Do You play any other instruments

[kupp]

What other instruments do you play?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif
I am trying to learn to play guitar as a second instrument.
But its just not the same.

[JimRichter]

Age 14 started playing guitar, using the Frederick Noad classical guitar series on PBS as a guide. Yes, I learned to play the Malaguena!

Age 15 (1983) started playing 5 string banjo after seeing Bela Fleck and the second incarnation of the New Grass Revival on Austin City Limits.

Also at age 15 turned away from acoustic guitar and focused on electric guitar after seeing SRV on Austin City Limits.

Age 18 started hacking away on mandolin when I was forced to while in a bluegrass band. Band had two banjo players, me and another guy and we traded off mandolin chores on a teens Gibson Army-Navy mando (not the greatest of bluegrass mandos)

Played in a bunch of bands through my 20's on electric guitar. Played bass for a year in one band just so I could get a regular gig.

Went back to bluegrass in my early 30's. Was living in Austin, TX wherever everybody is a guitar player, so went back to playing banjo.

Moved back to Indiana two years ago and started taking mandolin seriously (been my main instrument this whole time). Also trying my hand at flatpicking again (since I find my picking technique has improved incredibly learning mando).

At 36, I'm focusing on an instrument they had to force me to play almost 20 years ago when I considered myself a young hotshot banjoist. Oh, the evils of banjo playing

Jim

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

I started on guitar when my Dad took away all my Beatles records. Figured I'd just play the songs myself. After a few years of trying to be a guitar player, I took up banjo, after hearing the Circle album. I figured, "How much of this kind of music could there be?" When I heard the first real good mando player live, I was blown away, and started messing with that too. I actually played banjo later on in that fellow's band, so I got to study him up close for several years. His name was Mitchell Land, and the band was called The Stone Mountain Bluegrass Co. Alan Munde and Byron Berline also got their start with Mitch.

[John Flynn]

I played guitar for 20 years before taking up the mando. I was smitten immediately. Within about 2 years it became my main instrument. I rarely play the guitar anymore. A few years later I took up the harmonica and got pretty good at it, but I don't play it so much anymore either. The there is just nothing like the mandolin.

[ira]

many moons of harmonica playing prior to my 2 years on mando. its interesting how the 2 instruments are similar in many ways in terms of their function (and you can do some mean tremolo with both too!)

[WireBoy]

started with acoustic guitar in high school, also got a banjo after a few years. #took another 15 years before i got a mando. electric guitar a year or two after that. then after a few more years a couple of ukeleles, #then i got a bass a year ago. #I play at church on sundays and i take the electric (strat) bass and mando with me ( and my wife's 12 string) #I'll use whatever fits the mood of each song. #i've also got a balalika and puerto rican cuatro that i need to get more polished at.

[Eugene]

I mostly play guitar: early on, hard rock stuff, but now almost exclusively classical. #I did a short stint with jazz too. #I play a little bit of renaissance lute (specifically vihuela). #I have started playing mandolino: mandolin ancestor in six courses tuned g-b-e'-a'-d"-g", low to high. #I'm not certain these could be considered separate categories, but I also tweedle with early guitars and early mandolins. #I occasionally blow into a 6-hole American Indian flute.

[Bruce Evans]

My screen name, tocotodo, is two spanish words run together. "Toco todo" means "I play everything".

Of course, I don't play everything. The last time I made a list of instruments that I could at least play a little it came to 17.

My mother started me on piano when I was 7.
Played trombone in school through college.
Took up harmonica at 14, guitar at 16.
(Don't worry, I'm not going to list them all.)
Mandolin 6 years ago, ukulele 3 years ago.
Clawhammer banjo seriously about 3 months ago.

[Sellars]

I started out on acoustic spanish guitar, but after 2 years left that to play bass guitar. After several highschoolbands crashed down, I quit for 3 years alltogether (the shame!).

Then I picked up Electric guitar, then mandolin, then I sold my electric guitar to buy a lapsteel, which I sold to buy a ukulele, and a baglama. I also have a very nice palour guitar which I play from time to time.

