Instruments I can play...

My instrument playing journey began with my parents paying for me to have lessons on the recorder (as it was the only instrument they could afford (don't know how that quite works out when you factor in the cost of lessons... But anyway....) So that's how I learned how to read music, and that's why I played my recorder at school by blowing into it with my nose rather my mouth - because I was way ahead of everybody else, and the basic lessons bored me.

The next thing that happened was that suddenly my parents could afford to buy one of those old fashioned electronic organs, with two keyboards and pedals. I taught myself how to play, using tuition books, and picked up things like chords and bass lines.

Moving on to secondary school, and I could choose any instrument I fancied. Picked the trumpet because it was loud. At the age of 11, promptly fell in love with my 61 year old trumpet teacher, who encouraged and inspired me (with the trumpet). Pretty soon I was in the school military band, blasting out Mancini, and The A Team.

At 13 I wanted to try something new., and bought a guitar from Argos, on the cheap. I got as far as I would ever get in the first six months, and automatically started writing songs, copying structure and style from stuff I listened to, which, at the time -as in fact today -included absolutely class artists such as Queen and Elton John.

One day at school we came across a drum kit, just lying about, as is the wont of drum kits. I was highly intrigued when Nicola Webster started to play it, and actually knew what she was doing (a bit). Not to be outdone, I set myself the task of teaching myself a bit on the drums, and would head off to the music room during any free time to accompany pianist Gemma Champ on Bohemian Rhapsody.

So that's it, in a nutshell. I can play a handful of instruments, but none particularly well....and I can't sing, so please don't ask me to!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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