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Instruments and all things musical
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60 Replies
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Did you know George Martin made a deal with the Beatles. If the Beatles would teach George how to play guitar, George agreed to teach the Beatles how to play the piano. Now the question is, who became the best pianist among the Fab 4? You have to watch this fun video to find out. It gives some very wonderful insight into the Beatles.
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Who was the better guitarist, John Lennon or Sir Paul McCartney? This video does not definitively state it, but it highlights the guitar playing qualities and strength of each, and leaves it to the viewer to decide. What do you think? From what was shown, it seems John Lennon was the more inspired guitarist, so would be my choice. What do you think?
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I wonder what is meant by “popular” in the first video. If it means “most frequently owned”, I have trouble believing that pianos are more popular than harmonicas or kazoos.
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I’ve seen more pianos in households than harmonicas, kazoos, so I’m sticking with pianos as my choice, though I’m sure harmonicas come in a close second, if not tied…lol…depends on the person’s musical preference unless, you’re a serious musician, then you’d have all varieties of instruments…lol
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I know, Jacki. But harmonicas and kazoos can collect dust in a drawer for decades, whereas it’s kind of hard to forget that you have a piano!
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For me I had/have a kazoo, harmonica, a few toy flutes, trumpet, and piano, and my fave has been the piano by far. 🙂 The kazoo was the quickest to master! And the one that irritated the most people in the household I remember. In that video, I was surprised the violin didn’t take top honors given it’s so prevalent throughout music history.
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If you watch that video to the end, you will discover the electric guitar is the reigning most popular instrument champion, with piano taking 2nd spot.
There is just something appealing about playing around with a musical instrument. I felt that when I first got into piano in my early 30s with that acoustic Baldwin upright. I still have that at my parents old place, but right now at my place I am using a digital Casio piano with full 88 weighted keys and pedals just like a real acoustic. With my piano there is something really satisfying with having all these keys/notes right there in front of you experimenting with different sounds and combinations, and figuring out a simple tune you know. The little Hohner harmonica feels the same way. I’d love to do the guitar one day too. I envy all you musicians here!
After spending a lot of time the last few weeks trying to get the scales and chords down right in different keys, it feels like my body is beginning to memorize them, which feels like I accomplished something. So onto the next lessons I can progress to.
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I’m inspired to watch our MLT’s effortlessly make chord changes with fill-in’s. It must take a lot of work in time to put music together and play it in The Cavern under pressure. I can see the form of some chords by the duo session videos, but their library of song chord charts ever helps to fill in the rest, that way I can pick it up faster on how to play their songs somewhat like how they do it.
In my rather young years of 4 through 12, I was taught piano by my Mom and somewhat by a piano teacher. Then at age 16, I restarted to play piano just because I wanted to, just because it made me smile. I then picked up guitar at age 17. I quickly could play the main body of a few of my favorite songs, but it took many more years to learn piano and guitar well and each at about to the same degree.
Then of the past three years, I finally came about to put my all into making even more complex rhythms and generate new melodies while discovering chord changes on guitar. I had not known until I tried to go beyond, to achieve much more than I had earlier imagined. I’d like to transfer that spirit and hope to anyone else, who is younger than even my present older self. PPL – Practice, Perseverance, and Learn out loud .
But my little jealousy is that Lisa shows to have a fair reach on guitar and I just do not have that form of finger stretching’s, for that is simply my fingers sizes from birth. Such was the genetic lottery.
Peace Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love……
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Hi Kenneth. I wish I had started piano or guitar in my youth as you did. Learning much later in life seems to take much more effort and does not stick as well. But I’m enjoying rediscovering it, the playing part. I wish I could get to the point of being able to create/write music which seems like light years away for me. I believe in the motto that in life, it’s never too late…so will have faith in that. Your “Practice, Perseverance, and Learn Out Loud” sounds like sound advice and will adhere to that. I can relate to what you say about finger stretching. In my lessons on piano, I got into 4 note chords that involve stretching a full octave thumb to pinky and hitting 2 keys in between on the key board. I can do about one, but rapid succession feels pretty challenging. I can see where having long fingers is a definite advantage for musicians. In a video I saw Angus Young, who is a small fellow, and he seems to compensate for his small hands and manage navigating around the fret board pretty good anyways. 🙂
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Beethoven’s 1817 fortepiano, built by Thomas Broadwood.
Beethoven, though primarily thought of as a great composer, was also the greatest pianist of his age. Only Franz Liszt could approach Beethoven’s virtuosity, and that was decades after Beethoven’s death; Liszt also had the benefit of improved piano technology.
“What Beethoven wanted from pianos, as he wanted from everything, was more: more robust build, more fullness of sound, a bigger range of volume, a wider range of notes. As soon as new notes were added to either end of the keyboard, he used them, making them necessary to anyone wanting to play his work. From early on, piano makers asked for Beethoven’s opinion, and they listened to what he said.”
I would love to be able to go to the museum where Beethoven’s Broadwood piano is today and be invited to practice a piano lesson on it. Wow imagine those scales and chord progressions and how they would sound on the very instrument Beethoven played! What a dream! ?
If you could play any famous musicians instrument, which musician and instrument would it be?
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You can hear what Beethoven’s Broadwood piano sounded like in this short clip.
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Jimi Hendrix ‘s guitars, Mother Maybelle Carter’s guitars and autoharpGlass Tiger band’s guitars, drums, piano/keyboard ….primarily, guitars, pianos, autoharp, drums, percussion instruments, cowbells, And I’d love to play a harp….
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I think I’d throw a little comedy into the mix and go for Jack Benny’s violin, Tom Lehrer’s piano, or Steve Martin’s banjo.
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Jacki, here are two famous Jimi Hendrix guitars, Gibson SG Custom, and Custom 69 Flying V setup for lefties as Jimi Hendrix was left handed. I’m sure these 2 would be a guitar aficionados dream guitars to take around the block.
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David, I always knew Steve Martin was a great comedian and movie star, but had no idea he was an accomplished musician on the banjo. Here is a recent video of Steve Martin playing his banjo during the pandemic lockdown. Banjo looks like quite the fun instrument.
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