That is where I am now: playing the mandolin, baglama, the ukulele, and occasionally my guitar

[danb]

I play bouzoukis of various tunings, tenor guitar, harmonicas too

by the way, tocotodo can also mean "I touch everything" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Django Fret]

I started on fiddle when I was a kid and it has the same tuning as a mandolin, so it might be a second instrument to consider taking up. That being said, it will probably take you a lot more time and practice to learn to play the fiddle than the guitar will.

[Scotti Adams]

yup...guitar and bass

[doanepoole]

I play mostly guitar when picking around the house. I love the full sounds you can coax out of a guitar through cross-pikcing and Carter-style.

Started playing mandolin because (a) guitar pickers are a dime a dozen, and (b) its harder to get a guitar to cut through lead-wise. Mandolin uses many of the same picking techniques, so the transition was easier than it would have been with, say, fiddle, and also I love the character of the mandolin as a melody instrument...listening to Norman Blake instrumental stuff really got me into adding the mando to my arsenal.

I had a brief and largely unsuccessful stint with clawhammer banjo...never got past G tuning.

[mad dawg]

As a child I took years of piano, and played organ in a garage band (can you say "Smoke on the Water"?). Later I took violin lessons, then left it to collect play bass guitar upon my return to the garage. Somewhere during this period I also played around with the Uke, and also played baritone horn in the Jr. High band. My older brother then gave me his old Gibson B-25 guitar, and I started playing bottleneck on it (this worked out OK to learn on, but blues is more authentic on a piece-of-#### with no sustain http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif ). More recently, one of my younger brothers loaned me a Shooglenifty CD (A Whisky Kiss) a few years ago, and I left all my other instruments to collect dust after getting my first mandolin. Now I'm thinking about breaking out the violin/fiddle again as a second instrument, but mandolin will remain my primary instrument.

[mandopete]

Clarinet.

[Keltic Fiddler]

I started out at the age of 8 learning to play violin. I kept at it for many years, playing only classical music, with orchestras and smyphonies, and the occasional string quartet. I have also dabbled a bit at piano. About 20 years ago I slowly got into playing Scottish fiddle tunes, then Irish fiddle tunes.

Then about 10 years ago, I started learning viola (for more classical), and bass guitar (for some Christian Rock music). About 4 years ago, I picked up the mandolin and started learning to play Celtic music. Since then, I have also learned Mountain Dulcimer and have begun to learn Tenor B***o.

Now with a collection of 3 fiddles, 2 violas, 2 mandos, 2 dulcimers, an acoustic bass, tenor b***o, and a baby grand piano, my wife has threatened me not to allow any more instruments follow me home.

[pklima]

I mostly play bass. I also have a mandola, a cello banjo, a guitar and an electric guitar with two necks - one in guitar tuning and the other with five strings tuned CGDAE. Used to have a troll cittern, a mandocello, a tenor banjo, a plectrum banjo, a tiple, and a few years ago also electric basses and a couple of baritone guitars. I could still play all those, I suppose, I just don't have any around at this time.

But bass is really the only thing that ever gets played outside of my house. Nobody ever says "leave the bass at home but bring the mandolin".

[Jim M.]

Fiddle is my best instrument. Also have 'zouk, National tenor guitar, mountain dulcimer, and cowboy harp. Trying to get decent on bodhran and doumbek too.

[Randy]

Guitar - '64
Alto Sax - '65
piano - '75
banjo - '94
mountain dulcimer - '94
hammer dulcimer - '96
pennywhistle - '00
mandolin - '01
(Gosh, I'm old.)
Throw in a classical guitar, keyboard, electric guitar and that's more than enough. Although dobro has a certain fascination for me. No, no, no. So little time - too many instruments.

[Bruce Evans]

by the way, tocotodo can also mean "I touch everything" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
It does???
Omigosh! I never thought of that! #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[R_Parent]

My main instrument is the pedal steel guitar (30 yrs). I also play a little dobro and added mandolin and mandola to the mix about 5-6 years ago. All are unique in their own way and it's fun seeing what musical direction each attempts to take you.

No.

I have purchased a "teach yourself to play the piano" book because I thought it might help me with reading music. #I was making good progress until extended family health issues took a lot of my free time.

