Have you ever been confused on what instrument "is you?"

[SnowfaLL]

Edit: I think my conclusion, is that I will just play Guitar as a hobby.. For my work, I will play bass primarily, since I enjoy it for everything, its just so fun. I will also work my butt off to get my Sax chops up to par, so I can eventually start doing more Sax gigs, which will fill my "melody/soloing" desires that Bass will be lacking. Theres nothing more fun in music than being on a good Horn section, ohh man. =]


The past 3 years of my life, despite going to college for two-years for Guitar, have been somewhat confusing.

I went into college all gung-ho thinking Guitar was my instrument, and my life plan.. But as the first year went on, the more I got into Jazz/fusion, I listened to mainly Saxophone players. Also, due to the big band, I took up Alto Saxophone because we only had one other Alto, and like 9 guitars. While I love the sound of Alto and just Sax in general, but its quite different than stringed instruments, so the journey is difficult. I can play decently, enough to do like high-school-level marching and basic funk sight-reading (we did some Tower of Power, that sorta stuff), I dont feel comfortable on the instrument yet.

Anyways, as I was saying, Guitar is my main instrument and I had to play it lots in college. But as the 2nd year was finishing, guitar started frustrating me. I was starting to realize that guitar is really a backing/chordal instrument 90% of the time in most music, I mean it is part of the rhythm section basically. Now, I went into college barely knowing my basic chord shapes, I never dug acoustic-guitar type music and I never played it, not to say I am a pure-metal guy (but theres inklings of it in there), I just never liked playing chords, I always wanted to be the melody.

So under this realization that guitar had very little melody unless you were fronting a band as a guitarist, or playing in specific genres like metal, I started playing more bass guitar; while knowing it wasnt the melody and still a backing instrument, I love the groove of it and if I am going to back someone up, I want to be the low end groove, not the nasally mid-range chordal instrument. I graduated last june, and basically from June to February 2010, I picked up my guitar twice. The whole time was dedicated to playing bass, and I learned how to fingerpick pretty decently, and I really grew a love of Funk/jazz on a whole new level because of Bass. Im somewhat slow though on fingerpicking fast(like metal), and my sightreading needs work (treble clef to bass clef is confusing at times)

Anyways, since February, I have been majorly confused on what instrument to really "focus" on.. I know I can play all 3 in small doses, but if I keep going like I am right now, I will be one of those "jack of all trades, master of none" people (well I already am), so I really want to settle on one as soon as possible, in order to apply for a certain music job I want in the next year (which will require a high skill in sightreading/session playing).

I want to be able to play in ANY musical situation possible; like if I sat in with a band from like, Kylie minogue to Children of bodom to garth brooks to chick corea, being able to fit in and play with anyone, that is my ultimate musical goal. I just dont know if I could do that on guitar and enjoy it.

So, I am not sure what to do. I love bass for EVERY genre of music, but I still miss melody/soloing when I play it. Guitar is great for some genres, but boring/annoying as hell for others. Alto sax is awesome too, but doesnt apply to every genre, and I will be very far behind if I want to apply for a cruiseship/etc as an Alto player.

What would you guys do in this situation? Ever be in a similar situation where you don't know what instrument you are "destined to play"??

(a side story about destiny; My dad really wanted to name me "Cliff".. my mom wouldnt let him.. But im sure you can imagine why he wanted that name. So anyways, just something interesting to think about, in terms of playing in bands, if I chose bass, I would be a 3rd generation bass player.)

 

[signalgrey]

as much as i love guitar and bass. they never felt like "me" the more i experiment the more realize i love the lower register, but not necessarily the bass register.

i feel like i SHOULD be playing a cello. ive always loved the way it sounds and looks and feels. Ive wanted to play one since i was a kid.

 

[kmanick]

I stared on cello and switched to guitar in 7th grade.
have you tried to play a cello? it's actually pretty cool.

as much as i love guitar and bass. they never felt like "me" the more i experiment the more realize i love the lower register, but not necessarily the bass register.

i feel like i SHOULD be playing a cello. ive always loved the way it sounds and looks and feels. Ive wanted to play one since i was a kid.

