We'd all be safer if everyone who was capable, had some basic proficiency, was carrying at all times

[eomer]

a musical instrument.

It's critical to the safety of our nation, and especially that of our children, that we learn to break out into music, whenever and wherever an opportunity arises.

That is all, "carry" on.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. I've always wished I could play either the violin or the oboe....

[Motown_Johnny]

16. so you are going to carry an oboe at all times?

I think maybe I would take up the harmonica instead

[Sekhmets Daughter]

20. Yeah...I'd put a strap on it and sling it over my shoulder.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. Public transportation would be torture. I hope you drive a convertable

edit typo

[Sekhmets Daughter]

24. Oboes are not that large....about 2 feet long...and rather slender...

[Hekate]

61. Ahh, two slender reeds...

I do love oboes.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

26. You may be thinking of the bassoon...

[Motown_Johnny]

78. You are right

at least I was thinking of something larger than an oboe.
My bad

[Phillip McCleod]

34. pick one up and start working on it!

its enriching even when one just putters around with it.

[Honeycombe8]

45. Oboe? That's a strange instrument to select above all others but the violin. Oboe?

Don't get me wrong. Oboes are nice, but....

[frazzled]

59. I have learned to LUV the oboe!

Ten years ago I might have said the same thing about the oboe you did. But since moving to my current city, we've (somewhat oddly) become big fans of going to the symphony. Not just any symphony, but the best symphony in America and among the top few in the world (the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). At any rate, we built up from going to concerts here and there to becoming subscribers and attending 10 concerts per year. We don't want to give up our fantastic (and really reasonably priced) seats, where we can watch every member and really understand how the pieces are put together ...

And I've fallen in love with the oboist ... and his oboe. It's beautiful. I wish I played one, so I could say: you'll have to pry my oboe from my cold, dead hands!

[pinboy3niner]

80. Where would Prokofiev's duck be without the oboe?

[DreamGypsy]

83. Or the cat...

without the clarinet.

I haven't picked a clarinet in at least 40 years and my embouchure is ancient history... but if some dude or dudette packing noise accosted me, shouting "The Cat Theme from Peter And The Wolf or your life!" I think I could still produce a recognizable facsimile:

ba ba baah ba ba bahh ba ba ba ba bahhhhhhh ba ba-ba ba ba-ba ba-ba-ba baaahhhh

and survive.

[surrealAmerican]

2. How do you assess proficiency?

I had some lessons, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear me play.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. ...

&hd=1

[pkdu]

4. Tuba-nuts all over this thread , in 3....2....1..

[longship]

12. Tubas in the Moonlight. Coming right up...

And as an encore, here's Gerard Hoffnung at Albert Hall doing Chopin Mazurka No 47 in F, scored for four contra-bass tubas:

You can't get enough tubas. So, here's the astounding Romanza second movement from Ralph Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto.

Be careful what you wish for.

[pkdu]

28. Access that quantity of Tuba video should be controlled!

Thanks tho! Really getting to like Ralph Vaughn Williams recently.

[longship]

65. I was let out of my straight jacket for the day.

[Warpy]

31. While anything from the Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival is great

I'll see that and raise you "Stairway to Heaven" with banjo and tuba.

[longship]

63. Touché... I bow to your tubanity.

But I had Bonzo Dog!! At least give me that for a close second.

Now where is my Taj Mahal... Blues tuba...

[jberryhill]

5. NO BAGPIPES!

The bagpipe is more accurately deemed a weapon than a "musical" instrument.

There should be restrictions on the ability to carry bagpipes in public.

The bagpipe is a piece of military equipment which was designed to terrify the enemy. Indiscrimate use of bagpipes is a public menace.

[riqster]

6. Why do bagpipers walk whilst playing?

To get away from the noise.

[jberryhill]

8. They don't even stop to pee!

[Betsy Ross]

13. How do your get two bagpipers in tune?

Shoot one.

What's the difference between a dead cat and a bagpipe? Drivers will swerve to avoid a dead cat in the road.

I know them all because I'm married to a piper. Fortunately, when he wants to practice he does it on the downtown streets of San Francisco.

[jberryhill]

14. Doesn't SF have a noise ordinance?

[UncleYoder]

25. Did you hear the one

about the bagpiper who parked his car with the windows open, forgetting that he had left his bagpipes in the back seat?

