[MelvinPhilip]

Originally Posted by Sreesh1009

I'm not sure if such a thread exists, curious to know if any BHPIAN plays any kind of musical instruments?
I play the Tabla, have been learning for almost 9 years now. Every moment spent practicing and playing is pure bliss.

Hope to hear from all of you!

Well, I completed my Grade 8 and Grade 4 in Keyboards and Drums respectively with distinction from Trinity College London. I do play both Western and Indian Classical as well as Funk and Jazz. It's a nice thing to learn a musical instrument that can keep a positive environment around yourself. Took me around 13-14 years to complete the course but one can do it early by skipping some grades.

[vroom_vroom]

Aah... this topic is close to my heart... I always tell everyone, I am a software professional by choice and a musician by heart

I have tried my hands with multiple forms of music since childhood. Started with learning tabla when I was around 10 years old. Did that for a couple of years before I had to give it up for various reasons. I also used to sing well since my childhood, did not receive any formal education in vocal music though.

Fast-forward to 12 more years, now I am in college pursuing my B. Tech. where I meet a few like-minded friends and we end up making a band with me as the lead singer. Tried my hands on Guitar as well as keyboards during this time and realized that string instruments are not for me. Got introduced to a harmonica during this time. Time flies and we complete our graduation and the band splits with everyone headed to different destinations in their respective careers. As far as music goes, singing and playing keyboards and harmonica stayed with me.

I landed up in a management institute pursuing MBA. Again find like-minded friends and start practicing. Participated in and won few competitions. Tried my hands at playing percussion instruments like drums and conga drums during some performances. Patted my own back for the good job done . Finish my MBA and land up in Pune for a job. No like-minded people, no band. I just had my vocal cords and a harmonica for music.

This is where things turned from me being casual about music to take it as a serious hobby. Over the next few years, gifted myself a full-size keyboard (Yamaha PSR-295), a Hohner Chromatic harmonica. Recorded a few songs for my friends studying in FTII Pune. However, I still had an itch of going through formal education in music and especially Indian Classical Vocals.

Fast-forward to some time in Sep 2015. Found and met my guruji and started my formal education in Indian Classic music (vocals). It's been around 5 years that I have been learning music now, but there is still a lot to learn and I am very thankful to my respected guruji for guiding me. Appeared for the first-ever music exam (Gandharv Mahavidyalaya - Miraj) in 2019 and passed with good marks.

I still sing Bollywood songs in the family or other social gatherings. I still play keyboards and harmonica for my own pleasure.

Planning to join some piano classes if time permits.

So... that's my story about my affiliation with music and I hope there will be no end to it...

[vroom_vroom]

Originally Posted by praveen789

Digital - Keyboard - Gave away my initial Yamaha and splurged on the Casio PX560. It is absolutely brilliant and I am currently learning it through a piano course on Udemy).

How is your experience with Udemy? Even I want to learn keyboards but I am a little apprehensive about online music classes.

[vroom_vroom]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

Drummer here! I have been playing for more than 20 years now. I also teach kids in Pune part time.

I play both the acoustic as well as an electronic.

My son (8 years old) is interested in learning drums. Where do you teach in Pune? Can my son start at this age?

[puneetakhouri]

I come from a musically oriented family where everybody enjoys singing or music a lot. In fact our family gatherings are marked by extensive musical sessions. So it rubbed on all of us very early in our lives.
I have been playing the guitar (both electric and acoustic) for quite sometime now. My personal inclination is towards Heavy metal and hard rock (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, etc), but when you go out camping with friends, the natural choice is Hindi , so acoustic is all about Hindi.
My setup is an Ibanez GRG170DX along with a Zoom G1XN processor and a Pluto for acoustic.

[kunalsingh]

Originally Posted by Sreesh1009

I'm not sure if such a thread exists, curious to know if any BHPIAN plays any kind of musical instruments?
I play the Tabla, have been learning for almost 9 years now. Every moment spent practicing and playing is pure bliss.

Hope to hear from all of you!