[smilnJackB]

If it has strings and doesn't need a bow, I will try to play it. :-( I play quite a few things, all well enough to have fun, but none well enough to impress a real musician. Here is the order in which I have traveled: auto harp, guitar,mountain dulcimer self made, harmonica, banjo, mando,Irish whistle, fiddle (a failure)and concertina (just starting and with low expectations). Jack

[Peter Hackman]

The guitar was my first instrument and remains today,
after 46 years. About 45 years ago I tried to learn
the chromatic harmonica, but I never got the
technique right, how not to breathe.

I also
fooled around a bit with the 5-string in 1964,
learned a few rolls, even discovered a variant
of Keith style, but never got it together technically.
However it was nice to have this rudimentary knowledge of
the instrument, making it easier to convey certain ideas
to a banjo player.

Mandolin came last, around 1966-67.

[jlb]

However it was nice to have this rudimentary knowledge of
the instrument, making it easier to convey certain ideas
to a banjo player.

I've had this experience to. Specifically, "Grab a couple beers" means, "I'd like a beer, too"

[Landgrass]

Through Jr. High I played violin, viola, cello and a little bass viol in the orchestra. Gave it up to play hockey. Gave that up to play guitar in High School. Discovered Bluegrass in college. Took up the fiddle. Gave that up when my roommates girlfriend wanted her fiddle back (even though she didn't play!) Played some Telecaster in a country band in Texas. Visited Colorado and went to a jam at a bar. Decided I was going to be a mandolin player. Came home, bought a mando. Haven't played anything since although I'm looking to get a fiddle again. Never did fall prey to the evils of the b@nj*. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Unseen122]

I play 12 others and I am only 15 these would be: Bass, a little Guitar, a little Drums, Bodhran, High and Low Tin Whistle, Irish Flute, Bassoon, Great Highland Bagpipes, a little Trumpet, Baritone Horn, Ocirina,and Fiddle these are in no particular order. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Landgrass]

Through Jr. High I played violin, viola, cello and a little bass viol in the orchestra. Gave it up to play hockey. Gave that up to play guitar in High School. Discovered Bluegrass in college. Took up the fiddle. Gave that up when my roommates girlfriend wanted her fiddle back (even though she didn't play!) Played some Telecaster in a country band in Texas. Visited Colorado and went to a jam at a bar. Decided I was going to be a mandolin player. Came home, bought a mando. Haven't played anything since although I'm looking to get a fiddle again. Never did fall prey to the evils of the b@nj*. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[mandodebbie]

I used to play acoustic guitar back in high school. My Ex unfortunately loaned it to his buddy five years ago as I wasn't playing it very much much. I have heard that it is currently in Northern Saskatchewan. I have tried harmonica and mouthharp, but just for fun. I guess it's just mando for now.:cool:

[John Zimm]

I played guitar for 20 years before taking up the mando. I was smitten immediately. Within about 2 years it became my main instrument. I rarely play the guitar anymore. A few years later I took up the harmonica and got pretty good at it, but I don't play it so much anymore either. The there is just nothing like the mandolin.
That's funny, the same thing happened to me. I played classical guitar for about twelve years and then my Dad bought me a mandolin. I hardly ever touch the guitar anymore, while it is not uncommon to spend an entire evening with the mandolin. One day I want to learn the violin, but I think I need a teacher. It's hard to play without frets, for me anyway.

-John.

[cgwilsonjr]

I've played acoustic guitar for about twenty years. Played mandolin for about 10 years now. Originally, I was inspired by the playing of Jethro Burns (when he played with Steve Goodman) and then I discover Newgrass and Sam Bush and then Dawg and believe it or not, lastley, I discovered Monroe. Also, I have some fine Martin ukes that I like to play. Guitar and mandolin seem to go together so well that those two instruments are about as good as it gets.
Chuck

[G'DAE]

I played Guitar on & off for about 20 years. Since my other guitar playing friend & I decided to add a mando to spice things up, I hardly ever play the guitar anymore. Kinka scares me a bit how much I've lost in my guitar playing skills. SAD.(NOT) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[diarmait]

Clarinet - '84
Tenor Sax - '87
Alto Sax - '89
Tin Whistle - '94
Mandolin - '03

[Michael H Geimer]

Mandolin is my third instrument. I started on guitar as a teenager, but within a couple of years I had switched over to playing keyboards ... hey, it was the 80's!