He rushed back as soon as he realized it, but it was too late--someone had already put another set of bagpipes in the car.

[riqster]

29. Perfect pitch with Bagpipes is...

...och, aboot twenty yards oot intae the loch.

[awoke_in_2003]

43. You can have my bagpipes...

When you pry them from my cold dead hands.

[Glassunion]

7. You can pry my assault guitar from my wicked shredding hand.

Or my picking hand.

Oooh I'm a nut. Gibson Les Paul custom with gold plate hardware, and mother of pearl inlays.

[awoke_in_2003]

47. I had a Standard...

with a Kahler tremolo. I work a ton of overtime so I could buy it (around 1990). My uncle stole it, and I haven't picked up a guitar since. NOTHING beats the sustain of a Les Paul.

[Glassunion]

55. The customs, unlike the standards are really heavy. Like boat anchor heavy.

I have not played my custom in about 4 days. But I know if I turn on the amp that it is plugged into, the last note I played on the guitar would still be resounding.

I bought that guitar back in '91 while bussing tables. Took me months to save up for it. Worth every penny. I'm truly sad to hear about your loss.

[awoke_in_2003]

64. Yeah, the Standard is heavy...

but the Custom takes it to a different level.

[GP6971]

9. Sure, why not? It worked

in The Sound of Music

[awoke_in_2003]

48. The first thing the Nazis did...

was limit instrument possession

[notadmblnd]

10. I don't know how to play it, but I own a Bass

and I'll use it if I have to . The only way the government will get it- is when they pry the bow from my cold dead hands

[baldguy]

11. "Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast"?

[pinboy3niner]

15. A challenge to a duel...

[Honeycombe8]

40. That makes my feet dance every time I hear it. Is there anything better than music like that?

I don't think so.

Except for soul, R&B, bluegrass, pop, rock, classical.......you name it. It's all great, and makes life worth livin'!

[Royal Sloan 09]

17. dueling banjos

oh noes

[Buns_of_Fire]

88. You haven't LIVED until you've heard Dueling Tubas! nt

[eomer]

93. I knew a tuba player who could outplay a clarinet on Clarinet Polka.

I was playing Clarinet Polka (the clarinet part) with a local polka band in central Texas and they surprised me in the middle by having the tuba player take a verse. This guy was amazing, definitely won the dueling "clarinets" that day. He was a band director at a high school in San Antonio at the time (early 70s).

[HereSince1628]

18. Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men...

Over there! Over there!

I shot the Sheriff...But I D.I.D. N.O.T. shoot the deputy!

[DirkGently]

19. A man with no instrument is a slave. A ukulele-carrying man is a CITIZEN.

[Motown_Johnny]

22. Just like in "Glee"?

[ananda]

23. Got me all right!

But it's a great sentiment.

[DollarBillHines]

27. Have you ever seen an Open Mic Night go bad?

Not a pretty sight.

"Hey, man, this is my slot!"

"F**k you, dude!"

You know...

[elleng]

30. RIIIIIIGHT!!!!

[SunSeeker]

39. Too cool.

[pkdu]

52. I'll "see" your Copenhagen Central Station and raise you a Sabadell...

http://www.flixxy.com/symphony-orchestra-flash-mob-sabadell-spain.htm#.UPi4uGt5mSM

[link:http://www.flixxy.com/symphony-orchestra-flash-mob-sabadell-spain.htm#.UPi4uGt5mSM|

[Hekate]

69. My all-time favorite!

Thanks for bringing it back.

[pkdu]

73. Mine too....although , this might be my new fave by the end of the evening...

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Hekate]

75. Those were the days, my friends, we thought they'd never end...

My little darling was an all-night screamer. Still, it's long ago enough that I LOL'd at this!

[elleng]

81. Thought of that, pkdu,

but didn't take the time to locate it.

[snooper2]

32. I thought you were going to say Chinese stars

[backscatter712]

33. I took piano lessons when I was a kid...

But pianos are not suitable for concealed carry...

[G_j]

35. K&R

It's true!

[pinboy3niner]

36. One of the last recorded videos of SF's famous Automatic Human Jukebox

Cue video to 3:40 to meet Grimes Poznikov, AHJ. He was a famous San Francisco street street performer.

[Honeycombe8]

37. Dance, boy, dance!

Some people don't dance. Or don't dance any more. But it's such a natural part of being human...life's not worth livin' w/o a little dancin'. And you can dance even if you can only move your arms or torso. Dance!

