What Instruments Do You Play?

6 & 12 string acoustics and a Strat. I blast out from a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp when I want to annoy everyone. When I don't want to upset quite as many people I plug in through an el cheapo Zoom 505II pedal

Pete

 

Last September I picked t eclarinet up again after letting it sit in the closet for 20 years.
the embouchere was totally GONE but it comes back with time.........and practice
Oh, yeah, and some pain

 

OK, I give up.

What is an "embouchere"??

Mike

 

something to do with the way you do your lips when you blow.
Question back to you, D28guy, what's a Dobro?

Gib, i have an ocarina too! It's fun.

played piano since 4 (hated lessons.... )
guitar since 15 and cello since 20.

I did have a go at the drum set in my previous church but since i became an Independant Baptist, i'll never touch the drums again.... Other than maybe for songs like the Battle Hymn of the Republic. (which we do sing here in Singapore very occassionally.... )

I have two giggle-boxes too!!!

 

Su,

Its an instrument that is similar to an acoustic guitar, but it has a large, circular, metal resonator in it. (It has sometimes been said that it looks like a guitar with a hub cap in it! )

It is usually played flat in front of you, by sliding a bar across the strings. The combination of the bar, and the resonator, gives it a very beautiful, lonesome, "old timey" sound. In years past it was sometimes referred to as a "Hawaiian" guitar, but you dont hear that as much anymore.

It is very popular in bluegrass, "Old Time", and country music.

It it sometimes played by blues players, but they hold it like a guitar. It is usually played by holding it flat in front of you.

Here is a picture of one, and if you scroll down you'll see Jerry Douglass playing one. Many consider him the finest dobro player in the world.

To see one, click this link.... guitar with a hub cap

God bless,

Mike

 

I play piano . . . whatever model is around!

Susan

 

Started taking piano lessons when I was five - I'm now 54 - you do the math.

Play by ear and read music. It has been helpful as I have been the piano player in both churches that I have pastored.

What is a Dobro? - A resophonic guitar, as they are now called (by those who do not want to get in trouble with Gibson's legal department, who now own the copyright to the name "dobro" and "Dobro"), is a type of guitar played horizontally (the guitar, not the player, although this is sometimes the case...). The guitar is fretted with a steel bar (the "steel") in the players left hand, and the strings are usually plucked using fingerpicks on the right hand.

 

I've played the piano for about 11 years. I enjoy playing classical pieces as well as hymn arrangements.

 

I tinker at piano (basically, enough to play a few parts at a pick up rehearsal, if I need to) and "play" the vocal folds (a.k.a. singing). Soprano to contralto, whatever's needed, although I'm more comfortable as a soprano. I'm generally considered a lyric soprano, but I've been working to develop some more richness and to strengthen my mid range lower notes.

 

d28guy (and Dan Todd):
I followed your link to the picture at gibson.com - thanks.

How hard is it to play?

 

I started with the clarinet when I was 11. In high school, I played the bass clarinet. Later, I learned to play the flute, piano, oboe, and saxiphone. I quit playing until I was saved, about ten years after high school. My pastor loved music and encouraged me to use my talent for the Lord. I later taught many children in those instruments.

 

Baptist in Richmond,

Hello, from one Richmond to another! (Yours is much bigger though. Mine...about 25,000. "Itty bitty" compared to yours!)

Regarding the Dobro, it helps if you can play the guitar, but thats not necesarry at all. As far as playing chords on it, its MUCH easier to start on than a guitar because you dont need to learn fingerings for the chords. The Dobro is tuned in an "open G" tuning, which means that when you strum it with no fingering at all, you are strumming a G chord. Then to change chords you just lay the bar across all six strings at a particular fret, and you have changed to that chord. Lay the bar across the strings at the 2nd fret, you are playing an A chord. 3rd fret, "B", 4th fret, "C" chord, 6th fret, "D" chord, 8th fret, "E" chord, etc.

Then, learning scales to add melody playing comes next, then learning to improvise on it.

You play it by using fingerpicks, which takes a little getting used to, but...its got a quick learning curve to just play rythmn on it, do to how easy it is to find the chords, due to the open tuning.

I am assuming you have heard one, so you know how beautiful and "old timey" they sound. If you are interested in learning you shouldnt have any trouble finding someone in a city the size of your Richmond, Va there to teach you. The Dobros on that Gibson web-site are quiet expensive, but you can get a Regal or Johnson for about $300 and they are fine Dobros.

God Bless,

Mike

 

I love what Mark Knopfler gets out of his National, so one day I test drove a Johnson at local guitar shop.

Beautiful looking guitars, but the sound...UG! Now I consider Knopfler to be an even bigger genius to make one of them things sound so good

Pete

 

Hey Mike,

Thanks for your reply.

Isn't that the guitar Steven Curtis Chapman is playing on his song "Lord of the Dance?"

I may have to check that out. We had a MARS that went out of business, and now there is a Sam Ash in its place.

 

By the way, I hope it is not raining in your Richmond like it is here. The James River is swelling thanks to all the rains upriver....

Check my profile: that is my Richmond in the rain, which is why the picture looks bad!!

 

BIR,

YES! That is some fine Dobro picking on "Lord of the Dance" by SCC. Judging by a picture inside, he holds it like a guitar, like blues players. (The picture where he is leaning against a wall with his head bowed down is the dobro)

In bluegrass...which I play...it is played flat in front of you.(Even when playing it standing up.)

We have been getting our share of rain here in Kentucky as well. I believe I heard them say this is the wettest May on record. Whew, I'm getting tired of it.

By the way, I liked that song "Lord of the Dance" the 1st time I heard it when he sang "...in a small town in Kentucky" in the very 1st verse. He is from Paducah, I believe, in the western part of our state. He went back and played a few songs at the memorial service for the students killed in the school shooting 3 or 4 years ago, since that was his high school.

Here is a link to visit our little Richmond... link

God bless,

Mike

 

BattlestarAcrostica,

They can be tricky!

Mike

 

d28guy writes:
>>By the way, I liked that song "Lord of the
>>Dance" the 1st time I heard it when he
>>sang "...in a small town in Kentucky" in the
>>very 1st verse. He is from Paducah, I believe,
>>in the western part of our state.

Indeed, you are correct. I like the line before that: "On the bank of the Tennessee River." I grew up in Knoxville, and I am an orange-blooded-UT-diploma-totin' Tennessee Volunteer.

>>He went back and played a few songs at the
>>memorial service for the students killed in the
>>school shooting 3 or 4 years ago, since that
>>was his high school.

Yes, I remember that. It was one of the two horrific events that inspired him to write "With Hope" that is on Speechless.

Not that I am a Chapman fan or anything........

By the way, if you play guitar, have you ever listened to Robin Mark? He is my favorite.

 

I play piano, organ, trombone (I also have a Conn 88H), tuba, euphonium, bass guitar, and am hoping to soon learn how to play the dan bau (a Vietnamese single string instrument).

The one instrument I have always wanted to be able to play is the guitar. I tried when I was younger, did not have much success and have not given it another try since. Maybe someday I will give it another shot.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Chris