What other instruments did you play in high school/college?

[Sandaun]

Then I learnt the pedal steel, and if I'd had the money to buy one as well as the skill to play it, I would've probably gotten myself into hot water playing 'Trane licks in C&W tunes, and probably a chorus or two of Handel and Vivaldi ... (did I forget to say I taught myself the jaw harp then as well? Cheap as chips, teaches you harmonics, wonderful little instrument. You even hear it occasionally in rock and pop.) Then changed countries and thus schools, and my next instrument was the bagpipe chanter - I love the bagpipes, and no wonder, the sound of the bagpipes during the lead-up to Papua New Guinean Independence - like the sound of the brass bands and military bands - was a sound of celebration. But I couldn't afford those either, so that went by the way as well. After that, the violin, because I needed to read music - I was playing lap steel in a church band, and I didn't have a clue as to what I was supposed to be doing.

Went to Uni, got invalided out of my course with a TBI, dropped music for a couple of decades, picked up the recorder and ukulele, went to a brass band trombone class, threw in a few extras such as the tabla, clarinet, flute, and sax, then earthquakes struck Christchurch NZ, city I was resident in, and had to move. Took up the cello as well, and oud, and still wish I could get a pedal steel for those wild mashups of Vivaldi, Bach, Django, Hendrix and 'Trane! (Besides lutes, violas da gamba, marimbas, mridangam, pakhawaj, etc.)

[brad4d8]

Piano from an early age, through HS and as a minor in college. Flute/sax in college, got roped into playing bass clarinet in the concert band. Actually played more reeds than guitar for a long time, haven't touched a sax in years, pull out a flute about once a year, would need a lot of woodshedding to get it up to speed.

[JGinNJ]

Trumpet, and I still play, despite the frustration, angst, irrationality of it. All these years later, I still struggle mentally with it- like, get help!

I was never a marching band geek, I played in the orchestra. Before that, in jr. high I played in the stage band, but ended up switching to guitar. Along the way I got heavy into jazz, and my brother made the uninformed comment about jazz should have horns- so I switched my focus to trumpet. But, college was for electronics, not music, so I never got much beyond the practice room- but I kept up both well into my late 30's. I did put the trumpet away for several years in my 40's, then started again after a divorce. in my 50's I made some real progress, I thought, on both instruments, and playing opportunities like jam sessions and a big band appeared.

After a lifetime of practice and prep, with these new opportunities I discovered a bunch of things about my guitar vs. trumpet inner conflict. I could practice trumpet a lot, I'm still better on guitar with less effort. I liked playing guitar in a big band more than trumpet. I'm a good 2nd or 3rd trumpet, good soloist, but not a lead player. At jam sessions, I'd get performance anxiety on trumpet, but be more comfortable on guitar. Trumpet has a special sound, while guitar is a dime a dozen- but if I'm going to entertain friends, out comes the guitar. Guitar, I can take days or a week off, no big deal. Trumpet, after 2 days off, it takes days to get it back.

So, if you only play guitar and are happy with it, consider yourself lucky.

[dixiehwy25]

Everything in the brass family, and I mean everything! Played them all in everything from marching and concert band to jazz band. In fact I still have my Getzen nickel silver Eterna tilted bell trumpet in the case here at the house. From time to time I still ponder getting a valve trombone.

[gvurrdon]

Getting hold of a guitar wasn't possible until I went to university.
At school, the emphasis was on classical music and they were keen on training violinists, so I studied that. I had some piano lessons also. Later, I was also able to get lessons on the highland bagpipe; I could probably still play the bagpipe if I had the opportunity to practice.

[2bornot2bop]

Flugelhorn. But gave it up for football.

[Woody Sound]

It's a fairly standard term - Keyboard percussion instrument - Wikipedia - although more colloquially, most people would say "mallets" (which has its own downsides as a term, in my opinion).

Both "keyboard percussion" and "mallets" are thankfully less of a mouthful than saying "marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, and chimes." What I mostly want to express is that I never seriously studied unpitched percussion like snare drum, etc.

