a friend to come over to jam with me on drums. His friend and I were having a blast but it wasn't good enough for him and we slowly disbanded our group. As I said . . . jerk.
 
@Packerjohn Fantastic, the connection we have with making music is always "therapeutic". The harmonies and melodies come right into out bodies. For me it has been a friendship. :)

@Irwin Isn't playing music with a computer great. It created a whole new world for amateurs to share their creative spirits. I too have a small home studio. I started it in 1998 with midi guitar...then added live guitar and voice...then played lead on original backtracks.

@tbeltrans You bet. Music keeps our brains and body functioning better. Really glad you have that pastime!

@HazyDavey Listening now. I like!!!! It reminds me of Tom Petty stuff. I love the interjection of dialog in the songs especially the Cheech character (Andy). I had a lot of my music on sound click from 2004 to about 2019, then they deleted my stuff and went a different direction.
I tried to attach an mp3 song I played on, but don't know how to do it here. I have something from Youtube. The band was called Pentazz. It was mainly a original fusion band...then we got a singer around the time MTV started. So we played a bunch of those and spiced it up with the fusion. :) Here is part of the act.


 
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HazyDavey said:
I started playing guitar back when I was in High School. I'd practice at my house then go out on weekends and jam with other local musicians. Then later I started playing in bands and doing gigs. Just local stuff, nothing fancy but I was having a ball.

And that's what I did till 2010 when I decided to make a switch from playing out and about. I did some research and we put together a little modest recording studio. Then we started writing and posting our own songs on SoundCloud. That worked out great and put a whole new twist for us playing music. Right now though we're in limbo cause of the corona bug..

I'll put our band link below if you're curious. They're just some homemade tunes we wrote and recorded while learning how to do it all on the fly.. :unsure:

Go to our web page, here
Click to expand...
Though not my style of music, I recognize when it is done well. So...well done!

Tony
 
Paco Dennis said:
I absolutely love chord melody on the guitar....you can play melody and Chord changes with being very inventive. You made a great choice going down that road. I played in groups always...so it was either rhythm or lead. I have to admit that I have pushed the distortion button for many years. :)

Well, my parents got me my first acoustic when I was 13. I was so excited that I open tuned it to a major chord and played "Louie Louie" for days until my fingers hurt so bad I HAD to stop.
Click to expand...
My parents resisted my interest in guitar. When I was in 5th grade (the only grade school year I went to public school), my teacher offered to teach any of us guitar after class. He said he would give the kid who improved the most, a guitar. Instead, my parents had me play violin in the school orchestra. I never had lessons for that or for playing trumpet in the high school marching band later on. In both cases, I had to teach myself.

Both of these experiences turned out to be that proverbial "blessing in disguise" because for me, learning to play guitar was largely a matter of figuring out stuff off of recordings, as most of us did back in the 70s. I learned a few basic chords to start with from some guys in the Army who played, but there was one guy in our barracks (state-side, before Vietnam) wh9o played solo instrumental guitar. The guy was from Hawaii and had recently returned from Vietnam. I clearly remember him playing a solo fingerstyle rendition of "Yesterday". He had no interest in teaching me, but he did introduce me to how I wanted to play guitar.

Tony
 
Another musician here! Good to see guitar is alive and well. :p
A long long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I was a professional union guitarist in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas circuits for years before going back to college for an Electronics Engineering degree. My new found career didn't include much music, so to keep in practice, I taught guitar on the side. One of my best students ended up working with his cousin who custom build guitars, and they informed me two months ago they were going to build me a custom, based upon my style preferences. I got the call last month that it is ready to ship to me, but I told them to hold off; in four days, I am driving to New Mexico to pick it up so I can thank them in person. I was pretty humbled, and honored by the gift. Meanwhile, I am building a recording studio, "RoseWood", next to the house I built up here last year. This is a fun project! Four years ago, when I retired, I knew no musicians in the area..that is changing quickly. I want to provide free recording services to people that can't otherwise afford the studio time in hopes it advances their love of music or career. I was taught guitar by some great teachers, and want to continue to pass the baton to others that have a strong desire to learn. I am lucky; I (finally) don't need money, so this is a way I can give back to my small community in a way that I really, really love.
 
WOW!.....I played with a band that toured in a band from Texas. We were a "show" group. The leader had been 2nd chair trumpet in Stan Kenton's Band. We did shows with a dancer/singer/flood lights/a few costume changes each of the 2 sets per night. I had a white tuxedo with New York spats and hat. Ha! We played around there and on the East Coast...Atlantic City's Playboy Club, etc.... Room and board and about $400 a week. I had some offers for studio work and some popular bands, but decided to quit the road and come home where my 2 kids were living. About 2 years before Sheryl Crow became famous I played in a four piece with her. A lot of Frats and Sororities...great $. :) I gave Deke Dickerson a few lessons and he took off running and is still at it. Very unique and gifted guy. He has several songs on Youtube, just search his name to hear. I then moved into an intentional community and gave up the business end.

Exciting about your personal custom...send us picture when you feel like it. :) Great plan for your new studio, too.

Would love hear any stuff you played on.... links?

I am going ask if there is a way to upload mp3 songs to this forum. It would be a fun addition.
 
