So what does everyone play?

[wyeuro]

i've just bought myself a digital keyboard, and learnt to play a tune. it's so beautiful this machine, i'm still in awe of it. it's so easy to sound good especially after a bit of editing on the computer

[Kris Hughes]

I was a professional accordionist for many years when I lived in Scotland (ceilidh bands, taught). Since I returned to Colorado 3 years ago I've hardly played a note. It feels very incongruous here. I played at one Scottish festival/highland games but having just moved back here, I'm afraid I struggled with people dressing up and playing at being Scotsmen (or rather what they thought Scotsmen might be based on seeing Braveheart, Brigadoon or going to a Renaissance fair.) That's sounds very judgmental, but I just felt like a fish in a tree!

Sorry, too much information, I'm sure! As well as the accordion I also play a mean recorder, and can get by on a mandolin, piano or guitar in a pinch.

[truthseeker]

Recorder for me too and the Appalachian mountain dulcimer and I'm learning the pennywhistle, plus all the instruments I used to play but don't anymore.



Vicki

[Lai Elya]

acoustic guitar: Lag Summer Series, harmonica, some accordion, I also sing soprano and write my own folk music!

[Whitemane]

I just bought my first guitar, a Yamaha 700GS.

I'd always wanted to play guitar but don't have a very good ear and only recently learned about auto tuners.

Right now, it's 30 minutes of practice a day, and 23:30 of waiting for feeeling to return to my left hand.

I'm making progress though, the cats no longer run for it when I pick the guitar up.

[Corwen]

Right now, it's 30 minutes of practice a day, and 23:30 of waiting for feeeling to return to my left hand.
.

This is natural, but if it persists try lighter (thinner) strings, and maybe take your guitar to a shop to have the action (the gap between the strings and the fretboard) lowered which makes it easier to push the strings down. A lot of guitars have too high an action, especially beginners guitars, and also they are often sold with heavy strings which makes playing even harder!

[Whitemane]

Right now, it's 30 minutes of practice a day, and 23:30 of waiting for feeeling to return to my left hand.
.

This is natural, but if it persists try lighter (thinner) strings, and maybe take your guitar to a shop to have the action (the gap between the strings and the fretboard) lowered which makes it easier to push the strings down. A lot of guitars have too high an action, especially beginners guitars, and also they are often sold with heavy strings which makes playing even harder!

This guitar came out tops when I was looking into what to buy as a beginner and I had a good look at the action and it is nice and low. The only problem is that I haven't done much in the way of manual labour except pounding a computer keyboard for years. Even after a couple of days, things are improving.

Then again, Robert Fripp said his first guitar had an impossibly high action...

[Anwin]

After a lifetime of only singing in my car when alone, a harp came across my way - out of the blue - 5 months ago... Love on first sight (sound).
Practising every day now and getting better, I still love it!
How could I miss that for so long? I didn't even know that I missed it?!
Maybe in some years I can share it in an Eistedfodd.

[Branflakes]

The first ever instrument I picked up seriously was the keyboard (never got past playing simple chord progressions and simple little melodies on it) when my bro and I wanted to make a band. But my first love came when my brother bought a mandolin. Since he was a good guitar player, he'd play the guitar and I'd piddle 'round with the mandolin in our jam sessions and for a thrown-together fan album we did for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

After that, he stopped playing music with me because he wanted to focus on writing songs devoted to Jesus. Whenever I could, I'd snatch is mandolin and practice. I got fairly decent, but then my brother moved and took the mandolin with him. He left his old guitar (this guitar belonged to my grandpa, who in turn passed it to my dad, who in turn passed it on to my bro, who in turn passed it to me) so I learned a bit of that enough to play most of the songs from Damh's songbook (my music bible and teacher! 90% of the music I can play comes from this book. hehe). And somewhere between being mandolinlessness and picking up the guitar, I got a bouzouki and fiddled around with that (since the fingering almost identical to the mandolin, my only obstacles with that were the huge frets and the higher action). I also acquired a tin whistle and can play a few things on there, and one of my side-endeavors is learning my way 'round my bagpipe practice chanter (the bagpipe: the greatest sound ever to be bestowed on my ears, I believe). And my brother bought a bass guitar from a friend that lives near me, so I'm holding on to it for my brother until he visits me (so I have the bass till July. mwahahaha!)

But still, something was missing...

So when my birthday rolled around again a week or so ago, I thought, "What the heck, I'm gonna reunite with a mandolin." So I bought a mandolin again, and it's been bliss since I got it. I forgot how much I loved playing the mandolin.

My brother and I still do a lot of stuff with music via skype. Since he left, he's picked up the dulcimer and psaltry (I want one of those! haha) and he likes to pretend he knows how to play the fife. lol!