Lap steel. Dulcimer, and Strumstick which is really a dulcimer. Have dabbled with mandolin and uke, and gusli. The dulcimer of which I speak is the Appalachian lap dulcimer that the musicologists say is really a zither, not the hammered dulcimer. I've tried playing one of those, and man alive, is it complicated!
I used to play recorders a lot, and have a full set of the cheap plastic ones minus the bass.
I have a mountain dulcimer which I bought at Silver Dollar City in Branson,Mo.My sister has both,she plays the mountain dulcimer with a wooden slide,or noter.I saw a short video clip of the late Rich Mullins,and man that guy could play a hammered dulcimer! When I play the dulcimer,I play it on a small table instead of my lap.I've also played it upright like a guitar and it feels pretty comfortable for me that way.
The noter's the traditional way to play it. Folkie guitarists in the '60s figured out you could chord it like a guitar, but that just adds complication and takes away its beautiful simplicity.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I saw some clips of guys that play with their fingers,using chords and finger notes and these guys are good.When I was in North Carolina I bought a cd from a Christian bookstore titled "Dulcimer Praise" and it has some of the best music and playmanship I ever heard.Of course it does have guitar in the background,but it's still great playing.One of my favorite cd's to relax to.
Yep, it's gotten popular to play that way. Lots of old guitarists around.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Oh ya, I forgot, 5 string banjo...a bit
bass- i'm ok, nothing great. played the bass for a kid's thing once and they liked it.
banjo - i'm bad at it, but they're fun
uke and mandolin - i can plunk out a melody and basic chords but i get lost easily. everything's upside down.
non-string:
drums - decent. can step in and keep things going if there's no drummer around. almost won a speed drumming contest once, but my playing's pretty standard. definitely not flashy.
djembe - good, tend to overplay. i have fast hands and like polyrhythms.
piano - bad. took lessons for years, but quit when i was about 10. can barely read music anymore.
harmonica - good. soulful, not technical.
instruments i have tried to play but cannot:
didgeridoo
violin
Guitar and an occaisional G string that's it!
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
