Here's our band with octave fiddle playing at a beer festival in Haverfordwest castle a couple of years ago with an itinerant djembe player we acquired at the gig. It was before we added a harp to the lineup and I'm afraid the fiddle is kind of drowned out a bit with all the background noise going on.
Not as much as you might think. We were always quite careful not to push the kids towards music too much in case it put them off! We did encourage them to learn an instrument at school - clarinet for Micky, trombone for Dan - all the rest they've done for themselves. Must have worked though as they've both got the bug and in fact Micky is studying music at University.
We do play in a band together though - `Estron' - specialising in Welsh traditional music. That's me and Danny on Welsh bagpipe, Micky on ukulele, a friend, Holly on octave fiddle (looks like a violin but plays an octave below one) and another, Jess, on harp. I guess we get together for a practice about once a month on average and do a few gigs on top of that.
As to the bass clarinet, I find them easier to play than a normal clarinet, but much harder to hold while you're doing it! Most orchestral types have them resting on the floor on a spike but Micky plays hers hanging from a sling round her neck and holding it more like a saxophone.
Leslie - I do miss playing the tuba. It was a battered old thing but I did enjoy playing with the brass band. It was actually a junior band, I got roped in after my daughter joined as I had to hang around anyway waiting to take her home again.
Which reminds me, Helen, I only mentioned my own instruments. I have 2 daughters, both at University now, but when they're home, the eldest, Micky, plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and ukulele while the youngest has a trombone, a set of bagpipes, two guitars and a cello.
First instrument I ever had was a stave dulcimer I made myself but no longer have. This was soon followed by an hourglass which I'm still playing 42 years after I made it. But since then I've wandered from the fold a bit.
I now have 8 sets of bagpipes from different lands, in different keys, all but one of which I made myself - these are my main instruments. I also play piano accordeon regularly, hornpipes, clarinets, a whole bunch of flutes including whistles, recorders, piccolos, Native American flutes, one in E and a NAF droneflute in G. And I used to play Eb Tuba in the local brass band but had to give it back to them after I stopped playing with them.
And now I've got a Tennessee Music Box and Swedish Humle.
I sing and play clawhammer & minstrel banjo, fingerstyle guitar, upright bass & bass guitar, piano, violin (just a little), mandolin, various ethnic flutes and whistles, and various small drums. And when I really want to annoy folks at bluegrass jams, I break out the bones I keep in my banjo case.
I had the joy, for six years, to be the resident music specialist at a local history museum in Alabama. It was actually part of my job (!) to research any instrument with even a passing connection to 19th or early 20th century American music history, acquire one, learn to play at least one song on it, and demonstrate it for visitors. There is such a thing as a dream job!
Hi all, as well as dulcimer,
I "play" (make noise would be a better term) alto recorder, pennywhistle. Alternating fingerings between the 2 is a brain teaser!
Piano - but have a midi keyboard as I live upstairs.
Voice.
I'm probably most proficient as a singer, given I take voice lessons, but I bumble along on the other instruments and they make me happy. I would love to learn celtic harp someday..... And bass ocarina.... And a concertina.....And cello....
I tinker with a ukulele, lap harp & piano. On a 1-10 scale, I would say I am a 2 on ukulele, 1 on piano, and 3 on lap harp. I still own 8 dulcimers, two are on loan, and have sold 3 more on Craig's list recently. My favorite is a 6 string all walnut McSpadden. Next is the 2nd dulcimer I purchased the first week of learning to play a little over a year ago, an all cherry 4 string Cletus Penny, hand crafted in Newton, Ga. Thinking of ordering a Penny Whistle maybe today.
Aside from the mountain dulcimer, I play banjo in clawhammer and minstrel stroke style... I play a LOT of banjo, actually more banjo than dulcimer (running for cover now).
I also love to 'play' limberjacks, and I dabble in playing the bones (minstrel style), and also bowed jouhikko or tagelharpa. I'm trying to learn to play a little tambourine too, at least to play it halfway decently- it's not that easy for me, and I feel like a total klutz sometimes! But fun is the keyword here. 
I live in the Hurricane zone. My retirement home/boat contain what little I own - some clothes, a few tools and books, and my dulcimers. It is, in somevery real sense, a survival kit/lifeboat. Do I
strange you should ask living here in tornado ally I have been thinking long and hard about this. The first thing I want out of the house in case of Fire is my dogs. they are kenneled every night in the room next to our bedroom. if I have to I'll open the front door and send them out on there own if I have to. Then make sure my wife went out with them. then back in our bedroom and grab my 12-string guitar and my six string also my dulcimers then as much sheet music as I can grab. lucky for use we are close to the ground so most of that goes out the window along with as much close as I can grab. If there is no time then my wife and hopefully the dogs.
A big thank you to all our veterans, and JPR I hope that music will be a soothing balm for you.
