Hi Folks,
Just signed Up! I play a bit of the Bodhran and love it. I`d like to learn an instrument also but i`m nearly 30!!!!!!
I`m seeking advice as to what instrument to play etc....
I absolutely love the pipes but they are meant to be terribly hard to learn, oh and i also like the concertina which also looks tricky.
i could pick up the tin whistle, then try for the uileann pipes.
But we are talking years aren`t we?????
Has any one experiences in which they picked up the basics of an instrument in a couple of years and what practise time are we talking.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Go for a cheap whistle first. That will give you some idea about playing an instrument. Also if you find it isn't suitable you have not lost much capital outlay. Good luck.
Anything you play will take years. My advice, for what is is worth (very little) is to listen compulsively. Listen for what instrument moves you, which one drives you the most in all the mix of session instruments. Get some good recordings, find some of the good stuff on youtube (cruising past discussions on the mustard board can be helpful.) Find the one or ones that you must play to be happy. Then buy them and learn them.
I'd second the whistle as a starter but you're only 30!! There's loads of people, including myself, who have taken up an instrument much older than that. I think there was a thread about it some months or maybe a year ago.
The way I look at it is - suppose you take up a melody instrument at 9 or 10, well it will take you a good bit of your teenage years to become proficient and build a repetoire.
Ditto if you take it up at 30 .. expect it to take a similar period of time - the main factors are (1) the amount of time available to practise/ play and (2) your degree of interest.
I'd say the whistle also. It's one of the few instruments where the music sits naturally. Good whistle playing can be the best of this music. Also, they are ludicrously cheep, fairly quiet so your practising shouldn't annoy too many, and if you learn to play it well, the move to a flute or pipes is relatively straight forward. In fact, the move to any other melody instrument will be made much easier since 99% of it is simply knowing the tunes.
Good on you by the way, for wishing to outgrow your frame drum.
just be aware then, that if you end up sitting in a session with your drum on your knee and your whistle in your pocket, and a tune comes along you don't know so you play your drum, it will take you exponentially longer to learn to play the whistle. Best leave drum at home and force yourself to just sit and listen, at least for a year or two. Otherwise you just won't make the progress you want.
Hey! I picked up the uilleann pipes in my 20's then added to the already steep learning curve the bodhran, whistle, flute, and button box... so other than the banjo I play the holy trinity of most joked about instruments - pipes, bodhran, and box... it certainly can be done.
the whistle does segue into the pipes rather well. There are some critical differences in the fingering and mechanics of course but it is a good start.... and as young as you are, you have plenty of time.
If your wanting to play or learn something strong enough then it does,nt take years to learn the basics at all,,,,If you have mates with various instruments then ask them for a simple lesson or two and as for being 30, age is,nt an object I,ve just taken up fiddle at 61
Not sure what ya mean.
I don`t really class the Bodhran as an instrument when compared to others. In my opinion its a drum, built, designed specifically for drumming.
I agree. Start with the tin whistle. It will teach you the fingerings and many tunes that will carry over to the pipes for you and it's a solid instrument in its own right. Heck, you could add Flute to your list fairly easily after the whistle.
Concertinas are nice, but if you are truly interested, try renting one from the Button Box before making an investment.
As for your age, I've been having trouble with my fingers of late, which has been ruling out Flute and Concertina, but I still play the whistle some and I've taken up playing on the Harmonica (It's amazing how much knowing the Concertina and Whistle tends to make this an easy transition). Oh yeah, I'm 41 and not daunted at all about taking up a new instrument.
I think TaoCat is spot on. Whatever instrument moves you is what you should learn. They're all "tricky"... just a matter of how much you want to put into it. Whistles are the choice for price and being able to play a few tunes pretty quickly. But to get great is still a lot of work. If you love the concertina, I'd say go for it.
