Hi, I'm aware there's a few threads on guitars, brass, etc, but I thought it'd be nice to have a more general music thread. I was never really into playing music because I found it quite daunting to learn, having no time or money for lessons, I found teaching myself difficult. I picked up a guitar, but I just couldn't get into it. Years later, my friend gets given a Spongebob Squarepants flying-V Ukulele from his sister as a joke present, so he learns how to play it. This encourages one of my other friends to pick up a regular Spongebob Uke, and seeing how much fun they had playing them made me rethink. A few months later, my girlfriend leaves me and I try to think of something to push myself to do and make me feel better, so I pick up a £20 Makala Soprano Ukulele and start to learn. Two months later, I restring it with some nice Aquila Nylgut strings and it sounds great. Really enjoying it. After 6 months (I picked up my uke at christmas), I thought I'd try and progress towards guitar, but again I was a bit daunted because I'd have to relearn a load of chords, and the size difference is pretty huge. Turns out a baritone ukulele can be tuned to DGBe, the bottom 4 strings on a guitar. Also turns out that the chord shapes are exactly the same as a Soprano/Concert/Tenor Uke, they're just different chords (eg, playing a C chord from a Soprano would be playing a G on a Baritone), so it's a simple transition. Not only that, but the Bartione chords are almost identical to the guitar chords, just with the bottom (or top, I get confused!) 2 strings missing. Anyway, I was about to purchase a Baritone Ukulele, when a Tenor Banjo in the corner of the shop caught my eye. Been listening to a lot of Mumford and Sons recently (Glasto next week, woo!) and so I gave it a try and I loved it. Turns out it was tuned the same as a Baritone Uke, and so I picked it up with a gig bag for £150. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give my story about how and why I got into playing a musical instrument. For anyone that is daunted by learning, for £20, a Makala (not Mahalo, they're awful) ukulele is a great introduction. What instruments do you guys play? Why and how did you get into playing music? How long have you been playing for? Your stories please! P.S. These are my babies
Electric Guitar!! Yeah! Been playing on and off since I was 12.. My grandma got me one for xmas, a cheap and cheerful Encore from Argos with amp etc for like £109. Then I got pissed with it and stopped playing because I expected to be able to pick it up and riff like Slash... That didn't happen so I gave up.. As anybody would have. I then picked it up a couple of years later this time with a decent amp and the intention of learning a song from start to finish. White Stripes - 7 Nation Army was DOWN yeah, look out Hendrix here I come.. Oh wait I then tried a harder song and gave up after that too.. Now I just pick it up and have a mess around. I've definitely come on leaps and bounds in skill and can play quite a bit now. Pics later.
Right. I like this thread. Just take note that you're going to find a ton of Guitarists/Bassists on here. My story starts in 2nd Grade, when My folks told me to play a recorder/English flute if I wanted to play anything else. So I spent two years playing that and singing in the choir. I then ditched the Recorder for 2 years of Saxophone playing lessons. Still singing in the choir at that time. The 2nd year of saxophone lessons, I got accepted into Classical guitar lessons. I then had waaaaay too much on my plate, and ditched the choir and saxophone just after. I continued to spend 4 years playing classical guitars (by classical I mean Bach, Barrios, maybe some clapton... not wet-wet-wet or Oasis). 3 years into playing classical, I got my first electric. A "Cheri" Branded Fender Strat knockoff. I bought an amp for that, which I worked off with my dad, same as the Zoom pedal for it. Then I started playing in a school band. Pop-punk kind of stuff that was simple, but the band-world was new to me, and I didn't know what a Powerchord was. This all, if I work back was 12 years or so ago. I proceeded to take classical lessons for a 4th year, and then it got too much again, between band prac, lessons, and other things. This band's Highlight was opening up for the locally-famous and internationally recognised Arcana XXII, who had several full-length albums out, and 2 albums actually got distributed in Europe. The band