What do you bring to music?

[Sir Kyle]

[SIZE=1]Just curious as to what everyone who reads these boards does musically themselves.

Personally, I have been a musician since the 5th grade (I'm now in college so it's been a few years.) When I say musician, for myself I mean that I've played at least one musical instrument since that time and that I can read music and understand nearly all elements of theory.

I play the trombone and it's most definitely my primary instrument. This is what I started on back when I got into music and I've played it for over 9 years now. It's what I learned every aspect of music on and I'm glad to say that I'm fairly good at it. During high school, I worked my way up to first chair in both the jazz band and in the concert band and from there when I went away to college, I joined the marching band here and that's what I've been doing ever since.

Also, I play the guitar and bass guitar. I don't have nearly as much experience and skill with these instruments as I do with the trombone, but I play here and there. I enjoy my Ibanez Talman the most of all since it was my first guitar and has sounded great ever since I picked it up.

I find it really great if someone is able to play a musical instrument because it's such a wonderful art and it's a shame more people don't play something than there is right now. I also find that people who are musicians (whether they sing or they play) are "better" (purely opinion) critics of all types of music. With experience and actually knowing all the hard work it takes to learn an instrument you realize how much talent bands have and that no one really "sucks" so to speak.

So what do you guys bring to the table? Do you play an instrument or instruments, do you sing, do you do both, or do you just sit back and let others do that for your listening pleasure?[/SIZE]

[Semjaza]

I've been playing saxophone on and of for about 10 years now, I'd guess. At first I was on alto, but the teacher decided to bring me up to tenor. I've played that a majority of the time, although I've also played soprano.

I've not really played as much since highschool ended. This was mostly because I let my school use my tenor to teach new band members. I didn't pick it up until this past Christmas. I'm still not sure if I'll jump back into it or not... the money I could make by selling it is looking good right now.

I also have a Yamaha keyboard. I forget what model, but it cost around $300 at the time. It's pretty good, I'd say. I mostly used it to hook up to my PC to play around with sounds and such in random sound editing programs.

There's also an electric guitar laying around here somewhere, but I still can barely play it at all. I never have the time to bother getting all that far with it.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][SIZE=2][FONT=Courier New]I *try* to play the piano, and make a sad, wasteful attempt to play the violin. I know nothing of theory whatsoever, and am pretty much tonedeaf, but you know...at least all the finger movement has given me strong hands.

Technically, a few of my friends and myself have a band, but we have yet to compose a song. Heh.

Well, when BNA is famous, you'll be able to say, "I heard about them on a message board ten years ago! Isn't that funny?!"

_ _U

BNA stands for Bubba Norton Approves. Long story. I'm not even sure if I know all of it...>.> <.<[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[TheShinje]

[size=1][color=slategray]I am attempting to learn drums at the moment, our Church worship band usualyl lets me bang around on theirs after the services, and the drummers have even taken time to teach me a thing or two, I can put together some good beats, so I hope heh, though I can't get the exact beat right to any of our songs (majority being HillSong covers)[/color][/size]

[size=1][color=#708090]That's all I really do at the moment, I did once have bold plans to learn Guitar, base and Piano as such, where those dreams have gone no one knows.[/color][/size]

[amibasuki]

[font=Arial][size=3]well, I was on the drumline both this year and last year, last year as a quint player and this year as a snare player, and I can sing a little. piano would have to be my main thing though. I can play decently, though if you were to put some big-time classical piece in front of me, it'd probably take me a year to learn it, lol. it's still lots of fun though, so yay. ^_^[/size][/font]

[The_Ghost]

I have been playing piano since the age of 5. (Believe me, it was no walk in the park) I almost quit in 5th or 6th grade. Then in junior high I played piano for choir, and since I was actually playing cool music instead of scales and junk I actually enjoyed it.

I've played alto sax since 5th grade. At first I almost quit because the "cool" girls kept harassing me and telling me I sucked. Even our director refused to encourage me. Because of my piano background, I could sight-read music and not practice, and my director hated that. Our school got a new director in 8th grade, and he was cool. He put a lot of pressure on us to do well. The "cool" girls couldn't handle it and quit (ha ha) and now I'm a sophomore section leader and, dare I say, pretty good. So now I laugh in the face of those who mocked me! :laugh: (Especially that dumb director, she still hates me!)

I love to sing too. I've been singing since before I can remember. My parents aren't exactly encouraging. (When I was five I wanted to be a professional singer, and my parents told me I wasn't good enough-yea, that's cool!) I've taken solos since 7th grade, and I'm on my way to being the second girl in the history of our school to get straight I's at contest! Yea! (Considering our school is tiny and dumpy, it's not that big of an accomplishment, but anyway...)