Ilig:
surely you'll like the distinction below? ;)
By no means do i wish to outgrow my Bodhran though, **i just want to learn to play an instrument also!**
lol. ah well. not to go there again...however Larmhi, Ilig is right. Speaking as both a fiddle and bodhran player it might behoove you to [early on anyway] focus on the MELODY instrument, bring a tape recorder/mp3/flash recorder too to the session, listen and record tunes you like,learn them at home [not at the session!], buy lots of trad cds, spend lots of time playing, and invest in a metronome, learn to tap your foot and then throw the 'nome in the garbage. Soon you'll be on your way. Once you get 20-30 tunes down...THEN bring your drum if you wish. But in my experience, sessions -- by and large -- probably benefit from MORE melody players not less. Accompanying instruments -- bodhran, bones, and guitars -- are usually to be found in abundance [sadly]....so no more are usually needed than often show up uninvited.
The whistle is a good place to get started, especially since you may need to save up a while to buy certain other instruments.
But keep an ear out for the instrument that you *really* want to learn and move to that instrument as soon as you can. If it turns out that you really like the whistle stick with that by all means, but if your heart's desire is to play concertina or pipes or something else, then go with the instrument that you really want to play as soon as you can.
Don't let things like expense and "difficulty" stand between you and what you want to play, and don't think that you're too old to learn. It will take years no matter what instrument you take up, and if you don't take up the instrument that you really want to play you may regret it later.
If you need, say, 4 years to learn to play the fiddle at a level that allows you to play at sessions, then...
If you are 36 now, you'll be 40 then and have spent 10% of your life learning to play.
If you were 16 now, you'd be 20 then and would have spent as much as 20% of your live!
So, the older the better
Yep, undoubtedly the whistle as a starter instrument, and dont feel you 'need' to 'progress' to a more 'prestigious' instrument the whistle is the Alpha and Omega. .
s far as instruments and Bodhrans go, To suggest it is not an instrument is both laughable , and ignorant, sorry but it has to be said.
The Bodhran is part of the membraphone family of instruments , including the drum and the mirlitons. Drums hold the record for the oldest instrument along with the pipes, 4000 yrs old[ evidence of].
since 1700 the drums have been included in the western orchestra.
Drums are an integral part of the Highland pipe band tradition.
They are just as difficult to play well as any instrument, Drum rudiments are complex and demanding.
The Bodhran is a frame drum, which supposedly originate inn the middle east. As they are made of perishable material, Actual physical examples of old drums are rare. This has led uninformed people to suggest that they are a relatively new addition to the Music of Ireland. This can hardly be the case.
It has been suggested that the it has evolved from the tamborine? Once again superficially believable, but upon deeper thought clearly not the case. The 'tams' are an addition to the drum, they can not have been developed before the drum itself. logically.
There is evidence that the bodhran has been played in Ireland for hundreds of years and , most likely, frame drums for thousands.
Lack of evidence is not proof. Evidence that an instrument was present at a certain time is NOT evidence that it was not present earlier.
Sorry, off subject rather. yeah tin whistle, concertina. pipes are great but expensive and tricky, youd need lessons probably..
...and yes, get that whistle working first to get the basics, then seek out that instrument that is calling you, regardless of how difficult it seems. If it's calling to you there's a reason!
You can't say enough good things about the whistle, particularly for Irish traditional music.
Checkout:
www.whistlethis.com.
They'll either help you learn to play, or traumatize you for life.
The recording element helps you to learn just how bad you really sound at the start, even as visions of "The Chieftains" dance in your head, and you don't have to upload your versions of the tunes for comment. You don't have to sign up to listen to the examples and play the tunes that appear at that site. (I have to use a cheap, digital metronome to begin to sound marginally correct in my timing, but then I don't play a bodhran.) They also have some examples that illustrate various styles of playing the whistle.
If you want to try a stringed instrument, I'd suggest a ukulele. Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho have produced a book called "Discovering the Ukulele" that is nice for learning both fingerstyle and chord based playing. I don't know of any Irish traditional books for ukulele with tablature, but then the ukulele isn't an Irish traditional instrument. (The banjo ukulele might be adaptable to that cause.) I lean toward slack key ukulele, as taught in the second revision of David Heukulani's "Ukulele Slack Key" (Hawaiian Slack Key Styling) (ISBN 978-1-4327-0625-8). Mark Nelson also has a nice fingerstyle ukulele book out, but you need to be a little more advanced than a beginner tto enjoy it. It's called "Fingerstyle Ukulele". The content is quite diverse, including "Danny Boy". Mr. Nelson has also introduced a book of Hawaiian slack key music for the Appalachian dulcimer, though I haven't tried it. (It is tempting - only three strings...) I think I'm destined to play wash tub bass!