Mandolin showed up on my radar just about two years ago, and I was quickly hooked.

But, last night at band practice I decided to play the piano instead, as I feel I've sorely neglected it too much since taking on instrument #3. It was such a blast! Of course, I was horridly rusty, but it was like catcing up with an old friend. It was even a nice surprise for my bandmates, as most of them have never really heard what I sound like as a pianist.

Nevertheless ... the mandolin is just so much easier to carry around! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

- Benig

[sdafolife]

well i started off by playing the violin in 7th grade. After that I thought learning keyboard would better my violin playing so i bought one. So yeah then I started playing percussion (bassdrum) for a school marching band. Then after I graduated middle school I bought a trumpet and started playing that for a little. As soon as I went to high school I didn't really play with the instruments anymore. I joined this choir/folk group and I started playing mandolin for them. I bought a drumset last christmas but i dont' really play it too much.I'm 17 now and in the 12th grade. I've started to get really serious with the mandolin since this summer, and I also picked up the violin again a month ago. we performed at a few places this summer. The best place would have to be at MGM grand Hotel in Las Vegas and I think thats what made me play more. Now i can't even go a day without playing my mandolin and violin

[sbarnes]

i have a masters degree in music and have made my living for 25+ years as a musician
bass player and keyboard player mostly....also band director now a theory teacher at jr. college....
have only been playing mandolin for 1.5 years and it's totally addictive....never have i spent so much time w/an instrument....don't know if all the time is paying off in real results but it sure is fun....

[ShaneJ]

I started playing guitar when I got one for my 9th birthday (1975), so next year will be 30 years (dang, getting old). #I never took lessons and just played by ear after learning chords from one of those old chord wheel things. #Moved on to 12-string trying to be John Denver, Jr., then to electric guitar trying to be Billy Gibbons, Jr. (ZZ Top). #Played a little bass, some drums, learned how to play chords and some songs by ear on piano. I actually learned Stairway to Heaven on piano and Floyd Cramer's Last Date on guitar (a little backwards). I tried fiddle for a year in college. #I actually took lessons for that, but I quickly found that my $100 fiddle wasn't going to get me anywhere. #Going fretless wasn't so bad, but pickless is tough http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif #

I found the mandolin about 18 months ago, and I've found it to be as addictive as guitar was for me as a kid. #I've actually improved my guitar playing as a result of actually putting more effort into learning theory and lead playing on mandolin. #I've always sang and written songs too, if that counts.

I can whistle pretty well (look out Andy Griffith!). #Oh, and I can play the HECK out of the radio! #I started on an old AM radio on a John Deere 4630. #The buttons didn't work, so I had to learn how to dial it in just right. #It takes talent. #My kids and their digitally-tuned FM radios....where's the fun in that? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Seriously though, I would like to thank everybody on this board. #I've picked up a lot that's helped my mandolin playing and guitar playing as well. #This place is great.

[mcmando]

Bass guitar: 27 years. Mando: 1 1/2 years.

Since i am now pretty much all bluegrass i usually stick with the mandolin. But i've been playing the drums since i was 3. I also know the trumpet which i dont truly enjoy. The mandolin is still my instument. I also hope to take up the guitar i always wanted too!

[jimbob]

I started taking piano lessons at about age 12...didn't last very long, but I inherited two guitars from my grandfather at about the same time...one was a 1962 J-45 which I still have and play all the time. I played trombone in grade school ( 4th- 6th grade) , junior high and high school. I opted not pursue a music related degree, so I put the horn aside. I picked up an old Kay 5-string during my first year of college and began learning my favorite instrument, at least favorite instrument at the time...about 1972...Earl Scruggs on Beverly Hillbillies and Buck Trent on Porter Waggonner were probably why I liked bajno so much. I was introduced to BG in Ft.Worth while going to school and I have dabbled with the banjo and guitar since then. I got my first mandolin during the Christmas holidays last year. I have really enjoyed it...wish I had tried it earlier, but better late than never.
I have never put the time and effort into any of the instruments to be very good, but I feel like the mandolin will be different...I will never be what I consider a good picker, but I find myself playing 2-3 hours every day and learning new songs as I go along. It is a lot of fun and not near as heavy as the old RB-250....

