[paul cotter (OP)]

I have lived a very satisfying life so far and I have no complaints. In fact I feel I have been very lucky in many areas considering how unpredictable life can be. There is one "hole" in my life that I could never fill: I always wanted to play a musical instrument and play it well. I either don't have the aptitude/dexterity to accomplish this. Then Alancalverd  talks about playing brass and guitar- it's just not fair!!

[alancalverd]

You may have noticed in another thread I quoted Segovia's dictum that the guitar is easy to play badly and very difficult to play well. Much the same can be said of the double bass and the tuba. But I have a lot of fun!

[paul cotter (OP)]

I am sure you do have fun-more power to you.

[evan_au]

I understand that he also has a pilot's license. It's very hard to fly a light plane and play double bass at the same time...

[Halc]

It's very hard to fly a light plane and play double bass at the same time...

Of course, which is why the tuba is on the list.

[alancalverd]

It's very hard to get either into a Cessna, and impossible in a Piper. Even the bass guitar "flight case" is too big! I have a bass ukulele, and a roll-up keyboard, but they still need a big loudspeaker, alas.

[paul cotter (OP)]

I didn't see your Segovia quote but I am familiar with it. He was speaking of classical music which was always beyond my abilities. I wanted to play the guitar like Ritchie Blackmore-even one percent of what he can do would satisfy me. Alas, it was not to be.

[alancalverd]

You might try a classical tutor, particularly one who uses the Segovia method. The advantage is that everything is written down,  the technique requires precision rather than tricks and interpretation, and you can enjoy playing the stuff slowly. That morphs into jazz and rock a lot more easily than the other way around.

A lot of people think that jazz is easy but the art is to make it look and sound easy, and that's hard. Working in a kitchen with my chef son one day he said "Just...." and I had no idea what he was talking about. So I said "What does 'Just' mean?" "It means study and practice for 20 years, then just...."

[paul cotter (OP)]

I have tried listening to real jazz(Coltrane, Davis) but it doesn't seem to connect. Jazz fusion is a different matter, john McLaughlin's mahavishnu orchestra "birds of fire" is my most treasured lp. Very complex and it grew on me slowly and turned almost into an obsession.

[Colin2B]

Jazz fusion is a different matter, john McLaughlin's mahavishnu orchestra "birds of fire" is my most treasured lp. Very complex and it grew on me slowly and turned almost into an obsession.

Worth listening to the Labèque sisters, variety of music there. Katia was married to John McLaughlin and played in his band.

[Sheilataylor]

I have lived a very satisfying life so far and I have no complaints. In fact I feel I have been very lucky in many areas considering how unpredictable life can be. There is one "hole" in my life that I could never fill: I always wanted to play a musical instrument and play it well. I either don't have the aptitude/dexterity to accomplish this. Then Alancalverd  talks about playing brass and guitar- it's just not fair!!

Then you should enroll in a music school, but it's actually not so nice to be able to do this as to listen. But it's actually not that hard to teach yourself to use a musical instrument.

[alancalverd]

That posting started an interesting train of thought - thanks! "Teach yourself" can work at an advanced level, but can be very frustrating for a beginner because a book can't see what you are doing wrong, and neither can you, but a good teacher can. And not just music. I've read and written umpteen instruction sheets and manuals for scientific measurements but there is no substitute for a bit of hand-holding  with a new instrument.

[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey]

Does Alancalverd have a hot wife?

[Colin2B]

Does Alancalverd have a hot wife?

No, he deliberately keeps the house cool

[alancalverd]

Several, thanks. I prefer to avoid their husbands.