Ask Lemmy

I learned music on saxophone, I have both an alto and tenor stashed in my house. I haven't been able to play due to no community bands in my area. Thankfully it's almost like riding a bike, including my talent for playing by ear.

I've also dabbled in a few other instruments, most notably guitar (in high school) where I eventually was able to play most of One by Metallica. The only thing stopping me was that the guitar only had 22 frets, and that song required 24 with standard tuning.

I'm also an amateur with Hurdy Gurdy, which is a European folk instrument. I've been fascinated by them since I was a teenager, and got a kit a couple years ago. Unfortunately I haven't had time to play it this past year

Piano Flute Saxophones Bassoon Melodic percussion

Strongest on piano. I have dabbled a bit with accordion since a relative has one, beautiful instrument.

I play all the rock instruments and then some. I never got along with fretless strings or horns, because they require much more practice.

My main interests are in theory, composing and synthesizers, so I like instruments that are playable from a logic approach rather than muscle memory.

I'm still pretty technically decent with guitars and the djembe. Maybe blues harp too.

If I were to join a band, it'd probably be on bass though.

I can play some Zelda songs on the piano, not very well, but I enjoy it

Vocal Cords, expert

Woodwinds: (Flute, Bass Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Saxophone, Bari-Sax, Pan Pipes) Journeyman to Expert

Strings: (Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass) Journeyman

Brass: (Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba, Sousaphone, Cornet, Bugle) Apprentice to Journeyman

Percussion: Apprentice

Piano: Beginner, though I took lessons when I was 3-6, and I can sit and make it sound good, just can't play sheet music with one.

Guitar: Bass and Rhythm guitar: Apprentice. Can't do lead, chords mess with my fingers.

I've been playing instruments and singing my whole life.

Oh, technically I can play a recorder, but I hate that thing.

I can also "play" a didgeridoo, as in get consistent sound out of the thing. If there is more of a mastery than that, I don't know.

I play and teach bass for a living. Been playing for over 12 years and making my own tunes on the side.

I'm decent at mayonnaise.

Vocal Chords: Expert

Ocarina: Pretty good.

Harmonica: Decent.

Piano: Amateur.

Guitar: I can pluck strings and make it go "twang!"

Honorable mention to the mouth harp; I am not sure how you can be good or bad at it.

I started learning violin almost 3 years ago. I take lessons. I still suck a lot but I keep going because I do enjoy learning, even if it's often frustrating. I have absolutely no musical background and was actively encouraged not to pursue an instrument when I was young because of the expense, so I guess it's also a way to reclaim my childhood.

I'm a serious skin flutist. I play mine like a seasoned master of the highest order.

Modular synths for me. I built a "Synthcase" out of an old antique suitcase in 2025. Now I'm learning to tease signal from noise. 

At 9 I played violin.

I played guitar for 20 years (started at 10) in a somewhat successful few metal/hardcore/screamo bands.

I sang with some of the bands. I picked up bass and piano along the way. Can kinda play drums. Basic beats and understand most of the connections.

If I was to do it all again I would play bass. Probably the most intuitive for me. But it's hard to say that the others didn't lead to bass just seeming natural. But it was fun.

I play every instrument but very badly

I bet if I had a recorder, I could still rip a mean hot cross bunz.

Guitar. Been playing for close to 35 years now, and I'm half decent. I also play bass, but I consider myself a beginner.

And I was pretty good at trumpet when I was a kid, but I haven't played since I was 16.

Viola, with proficiency somewhere between beginner and just plain bad. But it's still fun (for a given value of"fun").

Cornet and Trumpet. I can play fairly advanced stuff but I don’t have the embouchure and can only keep it up for a few minutes.

Guitar: strumming and some finger picking. Took this up again during covid as I wanted to sing and play, which I can do now.

Piano: also from COVID. Slowly working through Alfreds but it’s fun so I don’t mind.

I play guitar. I have 15 now I think. I'm reasonably good, but every time you think you are good there is someone who is somehow 1000 fold better. I am not one to care to much about shredding ability. I'm more of a songwriter and entertainer.

I also play bass, harmonica, piano, jaw harp, but I suck big time at drums. I also have a stylophone that I play with for fun and write little melodies.

I play drums mostly as a way to exercise. I like to think I'm decent, but nowhere near good enough to play for people.

Piano, flute and drums :D i can still pick any of them up and play okay but I can't read music anymore which is a real shame. I can hear a song and figure it out on piano if given time.

Can play most brass instruments its just been a very long time since I've picked most of them up. Usually just Trombone when I get the fancy since I still have mine from high-school

i have a xaphoon

I play the cello decently well, I have played on and off for 8 years.

I play the ukulele. I am a rising beginner, but it’s shocking how much is available to me even at that level.