I play guitar, but not very well. I like to write music too, although most of it is piano stuff (considering it's my main instrument). My dream job would be a music producer for a major record company. I don't think its going to come true...but miracles happen!

[future girl]

When I was much younger I used to sing, mostly in Church and by force, but I sung. I eventually quit that once I left church. I had no real aspiration as a singer. Lately I find I enjoy it though, but I'm not sure whether I have a good or a bad voice, so I just joke around with it a lot.

In 7th grade I played the clarinet, by force once again. The teacher made me because no other students wanted to and I was last pick anyway. I would have preferred the Violin or cello, but no :( In any case, I tried at it and I wasn't bad, but I just wasn't passionate about the instrument and quit pretty shortly.

I play a mean tamborin as well ^_~

[Omar Harris]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was a flute player. In 5th grade, I joined a new school, and had the choice of either taking French, Band or something else I can't remember, as an elective. I chose band, and decided to play the flute. Long story short, I was a big Power Ranger fan (still am) and I was so enamored by the Green Ranger that I wanted to play the flute, since he had his Dragon Dagger (a flute and dagger in one).

I found that learning the flute was easy, and I was one of the top players in my band, though I was only good enough to have been in the Intermediate level. Before playing the flute, I was a violin player, but I gave up on that when I switched schools.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]Hmmm, I have been playing the trumpet since I was four, so this June I will actually have hit the twenty year mark...jeez that makes me seem old. When I was really young my mom used to play quite a bit of creole jazz, and it just sparked my intrest in the instrument. Although I don't play my trumpet much now, I practice a couple times a week and I still do the occasional wedding gig...it is a great way to put a little money in my pocket.

I also have been playing the guitar for six years now, and I have become...decent at it. I tend to play quite a bit, especially when I am watching television. I am a fairly proficient piano player as well, but I think that coincides with being a good musician.[/color]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I can honestly say the only thing I bring to music is my voice-which isn't [i]that[/i] bad, but isn't all that great either.I can carry a tune, but not too well since i go all iover the place after a while.

I've tried to play the piano, but I can only do Hot cross buns, chopsticks and Jingle bells. I've tried to play the guitar, but appearantly I can't do it right. I once played the flute, but I hit my brother with it and then the lessons stopped. (hey, I was 10!)

So maybe the best thing to say about what do I bring to music is the fact that I stay away from musical instruments and do kareoke.[/color]

[Balinese]

For what it's worth, I play the trumpet and the flute (not perfectly, let me tell ya), and I do a bit of dabbling on the piano.

But my heart lies in singing. I sing everything I can, and am getting a lot better as I practice. It's just hard to find songs that fit my voice range (LOW alto). Mai Yamane and I are an almost perfect match!

I also write lyrics with my brother for a record label started by a friend of ours called KNI. Rap isn't my thing, but I write choruses for Shadow and KelloGz, and DJT makes the beats. They say we're gonna be big!

[OlgaTheDwarf]

I don't like to brag, but I am known to be quite the bad*** on the kazoo.

[Haze]

So many people play saxophone!

I too play the alto sax. I started in the sixth grade and have continued. When I entered high school last year I was able to make it as second chair in Concert 1 (our band are divided into 3: Symphonic[the highest], Concert 1, and Concert 2.) I thought it was pretty good considering that Symphonic was filled up with 5 of tehbest alto players my school has ever seen. This year I am second chair in Symphonic. woot! We recently went to District Contest and got straight ones....come to think of it, all of our bands got straight ones. But special us in Smphonic managed to get all A's (the individual judges give you letter grades for categories like intonation, tone, etc.). we were pretty excited. We travel to state on the 17th.

I play piano too...in a way. I have been teaching myself to play for about 2 years now. I donot use my left hand for the lower octive. ^^ Instead I use both to play what the right hand would normally play. Hey, I never said I taught myself to play [i]correctly. [/i]

And I suppose I can sing well. I sing as often as I can, although I hate singing in front of people. I love singing. When I hear a song I know, which means every last one on the radio, I sing to it. It makes my brother mad that I know all of the songs on the radio. 'Course I don't listen to teh radio much anymore so I guess I no longer know them all. >__< Ah well.

[Xander Harris]

Well, I played piano since I was like, in kindergarten, but I never got very good at it. I played the sax for six years, and got pretty decent at it. I quit both this year.

