# What did you PLAY?



## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

I played the saxophone. I picked the saxophone since my brother played trombone, my other brother played trumpet and my dad played piano. Together we had a small jazz / stage band. 

Both my brothers were in the senior band so I took up saxophone in the summer of 1974 just before grade 9 so I could join the band also which I didn’t 

We all played in the school jazz band also which later turned into a professional gig after high school was over. 
Every once in a while I take out my sax and play it. One note sticks and doesn’t work. It drives me crazy so I don’t play it as often as I’d like. 

What instrument did you play in school if you took MUSIC as a credit?


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## Falcon (Oct 12, 2018)

We   had a grand piano  in our  "living  room"  ever since  my sister and I  were  little  kids.  Parents  hired  a  prof
to teach us.  Sis did well but I couldn't   stand the guy and I wound  up  playing  "by  ear".  I got pretty good at it
too and played "Boogie Woogie  for  my buddies  in the  Air Force. I also had a trumpet  but  liked the piano  more.


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## Grampa Don (Oct 12, 2018)

On a visit to my maternal Grandparents when I was 9, my Grandfather gave me an old fiddle.  I took lessons on it and played in the junior high orchestra.  After five years of lessons, I convinced my Mom I wasn't going to get any better and dropped it.  I don't have the physical coordination to be a decent musician.  I've tried to learn to play the guitar and banjo, but the results were pretty mediocre.

Don


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## hollydolly (Oct 12, 2018)

I played the Cello in the school orchestra... not very well, but hey I passed muster for school...

My daughter on the other hand plays several instruments very well... Bass Guitar, Drums, Bass recorder...


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## IKE (Oct 12, 2018)

Other than one of those little black plastic flutes that they made us learn to play in music class when I was a pup in school I've never played any sort of instrument......I can recall playing 'Hot Cross Buns' over, and over and over again on that thing.


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## Pappy (Oct 12, 2018)

Harmonica and drums.


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## RadishRose (Oct 12, 2018)

Never played any instrument. Made my parents so flipping mad, but I refused and just would not. I cannot even read music.

I danced instead.

As an adult, I took a few flute lessons from a friend and almost passed out.

My son played sax.


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## Trade (Oct 12, 2018)

I took band in the 9th grade. That was the year the song "The Duke of Earl" came out. I wanted to play the Trombone when I signed up. But my mother was a single mom with an 8th grade education working as a waitress for nickel and dime tips at greasy spoons. So we were poor and when she found out how much a Trombone would cost she told me she could not afford to buy me an instrument. So I had to take what the school could provide for free. The school had four Tubas and that was instrument the kids with poor or cheap parents got. So every day the tuba players had to clean out the spit from the class before them because nobody ever cleaned it out at the end of their class like you were supposed to.  

I hated it. Most of the time I just faked it. Just kept blowing into the mouthpiece and pushing those valve things up and down at random. Old man Davis, the band instructor didn't pay much attention to us Tuba players because we where way up in the back and his favorites were the French Horns and flutes and whatever up front. So I got away with faking it most of the time. But every once in a while he'd pay attention to us and scream at us for a while. Only one of us four Tuba players took it halfway serious. I still remember his name. It was Dempsey Hatcher. 

I somehow managed to pass with a "C". That was the end of my music career.


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## Buckeye (Oct 12, 2018)

Played varsity football and basketball.


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## Gary O' (Oct 12, 2018)

Falcon said:


> We   had a grand piano  in our  "living  room"  ever since  my sister and I  were  little  kids.  Parents  hired  a  prof
> to teach us.  Sis did well but I couldn't   stand the guy and I _*wound  up  playing  "by  ear".  I got pretty good at it
> too and played "Boogie Woogie *_ for  my buddies  in the  Air Force. I also had a trumpet  but  liked the piano  more.