[jim_n_virginia]

besides the mandolin (5 years) I have been playing guitar for 25 years, mainly flatpicking.

I can fake it enough to make you think I can play
English Penny Whistle
harmonica
recorder
bass
congas

[Russ(String-Alley)]

for me its Mando, Dobro, lap and pedal steel, some banjo, uke and Guitar (6-7-12 strings and bari, even ones that plug in, LOL ) and some Bass when needed.

[Mark Normand]

Sing and play guitar, mess with my fiddle some, mess with my banjo almost never. And lately played someone's standup bass when not mando-ing. If you're a newer bluegrasser like me, get someone to show you a few standard progressions for the bass, I find it fun and easy. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[sonnyjammer]

I play the Zither and Xylophone, although not very well received at bluegrass jams. Has anyone here ever heard the infamous Gruntophone at Winfield played by the other Sonny the Chef? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Emmiemando]

I play a little guitar too. But it's not as addictive as the good 'ole mandolin. I figured if I ever played a second instrument, it would have to be the fiddle. Only because it's so close to the mando. So that's waht I did. I just got one yesterday.

[reindoggy]

main instrument:violin 40 yrs.
On the side: guitar 30 yrs., mando recently revived, octave mando-very recent, and bass- not much lately. Mando is now my obsession.

[GMatt]

Mandolin was my first instrument; I just got a classical guitar because I got a nail through my hand at work and lost all feeling in my middle finger. Playing the mandolin often proves difficult but the classy isn't as bad. I'm getting pretty decent at it but it was hard switching to such a wide neck and using no pick.

[Steve Williams]

Flat-top guitar
Fiddle
Dobro
Lap Steel
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[mandorado]

Kupp ... if you just want to play another instrument ... why not try the fiddle? It's not an easy instrument, but it is similar being tuned the same as the mandolin. I've been learning for about a year, and I'm having a blast. I think it has actually helped my mandolin playing (like playing shuffles and "getting" the groove of old-time fiddle tunes).

I also started on piano (7), then trombone, electric bass guitar, 6 string acoustic, harmonica, acoustic bass, mandolin, banjo (clawhammer), and now fiddle. I admit to being an amature on all of them, no matter how long I have been playing! lol But I can say ... I'm having FUN!

[frogbiscuit]

I started out on tuba, went to baritone ini the 6th grade. I started playing the guitar about age 18, am now starting the mandolin and the dulcimer. I also own a fiddle which I pick out a very few notes on.

[Jim Garber]

Piano was my first when I was about 8. Then guitar when I was about 12. The recorder when I was in college. I picked up the fiddle and the mandolin simultaneously when I was about 24. Then other frets and strings came along: ukulele, bass, autoharp, viola, mandola, mandocello, tenor and 5 string banjo, button accordion.

I like to have a closetful...

Jim

[fatt-dad]

In order of appearance:

Piano, trumpet, guitar, french horn, mandolin. The only ones I stayed with are the guitar and mandolin, but the mando gets all the time (even though I love my Martin). In college (circa 1970s) I actually almost changed my major from Geology to music - I was big-into the french horn at the time. But I figured I would never take a day job as a musician and spend my off time doing geology. So, stayed with geology and use my off time with music. Just now it's the mandolin.

fatt-dad

[mandopete]

I also own a fiddle which I pick out a very few notes on.
Although I don't play the fiddle I do believe it's customary to use a bow rather than a pick.

[CapnScarlett]

I play everything I can get my hands on, though the hammered dulcimer had me stumped for a day.

Guitar, various flutes, trumpet, piano, clarinet, various saxes and the harp. I can also play a couple songs on the accordion, hammered dulcimer, cello, and violin...though I wouldn't really consider myself proficient!