I love playing my Bodhran, i`m not expecting to completely forget it, and would hate to do so,
rather i hope that it will aid in my learning and likewise whatever instrument i pick up will aid in my bodhran playing.
You sound like one of those American creationists who say that, "Just because no human skeleton fossils have been found in the same strata as dinosaur fossils doesn't mean that there will never be any found."
The whistle is probably the lowest cost option, but go with something whose sound you love. Age 30 leaves you lots of time not to worry about how difficult any of them are going to be.
And llig, will you never learn to ignore him?????? For all our sakes!
"Drums hold the record for the oldest instrument along with the pipes, 4000 yrs old[ evidence of]."
If you insist on being didactic, jig, at least try and get your facts correct. There are bone whistles from Palaeolithic times, far older than 4000 years.
Whistle is a great instrument. I've tried it a couple of times, but never found it easy-- maybe I just wasn't being patient, but the breath part of it just doesn't work for me for some reason. I picked up the one-row melodeon (in D) because I thought nothing could be simpler (I was about 36 at the time). It is actually quite easy to play in terms of method and learning, and does not take long at all to be playing decent session tunes. It is limited by the number of notes it contains, therefore some keys aren't entirely possible to play in, but most of the common ones are (if you use a D melodeon). I've been playing for about a year and half and have a small but growing repertoire that I can play at the local session. Good luck! Pat
Melodeons are very physical instruments. You have to get very close to a melodeon and dance or wrestle with it. I can't think of another instrument which has quite that characteristic. If you want something less physically challenging you could try the concertina.
I know several people who have started one or other of these instruments quite late in life and improved with remarkable speed. Most of the people I know who started playing whistle improved initially and then plateaued and gave up. They had picked it up because they thought it was easy and they didn't develop any kind of relationship with the it. Really you can play any instrument you want to if you make the commitment to it.
Whistle. But for a quite time I had a cheap one with a tone that I really liked. I eventually realised that it was way beyond my skill (possibly anyone's) to play some notes in tune. Paid a lot more (still under £100) for a 'hand made' one. It was a great relief but it took ages to expunge from my brain the 'best of a bad job' rendition of some tunes that I developed.
It is tempting to say "whistle" but I think TaoCat has it right--go for the instrument that "speaks to you," the one you feel drawn to. Going for the cheapest instrument, in case you decide to quit later, is a negative way to look at it. Although there's no reason you can't get a whistle too.
Or maybe you could find a good teacher of Irish music first, someone you want to learn from, and take up that instrument.
On thing strikes me straight away Larmhi is if it's uilleann pipes you really want to play then you should give it a try. You can get a practice set that wont break the bank. Also, get a whistle right away - it will help with the pipes and it'll mean that if you don't get on with the pipes you will at least have made progress with another instrument.
larmhi, I just reread your first post, and I think you answered your own question. Whistle first, then pipes. Some pipers say you shouldn't even attempt the pipes until you have mastered the whistle.
If your looking for a good instrument i reccomend trying to learn the tin whistle ( otherwise known as the penny whistle ). they are pretty easy to learn and they produce a truely fantastic sound that no other instrument can duplicate. Another good instrument to play in conjunction with the tin whistle is the irish flute, it is similar to the tin whistle but is a lower pitch and also produces a sound unlike any other pipe instrument. These two like i said are truly magnificent instrument and if ur interested there is a uk based website www.bigwhistle.co.uk thats sells them at a good price, You can buy the begginers tin whistle for around £11 and if you wish to continue with playing the tin whistle they also do other pipe instruments.
Hope this information will help you and anyone else who reads it.
From my own experience, learning the whistle was time well spent, even though I moved on to other instruments. A fun and intuitive little instrument. And recently, when a lineup change left our band without a whistle player, I was pressed into service, and now play it more frequently again.