If I could just learn to play The Boogie Woogie like my uncle could, my life would be complete


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## Olivia (Oct 12, 2018)

Keesha said:


> I played the saxophone. I picked the saxophone since my brother played trombone, my other brother played trumpet and my dad played piano. Together we had a small jazz / stage band.
> 
> Both my brothers were in the senior band so I took up saxophone in the summer of 1974 just before grade 9 so I could join the band also which I didn’t
> 
> ...



I never played an instrument, but the saxophone is one of my favorite instruments to listen to. 

Love, love, love Kenny G. "Forever in Love" is my favorite of his.


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## Gary O' (Oct 12, 2018)

Never played an instrument in school....but;

(I posted this elsewhere...forgive me.....use the scroll feature...NOW!)

*
 ‘Again’*

I’ve nursed a fondness for music
Not an obsession
But it’s there
When I was around 13 I thought the guitar was a sexy, easy thing to conquer

Mom took me to a music teacher

A teacher of the guitar 
Older Spanish fellow
Thick accent

Learned the keys, notes
High E to low E
And back
Over
And over

‘again’

He’d go eat dinner

Come back

‘again’

Years later (seemed) we proceeded on to ‘Little Brown Chug’
And there we stayed

‘again’

Dinner

‘again’

After the fingertips of my left hand developed calluses on their calluses I came to the conclusion we weren’t gonna move on to_* House of the Rising Sun *_right away, 
or in my lifetime

But, man, could I ever knock out Little Brown Jug

A few decades later, I happened onto another guitar
Ran thru a few Brown Jug riffs, then centered on It Takes a Worried Man

Found it relaxing

After several renditions, and weeks turned into months of relaxing, singing a worried song,
one day while I was at work, the family sold my instrument to the lowest bidder

We went to dinner at the local smorgasbord that night, their treat
During dessert, they told me of their deed
I wondered how they'd come in to such extravagant funds
Heh, I was gettin’ rather weary of that song too

Anyway, other than profound lilts from the echo of the shower walls, I’ve never been given to creating a tune worthy of listening

But

I’m a good listener

(kept it to under 10 thousand words)


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Falcon said:


> We   had a grand piano  in our  "living  room"  ever since  my sister and I  were  little  kids.  Parents  hired  a  prof
> to teach us.  Sis did well but I couldn't   stand the guy and I wound  up  playing  "by  ear".  I got pretty good at it
> too and played "Boogie Woogie  for  my buddies  in the  Air Force. I also had a trumpet  but  liked the piano  more.


Thats very cool Falcon. You had a grand piano. That’s fabulous. We had a regular nice piano but it did have a wonderful tone to it. We all took piano lessons too for a few years and I also didn’t like the guy only to later learn to play on my own by ear also. 

Chords are what I wanted most to learn because I’m a vocalist. Now I have a Rowland keyboard with a mini brain and an amplifier and microphone. It has a very lovely tone and I can play background accompaniment for my own vocals. It’s fun.

Ive got a guitar also but I didn’t learn it. The cutting of the fingernails didn’t go well with me. Meet played Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy too.  Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey , Louis Armstrong, and I can’t think of that main jazz band that played “string of pearls.” Fun times.

Note... Glenn Miller. That was it. Played a lot if their stuff.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Grampa Don said:


> On a visit to my maternal Grandparents when I was 9, my Grandfather gave me an old fiddle.  I took lessons on it and played in the junior high orchestra.  After five years of lessons, I convinced my Mom I wasn't going to get any better and dropped it.  I don't have the physical coordination to be a decent musician.  I've tried to learn to play the guitar and banjo, but the results were pretty mediocre.
> 
> Don



The fiddle is a nice instrument but so is the banjo. My brother played the banjo , ukeleli and bass guitar. 
Evrn if it wasn’t for you at least you can say you tried it.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

hollydolly said:


> I played the Cello in the school orchestra... not very well, but hey I passed muster for school...
> 
> My daughter on the other hand plays several instruments very well... Bass Guitar, Drums, Bass recorder...



