Just listening to music can change your day, your attitude and your life. It brings us joy, makes us sad, helps us remember and gives us something to look forward to. Most people can associate something in their lives where music was playing, it could be a song on the radio, a concert, a school band or just somebody humming a tune in an elevator.
But instead of standing by while someone else creates the music why not become one of them? Of all the instruments available there should be at least one that you can find some ability at. The rewards it will bring you will amaze you.
I started out on guitar. For much of my life I made my living playing guitar. I was never that great, but I was more than adequate, and I made lots of friends, a living, and enjoyed nearly every minute I performed, rehearsed, or just sat by a bon fire playing for fun. The one piece of advice I would give everyone is, buy something of quality. For years I taught people to play guitar and they would come in with a $50.00 special that only Superman could press the strings down on. It was defeating the students before they could ever get started. On a quality guitar the strings nearly lay on the fretboard giving no resistance, allowing the player to move quickly and freely, not leaving your fingers bloody and bruised. It makes all the difference in the world, and it sounds better too!
I also played keyboards. (Piano, organ, etc.) and found the exact same thing. The better the piano, the better it played. Believe it or not, there are less notes on a piano than a guitar but oh what you can do with it if you learn to play well enough. Even if you just learn a little you can still entertain yourself and friends. The most popular songs are the simplest. It’s done that way on purpose. It takes a more advanced ear to appreciate jazz and all the changes that take place, but pop songs are normal pretty easy, hence why they are generally more popular.
I also played trumpet, but very badly. I learned to play before I learned my rule about quality. The trumpet I learned on was cheap (though none of them are really cheap), and it was hard to blow, it didn’t sound very clean (probably because it was hard to blow), and the values stuck a lot. Later on I tried a much higher quality trumpet and I found I could actually make it sound decent! What a surprise! By then I had moved on to other instruments and never really went back to it.
And of course there is the violin. It can sound so good in the right hands but when played wrong, it’s really, really bad. Once again, the strings need to rest close to the neck, the bow needs to be a decent quality for the rosin to work properly, and the tuning pegs need to work, not constantly slip.
Not all musical instruments have to be expensive to be good, a harmonica is a cheap instrument to play. You can carry it with you where ever you go and it sounds good whether it’s played alone or in a group.
Just remember to purchase something worth while. Even if you don’t stick with it, many instruments increase in value as time goes along. My main guitar is a 1958 Gibson ES 345. When it was brand new it sold for about $200.00, the last offer I got for it was above $7,000.00 and I turned it down.
How to celebrate: Buy some sort of a musical instrument and give it a try. Encourage others who are just learning. Learn what makes one instrument better than another, and which one is for you.
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