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  • Showing only topics in ~music with the tag "musicians". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Side projects that were actually good?

      Weezer are great but Matt Sharp's side project The Rentals were also great. The first album - Return of the Rentals shows pretty heavy Weezer influence in places, but female vocalists, violins,...

      Weezer are great but Matt Sharp's side project The Rentals were also great.

      The first album - Return of the Rentals shows pretty heavy Weezer influence in places, but female vocalists, violins, keyboards, bring a chaotic fun. I dunno, I was alive at the time and maybe it hasn't aged well?

      Anyway: what side projects do you think we actually good?

      34 votes
    2. What music/instruments have you been making/playing recently?

      I recently bought a banjo and have started the journey of learning how to play. It's my first instrument but I have been having a blast so far, which got me wondering — what have you all been...

      I recently bought a banjo and have started the journey of learning how to play. It's my first instrument but I have been having a blast so far, which got me wondering — what have you all been playing recently? This is not a reoccurring post, but maybe it could be, so let's use this as a place to talk about music-making related things: what have you been practicing, what techniques are you stuck on, what have you been playing around with, etc? Feel free to share or ask for advice.

      11 votes
    3. Self-taught guitar players: How did you do it? What do you wish you could go back and do differently when you were learning?

      I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage...

      I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage yet. I know chords and power chords and can transition between them pretty easily. I've been working on figuring out CAGED shapes, but still really struggle with playing scales and "solo-ing"...partly because (1) I have tried exploring music theory and "learning the notes on the fretboard", but it hasn't clicked for me yet, and (2) my fret fingers feel sluggish and don’t seem to move across the fretboard with the ease that I seem to have when switching chords.

      That said, I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now. Looking for some “pick me ups”, so to speak. And wanting to learn to play a few songs all the way through so I can feel more confident in my ability to actually play a song. But I don’t really want to get hung up on a difficult “solo” or a bunch of individual fretting stuff yet.

      As I thought about making this post, I figured it might be useful to also ask about some "beginner tips" on how to best stay motivated to stick with learning, practicing, and playing the guitar. If I'm going to keep this up, I want to really invest in it and stick with the guitar. Here are some additional questions/thoughts to hopefully trigger a discussion.

      Fellow guitarists:

      • What has helped you in the past?
      • What helped you get over the "discouraging" first steps of guitar playing and keep at it?
      • What were some of the first songs you were able to learn to play all the way through?
      • How did you learn the notes on the fretboard?
      • How did you learn to play different chords all around the neck?
      • What would you say to your younger self to help encourage them to continue pushing through the sticking points of guitar?
      • What was the "key" to getting guitar playing to "click" in your brain?

      Looking forward to seeing what advice fellow players can offer! Everyone's musical journey is different, and I am interested in learning how you learned to get to where you are now!

      30 votes
    4. What’s the best way to self-learn the piano and guitar?

      My whole life I have lived with the regret of not becoming proficient in a musical instrument. I grew up with a piano and acoustic guitar in my childhood home, and I actually took lessons for both...

      My whole life I have lived with the regret of not becoming proficient in a musical instrument. I grew up with a piano and acoustic guitar in my childhood home, and I actually took lessons for both but never committed to practicing or improving. As a result I grew up tinkering with both hit never learned how to read music or actually develop any fundamental techniques to play either.

      I am an autodidact and have always felt that with the right resources, and a little discipline, I could at least learn enough to play a few songs on either instrument, and possibly with time become a sight reader.

      To that end, I am curious, musicians of ~Tildes, what resources are the best to self-learn piano and guitar? Books, videos, apps, anything that you’ve used or know people have used and actually went from complete novice to reasonably proficient?

      Thanks and happy new year!

      31 votes
    5. The difficulty of supporting indie artists

      This post inspired by a story I read in another thread, where a guy gave support to a small-time musician who had actually quit for a while before it sounded like passion was reignited. Actually,...

      This post inspired by a story I read in another thread, where a guy gave support to a small-time musician who had actually quit for a while before it sounded like passion was reignited.

      Actually, let me give some context for this thought: I have an old friend who does a variety of arts, including acting and playing in a band. I'm pretty sure they're both side-gigs for him, but the stuff he posts on social media is all about "Support the small-time artists!"

      So between that and the post I read here... it got me thinking. There are some very nice things about going and seeing smaller artists in smaller venues- it may not be as crowded, and it will probably be cheaper than anything Ticketmaster has its greedy hands in. In addition, there might even be a chance to talk to the artist/musician at some point, and making those connections can lead to a variety of possibilities.

      So supporting these small-time artists can lead to a lot of great benefits... then what's the problem with it?

      As I thought about it, the first issue is: you have no idea what you're getting into. I'll be the first to admit it: I'm very, very picky with my music tastes. About a year or so ago, I was invited to see some friends of friends perform. Again, small-time artists. I went to support them... and ended up VERY disappointed. Mostly because, the style of music they played was not to my liking at all.

      Another difficulty of going to see small-time artists? In my case, I've been lucky to have gone to a variety of concerts to see big-name bands (side note: my preferred style of music is rock and metal), and after being used to those... seeing a small-time artist just feels very, very lacking (for obvious reasons). Sure, it is possible for them to improve given time- my friend that i mentioned above has done exactly that over the years- but the first impressions are super-important, especially when it comes to deciding if you want to continue supporting them or not.

      I enjoy music, and there are some cool things about supporting smaller artists... but at the same time, due to lack of advertising, you never know what you're going to get. It may be an awesome experience, or end up a complete flop. I want to know, for anyone who supports relatively unknown artists, what's your take on it?

      12 votes
    6. What were your favorite Canadian bands of the 1990s?

      Always a fan of Sloan here, but I was recently reminded of Pure and have been grooving to “Spiritual Pollution” and “Anna”. So make me a virtual mix tape: What were your fav Canadian bands,...

      Always a fan of Sloan here, but I was recently reminded of Pure and have been grooving to “Spiritual Pollution” and “Anna”. So make me a virtual mix tape: What were your fav Canadian bands, albums, or songs of the ‘90s?

      31 votes