broke up over girl stories (typical school band stuff), and I then played in a number of bands with varying levels of success. Then I met a few people whom I gelled well with, and started a band that was successful (for an amateur band in this country, that meant recording a mini-LP - 4 songs- professionally, making enough money off gigging to finance band expenses). A around this time, Arcana XXII split up for various reasons, and the band I played in proceeded to take over their "spot" in the local market. When we lost what was probably the best bassist in the country and our Drummer started planning to go overseas, that band split as well. The Drummer of this band proceeded to audition for Belphegor in Austria, got offered the contract, and decided he'd rather study. After years of trying to pull someting together again and jsut not finding musicians that could live up to my expectations AND had similar musical taste as me AND weren't in other bands, I was approached by one Ex-Arcana Guitarist (on the link above - the one to the far left) and asked whether I had ever considered playing Bass, as he had some friends in a popular local band that were looking. I wanted to say no, but had an audition arranged faster than I could answer. So since last year, I am a bassist as well as a guitarist, and have been enjoyng the madness. Our one (founding member, left for a while in between, back now) axe-slinger is also ex-Arcana (link - the far right one), the othe rone played int he country's first thrash band in the 80s. We have 2 "mini-LPs" and a full length album out called "Rabhas", that we recorded late-mid last year. You can check that Band out on Facebook. It's called "Delusions of Grandeur (D.O.G.) on FB. Would give you a link, but alas, no FB at work. As for gear: Ibanez RG2570VSL Prestige Ibanez ICB300BK Bass Marshall MG100DFX Behringer V-Amp Pro Still have that old Zoom Pedal, Dunlop Cry Baby, old boss DS-Series, Boss MT2 and some more axes that I don't have pics of
Electric Guitar Got a Vintage V100 with an EMG60 Jim Root Signature Telecaster Orange Crush 30R Boss Metalzone Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah-Wah.
Man I wish i could ban vuvuzelas for all eternity. You have no idea of just HOW annoying they get until you hear them all thorugh the night and through to day... now where's the suicide smiley?
I'm trying to learn guitar at the moment. I have always wanted to play a guitar, but with absolutely no support from my parents I never got around to it. (They seem to think that I can't possibly learn to play an instrument simply because they can't play anything.) But last winter a coworker stumbled across a video course in playing guitar. The idea that something like that existed had never crossed my mind, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I bought a steel stringed acoustic guitar to start me off and it seemed to be just as fun as I thought it would be, so a few weeks ago I got an electric guitar (Hagström Superswede in vintage sunburst). My original idea was to use an effect pedal (Digitech RP90) and my PC speakers to make sound, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the results, so last week I bought a Marshall MG10 (Very tiny amp, but enough for practicing when living in an apartment) Ironically the song I'm currently trying to learn is written for an acoustic guitar. (It's a version of the firefly theme. Perfect for learning finger picking, although it's pretty difficult.) jsheff: My old electronics teacher gave me a god tip when it comes to learning to play a guitar: Try to find a tab to a song you really like and learn to play it. Don't think about the technical stuff. Just learn to make it sound good. It makes learning a bit slower, but it's so much more fun. A coworker got himself an ukulele a while ago, and brought it to work the other day. It's incredibly fun to play. I want one myself now. Will probably get one of these some day simply because it looks very cool.
Long story short, I've got a lefty epiphone sg310 that I've had for over a year. Thing probably has under 48 hours of use. Soo hard to pick it up and teach myself. I've been trying but it's just so demotivating failing at playing!
My bass playing isn't going too great, I have improved a bit, but I really need to start practising properly every day if I want to get proper good. Right now all I do really is play bits of songs I've learnt and mess around with the minor pentatonic.
