Okay, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask how many of you are actualy musicians.

 Without getting into full on resumes, I'll start by saying I started drum lessons when I was nine years old (I'm a drummer). In the late seventies (high school years) I played in a prog/fusion band that covered Cobham, Dixie Dregs, King Crimson, Lenny White, Zappa, Captain Beyond, and wrote original tunes. I've played in college jazz band, concert band, marching band and orchestra. I've performed in several community theater productions, as well as reggae bands and jazz bands. I have had articles on round, canon, and fugue for drumset published by an academic society, as well as an article on music pedagogy for primary learners. I have recently begun studyiing Chapman Stick and tabla. I have a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from a U.S. university and I graduated summa cum laude. I am an active teacher and performer in my community.

I have never recorded a CD. I don't have a band you've ever heard of. I've never played with anyone you've ever heard of. No, you've never heard of me.

II'm not trying to brag, I just want to get an idea of who I'm talking to on this forum and what level of musical/artistic experience I'm dealing with on this forum.

I used to play drums. Never played prog though. Didn't know anyone who would have a) wanted to b) have been capable of playing it..

Played drums once, my band even had a proggish, Rushlike "epic"..wot I wrote........ok co wrote.

It was about an evil wizard, a victimised populace and a trapped army in a valley.

BebieM wrote: I've been playing the oboe for about 6 years now, and also started playing tenor sax this year. Obviously that doesn't make me an actual musician, but I do know how to play some stuff.

I'm playing in a "teenager" rock/metal band. I've been playing drums for 2 years and have this band for 2 months.

You can find samples in: http://www.soundclick.com/shatteredsanity - http://www.soundclick.com/shatteredsanity  (please dont throw rocks)

I'm slowly convincing the other members to play more prog stuff and we 're gonna try Prison Sex from Tool and Windowpane from Opeth

Snow Dog wrote: Played drums once, my band even had a proggish, Rushlike "epic"..wot I wrote........ok co wrote. It was about an evil wizard, a victimised populace and a trapped army in a valley.

I didn't know you were a songwriter Snowy. Does this epic exist in MP3 format for us all to hear then?

I started playing piano at the age of 9, so it's been 11 years now.

I've played classical recitals, participated in school jazz bands, Jazz jam nights in local jazz clubs.

Currently I'm a keyboardist in a prog rock band Half Past Four. We played quite a few shows in our hometown Toronto as well as Montreal, Chicago, and Detroit.  Got some rehearsal-studio-off-the-floor and live concert mp3s on http://www.halfpastfour.com - www.halfpastfour.com . Currently preparing to record a demo with our digi001 and protools.

I started on the piano aged 4, and to the best of my knowledge was singing from about age 6 - at least, that's when I was joined into the church choir by my mother.

I obtained grade 8 piano aged 15, grade 8 theory a few months later, and grade 8 singing aged 17. I also took some exams on other instruments, but I've forgotten what I got.

I upgraded my grade 8s to a B.A. in music, plus teaching diplomas in singing and piano after a few years gigging in various bands after having taught myself guitar and bass guitar.

I've also been in various choirs and performed recitals of "classical" and old-time music hall, for which I have a disturbing passion.

My favourite "performance" was doing the music for a production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", in which I was acting as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and had recorded much of the backing music onto tape, but also encouraged the actors to get into the vibe and sing a capella - which I thought worked really well.

I'm still bashing out tunes in a studio with a work colleague - some of which are on http://www.myspace.com/Certifed - MySpace .

I just can't stop writing... but I won't give up the day job just yet

chopper wrote: Snow Dog wrote: Played drums once, my band even had a proggish, Rushlike "epic"..wot I wrote........ok co wrote. It was about an evil wizard, a victimised populace and a trapped army in a valley. I didn't know you were a songwriter Snowy. Does this epic exist in MP3 format for us all to hear then?

