Music Making? Any Q-chorders here?

[Marilee]

With retirement came, it meant more free time for me, and I got myself a digital musical instrument and started singing again . This is a fun hobby because my hubby is my biggest fan and roadie (he's always finding a better microphone, better speakers, etc.). We sometimes do gigs at the VA Hospital, and take the music with us in the RV (he fishes, I play).

Anyway, we have a channel on YouTube - nothing fancy or professional, just me and my Qchord. Here's one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icC81YM-8WY .

My hubby's favorite right now, he plays almost every day is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA9LC28lB0o .

Any other Qchord-players here? Or guitar, piano, etc.?

[MooseMom]

That is so cool!  I love your vids!

My father was a jazz trumpeter MANY years ago and spent many nights on the road.  He knew how much work it took to learn an instrument.

When I was young, my two best friends both took the mandatory piano lessons, and I was so envious!  I wanted so badly to learn how to play.  But my dad thought it was just a passing fancy and that I wanted to play only because my friends did.  So no, I never even learned how to read music.

When I went to university, I wanted to sing in the choir(s), so because the choirs lacked contraltos, I was let in.  I took music theory and gradually learned to sight sing, although never all that well.  I ended up being chosen to sing in the elite madrigal group.  I was never so surprised in my life when I learned I'd been picked for that!

I am very envious of you and your talent!  My father, many years later, told me that his one regret in life was not letting me take piano lessons!   

[PrimeTimer]

That looks like SUCH a blast! I didn't even know what a Q-Chord was, you play it beautifully, Marilee! Your videos are a lot of fun. Very kind of you to play at VA's. I use to play Clarinet but no longer have one. Would love to have some sort of instrument again, tho. Now you've got me thinkin'-and-a-dreamin'.

[Paul]

I'd never heard of the Q-chord either, before this post (looked it up on the Internets of everything now).

I got a chanter for Christmas and am trying to get round to learning the bagpipes (a chanter is the business part of a set of bagpipes, you learn on that before fighting with the tartan cat thing).

[Marilee]

Moosemom - It's never too late to pick up some music: The time just floats on by when fully engaged with an instrument, and it's in your blood. Hey, I was a Madrigal, too, back in my high-school days!
Paul - I hope you get to where you post a video somewhere with you playing the pipes! How cool would that be!?!
PrimeTimer - How neat that you played Clarinet! Were you in the band in school?

The Qchord is easy-peasy to start to play. It's kinda like checkers: Easy basics that you can grow. A lot of 'true musicians' look at the Qchord like it's just a novelty (not a real instrument), but I really love how much fun it is, and I just couldn't get good enough on the piano or the guitar to play and sing at the same time. It was either the Qchord or an Autoharp for me, and I'm so glad I picked the Q because of the rhythms that come with it. Gosh, I even have a few "How To" videos out there, I'm just so enthusiastic about this thing. .

Thanks for watching!

Hey, ya know... It can run on batteries, and you can plug a headset into the Qchord and play it silently... maybe it's something that would be nifty to tinker with during the "D" word.

[Paul]

Moosemom - It's never too late to pick up some music

True that. My ex-boss was nearly sixty when he bought a baby grand and started learning to play the piano.

Paul - I hope you get to where you post a video somewhere with you playing the pipes! How cool would that be!?

Oh we are a long way off that. I can't even play a scale yet, and that only on the chanter. It will be a long time before I get a videoable performance out of the full pipes (plus full pipes cost a couple of grand, which I don't got).

[MooseMom]

Actually, a few years ago I took some lessons on both the Appalachian and the hammered dulcimers.  I got pretty good at the hammered variety; I taught myself a bit of "Ode to Joy".

[Riki]

I decided a few years ago that I wanted to learn how to play the guitar.  I went out and tried to find the smallest sized guitar I could get, because of my small hands and short arms.  The one I ended up getting is a folk sized guitar.  Unfortunately, it's still too big and my pinky fingers don't have the strength to hold down the strings.  I thought about learning how to play it upside down, on my lap (there are a couple of really good blind guitar players who play that way), but I haven't found the time.

Paul, when I was a kid, about 7 years old, I decided I wanted to learn how to play the bagpipes.  My aunt played when she was a teenager, and my mom was a highland dancer.  I started taking lessons, and I lasted about 4 months.  My hands were so small, that my fingers were having trouble covering the holes on the chanter.  The instructor finally gave up on me, saying that I should come back when I was older and my hands grew.  Unfortunately, my hands are still the same size as they were back then.