Musician here. I play the piano, alto and soprano saxophones and sing. ( alto - soprano )
I can sight read but prefer to play by ear. When I pick a song I like, the first thing I do is pick a key I prefer to play or sing in and write the main keys on paper. The entire song needn’t be there. This I find far more enjoyable than playing in a stage band. There’s a sense of simplicity and comfort that irreplaceable. Another thing I enjoy doing is creating background music for songs I enjoy.
My favourite type of music are ballads but in almost every type of genre. I like pop, rock, new country, classical, soft jazz, early folk etc
I play and sing for nursing homes during the warmer months.
 
Packerjohn said:
I'm not really a musician but for the last 15 years I have been chording my Epiphone left handed guitar and singing. I do 4 songs twice over each morning from a collection of just over 1,070 songs. Love to sing those old songs, mostly but not only country songs. Apparently, playing and singing is really great for keeping me away from dementia and Alzheimer's. So far so good! Touch wood!
Click to expand...
Oh YES you are a musician.
 
Back around 1976-78, I played full time in a trio as a union sideman (AF of M). We played a week at each gig which included Holiday Inn circuit, decent supper clubs, and resorts. We played what was then called MOR (middle of the road) music and the Great American Songbook material. Each of us did two things. The drummer did vocals, the band leader played sax and one of those electronic keyboards (essentially bass when I took a solo), and I played guitar and a Crumar foot pedal bass.

Over time, I realized I really didn't like being on the road all the time and left the band. I went through a variety of paths until I landed in college and got into engineering (considering other posts here, this is starting to sound familiar).

I also taught guitar on the side for a while. My suspicion is that there are several of us who have travelled similar paths.

Tony
 
Keesha said:
Musician here. I play the piano, alto and soprano saxophones and sing. ( alto - soprano )
I can sight read but prefer to play by ear. When I pick a song I like, the first thing I do is pick a key I prefer to play or sing in and write the main keys on paper. The entire song needn’t be there. This I find far more enjoyable than playing in a stage band. There’s a sense of simplicity and comfort that irreplaceable. Another thing I enjoy doing is creating background music for songs I enjoy.
My favourite type of music are ballads but in almost every type of genre. I like pop, rock, new country, classical, soft jazz, early folk etc
I play and sing for nursing homes during the warmer months.
Click to expand...
In my personal view, anybody who plays music is a musician. I am glad I didn't stay with it as a career because I would probably be burned out on it by now and wouldn't enjoy playing anymore at all. I know too many who have experienced this.

Tony
 
tbeltrans said:
In my personal view, anybody who plays music is a musician. I am glad I didn't stay with it as a career because I would probably be burned out on it by now and wouldn't enjoy playing anymore at all. I know too many who have experienced this.

Tony
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Oh I got incredible joy playing in the senior and stage bands. For a while I played semi professionally and the gigs were really fun. Some of them I sang for. I’ve still got my microphone and amplifiers etc..

Playing in a band with others had its rewards BUT until two years ago when I got my soprano sax, I hadn’t really considered compiling a booklet of my favourite songs I enjoy playing / singing and had no idea how much joy I’d get out of it. It took my music to an entirely new level that I couldn’t even imagine.
 
Keesha said:
Oh I got incredible joy playing in the senior and stage bands. For a while I played semi professionally and the gigs were really fun. Some of them I sang for. I’ve still got my microphone and amplifiers etc..

Playing in a band with others had its rewards BUT until two years ago when I got my soprano sax, I hadn’t really considered compiling a booklet of my favourite songs I enjoy playing / singing and had no idea how much joy I’d get out of it. It took my music to an entirely new level that I couldn’t even imagine.
Click to expand...
That is one of the greatest things about playing music - it is an endless and gratifying journey. That is why, at least to me, it would be a real shame for it to become just a job. That is what it was feeling like for me toward the end of my time on the road and I knew I wanted it to be more than that.

I met many people in the towns we played in who had regular jobs and lives, and played music for the love of it. That is what I realized I wanted. It seems to me that is also what you have.

Tony
 
tbeltrans said:
Back around 1976-78, I played full time in a trio as a union sideman (AF of M). We played a week at each gig which included Holiday Inn circuit, decent supper clubs, and resorts. We played what was then called MOR (middle of the road) music and the Great American Songbook material. Each of us did two things. The drummer did vocals, the band leader played sax and one of those electronic keyboards (essentially bass when I took a solo), and I played guitar and a Crumar foot pedal bass.

Over time, I realized I really didn't like being on the road all the time and left the band. I went through a variety of paths until I landed in college and got into engineering (considering other posts here, this is starting to sound familiar).

I also taught guitar on the side for a while. My suspicion is that there are several of us who have travelled similar paths.

Tony
Click to expand...
(Disclaimer: Sorry, I wasn't told there would be no math...)

Not exactly sure why, but there does seem to be a strong correlation between music and engineering. Before my EE, I had been in college as a music major. I actually dropped out for nearly a decade to actually make money in the field I was studying in college. The music curriculum entailed a lot more rigor than I expected, or was prepared for. I found it to be highly mathematical by nature (think circle of fifths, chord structures and theory, etc.). Now I find interesting correlations in physical modelling tools in use by engineers and physicists. It gets more highly focused and constrained in audio engineering, with the use of filters like compression or others for tonal modification, even Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) in recording. The funny thing to me is that it is all coming back around in a circle. My music career led to an engineering career, and now the concepts of these math constructs in music is no longer mystifying like it was when I was 19. Maybe just mental maturation, but I don't think so; there really does seem to be similar thought process when designing a circuit or product, or walking into a lead guitar solo in a jazz song. Both events are highly creative, and satisfying mentally.
 


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