My adult nephew is one of those keyboard percussion guys. For some reason, he hates playing timpani, and can never explain to me why.

[Woody Sound]

From time to time I still ponder getting a valve trombone.

https://www.facebook.com/vegashornpl...4142955951573/

[Skip Ellis]

Started violin in 4th grade (had an uncle who built them) and played all the way through high school (not very good but learned to read). Inherited a 1936 0-17 Martin when I was 14 and started playing folk music (remember the 'great folk scare' of the 1960s?), then went on to the Ventures, Chet Atkins, JS and Wes. The 8 or so years of violin definitely made learning the guitar easier. Went to Florida for jr college and taught at a local music store, then to Oklahoma State where I took a single lesson from a local guy at a store - had to explain to him what a ii-V-I was so went on my own. Played too much guitar in college and ended up in the army with an all expense paid trip to beautiful SE Asia.

[Bob_Ross]

Started with a pair of drumsticks & a practice pad, but it feels disingenuous to say I "started" with drums...
Really started with flute in the 4th grade (age 8)
Then guitar at age 11 or 12
Electric bass (which btw is my principal instrument) at age 14
Then drums for real at age 16

...and then the corrollary:
- I stopped playing the flute at age 14
- I stopped playing drums at age 25
- I relegated the guitar to "Secondary Instrument" status at age 20, and so for the last 45 years I've only been playing it casually and/or when clients, bandmembers, or friends beg me to.

Still playing bass regularly, and presumably will until I die.

[Slapthatplank]

There's some interesting stories in here!

I played clarinet in 6th grade, then switched saxophones more frequently than my socks. Played tenor in 7th/8th, switched to alto in 9th, played soprano and alto and occasionally bari in 10th and 11th. My high school band director was all about marching band and didn't seem to care much for jazz, which was the opposite of what I wanted to do. I even played in drum line my sophomore year to try and spice it up a bit, but ended up dropping out of band before my senior year.

I tried out for a music scholarship in college on sax, and got the highest level award they had. The uni required participation in marching and pep bands, as well as symphonic, and I wasn't about playing "You can call me Al" for the 500th time so I turned it down. Didn't touch an instrument again until I turned 34 when I picked up guitar thanks to Mr Warren Haynes. Still plunking along at 48, but getting more serious as I really want to get better rather than "just good enough".

[sgosnell]

When I switched majors from a BS to a BA, I had to take a bunch of arts classes. I had always wanted to learn trumpet, so I bought one from a pawn shop and tried to enroll in a trumpet class. I was told that all the trumpet classes were filled, but there was an opening with a tuba player, and he could teach me trumpet. I wound up with an A in Tuba and never got near one, but I could make loud noises through a trumpet. I sort of gave it up after graduation, because practice rooms didn't exist, and I didn't even know that trumpet mutes existed. A nephew (through marriage) eventually put a big dent in one of the valve tubes, and that was the end of my trumpet playing.

While I was in the Army a friend who played sax also had an old clarinet, and after another friend and I made a 3-day weekend tour through Oklahoma and bought many gallons of Coors beer at the Tinker AFB Class 6 store, he traded me the clarinet for a case of it. I never got good at it, never had lessons, but I could play it a little. Haven't had it out of the case in years.

Listening to old Bob Wills records got me excited about Tiny Moore's 5-string electric mandolin playing, and I made a few from scratch because I couldn't find any to buy. I still have a couple, and still play them now and then.

[sgosnell]

Played too much guitar in college and ended up in the army with an all expense paid trip to beautiful SE Asia.

Weren't those all-expense-paid camping trips delightful? I think my least favorite camping trip was to Alaska in January, on more than one occasion, after the Great Southeast Asian War Games were over. I felt a little bad for the Marine battalion that came to it straight from Hawaii, about 45 below zero.

[digger]

Clarinet for me, from age eight until twelve, but I was never diligent and never any good. Got into guitar at age thirteen and joined my first band at fifteen. Around sixteen I was in my first serious band and, reading my school reports from that year onward, my academic career simply plummeted. Being in bands has been great, but ruined me academically.

Derek