[kristina]

Many thanks Marilee for this great introduction to the Qchord, I did not even know that this instrument exists before your wonderful introduction! Many thanks again!
... I have started to learn and play the piano as a sort of rehabilitation after suffering a stroke, which left me half sided paralyzed at the time and the piano seemed the only way to try and get back as much movement as possible and to also assist me to learn to concentrate again, after that huge crash. Fortunately, with the encouragement of my husband, I was given a chance to learn - all on my own and it was a great moment, when I started to read a score and play a little of J.S. Bach.
P.S. I also had to learn to try and concentrate to read scores from scratch as well and it took a lot of time and even more perseverance and is great fun all the same to notice the development, bit by bit.
Because of my unreliable health-issues, there was no way for me to have a piano teacher, but it is possible to learn and there is lots of encouragement about! For example, every public library has so many books of introductions of how to learn and play whatever instrument, in your own time...
Learning to play an instrument is never too late to start with and it brings lots of fun into our life and music is also a much needed food for our souls...
Many thanks again Marilee for introducing us to the Qchord, it is very much appreciated.
Best wishes from Kristina.

P.S. I nearly forgot to compliment you on your great voice !

[kristina]

Actually, a few years ago I took some lessons on both the Appalachian and the hammered dulcimers.  I got pretty good at the hammered variety; I taught myself a bit of "Ode to Joy".

Dear MooseMom,
I do hope you continue with the dulcimer ... and ... I have found a wonderful, inspiring playing the instrument on youtube 

Sound of Silence - Mountain Dulcimer - YouTube
Video for Sound of Silence - Mountain Dulcimer▶ 2:34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4FeoCu9yqU

Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel performed by Tim Simek on the Mountain Dulcimer and Mark Edelman ...

[kristina]

I'd never heard of the Q-chord either, before this post (looked it up on the Internets of everything now).

I got a chanter for Christmas and am trying to get round to learning the bagpipes (a chanter is the business part of a set of bagpipes, you learn on that before fighting with the tartan cat thing).

Hello Paul, all the best wishes and good luck with playing the bagpipes !!! Their sound is just adorable!!! Sometimes we can hear someone playing their bagpipes in Battersea Park and we always listen ...
Good luck again from Kristina.

LAST OF THE MOHICANS ~THE GAEL~Royal Scots Dragoon Guards ...
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards-Last of the Mohicans - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7YRFzmeoI

P.S.  ... Finally found a very favourite piece :
THE DARK ISLE - THE BLACK WATCH - Pipes & Drums. - YouTube
Video for scottish bagpipes the dark island▶ 3:50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cIij7zWdN0

[kristina]

I decided a few years ago that I wanted to learn how to play the guitar.  I went out and tried to find the smallest sized guitar I could get, because of my small hands and short arms.  The one I ended up getting is a folk sized guitar.  Unfortunately, it's still too big and my pinky fingers don't have the strength to hold down the strings.  I thought about learning how to play it upside down, on my lap (there are a couple of really good blind guitar players who play that way), but I haven't found the time.

Paul, when I was a kid, about 7 years old, I decided I wanted to learn how to play the bagpipes.  My aunt played when she was a teenager, and my mom was a highland dancer.  I started taking lessons, and I lasted about 4 months.  My hands were so small, that my fingers were having trouble covering the holes on the chanter.  The instructor finally gave up on me, saying that I should come back when I was older and my hands grew.  Unfortunately, my hands are still the same size as they were back then.

Hello Riki,
In our music shop they have smaller guitars for smaller fingers and I am sure, you could find a small one on the Internet as well, but perhaps it could be better to first try out, how suitable it is for your fingers. If I remember well, there was an excellent guitarist who also had small hands and fingers and they play excellent ... and ... as for blind guitar players, here is one I have always admired:
José Feliciano - California Dreamin'▶ 5:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAS12yS9AFM

[Marilee]

Holy Guacamole, Kristina! Learning to play the piano after a stroke was brilliant! And getting your left-side to play Bach is fantastic (I love Bach's music, but he doesn't give piano fingers even a moment's rest)!
Congratulations for finding your way back through music, and thanks for sharing your story!

[kristina]

Thank you very much Marilee for your kind thoughts, it is very much appreciated.
All the best and thanks again from Kristina.