What ONE Instrument Besides Guitar?

[TaylorGirl]

Ok, a fun thread here. Let's say you take your guitars out of the mix. What ONE instrument would become your main focus? It could be something you already play or an instrument that you've always wanted to learn.

For me: Mountain Dulcimer (have been playing since 2006)

[donlyn]

i have played (or tried to play) a number of instruments over the years, but the only one that really spoke to me was the guitar. might say i was attuned to it. about the only instrument family i didn't try was woodwinds. although i like the sound of clarinets (one of these days/years i'll learn "stranger on the shore" on guitar), the instrument that really speaks to me is saxophone. so i guess i'll go with that as my choice.

[timfitz63]

Hmm.  I've had formal training on trumpet; and every once-in-a-while I consider trying to pick it back up again -- then never do.  But I've always had the urge to play piano/keyboard.  I'll go with piano/keyboard.

[Jersey tuning]

Harmonica or bass

[guitarsrsoawesome]

I wish I could be good at Mandolin or violin/fiddle.  The funny thing is when I've played a mandolin it felt like a bit of letdown from guitar tonally speaking, but I love how they sound in the mix.   Seeing Chris Thiele play a mandolin takes it to a whole other level And the one time I tried a fiddle I made the bough sound like a dying cat as I dragged it across the strings.  Gave up kind of quickly on that one, but I so admire people who can play either instrument and think they do so much for the songs in which they're played.

[Saxacat]

If the guitar was taken out the mix, I guess a piano would be my next choice; a bit harder to carry round though 

[mgap]

I have in the last 6 been playing the mandolin and enjoy it very much.  Lots of bluegrass and celtic tunes to learn out there.  My choice for the alternate instrument is going to be the mandolin.

I went to see Mike Marshall and Edgar Meyer last week and wow are they excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xR-OLP18c
Loved Mike Marshall, but Edgar Meyer was equally awesome.

[MTLeonard]

Drums. I started playing drums when I was in the 5th grade.

If I am ever half the guitar player I am a drummer I wolud be a killer flat picker!

[TaylorGirl]

Great responses so far. Fun to see.

[Earl]

For me it would be ukulele, which is my second instrument already.  I sometimes dabble with banjo, mandolin, dobro, and piano -- but not to any serious degree.

[jivauk]

Jimmy started out as a drummer - still his native instrument... "Anyone can hit drums, not everyone can play drums".

Val has taken to the Kala Ubass - small but perfectly formed.

[Cindy]

For me it would be some type of keyboard. Piano was my first instrument, and the reason why I like it is because it can handle both the melody and harmony at the same time. And that's one reason why I also like the guitar, but I don't know how to play any other stringed instrument that allows both the melody and harmonies together.

[timfitz63]

I wish I could be good at ... violin/fiddle... the one time I tried a fiddle I made the bough sound like a dying cat as I dragged it across the strings.  Gave up kind of quickly on that one, but I so admire people who can play either instrument and think they do so much for the songs in which they're played.

I'd never tried a violin (or viola or cello), but when you brought it up, I thought that perhaps I should, given that I seem to enjoy orchestrated music so much.  But I've also heard they're tricky (even difficult) instruments to play well.

So when I was in The Fret Shop today, imagine my surprise when I discovered they had a pretty good supply of violins (or fiddles, if you prefer; I'm sure that's the proper term here in Alabama ).  I had no real idea how to play one other than by having seen it done, so I mimicked a maestro and just started bowing the open strings to see if I could make it sound better than fingernails across a chalkboard.  Well, at first it didn't sound great; but no one in the store shrieked for me to stop either... So I kept trying.  Within a few minutes, I thought I'd developed a reasonable-sounding bowing technique, at least on the open strings.  Frankly, I was encouraged that I might be able to pick it up -- in time.  I still have no idea how to finger the notes.  And I can't begin to imagine how someone as tone-deaf as I am can get the proper pitch from these instruments without the benefit of frets...  But I like a challenge...

[guitarsrsoawesome]

That is so awesome, Tim. A fiddle must be in your destiny if no one in the room ran out screaming.  That must mean you have a great right hand!  Ha!  I think the open strings may be tuned G, D, A, E (reverse of guitar from the G), but I could be wrong.  I'm sure someone will speak up if I am.  Then put some stickers on the fretboard for finger positioning (considering there are no frets, not sure calling it a fret board is the right term! Ha!)  and you're all set.  I'm going to give you six months then I expect you to come to my town so I can record you in some of my songs! Ha!

[timfitz63]

That is so awesome, Tim. A fiddle must be in your destiny if no one in the room ran out screaming.  That must mean you have a great right hand!  Ha...!  I'm going to give you six months then I expect you to come to my town so I can record you in some of my songs! Ha!

Thanks!  But I think it's going to take more than 6 months before I'm worth recording on violin/fiddle...  I've been practicing guitar regularly for the last 2-1/2 years now, and every time I hear someone else playing in some guitar shop where I'm eyeing up [yet] another Taylor I think, "I've got a long, LONG way to go..."

... I think the open strings may be tuned G, D, A, E (reverse of guitar from the G), but I could be wrong.  I'm sure someone will speak up if I am.  Then put some stickers on the fretboard for finger positioning (considering there are no frets, not sure calling it a fret board is the right term! Ha!) and you're all set...

Yeah, you're correct about the tuning of the violin/fiddle:  reverse order of the lower four guitar string (G, D, A, E).  But I found fingering the strings was a bit awkward with the instrument shoved up under my chin.  When I positioned it like a cello, it seemed a more natural way to position the instrument to me; but the tuning is different on the cello (A, D, G, C), so I don't know if that would complicate it for a guitarist...?