Remembering songs , and playing an instrument .

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

  I have a really full memory , I'm afraid ( Oh.........self-depreciation !!!!!!!!! ) for pop-rock records/songs of the , ummm , 45 RPM era and a little bit after , I'd say that for - Oh , 1955 to 1992 or so , if a record made the Top 20 of the BILLBOARD Pop singles chart in the US it's probable that I could sing you a verse or so of it . Really .

  Singles , I was a Top 40/oldies pop kid , not albums , so don't throw up some Jethro Tull or Yes of Grand Funk , Railroad or non- , album cut up at me and expect me to sing THAT , I didn't say that .

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...I listened , at least later on , to a fairish amount of more " rock " material as well , starting mebbe when I was 16/17 - but its' singles , Top 40 , Casey Kasem/Dick Clark/Rick Dees/Cousin Brucie-land I am speaking of primarily here .

  I also have a fair amount of ( Assuming a standard Boomer , more or less , age here . ) Our Parents' Generation pop and show songs , especially the latter , songs associated w/a musical/production of sorts , rattling about in my head !

  Other stuff also... Really , I can - casually - sing a lot of 'em .

  I cannot play any instrument . ( Well...) I have thought of trying to learn some instrument enough to adequately accompany/back myself on singing such songs , and maybe other stuff , " Anglo-American tradition " pop songs are so heavily written to 4/4 or 3/4 or close time signatures that...Um , the point is , even just to make some noise unger me adequately , I have thought of , at my age , trying to learn some...Guitar ? The most obvious choice ? Some " sub-guitar " of sorts ? Mandolin ? Ukelele ?

[ClarkKent_DC]

I don't know which is easier to learn, guitar or piano, but guitar has the fantastic advantage of being portable.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

If you want something fairly simple AND portable, you can't beat the ukulele. It's experiencing a bit of a renaissance right now, so there are lots of choices. I'd say the piano is actually easier to learn than the guitar, since the notes are arrayed in front of you visually.

[doc photo]

I started with the guitar as a teenager,  then in my late twenties I set the instrument aside one day and didn't play again for nearly eighteen years. What amazed me most when I started playing again was the wealth of information available to people learning the guitar today. When I first started I had a hard time even finding a "teach yourself the guitar" book and the only magazine on the stands that I recall was Guitar Player. Today however there are tons of books, magazines and web sites dedicated to the guitar. Learning the instrument, provided you have the dedication, is easier than anytime in the past.

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...Yeah , it's something portable I was thinking of , that rather fits the (cough) internal " troubadour/ramblin' pickin'-strummin'-chordin' " image more never mind (cough cough) perhaps overly romantic " busking my way across Europe " , etc. , ideas I might have .