@TYIL: I must warn you, as fun as they look, the Soprano Flying V is NOT comfortable to play. The straight bottom edge means the uke will keep sliding down your leg as you play. Irritating to say the least! If you want a spongebob uke, go for a regular shaped one. 'Pineapple' ukes (look a bit mandolin shaped body) are a bit awkward too. @Smilodon: Thanks, that's the way I learned the ukulele I've found that once you get the chords memorised by playing them enough, you can pretty much play anything. Sites like ultimate-guitar and chordie are great for learning new songs. Chordie especially, as it shows you the chords you need and gives you options of changing them to various tunings of guitar, banjo, ukulele or mandolin. The first song I learned was "Five Years Time" by Noah and the Whale. It's a very simple C-F-G-F transition, and it really helps you get a strum pattern down. Plus, it's played on a uke in the song so it's an ideal starting point as there aren't too many mainstream uke songs out there, the other being the recent "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. Since then I just learned songs I enjoy, and Flight of the Conchords has a great choice of fairly easy and hilarious songs. "If you're into it" consists solely of C and Am chords, which on the uke are the simplest two chords to play, each requiring only one finger on one string. @Ending Credits: My parents picked me up a Vuvuzela the other day as a joke, all I need now is a song that consists entirely of a drone in B flat... What I'd really love to do is be able to play and sing at the same time. I have an awful voice but I enjoy singing. I can sing and play when I use a particular strum pattern I don't have to think about (eg down, up, chunk, down, up, chunk, down, up, chunk...), but I struggle when I have to think about the different rhythms of my hands and voice simultaneously, especially with chord changes. Got to say though, picking up an instrument and learning something feels great, like I'm actually achieving something. It's fantastic to be able to share playing with friends too!
Nice to see another ukulele player on here. Here is mine: Solid mahogany custom made Keith Ogata Kinohi SE Tenor. Yeah....it's pretty cool, and the ukulele is just amazing too.
I used to play guitar. Spent about 10 years on tuba. Got a bit bored of them. Acoustic instruments are great, but they're limited timbre leaves much to be desired to myself. So I play synths, and make drum and bass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqYEvu3Ma9A&playnext_from=TL&videos=kawoBvJ2cYA&feature=sub
I play guitar. I picked it up after being foisted an acoustic guitar from another lefty (who i was seeing, she was fine). I was playing drums and started playing piano from an early age, so wheee off i go into rythum guitar. Been messing about with a few bands during uni and i cannot be arsed to upload pictures. Current rig is a rat modded blackheart ht-5, laney lionheart 2x10, a few ibanez's and a tokai '82 sg 3 pup wonder.
Yet another guitarist here I'm afraid! Though I'm a passable drummer too. Been playing ten years or so, I can noodle around but I don't play in bands much anymore, it's more for personal enjoyment I play an Epiphone explorer (yeah, classy.. bleurgh) through a Marshall TSl60 half stack, which I want to shift for an Engl someday when I have the funds. However I'm still working with music, I spend most my time fingering this instead on front of house
LONG POST AHEAD OMIGOSH WARNING I love my guitars. I have three, and I have been playing since I was 15... so about 4 years. My dad is a guitar player, and I basically asked him to show me the ropes. After much struggling to get chords, I had it! It took me about a month to get self reliant, and after that point I taught myself pretty much entirely from Youtube. I play in a metal band called Hamerex, and we have an E.P. out on iTunes, and we are working on an album to be released next year. Here are some pics of my babies, my rig, and me. Me and my ESP LTD EC-500. You can also see my Peavey Triple XXX amp behind me. My amp in better detail. My Ibanez S Custom. And my Peavey Predator Plus HB. Apologies for the mixed quality and sizes of photos. The only mods on my guitars are on the Peavey, right now. When I got it from my dad, it had twin Gibson PAF pickups, worth a lot of money. I took out the bridge one and dropped a DiMarzio PAF Pro in there for a hotter response. It's a bit more of a balanced guitar now, tone wise. I can get scorching hot bridge tones, but lovely tubey response from the neck. Marvellous. The