Why Don't More People Into Music Reproduction At Home Play Around With Musical Instruments


 In the pursuit of music reproduction in the home it is my firm belief that you must listen to live music every now & again so that you know & understand how real music,with real instruments,in real physical spaces sounds...
 With that as a foundation I used in judging equipment's "voice" I also believe that playing around with a musical instrument is an excellent way to gain first hand experience with musical sound...EVERY person that reads this can learn a few musical notes,on ANY musical instrument on the planet..For instance I play around with electric guitar.NO I can NOT play,but I can play the notes EFG,on first string & BCD on the second string...Now  I know those few notes & easily recognize them in any song..I am just this coming week going to start playing around with an electric keyboard....So I wonder,why don't more audiophiles simply play around with real instruments as part of their pursuit of honest reproduction in the home?Surely the education in reality is worth the $100.00 it takes to get an entry level guitar,keyboard,horn etc...
freediver
I tell people to get a great sounding ukulele (some inexpensive foreign made ones can be pretty damn good) if they want something to get going on...I have a Kamaka I bought in 1964 which led to a career as a musician (now there's piles of fancy guitars all over my house) and live sound technician. I don't know if this is connected to my home audio addiction, but I have worked with a few well regarded Jazz players who are also audio geeks...not many are, but so what?
Don't forget RSIs and perfectionism. All that practice is hard on older hands and fingers. When I was younger, my excuse was lack of talent and dedication to practice. I wish I had stuck with the piano beyond the child's first lesson book. It is good for any age brain...

At the end of his life, George Harrison drove around with a trunk full of ukuleles. Tom Petty told a story about George showing up at his place in the San Fernando Valley (on the other side of the Hollywood Hills), the two of them playing ukes for hours. George left Tom with a uke.

A cool related instrument is the mandolin, an instrument with eight strings (4 X 2), not unlike a 12-string guitar (6 X 2). Commonly used in Country and Bluegrass music. Sam Bush is a master on mandolin, Jerry Garcia's buddy David Grisman pretty good (for a hippie ;-) .