Josie

I gave up the nice (fairly) light trombone to march tuba. No whining allowed unless you can top the agony of having the nerves in your shoulder crushed, and your arm hang useless at your side at the end of a full day of rehersal. A couple of the percussion instruments might be heavier, but their weight is all forward, not lopsided like the sousaphone is.

I don't miss marching, but I really miss concert performances. There aren't any local performing groups around to join, and playing tuba by yourself is just rather sad. I haven't even played in years.

235

I was started on the violin at age THREE (suzuki school, anyone?), and played until I was about 16. I tried to quit, but my grandfather responded by buying me a very nice violin which guilted me into sticking it out a few more years. The violin and its sister flute (played for 5 years) now sit in the corner of my apartment under a pile of dog hair.

Not only did I play the violin, but my dad also played the violin and my 2 sisters played the viola and the cello. My mom played the piano. My sisters did the youth symponies and are still playing in local orchestras. One sister also taught herself the banjo which I always found hilarious.

Oh, and you want to know about torture? Try being forced to play family string quintets in the 8:30 church service once a month.......

RawData

Any other Tuba players in here?

Was sucked in to band (class I signed up for was full, only choice) in Jr. High and the only open position was da big thing that went round and round and came out here. Played through High School. Fun thing about Tuba, practice is in class only (unless you have VERY tolerant parents with lots of $$[to buy one]). I would not say I was a really good Tuba player, just mediocre.

And, hey, Wierd Al Yankovic was forced to do Accordian, and he turned out......fine? hmm!

Raw Data

Howard

Off the top of my head, I can't name all that many great tuba players. I mean it's not like there's a musical category called, "The Legends of Tuba"

Quote:

And, hey, Wierd Al Yankovic was forced to do Accordian, and he turned out......fine? hmm! Raw Data

Yeah, but he's still called Weird

BigJim

You may have heard of John Phillip Sousa.

Mr. Skinny

Being a newbie, I hate to correct an Administrator on my 10th post, but what the heck.

Michael, Bela Fleck plays the banjo, not the accordian. I have many of his CD's and I've seen him live. Not once have I heard him play accordian.

*ducks*

godfry n. glad

So... What's the deal with a boy named Kelly? It's my name, too. And I was never so happy to be able to use it, thanks to educational bureaucratic paperwork, once I reached high school. Since my father and I shared the same given name, I, of course, was saddled with my family using my middle name. It's one of those indeterminate sounding and slightly unusual names that sounds like a lot of others....Dane. I spent a lot of time correcting, then spelling out, my name (NO...it's NOT Dean, Dave, Don, Dan....it's Dane...D...A...N..E. What a pain!). When the school bureaucracy asked for "last name first, first name middle, middle initial last", I followed the directions to the letter and <viola!> I got a name nobody could mistake.

I also went to an all-boys public polytechnic high school. I never took crap because of my name.

My condolences on the last name. Middle school must have been hell.

However, I was the only flute/piccolo player in a marching band of 60 guys (we had a surfeit of drummers and trumpet players) and I took heat on that. 'Course, growing a beard my sophmore year and joining the rugby team pretty much silenced the critics.

I'm gonna bet that I've got about a generation on you. I can't help having noticed that flood of female Kellis in the next generation, and, yes, I receive junk mail addressed to Ms. Kelly...

Eh...no biggie.

And Howard? - I feel your pain.

Seven years of attempting never made me an even decent flute/piccolo player. No rhythm. Despite multiple efforts at counting (ONE and uh TWO and uh THREE.....ARRRRRRGH )

And... I can't sing, either.

All this was reinforced recently when I again attempted to learn an instrument. It's basically a rhythm instrument where the player is expected to sing. Again, despite "remedial" lessons, I gave up after three months.

Accordian is an important part of several musical styles. Zydeco has already been mentioned. English and Celtic folk styles use the sound a lot...which brings me to my advice:

Tell 'em you play a "squeeze box" (that oughta get some winks and nudges) ....or, a concertina. That sounds like a small piano, but it's small accordian.

Best,

godfry n. glad