[AndyTiedye]

70. Dancing is the Best!

Why can't dance venues be open 24x7 the way "fitness centers" are? Dancing is VERY good exercise.

[Honeycombe8]

95. Dancing IS great exercise. Those dancers have amazing bodies. nt

[Fumesucker]

38. Welcome to Heaven, here's your harp

[Honeycombe8]

42. Booooo! I like the accordian! nt

[Fumesucker]

49. You like the accordion when it's played by someone who's never played it?

You're a tougher sophont than I am.

[Honeycombe8]

60. As well as I like the harp or violin when it's played by someone who's never played it. nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

92. Hearing "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" on an accordion will change your life! nt

[Honeycombe8]

41. You may be onto something, eomer. Who can kill someone while listening to, playing, or dancing to...

a person's favorite music? Music is used in therapy, isn't it? The right music makes a person happier, doesn't it?

[pinboy3niner]

50. But watch out for posers giving mixed messages...

[ReRe]

51. Boy, Oh Boy..... ;-)

K&R

.... I almost laid into you! You are soooooooo right about carrying a concealed instrument. A Jews Harp, a harmonica, a uke, a couple drumsticks, a recorder, a child's xylophone with mallets, a tambourine! Thanks, eomer, for this delightful idea!

[Melissa G]

53. eomer! I see you so rarely....

but when I do, It's always worthwhile!

[eomer]

62. Hi Melissa!

Great to hear from you.

(What a great response I got - DUers are amazing!)

[bowens43]

54. you really think you have the right to carry a banjo? Bullshit!

sure maybe a harmonica but not a freaking banjo

[Jackpine Radical]

56. What, are you nuts? That's DANGEROUS!!

[Hekate]

71. Yesss. I remember that.

[Melissa G]

91. Good memories...

Thanks for posting!

[southernyankeebelle]

57. Oh I love that idea. My grandfather had his own orchestra and he use to play on the radio

and he would teach individuals. He was so good at music. I wish my mother would have picked up on it. She can't carry any kind of tune. I don't care if it was her voice or her learning an instrument. What a waste. They took him off the radio because he wasn't a member of the fascist party in Italy. He always said music doesn't mix with politics. So the day they hanged Mussolini my mother and grandfather toasted with a glass a wine.

[muntrv]

58. Like in "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids?" That would be cool!

[Hekate]

66. Best I ever heard was an elderly fiddler in Ireland

Name of Sean. One night when he was performing for our group a woman strolled in, attracted to the music like a moth to flame, and began to dance. She was good. He got a devilish twinkle in his eye and began to play faster. She danced faster. He played faster. So it went until she gave up in exhaustion. And still he fiddled!

It was a wicked joyous experience, and I knew then how the American legends got started of a fiddler who could play the Devil down.

You are right, eomer -- we need a nation of musicians!

[kurtzapril4]

67. There is just too much violins in the world today.

It needs to be drummed into everyone's heads.

[AndyTiedye]

68. Could be a Bit of a Challenge for the Piano Players

[MrScorpio]

72. And speak two or more languages. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

74. I used to do that back in my hippie days.

I was a flute player and used to carry it with me everywhere. You never knew when a jam session would break out.

[Hekate]

76. I know a guy who still carries a bodhran stick in his back pocket

I've even heard him start tippity-tapping on an empty pizza box!

[Turbineguy]

77. Hmmm....

your ideas do not sound very conducive to the descent into chaos.

Do you wish to live in a proper civilized society by any chance?

[Pholus]

79. If you heard me play, you'd be grabbing my instrument in seconds... ;) nt

[Kalidurga]

82. This would be so awesome.

I even like trash can and saw music.

[Flashmann]

84. I'm with ya!!

I have two guitars and am in the process of drooling over which Telecaster will be my third...

[deutsey]

85. There have been many times while at work when I wanted

to reach for my guitar and just do some strumming.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

86. Only if we could pass some common-sense pitch-control legislation

... for the sake of our precious eardrums.

[Heidi]

87. Kick!

[kentauros]

89. I can't carry a tune,

but I do carry my voice, sometimes concealed

[Recursion]

90. Think of the tuba players, man!

Will someone please think of the tuba players!?!?!

[theKed]

94. Instruments dont make music

People do.