Finally a thread for people like me! Thanks for starting this lovely initiative, Sreesh1009

I am a full-time musician and have been singing and playing the Guitar, Keys and Percussion(s) for a living. I've done my Visharad (B.A. Hons) in Hindustani Classical Singing from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith (Lucknow) and have also studied Contemporary Music Performance - Voice (Post Grad) from Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, Chennai along with Music Production and Audio Engineering from Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, Delhi.

My musical journey started right from school and college and I used to participate in cultural fests and competitions instead of studying (all this while doing my Bachelors in Economics from Kirori May College, Delhi University)! I started performing professionally after making it to the top finals on India's first English singing reality show, The Stage (Season 2) in 2015.


I'm extremely passionate about music, cars and travelling and my last gig was as a cruise musician (production singer/performer) on an international cruise ship. However, the cruise (and entertainment) industry was hit massively by the pandemic and I have since been spending most of my time working in my studio. However, I do really miss travelling around the world and performing and I hope to be able to get back to doing what I love soon!

Sharing pictures of some of my prized possessions (I love my instruments and take more care of them than myself) :










Also, sharing links to some of my music (shameless self-promotion) :

https://youtu.be/pM6QpL9meo4

https://youtu.be/GROLxoRSziw

https://youtu.be/n-XASbbKGyc

[praveen789]

Originally Posted by proton

https://www.udemy.com/course/pianofo...iano-keyboard/

BTW are you doing the above accompaniment course on Udemy?

Yes! this is the one I am currently doing. I feel once you get familiar with the concepts, the rest of the learning happens from playing around with the instrument yourself.

PianoMarvel does not have an Android app?! that is so disappointing!

Originally Posted by vroom_vroom

How is your experience with Udemy? Even I want to learn keyboards but I am a little apprehensive about online music classes.

Udemy has only recordings so it is not interactive from any angle. If you are self motivated and a quick learner, it is very good. However, the downside is that there is no corrections involved in case you are doing something wrong.

Since it is so cheap, you can give it a shot as there is nothing much to lose honestly!

[GTO]

Was an amateur guitarist for 1 - 2 years during my college days. The love for rock music got me hooked onto an acoustic guitar. Had a great professor who used to come home to teach. I was pretty good at songs like Don't Cry, and could also sing reasonably well. Went for my MBA to the States and the habit dropped. You can't imagine what a hit it was with the girls .

Originally Posted by Sreesh1009

I shall PM you the details.

A PM helps one person, a public post helps a thousand. Please share here on the thread itself .

Originally Posted by kunalsingh

I am a full-time musician and have been singing and playing the Guitar, Keys and Percussion(s) for a living.

Gosh, you are so talented man .

[proton]

Originally Posted by kunalsingh

I'm extremely passionate about music, cars and travelling and my last gig was as a cruise musician (production singer/performer) on an international cruise ship.

Wowee! You sound great, and I can make out it's not auto tune!

I did the Mediterranean cruise with Costa Fascinosa, and a Spanish guy won the Voice Costa, on board, with O Sole Mio!

[Sreesh1009]

Originally Posted by GTO

A PM helps one person, a public post helps a thousand. Please share here on the thread itself .

Fair enough. I initially started learning from Mr. Avijith Goswami who is a disciple of Pt. Anindo Chatterjee due to the close proximity of our houses I used to spend hours together at his place on the weekends.
Due to the Pandemic, I started learning from Mrs. Swarupa Ananth Sawkar who resides in Mumbai. She is a disciple of Ustad Zakir Hussain and his father Ustad Allah Rakha Khan. She was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list, and has an FB page called TablaNaari.

Hope this helps

Attaching links to their videos:

https://youtu.be/9DaTUTWA07g

https://youtu.be/OX_hIOr2aLc

[psispace]

Amateur guitarist here.

Started learning 18 years ago after a friend taught me some basics and I got addicted. Started attending classes in my free time. Due to my profession, I couldn't continue it officially. I pick up lessons and tricks on the way when I meet ' guitarist ' friends.
The ' Givson ' I had at the time is still with me and remains my only guitar. A friend tried to encourage me to get an electric guitar, but I didn't find myself worthy of anything better than this.