Fortunately not!

sularetal wrote: BebieM wrote: I've been playing the oboe for about 6 years now, and also started playing tenor sax this year. Obviously that doesn't make me an actual musician, but I do know how to play some stuff. I'm playing in a "teenager" rock/metal band. I've been playing drums for 2 years and have this band for 2 months. You can find samples in: http://www.soundclick.com/shatteredsanity - http://www.soundclick.com/shatteredsanity  (please dont throw rocks) I'm slowly convincing the other members to play more prog stuff and we 're gonna try Prison Sex from Tool and Windowpane from Opeth

Pretty good.

I am a drummer/percussionist/piano player.  I am self-taught, with 15 years of drumming behind me.

i sing 2112

& sleepwalkers

I have a three man band with no drummer ejejeje, but only we cant find one. We are a singer who writes most of the lyrics, a bass player/second guitarrist and me, the main guitarrist and music composer. We have made enought songs to make an album, but until we dont have a drummer that cant be...and a keyboardist would be great too!

We are called Son of none, we only do original songs and are hard prog...in the vain of Rush I guess...but less drumms and not much of virtuosim bass ether jejejee No I guess that a good thing is that we dont sound too much like any band because we are influenced by a lot of great bands...such as, well Rush, I like to think we have some Yes, maybe some Crimson, definitly Led Zeppelin, Genesis also and some metal...some Metallica maybe...early Metallica that is!

I think our music is pretty good...well we dont create masterpieces, after all we are jsut three young boys, me being the only one over 18!

Currently we are doing an epic...uuuu, will se how that comes out!

I played Drums in a Rock Band in the early - mid 70's. Never did anything remotely prog though.

I currently play at the piano & make music on my computer & put out CD's that noone buys. I'm not terribly gifted as a keyboardist, being essentially self-taught & lacking in large part any self-discipline. But I can write music with the assistance of my PC.

You can find my Instrumental Rock stuff at http://www.soundclick.com/aardvarktxusa - http://www.soundclick.com/aardvarktxusa

& my Classical/New Age stuff at http://www.soundclick.com/polaristxusa - http://www.soundclick.com/polaristxusa

I have been playing violin over 20 years and have performed in Lincoln Center, Tweeter Center, First Union Center, etc.  I have been in bands ranging from Irish rebel music, Kirtan pop and spacerock.  I have played with Nik Turner and Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind and guested with Thee Maximalists.  I also occasionally play with Philly-area spacerock band Scattered Planets.

I have done session work for other musicians and have released my first electric violin CD in September.  :)  I have just begun doing violin tracks for Systems Theory's 2nd album, "Codetalkers" and will be working on another solo CD shortly after that. 

I also teach violin 6 days/week at 2 different private music schools.. 

Cyndee

I play sax in a brass band!!I'd like to play some jazz or prog music!!

But at the end i like the music I play!!

Piano and keyboards for many years.

Actually, learning guitar at the moment, as well.

Do a bit of writing, too. Probably not good.

Well let’s see, I started Violin lesson at age 10,

Got tired of that very quickly, I then started Guitar

Lessons age 12 and have been playing for 4 years

And I own four guitars, a couple of acoustic and

Electrics, my favorite is a hollow-body Rickenbacker

Electric.

I was also in a choir for about three years until I

Tragically lost my singing voice!

I play guitar, bass, lap steel, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, flute, keyboards, Moog, ARP, and PAIA synthesizers, and drums.

I played in various bands throughout my late teens and early twenties. In those bands we did mostly originals and some covers. Nothing too prog inspired, more "bar band" stuff.

Since 1995 or so I have recorded 7 albums and 7 E.P.'s of original music in my home studios. My music is pretty versatile ranging from acoustic to heavy metal to bluegrass to electronic to prog. Since I have gotten a Mellotron (software version) my music is starting to become a little "Proggier". All of the albums/E.P.'s I make are private press type of things. I write and record them and then press a few of them to give to family and friends. I have no contracts with labels or anything. I do it because I love and need to be creative and compose music.