 

[SnowfaLL]

Yeh, I thought about cello at times too. Out of all the string instruments, I think Cello is my "register".. Its odd though, since I love Alto sax, being a high register, but I think that attributes to my love of shred guitar, and since Sax is a melody instrument; its natural to goto that register. Watching lots of T-Square helped that for sure though =]

 

[Voodoo Turkey]

I was totally confused which instrument was me when I was a teenager. I started off on guitar at 13 and then took up bass playing at 14 years old. I knew I didn't want to do both because I really wanted to be really good at one instrument rather than just ok at two instruments.. A short time after I foolishly bought a drum kit and therefore ended up playing three instruments at once and being pretty shit at all three!!

It was when I reached 15 that I discovered power metal, first hearing bands like Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Angra and Labyrinth that I really realised that I was born to play guitar - the power metal style was something I'd always wanted to play myself before I even knew the genre existed - I loved the idea of mixing clean guitar with metal and mixing catchy melodies with fast riffs and solos..

So, eventually after giving Guitar, Bass and Drums a try I decided which one I really wanted to better myself at and I didn't necessarily choose the one I was best at - just the one I most enjoyed learning and most importantly, listening to..

In most people's eyes I'd be considered a pretty average guitarist but all that matters to me is that I can play a load of my favourite songs and also create music in the genre I most love..

 

[SnowfaLL]

I was totally confused which instrument was me when I was a teenager. I started off on guitar at 13 and then took up bass playing at 14 years old. I knew I didn't want to do both because I really wanted to be really good at one instrument rather than just ok at two instruments.. A short time after I foolishly bought a drum kit and therefore ended up playing three instruments at once and being pretty shit at all three!!

It was when I reached 15 that I discovered power metal, first hearing bands like Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Angra and Labyrinth that I really realised that I was born to play guitar - the power metal style was something I'd always wanted to play myself before I even knew the genre existed - I loved the idea of mixing clean guitar with metal and mixing catchy melodies with fast riffs and solos..

So, eventually after giving Guitar, Bass and Drums a try I decided which one I really wanted to better myself at and I didn't necessarily choose the one I was best at - just the one I most enjoyed learning and most importantly, listening to..

In most people's eyes I'd be considered a pretty average guitarist but all that matters to me is that I can play a load of my favourite songs and also create music in the genre I most love..

Thats cool man, wish I had an Epiphany like that. I really want to get really good at Sax.. but then again, a lot of my favorite music is still on guitar and I mean, if you look at it from the standpoint that guitar is really THE most versatile instrument outside of Piano, it can really accomplish anything. Bass I find the most fun though, esp for playing in any situation, I almost feel ready right now to jump in with anyone and play bass, its just not 100% fulfilling to me, I long for more.

arg. lol

 

[MSalonen]

I'm not sure there necessarily has to be a singular instrument that defines you, so to speak.

 

[SnowfaLL]

I guess.. but you see so many guys who like, they have their one instrument and they just cant get enough of it. For me, going to school with like all kinds, even one guy who LOVED trombone, to the point where he only wanted to play that in everything. I mean, its an awkward instrument that doesnt sound that great except for like 1-2 settings, to see someone so passionate in it is inspiring/makes me envious.

I want to keep up playing 2, or maybe all 3.. but I want to really focus hard on one, so im not absolutely horrible like I feel right now, since I spend like 1 hour a day on each instrument (less on alto cause it harder on the throat), instead of investing significant time into one.

 

[Forresterc]

I've always seen my guitar as a tool to understand music, not as my "instrument". It is my instrument though, because I've always been a harmonic/rhythmic player, not a melodic/solo player....
Anyways, don't worry about what instrument defines you, just try and be a musician and go to where you find you belong. I've played bass in two bands and rhythm guitar in another, because that's what the bands needed. I was never picky or egotistical about it. I didn't get a chance to be picky untill i made my own band. So play guitar, bass, and sax. You don't have to be a virtuoso.