I am still learning when I can, but haven't made much progress. Youtube videos are my gurus. Apart from the occasional frustration, I find this to be a good stress reliever. I am particularly a fan of Marty Shwartz.
https://www.youtube.com/c/MartyMusic/playlists
Although its' not the classical way of teaching; for noobs like me, videos like these are a life saver.

There was a time when I used to patiently experiment and try to get the chords of songs. Its' utter joy when you find it. Later got a song book. Now the internet is full of such resources. I still remember the euphoria when I was able to finally play the entire opening intro sequence of Hotel California Accoustic Live version (Eagles) for the first time.

I also use the Ultimate Guitar app on the phone as a quick chord finder. The free version is ad cluttered and I found the paid version worth it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...bs&hl=en&gl=US

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ultima...bs/id357828853

Nice to see great musicians here.
My favourite percussion instrument is the Mridangam. Perhaps stemming from my affinity to Carnatic music. Tabla comes a close second. They form a blissful combo in South Indian movie songs.

Thanks Sreesh1009 for starting this thread.

[kunalsingh]

Originally Posted by GTO

Was an amateur guitarist for 1 - 2 years during my college days. The love for rock music got me hooked onto an acoustic guitar...

You can't imagine what a hit it was with the girls .

I agree 100% with this

Gosh, you are so talented man .

Thank you, GTO! Great to see that you and so many other members are so passionate about music.

Originally Posted by proton

Wowee! You sound great, and I can make out it's not auto tune!

I did the Mediterranean cruise with Costa Fascinosa, and a Spanish guy won the Voice Costa, on board, with O Sole Mio!

Thank you, Proton! Yes, I'm not a fan of pitch correction myself (hate the digital sounding effect of Auto-tune).

Also, Costa cruises are a lovely company to sail with. They're also one of the world's biggest cruising lines (Costa comes under Carnival). One of their ships used to dock with us at the Mumbai Port quite often (the Costa Victoria).

[51morris]

Originally Posted by Sreesh1009

I'm not sure if such a thread exists, curious to know if any BHPIAN plays any kind of musical instruments?
I play the Tabla, have been learning for almost 9 years now. Every moment spent practicing and playing is pure bliss.

Hope to hear from all of you!

Very refreshing thread - just like any form of music!!

I am learning to play the accordion. Not a very common instrument, but it has been in my family for the past 60 years. My late Father used to play the accordion and I always wanted to learn, but never got around to do it. Earlier this year, I found a very good teacher here in London and have been learning to play this wonderful instrument.

Especially during this "year of the pandemic", music has definitely help me stay sane!!

This is my accordion - An Italian brand called Sonola, famous for traditional accordion making.

Cheers,
Praveen

[Shreyas_H]

Great to see so many fellow musicians here.

Here's my stash!


Been playing for over 13 years now, can't imagine life without these

Used to be reasonably good at the guitar back in college, couldn't play as frequently as the years went by but have started playing more regularly now!

[proton]

Originally Posted by praveen789

PianoMarvel does not have an Android app?! that is so disappointing!

It has an ipad app. I did not load it because you need a camera dongle, and I don't want to buy it for my old ipad. New ones can use the typeC connector. PM works extremely well with type A (printer) connector, but using the mic on the PC can be managed in a stretch. Simply Piano is terribly buggy, got a refund.

https://youtu.be/Yujzx9D04ko

Here a Youtuber takes one for the team, buying subscriptions for all the apps, with good reviews, so you don't have to waste money. But she made a big mistake with the Rocky keyboard, USD80/-. You need a minimum Yamaha e363 with semi weighted keys, or you will not be able to adapt to acoustic piano. That is 61 keys, and Faber is hard to use with this config. Saving up for a Roland fp90, with 88 keys and a fully weighted action. If wifey finds out, we're looking at broken kneecaps here, people! The things we do for our art!