I played flute, and occasionally piccolo, from 5th grade all the way thru high school. Piano lessons from age 8-13. A few months of guitar lessons in high school. I got tired of the piano lessons, because my teacher only had me play classical selections and I wanted to play some more "modern" pieces. Now, of course, those classical numbers are what I wish I could play better. I look back at some of the things I used to play, and say, "Damn - I was pretty decent." I also used to be pretty good at a couple of Scott Joplin rags which I got into after The Sting movie was released. My hands are just big enough to reach an octave.
Our high school attempted a marching band, but there weren't enough people to make it a success, so we were more of a pep band. Way back then, there were no music holders for flutes or piccolos, so we had to memorize all the pieces. I think we only lasted one season.
I still have my Gemeinhardt flute, which my parents bought for me when I was 12, (I'm now 71), and I have a 1918 Gulbransen upright piano which I bought about 25 years ago when we moved to our present location - it's an old-fashioned player piano, with the foot pedals and the perforated paper rolls. My repertoire is very limited now, and I only play when I am home alone so no one can hear my mistakes.
I've been in a very small hand bell choir for about 10 years, at a very small Unitarian Universalist congregation. Very different to only be responsible for 3-4 notes. "My" bells are the E and F one octave above middle C, and their respective sharps and flats.
What did/do you play?
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