A lot of my albums and E.P's are "experimental" in nature. One of my E.P.'s called "Moog Music" featured pieces in which I played pre-recorded taped through my Moog Micromoog synthesizer. As the tapes played through the Moog I would then "process" the tapes using the Moog's filter and modulation capabilities re-recording the "processed" tapes digitally on my computer at the same time. I have another E.P. called "Duets For Synthesizer" in which the pieces consist of Moog Micromoog and ARP Odyssey synthesizer "duets".

The last album I recorded is called "A Thread Of Light In The Cloak Of Darkness". It is an album of "loop" music created on guitar and electric piano. All of the pieces start with one loop and then I add other loops on top of the first until the pieces become walls of sound. This idea was very much inspired by Brian Eno. You can check out this album at my music download page at http://www.soundlift.com/band/music.php?id=102893 - http://www.soundlift.com/band/music.php?id=102893

Since 1996 I have also played with a band called "House Music" in which 100% of what we play is improvised. We tend to be very "Proggy". I play guitar, keyboards, and drums in "House Music". Now that I have the software Mellotron I am dying to get a laptop computer so I can play the Mellotron "live" with them as well. I have recorded 18 albums with "House Music".

I am also half of a bluegrass/old style country blues duo called "Spooky Garcia" in which I play guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, and lap steel guitar. We are working on our first CD.

Started playing Recorder at 5. Went onto Piano/Keyboards and Violin at 8. Got onto Grade four on Violin (my only official grade). Was a member of School Choirs and Orchestras and a local county orchestra. Started Guitars and bass at 15. Drums at 16. Also own and can play (though not very well), Bagpipes, Kazoo, Bongos and Flute.

Never been in a "proper" band yet. Use to be in a heavy metal band and played a few gigs. Now working on a prog band (duh!).

Biggest live achievements so far is:

Done some school pantomines which involved singing solos and stuff.
Orchestra Concert in some London Hall in front of 500 people.
Went on tour for three months with my Great Aunties Orchestra.

My mums family is VERY musical, so I guess that's where I get it from. Great Aunt was conductor of a well known orchestra. Gran did Piano lessons and some conducting. Also played Organ in church. Grandad taught Violin. One Uncle played Claronet (Sp?) and another guitar in his own metal band... you get the idea.

Basically I'm "keeping the flame alive" in our family. My cousins are also learning to play instruments.

I started attending piano lessons around the age of 10, and progressed down that path for a couple of years, then finally picked up a guitar at around the age of 14. I then got addicted to listening to shred and virtuoso rock, so pursued that path with my guitar playing. I started playing in a garageband at 16, which went nowhere. I then joined a pop/rock band at 18, and got bored with that quite quickly. At the same time I joined an acoustic Jazz covers band, that I still gig with, to this day. Also had a foray into progressive metal, with a band called 'Sanction', unfortunately things didn't work out with them either.

So, about a year and a half ago, I decided to record my own solo album, which I finished up production on in early January this year, I have a couple of samples from it, at the links in my sig. Some songs may sound a little dated, but a lot of my influences are quite old so I think that was a natural occurence . I also currently teach guitar professionaly, whilst trying to get my musical aspirations off the ground, aka my solo musical project, titled 'The Theory.'

Garfo.

Snow Dog wrote: Played drums once, my band even had a proggish, Rushlike "epic"..wot I wrote........ok co wrote. It was about an evil wizard, a victimised populace and a trapped army in a valley.

Sounds sweet.

I just started playing Guitar about 6 months ago, but its coming along really slow. But I keep on practicing every day I can, and lately, I've noticed a differance in my level of talent. Its just too bad I will never get famous because im so ugly.

I have never been able to figure out why attractive people who decide they can sing can sell albums. Just look at Brittany Spears, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, or pretty much any female singer around today. They all look like playboy models who decided to pick up a mike and wail and moan into it.

One time I actually thought I was watching a soft core porno because of the lack of clothes and the panting and moaning into the microphone. When the topless guys came onto the scene and started pelvic thrusting at the singer, I realized it was actually a music video.