A lot of us here like music. For those who make some, what are you learning or playing now?
Tonight, for me, relearning the bass part to this:
A lot of us here like music. For those who make some, what are you learning or playing now?
Tonight, for me, relearning the bass part to this:
Awesome idea; it is such fun learning music and trying to improve one's technique and artistry. 
I sing bass in a choir and we meet on Tuesday evenings, so I just got back from rehearsal. The big piece we are working on is Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, which we will be performing later this month with orchestra!
In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :
That sounds a bit more complicated than the Ramones. (One of my faves.)
In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :
Quite different I'm sure, but Metallica just released a new song of the same name(ish)
Though maybe it's based on, or influenced by, or some other relationship.
Personally, I'm now taking regular drum lessons, and learning all kinds of things. Most notably, I've been attempting to play "Part V" by Villagers of Ioannina City, and "Five Years" by Bowie.
Late to the thread. I'm a sax player, currently rehearsing for the Montrose, CO concert band's holiday concert in a couple of weeks. The classic rock/blues band I play with doesn't have any gigs for a while, so we are working on original songs written by our lead guitar player - working out arrangements, horn lines, backup singer sections, etc. The main thing I'm doing is working with a friend on sax duets. His wife has serious health problems that keep him from playing with the concert band or any long gigs, so we have worked up a repertoire of duets to backing tracks that we can play for short gigs like cocktail hour music before organization dinners, private parties, etc. He's a good player, but doesn't improvise, so these have to be written arrangements. Currently I'm working on Green Onions, Walkin' With Mr. Lee (oldie, check it out on youtube), Wicked Game and Satin Doll. We both have soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes, so there are lots of opportunities for interesting combinations. Keeps me busy, anyway.
I won't claim to be a musician, but I'm currently singing "Deck The Halls" to the tune of "War Pigs".
Toll the ancient Yuletide carol... OH LORD YEAH
And we're now working on the bass for this. Hardest part is just slowing it down.
I'm remastering a DAT recording (48k) of a live recording of an artist who has passed away.
Pat answer, Stray Cat Strut. I've been working on it for at least 25 years now, so it's always what I'm working on whatever else is going on. It really is still improving, just have a long way to go...
That's guitar; on piano I'm sort of working on reading music and rotating between Yann Tiersen's Comptine d`un autre ete - l`apres-midi (from the Amelie soundtrack), Bach's Prelude No. 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, and Chopin's Prelude in E Minor. It's slow going on all of them, but it's neat to be working on pieces I really like.
We have an occasional thing here put on by a group called "Piano. Push. Play." which puts rescued pianos in random spots around town. I would so like to go ride up Council Crest and play that Tiersen piece before riding back down.
Trying to relearn Hot Water Music 's Trusty Chords for on open mic night my 14yo dared me to do. She must not know about my complete lack of self awareness 
she said if I did it, she would.
Oooo - Stray Cat Strut, my band plays that - much fun!
In reply to Jim Pettengill :
Awesome! It must be a fun one to have solid. Mine's... not ready for public consumption. 
This weekend I saw a good friend. She plays guitar, and we've jammed. She has a punk band but her bassist is no longer interested. So...? my friend says.
Great thread idea!
Ever hear a song and you have to just sit down and learn it immediately? It's basically how I learned how to play music; I remember hearing specific songs very early in my musical life that hit me so hard I had to pick up the instrument (or sticks) and figure it out A few days back, it happened with this one. That bass line wouldn't leave my head, so I picked up a bass and sat there until I got it out of my system! I love this album, and this is one of those tracks that never gets enough attention.
I've been playing guitar for almost 13 years now, and I'm what I would consider a competent intermediate player. I can pick up most chord progressions pretty quick by ear, and I can play around with pentatonic solos. That means I can play most pop and classic rock songs (barring any crazy solos), but these days I find myself just noodling around more often than not. I play a lot of folk with friends these days, and that has turned me on to other styles of playing, with a lot more finger picking. A while back I sat down to really practice for the first time in a good while, and it was to learn The Claw. I haven't got around to finishing it but the intro and verses are very fun.
I've been off and on for a year or so at picking out Moonlight Sonata on guitar. I should just pull up the sheet and learn the chords properly, but fumbling around by ear has led me to a few progressions "inspired by" that I think I'll have to flesh out a bit more. Pulling inspiration from the classics. Beethoven and Bach are some of the heaviest writers ever. All that Scandinavian heavy metal is just trying to live up to the masters of days past.
Last time I got a moment to sit down and play a guitar I listened to Better By You, Better Than me and jammed along with it.
The original Spooky Tooth version is much better imo
Such an awesome thread so far! I enjoy hearing about that others are out there, working on all styles and a diverse range of music. As an imperfect musician, I garner great confidence from hearing about others diving in and learning and trying to improve.
I have to check out some of these tunes y'all been working on! I'll try to report back.
Currently: a buttload of Christmas music. I'm pretty excited about what we are working on for Christmas Eve service at church. Definitely venturing outside of the typical stylistic borders this year.
Besides that, I've been feeling the itch to start writing my own stuff again, and to finish some projects that I left halfway. Just need to take the time to sit down and do it... easier said than done these days though.
For a long time I considered myself "just a guitarist" even though I've played a half-dozen instruments over my life. Guitar was the only one that really stuck though, until a little over a year ago, when I picked up something totally new: an accordion. I love it. It's and old Silvertone, nothing special that I bought on a whim from a dude on CL, with buttons on one side and keys on the other, and I've been teaching myself mostly by fooling around with it. I'm not "good" yet, but I can play the Mariner's Revenge Song and a few others, so it's a start :)
Got some good backing tracks, going to start working on Europa (Gato Barbieri version) on tenor and Take Five on alto. Going to take a while to get them clean.
Last night we did the bass for Berlin's "The Metro."
Not slow but you can totally hear the song with just the bass.
A few recent updates. (And I’m playing the bass here.)
I learned this one this week and enjoy it more than I thought I would. It’s not complicated but has a good groove to it.
Simple Minds: “Don’t You Forget About Me”
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