 

[SnowfaLL]

I've always seen my guitar as a tool to understand music, not as my "instrument". It is my instrument though, because I've always been a harmonic/rhythmic player, not a melodic/solo player....
Anyways, don't worry about what instrument defines you, just try and be a musician and go to where you find you belong. I've played bass in two bands and rhythm guitar in another, because that's what the bands needed. I was never picky or egotistical about it. I didn't get a chance to be picky untill i made my own band. So play guitar, bass, and sax. You don't have to be a virtuoso.

yea, but I also am trying to use music as a career; meaning session work, so I need to be very strong at whatever instrument I choose, not only as a player but a sightreader, in order to get work and maintain work. Its quite hard to do that switching between bass and treble clef, then adding in transposing to Eb for alto. Doing all 3 would be a nightmare.

There is one specific music gig I am hoping to get sometime within the next 2 years, where they want a primary instrument too.

 

[Demiurge]

Anyways, don't worry about what instrument defines you, just try and be a musician and go to where you find you belong.

My goal is to be a prolific songwriter and it doesn't really matter to me what instrumentation the songs end up with. Guitar is what I've played the longest, so it's what I'm best at and that's what they'll probably have a lot of, but it's not vital to me that there be guitars everywhere.

 

[Forresterc]

yea, but I also am trying to use music as a career; meaning session work, so I need to be very strong at whatever instrument I choose, not only as a player but a sightreader, in order to get work and maintain work. Its quite hard to do that switching between bass and treble clef, then adding in transposing to Eb for alto. Doing all 3 would be a nightmare.

There is one specific music gig I am hoping to get sometime within the next 2 years, where they want a primary instrument too.

GOOOOOOD LUCK MAN! Best thing to do is see what you can envision yourself doing in 10 years. I'd still stick with all three for now, and see which one feels most comfortable to you. As a guitarist, i'd recomend guitar. Specifically a sevenstring guitar. From Ibanez. With Dimarzio pickups.

But from how you explained yourself, you sound like you'd be happiest on sax. Tis great for melodies and solos.

But seriously, good luck. Music field is hard to make money at. You're gonna work twice as hard and make half the money as other people.

 

[SnowfaLL]

yep, but thats what i want to do. I invested the big bucks on a student loan for a Music diploma, so no turning back now without at least trying to do something with it =[

 

[Esp Griffyn]

yep, but thats what i want to do. I invested the big bucks on a student loan for a Music diploma, so no turning back now without at least trying to do something with it =[

Yeah man, I thought music would have been cool once, but common sense prevailed and I went for a real degree instead. I thought that using something that I love as a hobby to enter a busy, mostly low paid job market would only make life more difficult than necessary, and I would just stop enjoying music as a result.

I'm sorry to hear that you allowed someone to ruin guitar for you though. Guitar is only as melody or backing oriented as you allow it to be, unless you are in a studio as a session musician and someone is telling you exactly how to play it. In that second scenario, you were never going to be widdling away following a vocalists' lines with sweeping arpeggios, know what I mean? In all other situations (perhaps big band where someone gives you music to play from) tell them to go fuck themselves and play as much melody as you want.

 

[Chickenhawk]

My goals aren't the same as yours (I don't want to be a session musician).

But, I've played trumpet, sax, bass and guitar. I was naturally gifted with alto sax. Everything seemed to make sense to me, but I never really enjoyed playing it that much. I like playing string instruments, and I'm WORLDS better playing bass than I am guitar (as long as I keep practicing it, I'm rusty now).

But, I still lean towards the instrument I get the most enjoyment out of. I absolutly LOVE playing a 7 string guitar tuned down. I can write a (comparitvly) basic song, and grin from ear to ear when I play it. My guitar buddies might not see the "challenge" in the riffs, as they aren't technically complex, or the songwriting itself might be sub-par, but I enjoy the HELL out of it.

I also seem to have quite a bit of trouble learning new things on guitar (been playing for almost 11 years), and I've met kids that are in their 3rd year that blow me out of the water, in EVERY aspect. But it doesn't bother me, because I love playing guitar.

I do fill in for other bands as a bassist every now and then, as I usually can learn the songs a lot quicker than most. But I never find myself sitting at the house playing bass, or sax. I'm always plucking away on my guitar.