[Jim M.]

Violin first, then fiddle. Then mando and CBOM. Some tenor guitar, a little mountain dulcimer, a little bass. No wind instruments, just can't figure out embochure

[reindoggy]

Violin first, then fiddle. Then mando and CBOM. Some tenor guitar, a little mountain dulcimer, a little bass. No wind instruments, just can't figure out embochure
You just put your lips together and blow...... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[mrbook]

When I was 12, I wanted a banjo, but my parents got me a guitar, which I don't regret. Later a mandolin came along, then finally a banjo (Harmony Roy Smeck "professional" model, with bakelite rim and resonator). For awhile I wanted to play EVERYTHING, so autoharps, ukuleles, fiddles, hawaiian guitars, dobros, and other instruments showed up. Lately, I've concentrated on mandolin, banjo, guitar, and dobro, all the instruments I play in our band. There are still fiddles and autoharps around (my wife plays the latter, but not in public), and my acoustic bass guitar keeps getting loaned out to others who will play it with me (it's back at the moment, so perhaps I'll give it a try.

[Chip Booth]

Started on piano, moved to trumpet and flugel horn, picked up guitar as a teenager, of course. #Played some bass as a necessity only to learn I like it, then tried mandolin. For ten years didn't learn anything much past open G C and D on the mando. #Discovered upright bass a few years a go and still really love to play that, but truly got fired up about music for the first time in a while when I decided to learn the mandolin for real around the beginning of this year http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Jeffers]

Started violin at 7, highland bagpipes at 11. #Found these enjoyable on the whole but practicing after school each day often seemed like a chore. #Lost interest in the violin at about 18, but continued with the pipes.

At about 20, I really started enjoying the pipes and practicing because I wanted too - needless to say I got a lot better once that happened.

Yonder Mountain SB really grabbed my attention and with my violin background I got a mandolin a couple years ago - again needless to say I was instantly hooked!

Although the passion for playing instruments didn't kindle until about four years ago, I am extremely grateful for the musical experience I had growing up. #It would have been a lot harder starting from scratch age 22!

(Late at night with essay to write, somehow I feel compelled to post my life story - must be out of sheer boredom. #Maybe one day I'll get a passion for writing these darn essays ... then again maybe not. #Sweet mandolin dreams all!) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sleepy.gif

[springer_spaniel]

4th Grade to 6th Grade -- Clarinet
6th Grade to 22 yrs old-- Tenor Sax
8th to 9th Grade Bass Clarinet plus Tenor Sax
7th Grade to 22 yrs old -- Piano
10th grade to senior Year -- Flute plus above.
Junior year -- all of the above plus Bass drum in marching band

22 yrs old to 31 yrs old nothing ... The dark ages.

32 yrs Heard bluegrass for the first time

32 to now ( 39 ) Mandolin and piano again.

35 heard choro for the first time

36 applied circle of fifths to mando and re-discovered jazz. Don't know why it took so long.

The mandolin is the most "intuitive" instrument I've ever played. I love it and I will play it till the day I die.

My only regret is that it took me this long to discover it.

And as a bonus, my wife like it too.

[John Craton]

Began on violin at 10, flute at 12, piano at 14. Mandolin came in there somewhere, but I can't remember just when. Also played rebec, recorder, and viola da gamba in an early music consort in undergrad. Tried guitar for a bit, but decided not to desecrate another instrument. Mainly play mando and violin these days, banging away at the piano only to accompany my students.

[M. Hollen]

Started on the violin (classical) in 5th grade. Played it until I hit High School and discovered sports, then didn't touch it for 20 years http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif. Picked up blues harmonica about 10 years post high school. I then went to a party where bunch of guys were having a bluegrass jam. That got me reinterested in the fiddle. However, it didn't take long for me to go to mandolin. I've been playing that for about 3 years. I'm now trying to learn guitar. The mandolin has definitely helped with that. The other nice thing is that I discovered I can play half-way decently by ear which is a bonus. I don't play my fiddle much anymore but I will get it out once in a while. Primarily I am now playing mando and guitar with a little harmonica thrown it during jams.