Perhaps some knowledgeable person here could suggest a short list of low cost starter instruments typical of ITM?
It occurred to me that my first effort was with a piping chanter, which I thought "spoke to me", until the plastic reed began to stick together after fifteen minutes of practice due to moisture, forcing me to ultimately give up in frustration, because it seemed impossible to practice enough to learn the finger positions before the reed stopped buzzing. I switched to a whistle, and got tired of clogged fipple syndrome. I now am trying the flute, in preference to clogged fipple problems. (The transitions between registers seems smoother with a PVC flute than my whistles.) Just pointless observations on my own experiences as a beginner...
(Note: I am haunted by a sense that I have some obligation to take up the chanter again. The seller's representative was desperately concerned that the bagpipes were dying out, and insisted that I promise to not give up on them. If only I could find a reed that would not stick together... The problem probably doesn't exist once the air goes through a bag and cools, but it dogged me with the chanter. Maybe I'll just connect a bag to my whistle.)
What Instrument to Learn?
What Instrument to Learn?
Hi Folks,
Just signed Up! I play a bit of the Bodhran and love it. I`d like to learn an instrument also but i`m nearly 30!!!!!!
I`m seeking advice as to what instrument to play etc....
I absolutely love the pipes but they are meant to be terribly hard to learn, oh and i also like the concertina which also looks tricky.
i could pick up the tin whistle, then try for the uileann pipes.
But we are talking years aren`t we?????
Has any one experiences in which they picked up the basics of an instrument in a couple of years and what practise time are we talking.
Thanks in advance for your help!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Iarmhi
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Go for a cheap whistle first. That will give you some idea about playing an instrument. Also if you find it isn't suitable you have not lost much capital outlay. Good luck.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Alf Tupper
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Anything you play will take years. My advice, for what is is worth (very little) is to listen compulsively. Listen for what instrument moves you, which one drives you the most in all the mix of session instruments. Get some good recordings, find some of the good stuff on youtube (cruising past discussions on the mustard board can be helpful.) Find the one or ones that you must play to be happy. Then buy them and learn them.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by TaoCat
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I'd second the whistle as a starter but you're only 30!! There's loads of people, including myself, who have taken up an instrument much older than that. I think there was a thread about it some months or maybe a year ago.
The way I look at it is - suppose you take up a melody instrument at 9 or 10, well it will take you a good bit of your teenage years to become proficient and build a repetoire.
Ditto if you take it up at 30 .. expect it to take a similar period of time - the main factors are (1) the amount of time available to practise/ play and (2) your degree of interest.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by the wounded hussar
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Try banjo... it's not too hard and it's a lot of fun
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by camwebby
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I'd say the whistle also. It's one of the few instruments where the music sits naturally. Good whistle playing can be the best of this music. Also, they are ludicrously cheep, fairly quiet so your practising shouldn't annoy too many, and if you learn to play it well, the move to a flute or pipes is relatively straight forward. In fact, the move to any other melody instrument will be made much easier since 99% of it is simply knowing the tunes.
Good on you by the way, for wishing to outgrow your frame drum.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Thanks all!
By no means do i wish to outgrow my Bodhran though, i just want to learn to play an instrument also!
Looks like it`ll be the whistle!!!
Great stuff!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Iarmhi
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Hurdy Gurdy, definately.
Just kidding, I whistle second the whistle as a starting point.
And if I may say so, sir, good for you, a bodhran player, wishing to play an instrument as well.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Rook
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
just be aware then, that if you end up sitting in a session with your drum on your knee and your whistle in your pocket, and a tune comes along you don't know so you play your drum, it will take you exponentially longer to learn to play the whistle. Best leave drum at home and force yourself to just sit and listen, at least for a year or two. Otherwise you just won't make the progress you want.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Excellent point, IMHO.
There do not seem to be "short cuts" for some things, eh?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Rook
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
mmmmmm
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by mcknowall
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Thank god for the uilleanns.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Rook
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Hey! I picked up the uilleann pipes in my 20's then added to the already steep learning curve the bodhran, whistle, flute, and button box... so other than the banjo I play the holy trinity of most joked about instruments - pipes, bodhran, and box... it certainly can be done.
the whistle does segue into the pipes rather well. There are some critical differences in the fingering and mechanics of course but it is a good start.... and as young as you are, you have plenty of time.