I remember you telling me about your daughter. She sounds mega talented. You also said she plays the tenor saxophone.,
Mine is an alto but the fingering is exactly the same.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

IKE said:


> Other than one of those little black plastic flutes that they made us learn to play in music class when I was a pup in school I've never played any sort of instrument......I can recall playing 'Hot Cross Buns' over, and over and over again on that thing.
> 
> View attachment 57872


Awww! That is actually really cute. We got recorders that we learned to play in grade school as well as triangle, tambourine and morroccas. Lol . They were very fun. I loved music even as a kid in grade school.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Pappy said:


> Harmonica and drums.


 
A drummer. Fun! Did you have your own set of drums?


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

RadishRose said:


> Never played any instrument. Made my parents so flipping mad, but I refused and just would not. I cannot even read music.
> 
> I danced instead.
> 
> ...



I do remember you saying you took dance lessons. Me too!
What did you take? I took ballet for 3 years and tap for 1 . 
Did you like it and did you do any shows?

Flute is beautiful. I wish I learned it. Apparently the fingering is similar to the sax.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Trade said:


> I took band in the 9th grade. That was the year the song "The Duke of Earl" came out. I wanted to play the Trombone when I signed up. But my mother was a single mom with an 8th grade education working as a waitress for nickel and dime tips at greasy spoons. So we were poor and when she found out how much a Trombone would cost she told me she could not afford to buy me an instrument. So I had to take what the school could provide for free. The school had four Tubas and that was instrument the kids with poor or cheap parents got. So every day the tuba players had to clean out the spit from the class before them because nobody ever cleaned it out at the end of their class like you were supposed to.
> 
> I hated it. Most of the time I just faked it. Just kept blowing into the mouthpiece and pushing those valve things up and down at random. Old man Davis, the band instructor didn't pay much attention to us Tuba players because we where way up in the back and his favorites were the French Horns and flutes and whatever up front. So I got away with faking it most of the time. But every once in a while he'd pay attention to us and scream at us for a while. Only one of us four Tuba players took it halfway serious. I still remember his name. It was Dempsey Hatcher.
> 
> I somehow managed to pass with a "C". That was the end of my music career.



Ahhh trade. What a sad story. That got me all choked up. 
How very unfortunate. If you would have gotten the instrument you wanted you would have done so much better cause your heart HAS to be into it. Im sorry you didn’t have the same opportunity I and others did. You certainly deserved it. Everybody does.

Yes I’m responding to EVERY post. Bwah haha.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Olivia said:


> I never played an instrument, but the saxophone is one of my favorite instruments to listen to.
> 
> Love, love, love Kenny G. "Forever in Love" is my favorite of his.



Kenny G is a fine sax player. He’s sexy.


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## Keesha (Oct 12, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> Never played an instrument in school....but;
> 
> (I posted this elsewhere...forgive me.....use the scroll feature...NOW!)
> 
> ...


Someday I’ll learn how to communicate to thou. :laugh:


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## Olivia (Oct 12, 2018)

Keesha said:


> Kenny G is a fine sax player. He’s sexy.



Yes, he is, but even more than that, I had his CD with that song as a first song in my CD alarm clock when I still used it to go to work. That was the same time period when my mom passed away, and to hear it even now touches me so much in sadness and also in beautiful memory. Not saying this for sympathy, but just to say how much music can move us so much.


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## Furryanimal (Oct 12, 2018)

Tried learning to play the guitar.Failed abysmally...


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## Fyrefox (Oct 13, 2018)

I had orthodonture ("braces"), and was forbidden by the orthodontist to play any wind instrument, which he claimed would conflict with his dental work.  That left me the piano, a stringed instrument such as violin, or the drums.  So I became a drummer...


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## Keesha (Oct 13, 2018)

Olivia said:


> Yes, he is, but even more than that, I had his CD with that song as a first song in my CD alarm clock when I still used it to go to work. That was the same time period when my mom passed away, and to hear it even now touches me so much in sadness and also in beautiful memory. Not saying this for sympathy, but just to say how much music can move us so much.


