Instrument players - come and chat!

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

I thought we could have a thread to chat about playing! I play the piano (not as badly as I fear but not as well as I hope) and have recently tried my hand at chamber music. Would love to hear what other people are doing.

CoteDAzur Here's a picture of the instruments they used in Rameau's Dardanus.

There's nothing like a bit of competition from the children to get you working flowery! I'm speeding up my grade 3 practice so I can sneak it in when DS2 is taking his GCSEs and doesn't have time .

My little one began the piano a couple of years back. In a whole other life I had played a bit of violin but wasn't going to keep up with the theory & skills that seemed would help to support her. She then started clarinet about 15 months ago and I the piano. She's taking grade 3 clarinet in may, 2 piano in July and I am taking G3 piano in may. Music has opened a whole new world to both of us. We are both having so much fun with it

flowery What did you play in your concert?

disorganised I don't play cello or clarinet. I generally prefer string instruments but I went to a concert yesterday where there were a few clarinet pieces and they are wonderful. Have you decided?

Or do both!

Alto sax. Badly. Was ok twenty odd years ago but sold sax when DD1 came along.

A few years ago my DH and DDs bought me a surprise sax for my b'day. Pretty but I cant get a note out of it, so eighteen months ago I got a Yamaha (another b'day!). Was ill for a year so hardly played, but getting back to it now. Going teacher hunting

Oh. Also have a keyboard. Bought it to play when I was working away - hotel rooms and sax not a good mix, but keyboard and headphones grand! I can play Chopsticks from memory and that's about it. Just debating some lessons. Wondering if I should wait until settled back into the sax.

About 4 years ago I took ds to a silver band to join. Sat knitting while they played for a couple of months before getting twitchy. I now have a euphonium (beautiful 78 sovereign, belongs to band) and love playing, although I have a loooooong way to go!

Can I join? Gr 8 piano/violin umpteen years ago, picked up violin again about a year ago and considering doing my diploma in a while. Joined a local amateur orchestra and it's fantastic.

Weirdly, the piano was always my first instrument as a teenager but as an adult, although I have a piano, I only really play violin.

I have always harboured a secret desire to play the trumpet though, and came very close to buying a viola last year.

Another rusty returner here - violin. I took it up again after a break of 22 years. Love it!

Neverever I'm leaning towards cello as have a teacher lined up already who I trust. Have done all my research and found 2 makes that I can rent. I'm a little nervous about learning bass clef though. First theory lesson is next week once my boys have gone back to school. So excited!

Neverever my choir was doing an acoustic slowed down version of 'A Little Respect' with the piano, and DH and I wrote a violin line including a solo violin section during the instrumental. It was technically very easy really, but very exposed. I even got offered a paying gig off the back of it!

I found y'all

OP - Why can't you post pictures? I really need to see those pictures you took at Cité de la Musique.

By way of introduction: I never did any Grades for music (no such thing where I grew up, sadly) but did manage to do the bare minimum to survive weekly piano lessons from an old witch as a child. Stopped all that as a teenager and didn't touch a piano for +30 years when DD started music and I thought it might be an idea to dabble.

Fast forward 2 years, and I play a lot of piano at home and am a mature student of the harpsichord in the local Conservatory.

I'm another math person (higher studies, etc) and of course my favourite classical music is Baroque.: Bach, Handel, and Rameau. One of the good things about playing the harpsichord is that nobody expects you to play anything other than Baroque music, which suits me just fine

I am currently working on the , one of J S Bach's partitas for Lute or Harpsichord. It flows so beautifully, relentlessly, so mathematically across the keyboard!

I think I'm pretty much done with it, actually. I'll try to take film myself playing it on the harpsichord soon so you can all laugh at my sausage fingers

Cote I don't know why it won't appear! > But you must go if you have a chance! They will tell you why French harpsichord music is superior, not like that Bach who uses fugues and that Scarlatti who uses velocity. It is a completely fabulous museum. If I go to Paris again I'll definitely visit again.

flowery That sounds like great fun!

cote And they have a lot about the lute and how important it was at the beginning of polyphonic instruments. And a lot of bizarre looking lutes.

And they mention wars about ornaments.

I really want to go to Paris just for that museum now

Well, you know that I'm a big Rameau fan so won't be arguing against the claim that French Baroque was pretty good but of course won't hear anything said against Bach. How very dare they!

Meanwhile, remember ? I'm now working on it. My teacher thinks I can do all but the last Double (where both hands go nuts). We shall see!

"wars about ornaments "

I'm not surprised! French musicians were crazy about their ornaments. All those different squiggles all around the partitions, all having to be played exactly the way they are written. Rameau's notes drive me crazy for this reason. Case in point: I have been playing which is so far the only piece of music that I can play on the harpsichord but can't play on the piano. Well, I can play it but then I get shooting pains in my right forearm because of all those ornaments, especially the looooooooong trills.

Only read the most recent posts. Here in Madrid we have a small museum of musical instruments at the conservatoire which includes some of Paganini's violins. There is also an annual violin competition and the winner gives a concert playing one of Paganini's Stradivarius violins (he had two, I think, but only one is here). I am not entering the competition!! But the collection is worth visiting if you come to the city.

Cote I like that Gavotte very much. I may consult my teacher about the ornaments first though... I find them too stressful... But it's a beautiful piece. Especially the end. I love stuff like that!

LockedOut I'll put that on my list.

At the Paris one they also had the little pochettes - mini violins you stuff in your pocket so that when the king fancies you can whip it out and play him something to dance to.

"little pochettes - mini violins you stuff in your pocket so that when the king fancies you can whip it out and play him something to dance to."

A... what?

Seriously.

So is Natacha Kudritskaya's performance quite orthodox?

NeverEverAnythingEver The conservatoire's near the Reina Sofía art gallery, near Atocha station.

Top of my wishlist is now a pochette. Awesome!