Thinking of taking up the piano...again.

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CrowsofFritz

CrowsofFritz

Flamingo!
So I've realized I've reached a plateau on classical guitar. I can get better but if I do, I will be on a level of professional classical guitarists and I see no reason to get that good unless I will play for people (boy I sounded conceited there).

So I think I'll relearn the piano. I just need to learn how to read notes again (it shouldn't take longer than a couple days to get back in the groove) and I am already at a level where I can play fur elise.

I just thought I should tell you all this. :)


Buuuuut, to add to discussion, what do you think? Be a virtuoso (and by virtuoso, I mean professionally skilled) in one instrument? Or very (very) good in two?
 
I can play lots of instruments. No virtuoso on any of them, but I can play what I write!
 
Play them all! Chicks did that in a dood. :)

Some doods too, but I ignore them. lol
 
So I've realized I've reached a plateau on classical guitar. I can get better but if I do, I will be on a level of professional classical guitarists and I see no reason to get that good unless I will play for people (boy I sounded conceited there).

So I think I'll relearn the piano. I just need to learn how to read notes again (it shouldn't take longer than a couple days to get back in the groove) and I am already at a level where I can play fur elise.

I just thought I should tell you all this. :)


Buuuuut, to add to discussion, what do you think? Be a virtuoso (and by virtuoso, I mean professionally skilled) in one instrument? Or very (very) good in two?

Doooooooo it! Then we can collab and make some sick nasty tracks once you get some mad piano skills!
 
Go ahead and work on piano, one of my biggest regrets is not learning it when I was a teenager. We had one, but it didn't spark my interest at the time, and I had my hands full with guitar, lol.

Unless Abingdon's changed a lot in the last few years, there's probably no place to play classical guitar.
 
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I'm going to do it. :)

I've started and it's already coming back to me!

My goal is to be good enough to play Chopin's Op 9 No. 2. That'll take a coupla years though.

Dervish, have you lived in Abingdon at some time?!
 
I'm jealous that you have the chops and talent to excel at any instrument. I also applaud you for that.

I don't have the time or energy to work at being good at one intrument, let alone multiple instruments. If i did, I would want to be good at one and only one intrument. I would want to be known as the go to guy for that one thing. I think you are that guy for classical and flamenco guitar. i say get yourself to a professional level for one thing and then worry about expanding out to other instruments.

When you are at a professional level on an instrument, the rest comes easy. No doubt you can learn piano now and be good at it. But you might sacrifice your skills at guitar to accomplish piano. Take yourself to the next leve with your skills. Become the Go-to guy and then think about other callings.

besides, I might need you to do some flamenco for me in the future. :)
 
But now I'm conflicted!
For me, it's a no brainer. Get gooder, sorry, better, on piano. The only reason I would want to get to the level of a professional classical guitarist would be.........if I wanted to be a professional classical guitarist.
I guess it all depends on what you want to do, music~wise, with your life.
But it seems to me that you've already reached the decision you need to and personally, I agree with it.


As a side note, there are loads of well known instrumentalists that play more than one instrument. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin was a church organist who took up the bass because in his words, it was easier to cart about than an organ. As he got into sessions, his organist skills in arrangement came to the fore and he then got sessions doing arrangements for the Stones, Donovan and tons of others. Long before he was recruited to play in Led Zeppelin, he was, on the sessions scene, one of the 'go to' guys if you wanted keyboards, bass guitar or arrangements done. He was making such a good living as a sessionist that people thought he was crazy to chuck it all in and take the risk of playing in a new band without a contract or record deal. He had also made so much money as a sessionist that it was he and Jimmy Page that financed the band in the early days {they had John Bonham on wages of £20 a week ! }. Oh and he could sing a bit too. He could've been a vocalist for Pink Floyd ! That's very cryptic.....
On the "Innervisions" Lp Stevie Wonder plays all manner of keyboards, all manner of synthesizers, drums and moog bass as well as singing lead and backing vocals. On a number of the songs, he's the only one playing.
Paul McCartney played bass, guitar, piano, organ, mellotron and drums on Beatle albums and other peoples' stuff.
Ronnie Wood and Jimmy Page were both bass players in the first bands they were well known in before becoming known as guitarists. Indeed, many of the first bass guitarists in popular music {Jack Bruce, James Jamerson, Carol Kay, the aforementioned Jones & McCartney, Geezer Butler, John Povey, John Entwistle, Roger Waters......} came to the bass from other instruments which perhaps explains the directions that the bass guitar went in. After all, it was almost an afterthought of an instrument originally. But that's another story for another time.
But it does lead to another related point to your OP ~ playing more than one instrument gives you versatility and scope in how you approach both other instruments and music in general. I started off as a bassist and when I started playing guitar, it gave me angles that I would never have come to otherwise. I used to say to people about my guitar playing that "I play guitar with a bass player's mind" rather than the other way around. I find that translates to mandolin, various percussion and VSTis too.
The list of multi instrumentalists could fill the available memory of some computers. That they may be jacks of all trades but masters of none is neither here nor there. It's like being a decathlete or heptathlete. You become known for your all round ability. Some people know and love Daley Thompson and Jessica Ennis but couldn't tell you which events comprise their olympic discipline !
 
I have a couple friends who live out by Holsten Lake, but I haven't been down there in about ten years. I kinda miss fishing in the lake, I had better luck down there.

Don't worry too much about diversifying, you're still playing music from the same sphere of reference. Just look at the guys in Gentle Giant, they all played four or five instruments. If nothing else, just make a point of spending time with each instrument.

I've sort of resigned myself to being a one-handed keyboard player, but I'm not likely to play that in front of people, anyway. That what all these guitars are for.
 
Great response as always grim!


I mean (without sounding incredibly egotistic here), I can already play some very demanding pieces. I can play anything the professional electric guitarists play (except for redundantly fast sweep picking). If you want me to play flamenco for ya Chili, I can certainly do so!

That's really cool derv! I actually live less than a mile away from the lake!
 
A music professor once told me to find the biggest, most important part of me (what I love to do) and focus on that. To me there is not enough time in this life to do everything, so I personally try to dedicate myself to what I'm the best at and enjoy doing the most. I mainly play guitar and piano; I'm not the best player in the world, but my level is at a point that works great for what I do. So I'm happy with that and am focusing on my aim: getting my music out there and being a performer. I'm sure I will learn more on those instruments and get better over time, but since I'm at an acceptable level for myself, I'd rather work on the most important thing at this point in the game and that's getting heard. So you just have to think what it is you want THE MOST out of your music career and everything else you can improve on over time and in your spare time. Focus on the "dealbreakers." I used to drive myself nuts trying to fit in a half hour working on mandolin, a half hour working on bass, a half hour on piano, etc, you get the point. And then I realized a lot of that was unnecessary and wasn't getting me anywhere. It wasn't what was going to make my dreams come true, though it was quite fun and interesting. That stuff just wasn't going to make the cut. So that was just some of my experience and food for thought. Good luck on whatever endeavor you choose!
 
Thanks RJM.

I'm thinking I'll just stick with piano and guitar. Hey, I know paganini (who I deemed to be one of the greatest violinists) also excelled at classical guitar.

Besides, this is all for fun. I plan on being a journalist or columnist when graduating college.
 
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