Any musicians amongst you guys?

[Lushbob]

Hey. I was wondering if anyone else here is a musician?
I play clarinet and piano, and I'm not too bad at singing. I can play ukulele pretty basically, I'm trying to teach myself guitar (I'm waiting until I have a little more time), and I can play some basic percussion. And I can play saxophone pretty well, too - it's effectively the same as clarinet.
So, any other musicians amongst you? Speak up here!

[AceGambit]

I'm a guitarist.  I try to sing and fail miserably, so there's that.  Guitar is more of an activity pass time these days though, I don't play seriously anymore.

[Kanped]

Professional musician, actually.  Well, play bass in a wedding band to subsidise my student loan, anyway.  I play pretty much anything that you don't breathe into.  Some stuff;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-OMTdqFxjw
http://file019.bebo.com/0/song/2006/11/20/00/6268587a2601696690b781929830.mp3
http://www.myspace.com/nldband
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA2xloxNSvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dl_dVsOs8I

[zmuddiman]

WOOO CLARINETIST!!!

I am a music education major. My primary is Clarinet and my secondary is Tuba.

[Lushbob]

I'm a guitarist.  I try to sing and fail miserably, so there's that.  Guitar is more of an activity pass time these days though, I don't play seriously anymore.

Yeah, I'm just learning guitar so I can play it casually. But, if I start enjoying it a lot, I might get a teacher and start playing it more seriously.

Professional musician, actually.  Well, play bass in a wedding band to subsidise my student loan, anyway.  I play pretty much anything that you don't breathe into.

Awesome. That's a nice plan to get some money. I might try doing something similar in a few years once I get a student loan that I'll have to pay off.

WOOO CLARINETIST!!!
I am a music education major. My primary is Clarinet and my secondary is Tuba.

Awesome! I'm guessing you're at least Grade 8, or the equivalent of?

[zmuddiman]

Awesome! I'm guessing you're at least Grade 8, or the equivalent of?

I am a senior in College

[Lushbob]

I am a senior in College

Haha, I forget that Americans use 'grade' to mean different years in school. I meant music Grade 8. Or do you guys not do music grades?

[Don Boyer]

I am a senior in College

Haha, I forget that Americans use 'grade' to mean different years in school. I meant music Grade 8. Or do you guys not do music grades?

I'm not a musician, but I know enough about music to know that we don't have a grading system like what you're describing, as far as I know.  If there is, it's not in common use - in my forty-four years, I've never once heard a musician mention his grade number unless he was referring to his year in school.

[dmbaggs]

I play guitar and I dabble in the ukulele. I've been playing guitar for over 7 years now. There are grades in certain schools of music I believe. I know that my friend played saxophone in a school and they had grades/levels. It's more common to just talk about how long you've played though

[Lushbob]

Wow. That seems really odd to me. In the UK, we have graded exams that we take as we advance with our instruments. The grades start at 1, and go up to 8. It's common for people to be taking Grade 8 after about 8 or 9 years, depending on their age. If you start at a young age (for instance, I started when I was about 8 or 9), then you're usually about Grade 8 standard when you finish school, as long as you're a good musician and pretty dedicated (I've recently started the Grade 8 syllabus).
But, of course, that excepts people who are exceptionally talented - I have a friend who achieved a Grade 8 standard on Violin and Piano when he was about 11.
I'd find judging your musical ability by the amount of time you've played for to be pretty inaccurate - some of my friends have played for longer than me, and can't handle a basic rhythm/tune, and others have played for a few years, and are incredible. Are there no graded exams whatsoever for music in the USA?

[zmuddiman]

We use grade scales to indicate classes of music. But not for music talent or level of playing and performing.

[MrLukeCarroll]

I wouldn't exactly call myself a musician persay but I am in a Musical Comedy Trio, The two others play guitar and double bass where I purely sing and sometimes play triangle for comedic effect. Find the link below to a performance we had representing our state in a national comedy comp (Be warned this humour is very Australian) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq5ZtN-SvI&list=UUv415WORNjBMLxd3B65jEhg&index=1&feature=plcp

[Kanped]

Genuinely, really enjoyed that Luke.  I really think you could play if you wanted to.

[loldudex2]

I used to play the clarinet, but don't anymore, but now I really want to learn how to play the piano.

[Jin Jian]

i use to play trombone in band but after that i found out it too boring and start to play card .. i also know how to play basic ukelele

[MrLukeCarroll]

Genuinely, really enjoyed that Luke.  I really think you could play if you wanted to.

Cheers Kanped and I'd love to learn an instrument but decided to use my focus on magic and comedy writing instead

[Fallen_Angel_of_Luck]

grade 8 violinist

[NathanCanadas]

In Europe (France, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal especially), there are grades for music. In the US, music class is usually taken less seriously, so there are no "grades" of that type. I am also a musician, a pianist, and have passed level 9 in the British and French grading system about 1 1/2 years ago. I am 13, in 9th grade, and practice 2 hours a day. I love playing the piano. Maybe I should film myself one day.

[Evan]

I played the trumpet for a couple years a while ago. Now I play the piano/keyboard and love it!
My brother makes music too. He is a "mashup" artist and what he does is takes 2 or more songs, and mixes them together. it may be the words to one song and the music to another mixed. Check his music out: http://soundcloud.com/jz1805

[dmbaggs]

I played the trumpet for a couple years a while ago. Now I play the piano/keyboard and love it!
My brother makes music too. He is a "mashup" artist and what he does is takes 2 or more songs, and mixes them together. it may be the words to one song and the music to another mixed. Check his music out: http://soundcloud.com/jz1805

I'm a big fan of mashups so I'll be sure to check him out. Here's a few other good mashups...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTx3G6h2xyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNzrwh2Z2hQ


Really cool stuff there

[Lushbob]

I am also a musician, a pianist, and have passed level 9 in the British and French grading system about 1 1/2 years ago.

Sorry, but in England, our music grades only go up to 8. So, you can't have got 9...

[Kanped]

Yeah, I was thinking that.  I'm grade 5 theory... well, I got 50ish% on the exam, so ALMOST grade 5 theory.

[NathanCanadas]

After I reached level 8 in England, I went to a higher level music course, and they gave levels 9, 10 and 11 based on their own standards. In the US, there are competitions where you can pass music levels up to 10 if you go to special competitions, and I'm 9 as well on that scale.

[Lushbob]

Yeah, I was thinking that.  I'm grade 5 theory... well, I got 50ish% on the exam, so ALMOST grade 5 theory.

Haha I've got grade 5 theory, too. I only passed marginally; I went from grade 0 to grade 5 with two months of fast-track teaching.

[Lushbob]

After I reached level 8 in England, I went to a higher level music course, and they gave levels 9, 10 and 11 based on their own standards. In the US, there are competitions where you can pass music levels up to 10 if you go to special competitions, and I'm 9 as well on that scale.

What kind of higher level music course? We only have grades 1-8, then we have music diplomas. No other levels are widely recognised.