Who here all plays music?
 

I've noticed that many of us play music or compose here. Me and Phylum were chatting about it in the now fairly active oddchat a bit, but mostly about weather direct education is necessary to learn how to play music.

Apart from the occasional abysmal attempt at piano and harmonica, I don't play. I do like composing midi files though. Even if I can't personally play what I write.

I write a lot of midi music, despite knowing my way around a piano. I just prefer the limitlessness.

You don't need formal training to play music. Being a high level instrumentalist in an orchestra or something* definitely requires some kind of intense formal training over several years, in 99% of cases at least.

More modern music styles requires less instrumental finesse, and can definitely be largely picked up by ear. I discovered yesterday that I can kind of comp piano chords, despite never spending much time with a piano. I think it was part having a good ear, part knowing the song and part being to do a 5-second musical analysis before we started. I knew where the cadences were and what the function of each chord was, so I could base what I was doing really strongly around that in terms of voiceings and auxiliary figures. Also I didn't have to actually think about what notes were in the chords.

What I'm trying to say is, learn music theory. It will make you 100x more versatile as a musician. Technical analysis in tandem with a trained (or in my case natural) ear is a powerful thing.

*e: also includes lots of crazy jazz musicians.

I'm a singer, do I count?

Don't worry Vy, the only things that don't count are percussionists and bass players.

e: And maybe the occasional bassoonist.

Used to. Not anymore.

I do

Guitar since I was six. I stopped getting better about nine years ago.

I did not realize you were only 15.

It really depends on the bass line. I've seen many a good bass player do absolutely fantastic.

The bass player from my band was a fucking genius. I hated his guts, though.

I play the accordion. I used to play the banjo, until I realised I was shit. I also played the violin at school, because I didn't have many options.

Here's the band I was in what seems like a lifetime ago.

p.s. This is not the solo project stuff that I put up here a couple years ago. This was my actual band.

It's okay

I taught myself to play guitar when I was 13-14 or so, I can play tabbed and chords but ask me anything on theory and I'd likely sweat profusely and evacuate my bowels - which was close to my reaction to being asked to be in a band.

To be all deep about it,
I play guitar, not music.

Not really. We were one of those bands that are pretty good at being pretty bad. I hated it, personally. It wasn't what I wanted to be making. I never wanted to be in what sounded like a bad Tool cover band.

I was going to ask that, but I have a feeling it doesn't :P

Also I used to be okay with the harmonica, but never set aside enough time to get really solid at it.

You just don't GET your music, man

I've been trying to learn how to make beats, but I seem to spend most of the time looking for clever little samples from old songs than actually make beats. Sampling is cool.

That bass player thing was definitely a joke. I've heard some killer bass players. There are some seriously funky dudes, and they make all of the difference between a good and bad ensemble.

Bassoonists on the other hand...

We've already affirmed that singing does indeed count. Essentially, if you can do a thing and make sound that is pleasurable to at least one person, you can do a music. Except for Bassoonists.

lol at OANST's Tool cover band. Not bad though... for a Tool cover band. I actually kinda dug it honestly. That bassist is good.

I play guitar, drums, and bass. Sometimes I make beats for a hip-hop project I'm collaborating on with a friend from Australia, though it hasn't gotten very far off the ground yet. Also write songs and have a few personal projects going too (solo and with friends), but they're pretty shit cause I have extremely minimal equipment access at the moment. The best stuff I have recorded is cell phone demos... which, surprisingly, don't sound quite as bad as you'd expect.

I'd like to learn trumpet or trombone, always thought that'd be neat.

Sometimes I dig old cassette tapes of old movie soundtracks out of the storage room and play those on old cassette players and bob my head to them for a few hours does that count

Alternate answer: I don't play music, I create music.

I played flute all through high school and in the various school bands. I played piano with lessons on and off since year 4. I went to uni last year studying Bach of Music (Composition) at WAAPA.
All I do now is play the piano and learn new songs when I'm bored.

The two do tend to go hand in hand.

WAAPA, that's awesome Roy. Great place to study from what I hear. That's one of the places I was looking at going, after I met the flute teacher a few years back. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, and was interested in having me over there, but the teacher in Adelaide was just too good to pass up.

If you're a flautist from up there, do you know Neil Fisenden?

This song is much better at showing how talented that dude actually was. About half way through it becomes the Derrick is an awesome bass player show for the rest of the song.

Also, this song is the most Tool like of the three we recorded in the studio.

I used to be really embarrassed of these songs, but now... It's like, you know what? We weren't even old enough to drink alcohol when we made these. And I've heard other band's demos, even bands I love, and early demos are never great. I suppose it's possible we would have gotten better and more interesting as we went along. If we hadn't hated each other, and broken up right before we were supposed to open for Fear Factory, that is.

Not opening for Fear Factory was probably for the better, in a way. That could've led to dark, dark things. I can see why you'd kinda cringe looking back though, or have wanted out of that project - isn't the kind of music I'd peg you for wanting to play. Plus a band with that much inner turmoil just sounds like a formula for disaster and frustration. The songs themselves are nothing to be embarrassed about though, just pretty generic.

Also, I assume that's you on the lead guitar? Pretty cool stuff. Bassist kinda steals the show though. I bet he's a huge Incubus fan.