tomw
I'm a piano puncher/guitarist relatively new to ITM, at least as it's played in sessions around here (Southeast Michigan, USA), but trying to learn all that I can. I also play some mandolin and a few other things.
I did (and still do, sometimes) the standard rock band thing, and played somewhat successfully in a string band ("somewhat successfully" means that we had a bit of a following, people bought our cassette at gigs, and we made enough to pay for the instruments, including my addiction to synthesizers and other electronic exotica). It also led to opportunities to work in musical theatre and stuff like that.
I think that communal amateur music-making is about as good as it gets.
The two best pieces of musical advice that I've received so far are:
-work with people that are better than you are, whenever possible.
-work on making the *band* sound good, as opposed to just making yourself sound good.
And there's this:
"People have a need for melody, just as they need food or personal contact..." - Richard Rodgers
I heard this recently on the mustard board, but it's been one of my mantras all along: "Am I too loud?"
Tunes in tomw's tunebook: 65