There was a time, from when I was in Junior High to the first year or two of high school, where I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted to be a music major. Part of it was because I had a music teacher that got me really excited about Jazz music, and I really enjoyed improv. I was going to college to study music, for a certainty.

So what happened? Well, our band teacher quit, and was replaced by a great guy who I was really good friends with. Except that he really wasn't a very good teacher. But I really liked him, and continued thinking I would persue a career in music. Then our current band teacher came. He's a really passionate guy, and he has the most hilarious little daughter, but he also has violent mood swings and really didn't like me much.

I got really sick a lot last year with almost constant sinus infections, and so I stopped playing the sax. Band was a good place to get to know students in other grades, and a good team to be a part of. But for the most part I really don't miss it. I do miss Jazz Band though, but our JB was so terrible the past few years it just got depressing.

I don't think it reallly was the band teachers faults that I gave up my music aspirations. I think part of it was that I just came to realize that I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. I also started to find out that I was talented in other areas.

You see, when you are younger, everyone must fit into a mold. There are the sports kids (I tried that. Injured myself in football, and spent as much time being picked on by the 'superior individuals' in basketball as I did practicing :rolleyes: ), the 'hoods', and the music/fine-arts people. Music was a 'mold' for me to put myself in. As time went on, I found I excelled far more at drama, writing and roleplaying. I developed an interest in history and current events. There was more to me than music. Besides, who wants to learn all those instruments and put in all the practice hours that music majors have to do ;)

I make up songs while I'm in the shower. Does that count as songwriting?

I'm still in choir, and still enjoy Jazz music. I own more instrumental music soundtracks than a human being should be allowed to possess. I have a couple friends who are obsessive about music, and a few of them are in a garage band.

[G/S/B Master]

I've been playing piano since I was 4. Now it's been like 6 years and a couple of days in training. My nickname is "Thunder Fingers". You would call me that too if you'd seen how I play the piano lol. I know how to paly it, but I need to music sheet to know what notes to press.... I cannot make up my own melodies.

I don't know whats better, my singing or my skills with the piano. I can carry a tune, until after 10 beats of holding a note, I crack up litterally. My voice goes a lot deeper. So it's kinda weird. But if you say a note, I sing it, and after 10 beats, expect the unexpected kiddo lol. I'm in Chorus, and it helped me a lot, for my technique of holding my breath of course LOL! In one of our warm ups, we use breath support. Which is sucking in a lot of air, and try to expand your stmach, making it hard. Then you gain breath support, making you sing a lot easier. Getting you into a higher or deeper voice depending on what are you planning.

Piano is a hell lot better then singing. But being in Chorus is better in some what way....

[Kanariya]

[color=darkslateblue]I used to sing, but at the moment I don't sing and I play the violin.

I gave up singing a while ago; I didn't think much of it anymore, and I just ignored it, until I let my voice downfall and now I sing so horribly. My violin talent isn't that big either; I'm not a bad violin player, but I'm not a fantastic violin player. I'm in between, but I'm more on the downside.

I want to start to learn to play the piano; I go to a friend's house a rarely, and he has a keyboard, and I only learned to play Ode To Joy. I want to get better, and at least my parents won't yell at me for spending most of my life on the computer if I start taking lessons anyway.[/color]

[Radaghast]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][SIZE=1][FONT=Garamond]I've been playing the cello for a little over half my life. That would make around eight years. I started in the third grade, and now I'm a freshman in High School. I'd say I'm pretty good at cello, though I'm not bragging. I like to be over-expressive with my playing. For competition (which is in April) I will be playing Faure's [I]Elegie[/I]. I'm a part of the local youth Symphony programs; I'm proud to say I'm fourth chair of the advanced orchestra (beating out many seniors, mind you).

I'm also playing electric bass for my school's jazz band. Over the summer I will be learning to play the double bass, which will boost our competition scores. I used to play guitar. Who didn't?

I'm going to need to learn piano for theory in college. I'm planning to get a music therapy degree at Kansas University, who is one of the leading schools for that field. I'll be studying under the great Edward Laut, the cello professor.

I know theory, but I couldn't tell you the dominant 7th of the D Major scale.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[crimsonbullet]

[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]well I've been playiing violin since fourth grade and I used to be good until I took a year off... now I have doubts in my abilities I think it doesn't help me at all. I lke to sing and I can hold a tune at least some people used to tell me I sing really good... I'm still not sure if they were being truthful or not. Umm I can play "My Sweet lord" on the guitar and do variation with three chords. I took a piano class. I just love music and why I'm posting and sounding run on is alittle strange.[/FONT][/size]