 

[Skyblue]

I'm pretty much in the same problem- when I started playing I automatically went to guitar, since at the time my musical knowledge was very (VERY) limited, so I went for the "easiest" option.
recently, I've started getting really interested in bass- the fact that it's being mostly under appreciated in most genres, and the fact that it can also be used in genres like classical music, which I love as well... it's a much more diverse instrument then guitar. plus, it looks really awesome P=

I do like guitar though, it sounds beautiful, and after all, it's a much more noticeable instrument, people tend to know more guitar players then bass players.

I'll probably try to pick us a bass after I'll graduate, I hardly have the time for a second instrument now.

It sounds like sax really fits you, but you can always spend some time with your bass or guitar, and work them to a level you could use them pretty freely, without being a virtuoso~

 

[MF_Kitten]

the guitar has the logic and way of playing that works for my brain. i really want a cello and a saxophone too though, as those too work for me. i think.

how do you ascend/descend in pitch with the buttons on a saxophone? do you press down extra buttons to increase or decrease the pitch? and is it like the frets on a guitar, where the next button will raise the pitch to the next note, or is it like some flutes, where there are combinations of buttons that make different notes?

 

[ittoa666]

I'm not sure there necessarily has to be a singular instrument that defines you, so to speak.

Just what I was thinking. There are no rules saying that you can't be a multi-instrumentalist.

 

[SnowfaLL]

the guitar has the logic and way of playing that works for my brain. i really want a cello and a saxophone too though, as those too work for me. i think.

how do you ascend/descend in pitch with the buttons on a saxophone? do you press down extra buttons to increase or decrease the pitch? and is it like the frets on a guitar, where the next button will raise the pitch to the next note, or is it like some flutes, where there are combinations of buttons that make different notes?

Its basically like a flute, I actually think the key structure/pattern is almost the exact same, but i could be wrong with that (I know theres other instruments similar to sax tho, recorders maybe?)

its not so basic as "more buttons=higher or lower pitch".. Basically, theres like ~10 keys, and combinations of those keys make up one octave of notes, along with just blowing into the horn (which makes C#).. but to put it in perspective I guess, all the main keys down is D, while just the first key is B, so I guess it kinda works in that way, add a key to go up the scale (if we're talking non-accidentals)

Then the cool thing, theres a thumb key on the back, which is your octave key. So you have your first octave without touching that, but then when you hold that key down, you have your 2nd octave. So basically its a 2 octave instrument, BUT as you get better (ie really good) you can control your embrochure to get even more range out of an instrument, like possibly another 1-2 octaves just by changing how you blow into the instrument. I look at that kinda like bending on a guitar, its not something you can do when you first start out, you have to have normal technique down first. I cant really do this yet either unfortunately =[

Its a fairly easy instrument in terms of hitting all the notes, but getting the correct tone out of your breath/embrochure is the hard part. And learning to control your mouth for specific rhythmic patterns, like hitting short notes and long notes and all that junk. Thats what throws me off, cause i've never played a horn/woodwind instrument before, I dont have all that stuff down, but switching to another stringed instrument, even upright bass (which ive played abit for fun) is still another stringed instrument, its basically the same.

 

[SnowfaLL]

Eh its not really "someone" that ruined guitar for me, its me. I just dont dig it that much for certain types of music, like I would never want to sit in with a country band and play guitar, yet Bass I would be fine with doing and would enjoy it.

But yeh, I think session/freelancing work is what I want to do, and backing up bands. Basically, if I chose guitar, i would be doing all the boring comping/bullshit stuff 90% of the time, with some solos maybe, while bass is more fun for the rhythm section, but no chance for melody/solos. Alto is better, get some nice lines in and highlight/solo sections, but not as versatile in getting jobs, and it would take me significantly longer to get in a "comfortable" position for alto.

Yeah man, I thought music would have been cool once, but common sense prevailed and I went for a real degree instead. I thought that using something that I love as a hobby to enter a busy, mostly low paid job market would only make life more difficult than necessary, and I would just stop enjoying music as a result.

I'm sorry to hear that you allowed someone to ruin guitar for you though. Guitar is only as melody or backing oriented as you allow it to be, unless you are in a studio as a session musician and someone is telling you exactly how to play it. In that second scenario, you were never going to be widdling away following a vocalists' lines with sweeping arpeggios, know what I mean? In all other situations (perhaps big band where someone gives you music to play from) tell them to go fuck themselves and play as much melody as you want.