A Sour Note

What musical instruments do you play, or if you don't play any, why don't you?


I am not musically talented. No one in my family is. Well, my dad played trombone in high school band, for whatever that is worth, and he was known to occasionally break out a recorder and play the melodies to hymns. But none of us sing well. Music Lessons were something that was not so much as considered in my childhood by anyone in the household. Most of my friends are musically talented, though. It seems like everyone I know except me can sing a part. I can only sing melody, and if the range is very big, I may have to change back and forth between a couple of keys (in mid song) to be able to sing it.

However, when i was about 15 I decided I wanted to learn to play the guitar for the same reason that every 15 year old boy wants to play the guitar: to impress girls. Of course, I didn't know then that girls are only impressed by guitar-playing guys if the guy is also A.) good-looking, and B.) a talented singer. I was neither of the two, so I quickly found out.

So, I took a couple years of guitar lessons and learned to read music. I really enjoyed making music, although as I previously made clear, I was not very talented. I also taught myself how to play the right-hand part of a piano, and to play the recorder (provided that it is a melody which can be played in the key of c or g and all notes are between middle c and a high e) . Last year, I had a roommate who taught me how to play a few chords on a ukulele and so I have a small repertoire of three and four chord pop songs that I can play on the ukulele as well as a somewhat larger repertoire for guitar. Since I am insecure about my voice, I don't try to be beautiful, I usually try to be funny, making up parody lyrics or occasionally leaping into falsetto. I have preformed at several "talent" shows and parties, and don't do too bad for a guy with no musical background.