Ibanez is rockin' stock pickups that aren't much cop, and the cheap Floyd copy is all outta whack right now. But fortunately it seems to have the right spacing for a pukka Floyd Pro or Original, so I might drop in some EMGs and a proper Floyd when I get the cash. Lovely guitar though. The Eclipse is running an EMG 60 in the neck, and an 81 in the bridge. One of my favourite pickup combos. I'd like to hear what a 60 in the bridge of a warmer guitar would sound like though. Breakables-wise, I generally use an Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer, and an Ibanez Weeping Demon wah pedal (I'm not an Ibanez fanboy, honest.), but mostly I use the amp's gain channels for the heavy stuff, and the TS7 is just for a solo gain boost (I don't rock super high gain most of the time) or for adding a lil drive to the superb clean channel on my Peavey. Which brings me to the Peavey. >.> No reverb built in. It's not a major issue, as I'm not a fan of amp loaded reverb, but as I don't have a reverb pedal, it means my clean sounds a bit dull. So I use a GLX mono chorus pedal to bring it up. The GLX pedals are basically just Boss pedals with a different shell. I prefer them over Boss ones though, because the click is more definite, and responds better to a top down kick from my big boots on stage. I do have a few other pedals, from when I was learning. I have an older Crybaby wah, which is beat up to hell now, but still works. I can get a better high gain response from my Ibanez one though. I also have TWO GLX Heavy Metal distortion pedals. They are pretty similar to Boss Metalzone pedals, I think, but I think the GLX pedals have a better, more mid heavy gain, which I prefer. (I'm not the mid-scoop, super fuzz kind of metal player. I like my gain to have tone.) I also have an 80's Marshall Guv'nor, which needs fixing, and a Digitech Death Metal, which I use at band practice when I am too lazy to haul my amp down with me. My chain is pretty simple, as I don't bother with using effect loops: Guitar -> Wah-Wah -> Tubescreamer -> Chorus -> Amp. My tone tends to be very mid heavy, with enough gain to smooth out mistakes, but not so much it turns into mush. I use a pretty bass heavy gain, too, but I bring the mid and top up as well to make sure I cut through. And there you have it! I apologise for the LOOOOONG post. >.> I'm used to PHBB3 forums, where the spoiler tags shrink everything behind a button, not just blank it out.
I play bass I currently only have one bass - USA Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe, but i recently sold my Fender Jag and Ibanez BTB506 - wish i hadnt sold my sixer, i only started loving it when i didnt have it any more. Think i am going to get a P-bass, just want to save up for the deluxe as im not hugely a fan of passive basses. My story is i started playing the flute when i was 9, played up until grade 8, picked up the bass when i was 12, played up to grade 7 (Rockschool - for some reason they have no grade 8, but they have a grade that is before grade 1! :/) I then did music tech a level, music a level and 2 years ago i graduated with a 2:1 BSC Creative music and sound technology, for my dissertation i made a digital hand percussion unit, that was usb bus powered and drove some software that i wrote in C. The picture above was before the pads where finished, they were finished with white rubber over the top, and looked alot neater than that! I am moving into a new house 15 July, and currently my whole studio is packed up and in transit, but when i have set up again will take some pictures and post up. Loving your set up wafflesomd - those novation controllers are awesome arent they. I have mostly sold off all my hardware synths now, and im more into coding software than actually making music. I like to make software for creating music live, like installations and performances. I do alot of producing and engineering in my spare time as well.
Just picked up an acoustic guitar from a friend for £45, will probably need a new set of strings, but looking forward to learning! Been practising my picking with my uke and banjo recently too, become so much better at it! Can now pick the intro to "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Crazy Train" and "Banana Pancakes" on the Uke, and subsequently the Banjo too, as well as learning to play (of all things) Jean Michelle Jarre's Oxygene Part 4 (sounds odd, but great fun to play)! The thing I have noticed with the guitar is that it's just so damned BIG compared to the uke, and the strings are a bit closer together to pick successfully yet. Any tips?