James Paul Reed said:
In the past, I've played soprano clarinet; soprano, alto, tenor and bari saxes; Native American flutes and percussion (back in my school days). When I had a sax quartet that performed in senior centers and nursing homes, we practiced at my house and my dog would always join us. She'd run away when I played clarinet as it was too high pitched for her. Then, when I'd play my bari sax, Sadie would come over and stick her snout into the bell to check where the noise was coming from. In the sax quartet, our lead alto player was 84 and the kid was only 50. For several years, I played in a New Horizons band (for seniors starting new instruments or returning to playing - there are more than 100-200 around the country); several community bands; a Shrine band; a 16 member jazz or dance band; and performed with a Native American flute circle. These days, I don't get out much as I'm struggling with terminal cancer from exposure to Agent Orange during my 3 tours of duty in Vietnam. So, I've downsized my instruments to some bamboo saxes, dulcimers and kalimbas since I can play them as long as I'm able to sit up. Since I'm still mobile, I'm hoping it'll be a long way off before I become chair-bound.
Kristi's got the best ukulele collection I'veever seen-----call me for a jam, Kristi; I'm local thru the 19th of November!
I play piano, penny whistle, mostly. USED to play clarinet, recorder, guitar. Have been known to experiment a bit withthe djembe (I have one from Senegal).Wish I was better at spoons and bones. REALLY wish I could play the cello..........
Kristi Keller said:
Ukuleles(12), guitar(2), Kona Bass,autoharp (2),
Wow! Lots of multi-takented people here!
I play the instruments in the photo (I didn't say I play them well 
). They are:
banjo (two five-strings: bluegrass and clawhammer [1910 Orpheum]types), mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer, and guitar (one of a couple of L'Arrivee six-strings). Not taken to the jam were electrics (Gibby six [LPC]and twelve [ES 335]), bass (Hofner Beatle), tenor banjo, lap steel, pennywhistles ( really can't play them
), and various percussion instruments. My most recent acquisition was a bohdran. I may eventually learn to play it and drive the wife, dog, and cat totally crazy. 
I gave the 1929 Martin to our daughter. I've been through a bunch of other instruments, mostly acoustic and electric guitars, plus some banjos - given away, traded, or stolen.
I had the best job, too - teaching school, so I was able to use them in the classroom (even the elctrics), a lot! Even conducted choirs and brought folk musicians into the school.
Don't forget to also check our FOTMD forum called "Adventures in 'Other' Instruments' located HERE , to see what other members are playing besides the mountain dulcimer!
"Kanikapila: The word kanikapila, literally "play music"has come to mean gathering together informally to sing and play.It was not so long ago that kanikapila was part of our daily lives in Hawai`i. Somehow over the last generation music has moved from the garage party to the concert stage. It has become something to listen to rather than participate in. There is a sense today that singing is reserved for those who are really good at it. Still, many people yearn to kanikapila."- He Mele Aloha, A Hawaiian Songbook
I have borrowed this quote from the forward of this book a number of times. Possibly some of you have seen me use it before. But it strikes a chord in me, and I use it when it seems appropriate. Especially since I'm not articulate enough to say something this profound on my own. There is a wide and varied musical pallet in the world, and while we may not all look to the same muse for inspiration, we all look to music as an expression of our own muse. (Muses?) The fact that I will never play or sing on the level of those who inspire me to play, I still, as above, "yearn to kanikapila."
In the wordfs of John Lee Hooker,"Let that boy boogie woogie. It's in him, and it's got to come out!"
Have fun, Y'all.
Paul
Robin, I'vesometimes regretted having dabbled with so many instruments as well. You know what they say: "Jack of all trades, master of none." But then I think about what a gift it is to be comfortable enough with music to trynew instruments . I "discovered" the dulcimer in my mid-40s but did not hesitate for a moment to buy one andlearn it on my own. That I felt comfortable doing so was a product of many years playing guitarand also "dabbling" with ukes andautoharps, mandolins and pennywhistles.
My daughter's piano teacher (whom we love and respectdearly)is a professional cellist.I consider her a "real" musician
and myself but a folk enthusiast. I do indeed envy her mastery of her instrument. However, if you had to pick one of us to help you form a jug band, I would assert without modesty that I'd be the better choice. And if you were having a barbeque and wanted some musical entertainment, I dare say our jug band would fare quite well even if we lack the virtuosity of a professional string quartet.
Paul's point is dead-on. Playing music can be a vocation even if it is not an occupation. "Dabbling" for personal enjoyment and growth is indeed avaluable venture. It saddens me that our society only values those activities that make money. Practicing an instrument is considered worthwhile if it leads to a paycheck but a waste of time if done purely for leisure. A story should be something we tell, not just something we read. Drama or comedy should be something we perform, not just something we watch on television. And music should be something we do, not something we purchase.
So dabble away, friend, and I'll be a-dabbling right next to you.
Robin Thompson said:
I wish people would stop tempting me with getting new instruments!!!
I'm sick and tired of being a mediocre player because I dabble too much.
Making music at home is waaaay too much fun! Ought to be illegal!
New Instrument Alert.......Got a new Banjammer from Mike Clemmer at the LDS Gathering.
Whoo Eeee what a blast to play this thing.
lol !