Good luck.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by maze
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
If your wanting to play or learn something strong enough then it does,nt take years to learn the basics at all,,,,If you have mates with various instruments then ask them for a simple lesson or two and as for being 30, age is,nt an object I,ve just taken up fiddle at 61
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by pencross
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I play a bit of the Bodhran ... I`d like to learn *an* instrument.
That's a rough comment, isn't it?
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by swisspiper
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Not sure what ya mean.
I don`t really class the Bodhran as an instrument when compared to others. In my opinion its a drum, built, designed specifically for drumming.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Iarmhi
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I agree. Start with the tin whistle. It will teach you the fingerings and many tunes that will carry over to the pipes for you and it's a solid instrument in its own right. Heck, you could add Flute to your list fairly easily after the whistle.
Concertinas are nice, but if you are truly interested, try renting one from the Button Box before making an investment.
As for your age, I've been having trouble with my fingers of late, which has been ruling out Flute and Concertina, but I still play the whistle some and I've taken up playing on the Harmonica (It's amazing how much knowing the Concertina and Whistle tends to make this an easy transition). Oh yeah, I'm 41 and not daunted at all about taking up a new instrument.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Ashkettle
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I think TaoCat is spot on. Whatever instrument moves you is what you should learn. They're all "tricky"... just a matter of how much you want to put into it. Whistles are the choice for price and being able to play a few tunes pretty quickly. But to get great is still a lot of work. If you love the concertina, I'd say go for it.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by nofrets
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Ilig:
surely you'll like the distinction below? ;)
By no means do i wish to outgrow my Bodhran though, **i just want to learn to play an instrument also!**
lol. ah well. not to go there again...however Larmhi, Ilig is right. Speaking as both a fiddle and bodhran player it might behoove you to [early on anyway] focus on the MELODY instrument, bring a tape recorder/mp3/flash recorder too to the session, listen and record tunes you like,learn them at home [not at the session!], buy lots of trad cds, spend lots of time playing, and invest in a metronome, learn to tap your foot and then throw the 'nome in the garbage. Soon you'll be on your way. Once you get 20-30 tunes down...THEN bring your drum if you wish. But in my experience, sessions -- by and large -- probably benefit from MORE melody players not less. Accompanying instruments -- bodhran, bones, and guitars -- are usually to be found in abundance [sadly]....so no more are usually needed than often show up uninvited.
right Ilig? ;)
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by mtodd
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
The whistle is a good place to get started, especially since you may need to save up a while to buy certain other instruments.
But keep an ear out for the instrument that you *really* want to learn and move to that instrument as soon as you can. If it turns out that you really like the whistle stick with that by all means, but if your heart's desire is to play concertina or pipes or something else, then go with the instrument that you really want to play as soon as you can.
Don't let things like expense and "difficulty" stand between you and what you want to play, and don't think that you're too old to learn. It will take years no matter what instrument you take up, and if you don't take up the instrument that you really want to play you may regret it later.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Marklar
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
I read the discussion, and then found Screetch had posted almost exactly what I was going to say!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by TomB-R
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
If you need, say, 4 years to learn to play the fiddle at a level that allows you to play at sessions, then...
If you are 36 now, you'll be 40 then and have spent 10% of your life learning to play.
If you were 16 now, you'd be 20 then and would have spent as much as 20% of your live!
So, the older the better
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Yep, undoubtedly the whistle as a starter instrument, and dont feel you 'need' to 'progress' to a more 'prestigious' instrument the whistle is the Alpha and Omega. .
s far as instruments and Bodhrans go, To suggest it is not an instrument is both laughable , and ignorant, sorry but it has to be said.
The Bodhran is part of the membraphone family of instruments , including the drum and the mirlitons. Drums hold the record for the oldest instrument along with the pipes, 4000 yrs old[ evidence of].
since 1700 the drums have been included in the western orchestra.
Drums are an integral part of the Highland pipe band tradition.
