[annoying_2001]

hey,

i suppose i could put this almost anywhere, but i'm puttin it in here, because this is my home away from home, when it comes to the guitartabs.cc/forum. so i'm just wonderin what kind of musical background everyone here comes from. myself, i played the trumpet for roughly 6 years, 6 grade-12 grade (no longer play it), and the guitar for 6-7 years. also, what types of music have greatly influenced your playing. for me, probably the greatest influence would be jimmy buffett and dave matthews. i'm just tryin to help out the acoustic forum, so let me know what u think.

This post has been edited by annoying_2001: 10 November 2003 - 02:40 PM

[wavewalker]

I taught my self a little piano as a kid. I played Trumpet in Jr. High, a little bass in high school, during my freshman year of college my roommate got me started on acoustic, I started electric off and on and after graduation I lived with a drummer, he thought me drums.

I mostly play a Jack Johnson/ Blind Melon style but mostly listen to harder stuff.

I'm whicked on a triangle

[dadfad]

I had about six months of piano when I was about seven. I got my first pawn-shop acoustic on my 15th birthday (inspired mostly by Chuck Berry). I got into rock of that day (Who, Yardbirds, Beck, then Hendrix, etc, etc). My mom (who died when I was seven) was a musician who played a number of instruments and a collector of old blues 78s and had done her masters in Mythology-American Folklore by field-recording old bluesmen in Mississippi and Louisianna in the early 50s. She left her 78 collection including her masters degree recordings in a box and gave them to my grandmother before she died telling her if I continued to be interested in music to give them to me when I was older. My grandmother figured Hendrix was close enough and gave them to me, and so I dragged them around for a while. Eventually I actually listened to one, and I was hooked. I tried to find the first guy my mom had recorded in Louisianna. He was dead, but I found another old guy. And another, and another. That took me into other traditional styles somewhat, like old Appalachian and mountain tunes, even Celtic, following all the directions from which blues had come I guess. That's sort of it. I've also picked up harmonica (I'm pretty good), banjo and mandolin (not too bad), fiddle (not too good!), and a few other things with varying degrees of mediocrity. I also play electric blues from time to time (I played it for a lot of years), but traditional acoustic fingerstyle and slide is pretty much my main thing, especially country blues.

[annoying_2001]

man dadfad, you've got some life. sorry to hear about your mother, but even after she was gone, she could still influence your music. very good story.

[capo2nd]

I have been playing the keyboard for about 7 years, the guitar for about 3 years and the harmonica for about 1/2 year. Now I playing Bob Dylan style music.

[halfmoonbay]

My family always encouraged the playing of instruments. My grandmother is a very good piano player and that seems to have been passed onto my younger brother who is a fantastically talented pianist/keyboard/synth/organist/any-other -instrument-that-he-has-in-his-hands-for-five-minutes. They both have a natural flair for music, which I don't, I have to work harder to get things down. I started off playing the cello when I was a kid, gave it up because I wasn't going anywhere and I wasn't really into the stuff I was playing. But I still wanted to play an instrument, so I figured that a bass would be a good idea. Then I figured that an electric guitar would be more fun, so when I was 13/14 I took it up.
Music-wise, I grew up listening to my Dad's stuff - Queen, Dire Straits, The Eagles, MTH, Free, that kind of thing........ and I figured that it'd be kind of fun to play along, so that's part of my justification for picking up the guitar. My first 'guitar heroes' were Brian May, Mark Knopfler, Mick Ralphs and Paul Kossoff. Got into various obscure early-70's blues-based hard rock bands, then I started looking into the people who influenced them and got into the Brit blues revivial (John Mayall, Alexis Korner and the like), then I started looking at the people who influenced them and got into the American electric blues players (BB, Freddie, Albert, JLH, et al). I'm still exploring that genre at the moment (there's a lot to explore), and just beginning to foray into the world of acoustic blues fun.
As a guitar-player, I'd like to be a cross between Rory Gallagher, Mick Ralphs, Leslie West, Paul Kossoff, Allen Collens and a Bluesbreakers era Eric Clapton and Peter Green; those are the players who's style, techniques and tone are most influentual to me at the moment. Still got a long way to go mind, there's a lot to work on.

[dogpoo]

well i've played the piano for going on ten years now, but i stopped for about 3 and a half years some time back. eventually realised that was a HUGE mistake and started playing again. now i'm hooked on it and my guitar. been playing guitar for about a year and a half now. making good progress with my classical.

my sister plays the piano and she played the cello once. after she left the country she stopped playing her cello [she left it behind]. she still plays the piano though.

yeah, thats my background. oh yeah, my mom used to play the guitar, she convinced my dad to let me get lessons. and my dad used to play the bongos. thats about it really. my bro wanted the guitar last time but my dad wouldn't let him [his grades were bad that time] and now he wants the drums [i do too] but parents think its too noisy so thats under discussion at the mo. and my other brother just plays the comp. yeah.

[georgb25]

I started playing guitar 2 years ago, I was 17 then and hadn't studied any musical instruments before. My close friend went to the army for 8 months and I borrowed his really old soviet-made (it was probably made in Leningrad/St. Petersburg) odd classical guitar. So with a help of a family friend I adjusted the neck and started teaching myself some 70's/80's AOR/classic/blues rock songs, influences include Led Zeppelin, Boston, Dire Straits, The Who, Eric Clapton etc. So after I had played for some time, my parents bought me a classical acoustic as a christmas present, hoping that my obsession would soon find an end, but it didn't and now they are quite happy about my hobby(dunno really how much I can call it this way...). I haven't taken any lessons so far, just used some internet materials and books... Sites like GTU have helped me a lot.


Thank you!

[elliemollett]

When i was about 6, my school taught me the recorder, and with that how to read music. I then started playing the flute when i was 8. I still play, but i don't do any exams anymore. I did get up to grade 5 on the Associated Board of Music. A year and half ago, i started bass, then i started playing acoustic guitar about half a year ago when i did work experience in a guitar shop.

[haggis]

My grandparents had a piano, and I used to potter about on that, but we never could afford lessons, so I just really learned the basics...as for guitar, a couple of "schoolmates" kind of "persuaded" me to buy a guitar from them for £4..that was in 1973...it was an old Framus that had seen better days, and I wasn't that interested at that time( I was 15, and the girls had grown bodies!! )...but afeter a while, I picked it up, and liked the sound it made...so I decided to learn how to play it...I'll get there yet!!