Play an instrument?

What do you play? I play trumpet and French horn, and have played since I was 12 years old! I’m in a little community orchestra now and have fun with it. I put myself through college playing French horn!

I’m just picking up the ukulele and recorder again after years away. I played the bass (not very well) in a punk band when I was in college and took a decade of piano lessons as a kid, but haven’t had access to a piano for more than 25 years so my skillz are pretty rusty there. And I’ve been goofing around with a little toy accordion, trying to learn “Happy Birthday” in time for a party next weekend.

I would love to learn the trumpet sometime. All that beautiful silver and engraving, and only three buttons – I think I could handle that! My current ukulele is missing a string, and my friends laugh but I tell them it’s definitely easier to play with only three.

That’s cute! The trumpet is not hard if you can blow raspberries!

We learned soprano recorder in third grade… I’ve not played in a while but should be able to pick it right back up. I have a D fife somewhere, but it’s not well-tuned and the cork has dried out after so many years (and they don’t sell them at the US-colonial-era historical sites any more!). I had violin lessons in grade school, but then string program was discontinued before I got to the point of vibrato. I can figure the notes on a piano but I can barely span an octave, so it’s a challenge to even to use it to compose. I picked up some guitar in college, but informally, and I’ve not played in probably 20 years or so…

I play Banjo , guitar, ukulele, dulcimer, concertina & Autoharp.

: )

I’m a music teacher and I approve this thread!

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I used to have one and it was gorgeous. I ended up selling it. I’m just not great with woodwinds!

By the way they are just about 20 minutes from me.

Concertina?! That is so cool! I love the banjo too. Do you have any recordings?

And which dulcumer? Because of your other instruments I’m assuming plucked. Hammered dulcimer is one of my favorite instruments though!

Haha! I have seen you talking about singing before so I assume you are a vocal teacher? I have a decent voice and was in choirs and chorales throughout school and up through college, but don’t get much opportunity now. I do sing in church but it’s a Unitarian church so our hymns are non-standard to say the least. :slight_smile:

I played Sax through high school, but now I play drums in a local band. My profile pic is of me at a gig holding a shaker. I also play some mandolin.

I played flute in school. From 4th grade until I graduated! I don’t play much now. But I love to sing =D

I play (in order from longest time played) piano, flute, piccolo, tenor sax, alto sax, and I’m trying to learn the accordion. I have been singing in choirs since I was 3, but quit my university’s choir about a year ago because the director was crazy.

Used to play the piano–but haven’t had one for many years.But the hubby and I have recently (Aug) taken up learning to play the guitar.

Doesn’t it really suck that there is so little opportunity to just sing socially any more? It’s all about pre-recorded music and professional musicians… I did sing throughout public school (sang All-County my senior year), but I made the mistake of getting roped into a madrigal group freshman year at college (it pretty much killed my upper register because the alto parts were written so low!), and then didn’t have time to continue that AND be on the fencing team… Haven’t had the opportunity to do any serious singing since :frowning:

Any other banjo players? I’m into playing banjo and ukulele. Does that make me weird?

I’ve been playing piano for 10 years. I might go to college for something musical, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I recently found a website with free piano sheet music. Here it is: http://m-piano.blogspot.com/.

You might look into a civic chorus. I know you’re in NJ. There’s one based in Red Bank I found (thank you, google). Civic choruses or community choruses and local university choirs are often the best bets for those who aren’t involved with church or religious based choirs. I joined an alumni choir at my university for a couple of years after I graduated from undergrad and still lived in the area.

Also, you might see if there’s a chapter of Sweet Adelines in your area. You could go sing Women’s Barbershop! They’d LOVE a girl that can sing women’s b-shop bass lines.

Yes, I’m a private voice instructor by day and freelance singer on the weekends.

I did the whole choir girl thing all the way through high school and was a voice performance major in college. I don’t play any instruments though. I sit at a piano all day and use it for a lot of what I do (scales and warm-ups, vocal lines, and plenty of music theory), but I couldn’t play my kids’ accompaniments if I tried!

I sing a little of everything. My best genres are certainly musical theater, classical, and sacred. But I also sing jazz, pop, opera, and country. In the past, I’ve been known to do stranger things - like barbershop.

I have always been fascinated by the idea of Unitarian church music! I’d love to hear more about it some time. I am not religious personally, but I find regular work for area Catholic churches as a soloist, cantor, choir director, and/or section leader - all paid positions. I sing for weddings and funerals at least one weekend a month (with my insulin pump on vibrate!).

Yes Sam, playing banjo does make you weird. But playing uke evens it back out. I have a bunch of tunes of my banjo playing posted on my tudiabetes page- check them out!

Here is a link with info about the Unitarian hymnal: http://www.americanunitarian.org/hymns.htm

It appears that some of the links on that page are dead.

I think this is the hymnal we use: http://www.amazon.com/Hymns-Celebration-Life-Unitarian-Universalist/dp/B000IF5MWI

I will tell you it’s kind of bizarre and a lot of the hymns are not to my taste. But at least I get to sing!