# Acoustics & what other instrument?



## Guest (Sep 29, 2010)

Me and a friend (sometimes a 3rd guitar player too) get together and jam sometimes. My brother comes out for fun, beers and the social aspect.

What instrument would be easy for him to pick up and get involved? He's not a ukulele type guy.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Try a djembe, bongos or other type of hand drums. Easy to carry, won't overwhelm the sound of acoustics and most people can keep a basic beat even if they've never done anything musical before.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

get him to try a harmonica. 
he won't be John Popper, but he should be able to pick up the basic aspects pretty quickly.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Bottle opener???9kkhhd

Get him one of those shaker eggs.... and a tamborine...


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Hamstrung said:


> ...most people can keep a basic beat even if they've never done anything musical before.





shoretyus said:


> Get him one of those shaker eggs.... and a tamborine...


You've just struck on of my pet peeves - the notion that anyone can play percussion. Percussion appears easy to the casual observer, but poorly done it wreaks havoc on all of the other players. There are few things more frustrating than trying to play with a percussionist who can't land EXACTLY on the beat. IMHO

Depending on the style of music, an accordian (or keyboard where you can play a chord with a single key) is a great place to start. You can ignore the keys and just play chords with the left hand buttons. And it doesn't sound horrible if the changes are a bit late.

It also doesn't take long to learn a few chords on the mandolin.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

bw66 said:


> You've just struck on of my pet peeves - the notion that anyone can play percussion. Percussion appears easy to the casual observer, but poorly done it wreaks havoc on all of the other players. There are few things more frustrating than trying to play with a percussionist who can't land EXACTLY on the beat. IMHO


In a "real" band situation I might agree but my advice was given taking into consideration the "Fun, beers and social aspect" that wiley was describing. I doubt it would train-wreck the operation if his brother didn't have the technical prowess of Neil Peart or Mike Portnoy. Plus we're not talking a full kit here. Things can definitely go south with an amateur in that case!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Hamstrung said:


> In a "real" band situation I might agree but my advice was given taking into consideration the "Fun, beers and social aspect" that wiley was describing. I doubt it would train-wreck the operation if his brother didn't have the technical prowess of Neil Peart or Mike Portnoy. Plus we're not talking a full kit here. Things can definitely go south with an amateur in that case!


Mmmmm. I dunno. I can see a hand drum being okay, if the player is content to just play on One and Three, but even that is iffy; and, in the wrong hands, tambourines and shakers just suck the life out of a good jam.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Well. I'd go with the harmonica--if he has an idea of what to do.
But Bongos could be fun.

Just have some options, because if it's about fun he needs something he can contribute with, without having to be an expert.
Harmonica can be very tough, so can percussion, but for the uninitiated they can also be good starting points.

If it was more than fun, well maybe that wouldn't work.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

If you can find an auto-harp, they're a nice chording instrument and are dead simple.


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## mandoman (Jan 11, 2010)

Get a Mandolin dude, he can pick up lots of two finger chords fr the mando cafe..and play along with you guys.
lots of great tunes fr the mando also.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

mrmatt1972 said:


> If you can find an auto-harp, they're a nice chording instrument and are dead simple.



till it goes out of tune.......I used to play one for a bluegrass thing onetime

Shakers are cheap though:2guns:


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

You mentioned guitars but I see no acoustic bass in that ensemble, , he can always start off with one string at a time.ship


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## Grenvilleter (Dec 22, 2007)

Yes...reading this thread, I keep thinking bass...Bass...BASS. 
Nothing fills in the holes like a bass. It's pretty easy to do basic tick-tock bass.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

Grenvilleter said:


> Yes...reading this thread, I keep thinking bass...Bass...BASS.
> Nothing fills in the holes like a bass. It's pretty easy to do basic tick-tock bass.


yes- id say bass too.
i often hand non playing folks a bass, show them a few things, and if theyve got a bit of interest, good sounds happen.
hand drums are really good as well.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Grenvilleter said:


> Yes...reading this thread, I keep thinking bass...Bass...BASS.
> Nothing fills in the holes like a bass. It's pretty easy to do basic tick-tock bass.


I remember trying that with a friend of mine.

It didn't work too well, even when we gave him a bassline of E & A, so he only needed to play two open strings.

So it won't work with everybody


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## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

Cajon? The low frequency stuff and the high freq stuff you can generate with this simple thing can really add to Beer and Pizza jam.  I applaud his interest in getting involved. Who knows, you could have a musician on your hands, if you're not careful.


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