They are just as difficult to play well as any instrument, Drum rudiments are complex and demanding.
The Bodhran is a frame drum, which supposedly originate inn the middle east. As they are made of perishable material, Actual physical examples of old drums are rare. This has led uninformed people to suggest that they are a relatively new addition to the Music of Ireland. This can hardly be the case.
It has been suggested that the it has evolved from the tamborine? Once again superficially believable, but upon deeper thought clearly not the case. The 'tams' are an addition to the drum, they can not have been developed before the drum itself. logically.
There is evidence that the bodhran has been played in Ireland for hundreds of years and , most likely, frame drums for thousands.
Lack of evidence is not proof. Evidence that an instrument was present at a certain time is NOT evidence that it was not present earlier.
Sorry, off subject rather. yeah tin whistle, concertina. pipes are great but expensive and tricky, youd need lessons probably..
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by jig
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Good on you, larhmi, 'tis much better to be a musician than a drummer.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
...and yes, get that whistle working first to get the basics, then seek out that instrument that is calling you, regardless of how difficult it seems. If it's calling to you there's a reason!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
You can't say enough good things about the whistle, particularly for Irish traditional music.
Checkout:
www.whistlethis.com.
They'll either help you learn to play, or traumatize you for life.
The recording element helps you to learn just how bad you really sound at the start, even as visions of "The Chieftains" dance in your head, and you don't have to upload your versions of the tunes for comment. You don't have to sign up to listen to the examples and play the tunes that appear at that site. (I have to use a cheap, digital metronome to begin to sound marginally correct in my timing, but then I don't play a bodhran.) They also have some examples that illustrate various styles of playing the whistle.
If you want to try a stringed instrument, I'd suggest a ukulele. Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho have produced a book called "Discovering the Ukulele" that is nice for learning both fingerstyle and chord based playing. I don't know of any Irish traditional books for ukulele with tablature, but then the ukulele isn't an Irish traditional instrument. (The banjo ukulele might be adaptable to that cause.) I lean toward slack key ukulele, as taught in the second revision of David Heukulani's "Ukulele Slack Key" (Hawaiian Slack Key Styling) (ISBN 978-1-4327-0625-8). Mark Nelson also has a nice fingerstyle ukulele book out, but you need to be a little more advanced than a beginner tto enjoy it. It's called "Fingerstyle Ukulele". The content is quite diverse, including "Danny Boy". Mr. Nelson has also introduced a book of Hawaiian slack key music for the Appalachian dulcimer, though I haven't tried it. (It is tempting - only three strings...) I think I'm destined to play wash tub bass!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Folks,
I love playing my Bodhran, i`m not expecting to completely forget it, and would hate to do so,
rather i hope that it will aid in my learning and likewise whatever instrument i pick up will aid in my bodhran playing.
Thanks for your help!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Iarmhi
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
"Lack of evidence is not proof."
You sound like one of those American creationists who say that, "Just because no human skeleton fossils have been found in the same strata as dinosaur fossils doesn't mean that there will never be any found."
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
The whistle is probably the lowest cost option, but go with something whose sound you love. Age 30 leaves you lots of time not to worry about how difficult any of them are going to be.
And llig, will you never learn to ignore him?????? For all our sakes!
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by grego
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
You're right Gego, sorry.
(I was curious to see if he had a sense of humour)
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
"Drums hold the record for the oldest instrument along with the pipes, 4000 yrs old[ evidence of]."
If you insist on being didactic, jig, at least try and get your facts correct. There are bone whistles from Palaeolithic times, far older than 4000 years.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Go for the whistle, you won't regret it.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Bothrops
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Whistle is a great instrument. I've tried it a couple of times, but never found it easy-- maybe I just wasn't being patient, but the breath part of it just doesn't work for me for some reason. I picked up the one-row melodeon (in D) because I thought nothing could be simpler (I was about 36 at the time). It is actually quite easy to play in terms of method and learning, and does not take long at all to be playing decent session tunes. It is limited by the number of notes it contains, therefore some keys aren't entirely possible to play in, but most of the common ones are (if you use a D melodeon). I've been playing for about a year and half and have a small but growing repertoire that I can play at the local session. Good luck! Pat
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by PatrickJWK
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Melodeons are very physical instruments. You have to get very close to a melodeon and dance or wrestle with it. I can't think of another instrument which has quite that characteristic. If you want something less physically challenging you could try the concertina.
