# Playing



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Do you play an instrument? How long have you been learning it? How far have you come? 

I have played piano for 4 years. I did my grade 1 just over a couple of years ago and passed with distinction. Lately I have been practising various pieces including Schumann's piano concerto. 

I also play violin. But have much less success.


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

I started to play the violin last March. I am doing particular lessons once a week. My teacher says that I am going pretty well, but I think I will need many years to be a decent player since I am still only on the first position  I am trying to learn the vibrato at this moment for fun, it is hard as hell but it is getting better.

Also I work from home now so I have much more time to practice. I practice around 3-4 times a day. Let's see how it goes!


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

julianoq said:


> I started to play the violin last March. I am doing particular lessons once a week. My teacher says that I am going pretty well, but I think I will need many years to be a decent player since I am still only on the first position  I am trying to learn the vibrato at this moment for fun, it is hard as hell but it is getting better.
> 
> Also I work from home now so I have much more time to practice. I practice around 3-4 times a day. Let's see how it goes!


Make sure you learn the vibrato properly as it may take a very long time to relearn a different technique.


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Burroughs said:


> Make sure you learn the vibrato properly as it may take a very long time to relearn a different technique.


I am trying to learn the wrist vibrato. I am following some YouTube videos, I still didn't had the chance to show how it is going to my teacher (he is on vacation). I am starting to few my left fingers get stronger quickly and it is helping to sustain the notes when vibrating. It is still a ugly/irregular sound but getting better each day!


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## Yardrax (Apr 29, 2013)

I started off playing classical guitar seven years ago and have taken it all the way to grade eight level. I started learning the piano a couple of years ago because the keyboard skills lessons we had at school didn't give me anywhere near the level of technique necessary for the instrument to be helpful in composition. I'm currently at about a grade five level on that. In retrospect I probably should have started on the keyboard when I was originally offered lessons by my mother when I was eight, I have a much greater affinity with the repertoire and feel much more motivated to practice it nowadays than I do the guitar. But back then I hadn't even heard a single Beethoven piano sonata, imagine that. I'm making up for lost time now anyway.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I used to play piano and clarinet, but I only played them for like a year each. I really wish I had continued with them though, now I'm too busy to really take up lessons again, and I really wish I could play an instrument.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I play guitar, alto saxophone, clarinet and several other instruments, some I am better at than others; I can barely sustain a tone on the trumpet for a few seconds, but I can pull off relatively clean leaps of over an octave on the sax. I have been largely successful in learning how to play these instruments on my own without teachers or guides, though as a result my style is quite uncommon as far as I can tell.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Symphony Orchestra*

Actually I have wanting to ask this questions for awhile and this thread may be a good place to do it.

I have discussed my background in other threads and my profile page.

For 2½ years I played tenor saxophone and bassoon with the 75th Army Band at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (Note: The 75th Army Band no longer exists. The unit was decommissioned many years ago.)

Since then I have had over forty years experience playing bassoon and contrabassoon in various community orchestras and bands.

I am curious if there are any other members who have had experience playing in a symphony orchestra excluding student groups like a university orchestra? The reason I am excluding student groups is because the atmosphere in them is completely different than one finds in a professional or community orchestra.


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## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

God knows I have tried. I used to ATTEMPT to play the Trombone in school bands.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I've played the flute for 11 years, going on 12. That's more than half of my life...

I also took piano class in high school 3 years, so I've known how to play piano okay for 5 years, going on 6. But I'm not really improving, not doing anything major to improve my technique. I just dabble on the piano, and can improvise stuff okay.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Burroughs said:


> Do you play an instrument? How long have you been learning it? How far have you come?
> 
> I have played piano for 4 years. I did my grade 1 just over a couple of years ago and passed with distinction. Lately I have been practising various pieces including Schumann's piano concerto.
> 
> I also play violin. But have much less success.


Well, if you went from grade 1 to the Schumann piano concerto in two years, you surely are a genius.

Me, I had some piano lessons as a child until the teacher moved to another town. I eventually taught myself some piano, and could loudly bang and clang my way through some grade 6 pieces by the time I reached the height of my powers. Then I sort of lost interest.

More recently, I took up classical guitar, but with that too, I remain a perpetual beginner. I don't have much time or energy to practice, what with a job and several other hobbies. And to be honest, I am lazy. But I have come to enjoy the ultra-simple little pieces I play. I think playing an instrument, however amateurishly, helps one to appreciate music in a different way from people who just press a button to fill a room with music.

Oh, and I can blow simple tunes on a recorder, but then, who can't?


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

My primary instrument is guitar. Started out by studying jazz and classical for about 7 years. I've been playing for 21 years total (started when I was 11). I grew up with a piano in house too, so I do play a bit of piano. My favorite piece to play is Grieg's Notturno from Lyric Pieces, Op. 54)


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

I play piano, flute, and oboe. I've only taken private lessons for piano and some music theory, and the rest is self-taught (and experiences in various ensembles definitely helped as well). After I passed RCM Grade 10 for piano, I stopped taking lessons, which is a decision I slightly regret now because I was only 12 years old and still had tons left to learn from a teacher. My piano technique hasn't advanced much since then, but I've matured emotionally and still play piano almost every day just for fun. Overall, my levels of skills are: piano > flute > oboe.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Classical guitar: 2006 to present
Violin: 2007 to 2010
Viola: 2010 to 2012
Piano: 2011 to 2012

I'm still play viola and piano just for fun in my spare time and I don't have lessons on them at the moment. I'll be coming back to them later!!!


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Piano (can play fugues by Bach, Beethoven Sonatas, Chopin polonaises, Brahms Rhapsodies and 3rd sonata and Intermezzi, Ravel movements from Le Tombeau de Couperin, tried Ligeti etude Fem, still working on that, etc.),........................................................................................................, Guitar (I can only play that famous bourree by Bach).
I also tried some recorder, lol.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Well, my first instrument was an electric guitar when I was a teenager. I also took up the recorder for a time and then acoustic guitar. In my 30s I took classical guitar lessons and also two years of piano. After many years of frustration I realized I would never be any good at playing anything and have enjoyed many years of enjoyable bliss listening to others who actually have talent. I have found this a much more productive use of my time and resources. 

Kevin


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