Show Posts
1
Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?
« on: December 02, 2010, 01:23 AM »Welcome, HorseDuck! I'm with phitsc - impressed by your instrumental abilities; I wish I had applied myself and learned to play an instrument well when I was younger. Of course, it's never too late... Anyway, enjoy the DC experience!-Darwin (November 22, 2010, 08:51 AM)
You are right Darwin. I wish myself that I had applied myself even more to my instruments than I did. While I do know the general basics to each of the instruments that I listed I am far from being at able to play any of them at a professional level. Everything that I know so far was either taught to me by my dad or self taught. I have just recently been able to discover some more formal lessons for banjo that I am taking in the form of instructional DVD. I plan to tackle each instrument one by one and further enhance my skills.
A few weeks ago my dad was talking with a professional pianist/music professor after a small concert. During the conversation the pianist said that people come up to him all the time wanting to know how he got to be able to play like that, expecting that he could give them something and, all the sudden they would be able to play like like him. Unfortunately what people don't seem to realize is that there is no magic potion that anyone can give you that is going to transform you into a professional stage performer. If you are going to play like those such as Johann Sebastian Bach it is going to take long hours of plain hard work! Now don't be discouraged by this, I did not say this to discourage you but rather to encourage you not to give up when you can't play Beethoven's Fifth right out of the box. Don't be discouraged by what you don't know, find an instrument that you would like to learn, find a good teacher or some good lessons and and get to work. If you dedicate yourself to learning and practicing regularly, then trust me, there will come a day when you will be rewarded for your hard work.
Wishing you the best in your musical adventures,
HorseDuck
Some people have asked me why I drive a truck and in case some of you might wonder here's the answer. I started riding with my Dad back when I was about six years old and road with him off and on for the next thirteen years. I always had a thing for big machinery and trucks and riding with my dad only made my love for trucks grow stronger and I always dreamed of being the one behind the wheel of an "18-wheeler" some day! 
While I at the time I didn't think that it would be a dream that would come true, here I am and almost two years behind me and absolutely love it! Oh well, I guess it got in my blood from riding with dad for so long! 
Unbeknown to me however my Dad was at work. 
Seeing how much I loved the instrument and knowing that I would not be able to play until I grew a little he took about a two foot length of 1x2 i think it was and whittled it down to the shape of a banjo neck and used screw eye for the tuning pegs. For the head he cut the bottom half of a cardboard rolled oat can, he then attached it to the small neck he had made and then used fabric like fishing line for the strings. Once he had assembled it he presented it to me for my birthday or xmas and you would have thought he handed me the world! I instantly fell in love with "my bando" as I affectionately called it. 
I don't have "my bando" any more as I absolutely wore the little instrument out but the memory is still with me and I still thank my Dad for "My Bando" on occasion.