I know several people who have started one or other of these instruments quite late in life and improved with remarkable speed. Most of the people I know who started playing whistle improved initially and then plateaued and gave up. They had picked it up because they thought it was easy and they didn't develop any kind of relationship with the it. Really you can play any instrument you want to if you make the commitment to it.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by LowProfile
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Nearly thirty huh? Much too young. I'd wait a bit if I were you.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by de Selby
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Whistle. But for a quite time I had a cheap one with a tone that I really liked. I eventually realised that it was way beyond my skill (possibly anyone's) to play some notes in tune. Paid a lot more (still under £100) for a 'hand made' one. It was a great relief but it took ages to expunge from my brain the 'best of a bad job' rendition of some tunes that I developed.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by david_h
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
had developed.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by david_h
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
It is tempting to say "whistle" but I think TaoCat has it right--go for the instrument that "speaks to you," the one you feel drawn to. Going for the cheapest instrument, in case you decide to quit later, is a negative way to look at it. Although there's no reason you can't get a whistle too.
Or maybe you could find a good teacher of Irish music first, someone you want to learn from, and take up that instrument.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by mickray
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
On thing strikes me straight away Larmhi is if it's uilleann pipes you really want to play then you should give it a try. You can get a practice set that wont break the bank. Also, get a whistle right away - it will help with the pipes and it'll mean that if you don't get on with the pipes you will at least have made progress with another instrument.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Bogman
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
larmhi, I just reread your first post, and I think you answered your own question. Whistle first, then pipes. Some pipers say you shouldn't even attempt the pipes until you have mastered the whistle.
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by mickray
Re: What Instrument to Learn? Recommendation
If your looking for a good instrument i reccomend trying to learn the tin whistle ( otherwise known as the penny whistle ). they are pretty easy to learn and they produce a truely fantastic sound that no other instrument can duplicate. Another good instrument to play in conjunction with the tin whistle is the irish flute, it is similar to the tin whistle but is a lower pitch and also produces a sound unlike any other pipe instrument. These two like i said are truly magnificent instrument and if ur interested there is a uk based website www.bigwhistle.co.uk thats sells them at a good price, You can buy the begginers tin whistle for around £11 and if you wish to continue with playing the tin whistle they also do other pipe instruments.
Hope this information will help you and anyone else who reads it.
Best of luck to all of you,
Séamus Bright
# Posted on June 17th 2008 by Séamus Bright
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Well said Jig. The truest and best post ever in the history of the Session.Org.
Now quit while you are ahead, on this thread anyway.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
From my own experience, learning the whistle was time well spent, even though I moved on to other instruments. A fun and intuitive little instrument. And recently, when a lineup change left our band without a whistle player, I was pressed into service, and now play it more frequently again.
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: What Instrument to Learn?
Perhaps some knowledgeable person here could suggest a short list of low cost starter instruments typical of ITM?
It occurred to me that my first effort was with a piping chanter, which I thought "spoke to me", until the plastic reed began to stick together after fifteen minutes of practice due to moisture, forcing me to ultimately give up in frustration, because it seemed impossible to practice enough to learn the finger positions before the reed stopped buzzing. I switched to a whistle, and got tired of clogged fipple syndrome. I now am trying the flute, in preference to clogged fipple problems. (The transitions between registers seems smoother with a PVC flute than my whistles.) Just pointless observations on my own experiences as a beginner...
(Note: I am haunted by a sense that I have some obligation to take up the chanter again. The seller's representative was desperately concerned that the bagpipes were dying out, and insisted that I promise to not give up on them. If only I could find a reed that would not stick together... The problem probably doesn't exist once the air goes through a bag and cools, but it dogged me with the chanter. Maybe I'll just connect a bag to my whistle
.)
# Posted on June 18th 2008 by Arthur Nordstrom