Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Bobtheboat]

Hi, thanks very much for the encouragement!
Those were my gut instincts about the idea but it's reassuring to hear it echoed from such good musicians. I suspect that the box will remain my big love but that 'brass itch' ( I said BRASS itch!) needs scratching. Cheers, Bob 

[TedK]

I'm coming very late to this discussion, but this is a subject close to my heart so heres my view.

About a year ago, after much angst and worrying on this subject I fulfilled a long held desire and took up the fiddle- already playing not only the melodeon but also guitar and banjo.

Although there were times when I wasn’t sure I’d made the right decision (the violin being notoriously hard to get started on) I am now progressing well and absolutely glad I did. If there is an instrument you have a deep desire to play, you must at least give it a try otherwise every time you see a trombone player you will feel a twinge of regret!

In terms of my melodeon playing, this did initially fall off a bit as I devoted more time to the fiddle. However, the process of learning the violin has also changed my perspective of the melodeon and I am now much more appreciative of its strengths and forgiving of its weaknesses; I now enjoy playing it more than I did before. Also, with the violin (and I guess the trombone) you have to take a lot of care to produce a good tone, and in the early stages it can sound awful, so it’s nice to be able to turn to an instrument that can reliably produce a pleasant sound!

Finally, I would say that that because the melodeon is so intuitive your skills will not decline too much even if your practice time is somewhat reduced.  I have found that even after not playing for a couple of weeks it is possible to “catch up” fairly quickly and get back to my previous standard.

Good luck!

[Kristof]

I only discover this thread now, so here's my experiance:

The melodeon is my 11th (?) instrument now. It get's easier. Every intrument has it's own challenge - but if you got a feeling and also a bit of knowledge about music, it's not so difficult.

It only costs time :-) But if you enjoy it, it's not lost time!

[911377brian]

I've just taken up the ukukele again..never really got the hang of it previously but 18 months of not playing and the few tunes I did learn came straight back. There seems to be an odd connection between a uke and tweeked Chanson, perhaps its the inherent sense of fun they both possess....

[Will Allen]

DO IT! I play melodeon, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, fiddle, tabla and wind and they all help with all the others! It's really surprising how doing more than one instrument improves your musical skills and knowledge!! Plus it's bloody good fun!

[deltasalmon]

I've just taken up the ukukele again..never really got the hang of it previously but 18 months of not playing and the few tunes I did learn came straight back. There seems to be an odd connection between a uke and tweeked Chanson, perhaps its the inherent sense of fun they both possess....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCSAbJlSrnM

Hector from this forum has a bunch of uke/chanson duet videos.

[syale]

or play it by ear

george

Of course if you are playing it by ear it will leave your hands free to learn another instrument!

Stephen

[Nick Collis Bird]

I agree with most of what has been said, but think an age thing could enter the equation.
    In my teens played Harmonica and guitar no problem there (in search of the forth chord etc.)
In my twenties, the Melodeon. Brilliant no probs at all learning.
In my fifties I was given a violin, tried but just couldn't master it.
A life's ambition was to play the Northumbrian Small Pipes. And in my mid sixties I had a set made for me by David Burleigh , at last I could afford it!
BUT. I tried to play, had proper lessons, practised until my fingers were sore, could I master it? No.
A complete bag of snakes. In my twenties I know there would have been no problem. 

[911377brian]

I'm sure you're right Nick, the brain in old age seems better at hanging on to what it knows than learning new tricks. Now that I'm nearer 80 than 70 I've more or less come to terms with this fact, but it doesn't stop me having great fun with my melodeons ( and ukes )

[Nick Collis Bird]

I'm sure you're right Nick, the brain in old age seems better at hanging on to what it knows than learning new tricks. Now that I'm nearer 80 than 70 I've more or less come to terms with this fact, but it doesn't stop me having great fun with my melodeons ( and ukes )

 

[Chris Ryall]

Interesting thread, especially to balance Steve's concept of learning synergy against George's risk of becoming master of nothing. To open a new facet in this, I began as a dancer and a singer. Got competent enough a capella and fingerpicking accompaniment in my 20s that I got offered the odd gig.

Button-boxing began with concertina during my Morris phase, never really got there until I got a birthday melodeon, and its taken me 20 years to get a singing line working properly with that. So my two musical threads sort of separated. But they do still feed on each other, and i 'feel' a song in terms of its underlying chord structure. so yes, they've helped each other. Now my aim is to turn a chord run into new music. I do believe that a byearist approach helps

I think the important thing is "to play music" rather than an instrument; seems to produce better results? I have also met a few degree musicians who were told to take up a new instrument in year 1. Seems to the good, but don't know if it still happens. Where's Ollie when you need him …

[Nick Collis Bird]

Chris,
Play music rather than the instrument ?
What if that instrument defeats you ?

[Chris Ryall]

I think the trick is not to fight it in the first place …

[Nick Collis Bird]

I didn't fight it. As I have said, I tried and tried, it just  didn't happen. Sticky fingers? 

[Kristof]

I think it's easier if you play instruments from one family and then find connections between the groups. And fluently reading of music helps a lot, too 

For me, recorder, flute, saxophone and german rennaissance bagpipe (in order of appearance in my life ...) were easy to learn because there are only little differences in fingering. So I could concentrate on what my mouth - and  occasionally arm - had to learn.

From german to swedish bag pipes the fingering changes, but the blowing and arm pressure work the same. The next on my scheduele is french bag pipes ... but that will defenitely be the last instrument - I think :-)

Guitar and ukulele have big parallels of course. The fingers know, what to do and only the name of the chords change.

Studying opera singing (wich is the easiest and most difficult instrument at the same time - I still work on my voice every day but the instrument is sometimes reacting completely different ...) I had to play the piano. Never learned it really good but it helped me in music theory - and also with the layout of the marimba, wich I learned a little bit for a varietė act with a friend of mine.

As I worked in Varietė and as a clown I tought myself a little concertina (german), so the pushing and pulling on the melodeon isn't new for me. I sold the concertina a few month ago because it was only interesting in my clown days. Also as a clown I learned the singing saw wich I still play in a program with german music from the 1920's (where the ukulele also has a part - and castagnetts) - and sometimes for fun in gala shows at the theater I work as opera singer. The singing saw fits in none of the instrument families in the way it's played, but if you got the technique, you have to play it by ear anyway.

Lot's of instruments - and I will stop learning new ones when I have my 40. birthday next year. The rest of my life I want to concentrate on bag pipes, melodeon and the other traditional instrumts as flute and recorders. I've got a hurdygurdy, too - but I will never really be good on that.

Learning of instruments still works fine - but in learning opera melodies and especially the text for singing and dialogue becomes more slowly every year and with every new piece. I'm in a fixed contract for seven years now and just had the premiere of the 30. piece now ... I have to throw out some old operas now as we start my 31. production end of january ...