Oh music has the ability to not only touch our heart strings but bend them all out of whack too. 
Music definitely has the ability to hold on to memories and etch them in our minds forever and a day. 
Music CAN and does move us but that’s why we love it so. 

A very touching story Olivia. ((( hug )))


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## Keesha (Oct 13, 2018)

Furryanimal said:


> Tried learning to play the guitar.Failed abysmally...


awww...  I’m sorry Furry. 



Fyrefox said:


> I had orthodonture ("braces"), and was forbidden by the orthodontist to play any wind instrument, which he claimed would conflict with his dental work.  That left me the piano, a stringed instrument such as violin, or the drums.  So I became a drummer...


Drummers are cool. 

To Gary. I wish you still had that guitar cause I’d hound you to play ‘Little Brown Jug.’ 
I remeber that song. Your story was very sad ( to me ) but touching.


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## hollydolly (Oct 13, 2018)

Keesha said:


> I remember you telling me about your daughter. She sounds mega talented. You also said she plays the tenor saxophone.,
> Mine is an alto but the fingering is exactly the same.


  Yes , but she hasn't for years.. it's such a shame I love the sound of the sax...


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## Keesha (Oct 13, 2018)

hollydolly said:


> Yes , but she hasn't for years.. it's such a shame I love the sound of the sax...



Neither have I really. I’ve considered getting it fixed and starting back up. 
The cello is a beautiful instrument. So heavenly in tone. 
 It must have been heavy  though.


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## HazyDavey (Oct 13, 2018)

I started playing clarinet in grade school for a few years. When I was in high school my brother needed a bass player for his rock n' roll band. So I bought a electric bass guitar and joined his band. After three or four years I switched over to playing regular guitar. From there I've continued playing most of my life. Been in a few bands and just played local venues mostly for the fun of it. 

In the last four years or so we have been getting together here at the house. We set up a little recording studio and posted some of our songs on the SoundCloud website. And as I've said before, we know our songs aren't the best but we had a lot of fun doing them and I guess that's what counts. You're welcome to drop by, link is below. Thank you, Davey.


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## treeguy64 (Oct 13, 2018)

Trumpet at eight, guitar at ten, bass guitar from 11, on. Made my fortune with three bands, up until I turned forty-two.  Picked up congas, doumbek and tabla along the way. Taught myself blues harp and bansuri, too.


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## Trade (Oct 13, 2018)

Keesha said:


> How very unfortunate. If you would have gotten the instrument you wanted you would have done so much better cause your heart HAS to be into it.



I kind of doubt that. I was a slacker as a teenager. I didn't apply myself to much of anything.  

But it's really nice of you to be so compassionate.


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## jujube (Oct 14, 2018)

Besides "hard to get"?  Due to the fact that no one seemed to be making that much of an effort to get me, I showed natural talent.

In the matter of musical instruments, I reluctantly played the piano. My mother made me slog through two years of lessons and then gave it up as a lost cause.

In college, I played the guitar, of course. I knew four chords and thus could strum along to all the folk songs. Later in life, I took up the banjo, without much success.


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## C'est Moi (Oct 14, 2018)

I also wasted my time and my parent's money on piano lessons.   I think I can still play "Riding on a Mule," and "Chopsticks" so I guess it wasn't a total loss.   

My sons are very talented; one's a guitarist and the other a drummer.   They did not get that from me.


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## hearlady (Oct 14, 2018)

I wanted a piano when I was young but we couldn't afford it. My parents did get me a Magnus Chord Organ for Christmas. I got pretty good at it and had a Fiddler on the Roof songbook and one with traditional songs like 'I dream of Jeannie, You are my Sunshine, Beautiful Dreamer."
I still love to hear 'Sunrise, Sunset......'
In high school I was given an old guitar that I learned they play by ear. I learned mostly folk songs and some riffs. Maybe I'll take it up again in my retirement.


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