I just started teaching myself how to play the lyre! It's really fun. I'm getting the hang of it pretty quickly. 10/10 recommend the lyre

I spent a couple decades as a professional musician, and so I learned my way around a lot of instruments. I’d say bass is my best though - it’s absolutely my favorite. I’m not Thundercat but I’ll lay down rock grooves for you all week long.

Piano. Self taught since Covid. According to proper musically trained people I’m at about grade 6. Whatever that means.

Irish Penny Whistle. I can play slow things.

Wasn’t gonna answer, but ego got the best of me:

Guitar - 5
Trombone - 3 (was a 4)
Clarinet/bass clarinet - 3 (was a 4)
Drum kit - 3
Hang drum - 3
Alto sax - 2
Bass - 3 (low cuz I play like guitar)
Piano/keyboard - 2
MPC/finger drumming - 3 (if that counts)
Rainstick - 10

Started with guitar 21 years ago. Don't remember the exact timelines, but I picked up bass and piano within a couple years. Then drums and singing. Dabbled in mandolin, banjo, cello. Most stringed instruments, especially those in western music, are pretty similar so they're pretty easy to switch between. I even dabbled in clarinet because my older sister left it with my parents when she moved out, but I never put that much time into it.

My talents in each have waxed and wanted over the years. Guitar was always my primary preference.

The problem is that everyone and their mother can play guitar. It makes sense- tons of households have guitars lying around. Acoustics are a really cheap and easy entry point- any college student can pick one up and learn a few chords and start trying get attention. It fits in your dorm or in the car you're halfway living out of. There's also plenty of cheap box kits of really low-quality electric guitars + small practice amps that are affordable for parents, with the added benefit of making kids use headphones so you don't disturb the neighbors. Drum kits, by contrast, are expensive, big, difficult to move around (band practice pretty much always has to be at the drummer's place), and loud. So drummers are usually hard to find.

So I spent time in bands as a bassist and keyboardist. Two separate times I had wealthier friends who played guitar and had younger brothers whose parents purchased a drum kit, but those brothers never learned to play, so I ended up behind the kit even though I couldn't really practice on my own time. For a while I was the basisst in a band where the left-handed drummer didn't have room in his house, but there was room in my basement so I ended up messing around and learning to drum left-handed a bit too. I've been the lead guitarist, but only rarely outside of my solo stuff.

Bass is very similar to guitar. Different style, and I do think it's important to change your approach and technique (I don't use picks on bass), but a lot still translates. With keyboard I was never classically trained or anything- I mostly just learned guitar, bass, and vocals parts on keyboard. I put a lot of time into programming software synths. Often I would just match what those instruments were playing with a different texture, or just play chords underneath. As a keyboardist I would also be in charge of like, punctuation and sound effects. The kind of little extra things you don't notice on an album and often gets cut out of live shows.

I think I've been a decent singer. I initially took lessons with the intention of just being a background vocalist and maybe doing some acoustic open mic nights. I joined the choir in college and got selected as the best Bass to represent the school at an event one year. I kind of accidentally ended up as the lead singer of a few bands just by being the best singer in the band. Never just the lead singer though - always play drums or bass or guitar too. Singing is a lot of work- I needed to stay in shape, watch what I ate and drank (especially on the nights of practice or performance). It's easy to identify mistakes as you're playing an instrument, but for singing I would have to record myself and listen back to it a ton. I learned from my choir director all the little details to listen for- pitch drift, sloppy pronunciation, breathing issues, etc. And Satan forbid I catch a cold before a show. Right now I'm out of practice, so while I could totally rock out a karaoke night at a bar I would need a couple of months notice before playing a real show.

i play guitar and I'm decent, good enough to learn pretty much anything that isn't too technical/shreddy. I can sing but I'm super out of practice and same with bass. i was trying to learn piano/keyboard before I sold it so very very beginner at that

Been playing Bass on Rocksmith 2014 for about 5 years.

I just recently bought my first "real" Bass, and am in top 10 on most easy and medium versions of the songs. #1 on more than a few.

Never play without the game so while I feel like I can jam, I don't consider myself a musician.

I started with guitar, then bass, then piano.

Guitar over only really played for fun with other people. I've played bass in 3 bands, 2 of those publicly. Piano I've played solo at recitals and publicly a few times as part of an ensemble group. Guitar and bass were self taught, so I plateaued early on, but I take piano lessons now. I also have a sampler/drum machine I play around with and use to make backing tracks to practice the other instruments.

I'm not very good at any of them in my own opinion, but it doesn't take much to have fun. I think it's harder to be good alone than playing with other people, though as an introvert, it's hard to get over the initial hump of getting together with people.

I once played tuba.

My gift to music was deciding to stop and never play again.