Play more than one instrument

Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I'll end up trying at least one of each, stringed, wind, keyed and percussive. Except maybe wind, I tried 3 wind instruments and hated them all.

I have another question about learning another instrument. Is learning to play a 7-string guitar or a 5-string bass the same as their 6-string and 4-string counterparts? Or are they like new instruments?

i've never played a 7 string guitar, but a 5 string bass is pretty much the same.

I think I'll end up trying at least one of each, stringed, wind, keyed and percussive. Except maybe wind, I tried 3 wind instruments and hated them all.

I'd have to agree with you, I've tried playing harmonica and trumpet (I guess harmonica would be woodwind since it has a reed and trumpet would obviously be brass) and it was fun, but I don't entirely get it: I must say my favorites have to be stringed (guitar, violin, bass) and percussion (drums, piano).

At first I got my guitar, didn't take lessons and basically learned whatever I could. Then I started learning trumpet in school, I was doing good with it but after about 2 years I found hitting the high notes to be too hard, so I quit :D . In high school I played drums for 4 years while I was taking guitar lessons, and I played drums in my first and only band. This year I started learning violin and piano, so my plate is pretty full. I must say that violin and piano are probably the toughest instruments I've tried to learn: piano is hard because it's hands moving at different times to acheive different results, for some reason the two handed co-ordination on guitar seems alot easier. Violin is tough because it's very easy to play horribly, but everyone always tells me I'm getting alot better.

I've been toying with the idea of picking up a used bass. Since I want to write my own stuff, I might as well try to write the bass tracks to my stuff as well. Besides, why suck at only guitar when I could suck at two instruments! :D

If you get a bass, let us know what you think.

Jason

I think if I tried bass or even any other instrument, I'd keep guitar my primary instrument. The only way I think I could excel in all instruments is if music came 100% naturally to me, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't come naturally to me, at least not 100% anyway. Of course, deciding to take up bass isn't up to me, it's up to my pocket book. I wouldn't mind trying the drums too, but there is the issue of where I'd keep them, they take up more room than a guitar stand.

So does anyone know what it's like to play a 7-string compared to a 6-string? A friend of mine and I kinda guess they were built for bass strumming. But we based this on nothing.

Most of the 7 strings guitars are used by hardcore/heavy bands that tend to tune their guitars way down, like Korn etc.

Korn is the only band I've seen use them. I was thinking about making my next guitar a 7-string but don't know if I should bother. If I'm not mistaken, the default tuning for a 7-string puts the lowest string way down anyway, lower than the lowest 4-string on a bass I believe. I have lots of time to think about it though, still saving up.

I think that for those seven strings, the standard way is to tune the extra low string to the B under the normal low E string.

Steve Vai did a lot of work with a seven string, as well as John Petrucci (Dream Theater).

All my friends were in the school band so I wanted to play trumpet/coronet. Anatomy problem, lips were too big so I had to go with Trombone.
I don't really buy the "lips are too big" thing. They tried to get me to play trombone for the same reason, but I didn't want to and now I'm a horn player with a full four octave range. I guess maybe you really do have massive lips, but if you've still got any trumpeting fantasies you may want to give it a shot.

I played bass for a band about 2 years, but I think guitar messed me up. I tended to play more like a guitar player. Bass has a different feel.

Years ago I used to be pretty good on piano, but I haven't played for many years. But piano I played by reading music. I liked that because I could play pieces that I had never heard before. I actually felt like a REAL musician when playing piano.

I also used to be pretty good on blues harp. Still gotta couple around the house. I can do the bends. :D I should pick that up again.

As Noteboat said, your ear goes with you. Also timing. Because I've played guitar so long, my timing is good on any instrument.

And although I don't read when playing guitar, I have a basic understanding of music. I understand keys, scales, chords, etc....

So all of that can be applied to other instruments.

As Noteboat said, your ear goes with you. Also timing. Because I've played guitar so long, my timing is good on any instrument.

Good point on timing, Wes. For some, this is one of the most difficult aspects in musical development. Once one has a good sense of timing, it tends to stick and is useful on every instrument. That's not to say one will have good timing on every instrument -- especially at first. But it becomes instantly obvious to someone with a good sense of timing whether or not they are "in sync" on the new instrument -- it can feel downright painful when one's coordination doesn't mesh one's internal clock. OTOH, those new to music, and working on a first instrument often don't seem to recognize the subtle differences between good and bad timing.

All my friends were in the school band so I wanted to play trumpet/coronet. Anatomy problem, lips were too big so I had to go with Trombone.
I don't really buy the "lips are too big" thing. They tried to get me to play trombone for the same reason, but I didn't want to and now I'm a horn player with a full four octave range. I guess maybe you really do have massive lips, but if you've still got any trumpeting fantasies you may want to give it a shot.

I don't know if they are too big. My wife sure likes them. :wink:

But if I remember correctly the guys that did play trumpet/coronet had NO lips. They were skinny little kids. When I went to look for an instrument the store I went to had the recommendation, not the school.

The trombone worked okay for me. I wish I'd had the band Chicago to idolize back then. I might have had a totally different musical direction. BTW, that is another great band that I modeled myself after. I loved playing the lead guitar on 25 or 6 to 4.

As for taking up trumpet now, all is good. I can't afford another instrument right now or do I have the time to learn one...right now it's only SCHECTER time. GASious as that is. :mrgreen:

Guitar made it easier for me on the mandolin. That's a good thing because the mandolin is much more difficult than the guitar.

Years ago I used to be pretty good on piano, but I haven't played for many years. But piano I played by reading music. I liked that because I could play pieces that I had never heard before. I actually felt like a REAL musician when playing piano.

Oddly enough, I read a rather lengthy article that taught piano by ear and argued that reading music and playing what you read on an instrument doesn't make you a musician. I'm not sure if that's true or not but it did give me something to think about.

I learned to play piano by finding the notes of simple patterns from songs by ear then mixing them together to form the songs. I also used this to make my own music as well. I try to take the same approach to learning guitar as much as I can. Guess that's why I feel scales, keys and chords are overrated. If I can learn one instrument without them, why not another? Either that or I'm stubborn, but the first explantation sounds so much better.

I remember Clarinet and Trumpet back in music class, and I sucked at them. For clarinet, my fingers were too small to cover the holes. For trumpet, I couldn't remember how to play the notes, or couldn't figure out the sheet music to find what note I was supposed to play, but mostly, I didn't enjoy playing those instruments.

scales just make certain things easier. you could play the guitar without knowing chord shapes either, it just would be more difficult to play in many conventional styles.