Instrumentals

Piano - I started here 11 years ago, but as of late I've really been neglecting it. I'm planning on getting back into it fairly soon, though. I'm skilled enough to stomach some technically demanding pieces, but nothing really of pyrotechnic intensity. I'd really like to start learning some of Christopher O'Reilly's arrangements of Radiohead, which is my next project.

Guitar - I started here in late 2006, intending to play pieces of the same kind of complexity as I would on the piano, but just with more portability, and because of that, I REALLY took a liking to contemporary fingerstyle guitar music. Guys like Don Ross, Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, Michael Hedges, etc have all informed my guitar playing, especially in the use of extended technique and unorthodox tunings. Right now I'd call THIS my main instrument, just because of the sheer amount of time that I pour into it!

Vocal - I've been singing for six years, roughly. I've got a wide range, so my choirmaster tends to place me wherever she needs me, be it in the bass or in the tenor. I've also been cultivating my countertenor chops, so I can usually blend right in with the alto line and nobody is the wiser. ;)

Pennywhistle - I just dabble in this, but man is it ever fun! I like to cart it around in my jacket and pull it out at the most inappropriate moments possible.

Melodica - Another seriously fun one! I haven't played it in a long time, but it's a great way to combine the breath control from my vocal experience with my keyboard chops. I'm all right, but not great at it!

Hand Whistle - Hand whistling is great! I'm getting better, but it's a slow process. It's really easy to practice, though, considering that all you need is your hands!

Organ - I've got the means to practice it, but I suck at it because I don't practice it! My ultimate goal here is to learn Widor's Organ Toccata in F Major.

Didgeridoo - I dabble. I can circular breathe properly, but once again, I don't really practice it.

Timpani - This is what I play in my school's concert band. It's a great exercise in patiently counting for seventy bars while you wait for that one note.

Bass - I play it with guitar technique. Never really play long enough to learn proper bass fingerstyle, but what I can produce sounds all right. I tend to emulate the harmonic techniques of Jaco a lot when I mess with the bass.

Cello - I'm borrowing one from my school, but I REALLY wish I could play it!

I am a professional jazz musician, musical director and composer who has been fortunate to work with some of the most admired players in the field. If you know jazz, you know their names...and even with them being part of important and influential bands and stylistic movements, even with multiple Grammys/Oscars/Emmys on their shelves, even after winning both readers' and critics' polls, I can't think of one who would describe himself as having mastered his instrument. (OK, I know one who might *think* that in private, but he'd never say it out loud!)

But for the most part, these players are always pushing themselves to discover new approaches to their instruments. They stay in a learning posture, and that keeps them growing. No one expects a 15 year old to be a master--no one expects anyone to be one, in fact. To paraphrase Cannonball Adderly: "You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be great."

I play piano, drums, electric bass, upright bass, organ, synth programming, hand percussion, guitar, ukelele, keyboard derivatives like melodica and electric piano which might not seem like separate instruments until you're up on stage trying to make a personal statement with them, some trombone, some trumpet, harmonica, some dulcimer.

Hand Whistle - Hand whistling is great! I'm getting better, but it's a slow process. It's really easy to practice, though, considering that all you need is your hands!

YOU GO MAN! I love handwhistling - especially since I can do it anywhere and it will invariably do at least one of two things,

A. piss people off and annoy them to no end

B. get a lot of austere "WOW... that's cool - how do you do that?" looks from people.

I have an about an octave and a fifth in range, and I've seen some people with some amazing ranges. Keep working at it! I want to write a concert piece for hands eventually.

YOU GO MAN! I love handwhistling - especially since I can do it anywhere and it will invariably do at least one of two things,

A. piss people off and annoy them to no end

B. get a lot of austere "WOW... that's cool - how do you do that?" looks from people.

I have an about an octave and a fifth in range, and I've seen some people with some amazing ranges. Keep working at it! I want to write a concert piece for hands eventually.

Octave and a Fifth?! Man, what technique are you using to adjust the pitch? That's pretty amazing. I can get nice, clean notes in about a seven note range, afterwhich they sound horrible and airy. My mouth whistle is much more effective, 'cause I can get about 2 octaves+2. It completely overlaps the hand whistle range.

I open the hand out from the back (I've seen people do it by squeezing so the area inside of the hand is smaller, I can't figure it out but I think you can get 2.5+ octaves that way) I switch between two register techniques, one is lower, the other is about a fourth higher, both range about a 9th or so. The lower is with my fingers piled, the higher is with my fingers squished up together to make the resonating cavity in the hand smaller and nearer to the "blowhole". Takes me a split second to switch from one register to the other and they are slightly distinguishable by tone. But that's all fair because I can't mouth-whistle to save my life. I have less than an octave at less than audible and I've been trying it forever.

Dig this fellow - this is what inspired me. I modeled my technique after him, but I don't know if I have his range yet.

video taken from: http://www.riston.net/home/handcoo.htm

Mike Riston - Wayfaring Stranger with Hand-Whistle

and here's a guy doing the squeeze method:

M.Westerholm - Indian Hand Whistle: Au Privave