You say it's not about anyone in particular, and yet... some of it seems to be about his father Leopold, and some of it seems to be about the Peter Shaffer version of Antonio Salieri.

I like it very much. What gave you the idea?

well, it really isn't. i only came on here a few days ago and i was posting some of my poetry and sometimes words bother me, you know? Plus, i'd had the "you're the reason why Mozart can't sleep at night" line stuck in my head for some time now, especially since I just came back from music camp and there were SO MANY PEOPLE there that were fantastic on their instruments...

see, I'm a musician (i've been playing oboe for 3 years, bassoon for 1 and a half, and flute for almost two months) and I tend to get jealous a lot when i hear others play. I don't know, i just feel untalented sometimes. And I guess i wish i was a prodigy.

Well, thanks! I'm glad you like it!

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_{i think i'm in love with the concept, but i know they'll never get that far}

Hey, don't feel untalented beside others. There are plenty of people who can't even play ANYTHING, nevermind the three AWESOME instruments you play. Really, that's incredible! I only play one band instrument and I can't read music... like... at all. I wish I could, but no. I SUCK at sheet music.

But I too am a musician. Just... not that KIND of musician. I do irish music primarily, and I play sixteen total instruments, and I do all that I do completely by ear. My sister and I travel around and perform Irish music for various events. Fairs, pubs and things.

Irish is my favorite, but I love many different genres of music, including classical.

I figure... it shouldn't matter what genre you're into, how many instruments you play or how well you play them. If you always have music in your head and in your heart, then you're a musician, and that's the language that unites us all. I love meeting anyone who loves music. Including you. lol

So, I guess... um... hello.

Well, thanks for the advice gosh, you made me feel so good about myself...what one band instrument do you play?

What do you mean not that KIND of a musician? You mean the dress-up-in-black-and-white-for-a-concert-at-the-concert-hall-and-have-to-sit-behind-fifteen-rows-of-ancient-violin-players kind of musician? 'Cuz that's the kind of musician I wanna be

SIXTEEN instruments? WOW, YOU ARE AMAZING! So, do you think you could list them all? You suck at sheet music? Do you mean, like you can't read the notes on the staff or read treble or tenor or bass clef? Well, even then, that doesn't matter, as long as you can FEEL the music, ya know?

Yeah, i know how you feel. So hard to pick one genre...

Good way of putting it! Say, are you a writer? LOL. Well, I enjoyed meeting you, too, considering anytime I tell somebody I like classical music, they look at me like i have nails stuck in my forehead.

Uh, yeah! Hello! I really haven't formally said "hi" to anyone I've started talking to. But you're the first.

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_{i think i'm in love with the concept, but i know they'll never get that far}

You're welcome. It's good making friends, isn't it?

Okay, the ONE band instrument I play is the clarinet. I'd like to say I learned it because of the sound and the beauty of the instrument. (Which is true now, I've grown to like it very much. In fact one of the reasons I like Mozart so much is because he was big on the clarinet too.) But the truth is, in fourth grade when we were trying out all the instruments, the clarinet was the only one I could get a sound out of. lol

As for the other fifteen...

Pennywhistle
Irish Flute
Mandolin
Mandocello
Irish bouzouki
Mandola
Irish Tenor Banjo
Piano
Standard Guitar
DADGAD Guitar
bodhran
English Concertina
Ocarina
Ukulele
Harmonica

I also dabble in Celtic harp, and I'm trying to acquire a set of uilleann pipes sometime in the near future. As I've had at least three mentors of mine request that I learn them. (My goal that I've been trying to keep up with is learning one instrument for every year I am old.) And something you should know: my collection looks impressive on paper, but I cheated in a way. The Irish Tenor Banjo, Mandocello, Mandolin, bouzouki, octave mandolin and mandola all share the same tuning pattern. Some may use different keys, but the fingering is basically the same pattern, and the Banjo, Mandocello, bouzouki, and Mandolin ARE in the same key, so if you can play one, you can in theory play the others. (Also,fun fact: those four are also tuned the same as a violin... which I cannot play, but my sister does.)

Now... I can pick sheet music apart if I HAVE to... slowly. I can read the notes... slowly. But it takes me forever to piece it together, and I'm not all that good at rhythm notation. Sheet music gives me trouble because I never worked on it.I was a stubborn goat and faked my way through band class and piano lessons. Rather than learn to read my part, I would listen to the other clarinets that had my part and was able to mimic back what they were playing without much trouble, so the teacher just assumed I was reading the part... except when she caught me playing melody a few times. And piano lessons were unusual because we spent more time coming up with left-hand accompaniment for my own pieces than we did learning from the book... so most of the note-taking I jotted down were the actual letters of the notes and not the standard staff notation.

Wow... that was a novel. Sorry... I got a little carried away with myself. Yes, I confess. I am, as you say, a writer. It's a blessing and a curse, I'm afraid. I have great fun with it, and I pass English with flying colors, but I also scare away my new acquaintances with my ghastly novels.

Okay. Apologies. I'm done. Your turn to write.

Oh, and by "not that KIND of musicain", I mean I do everything by ear, and I play with more of an oral-traditional folk style than I do sit down and practice. For me, no one tells me to practice... and I don't really call it practice. I just play. At home, by myself, with my family... wherever. I just play. lol

yes, and depending on the person, making friends can be so easy...

You're lucky. In fourth grade, we were forced to play the recorder and it was okay, I guess. I barely practiced, but yet the teacher selected me and a group of other students to play at the end of the year at graduation. One night, when I WAS practicing, my mom comes in and she told me I was really good at recorder. So I started thinking about joining band, and before sixth grade, when they let us try out instruments, I tried and tired but I couldn't get a sound out on the flute. This girl sanitizes an oboe reed and shows me how to hold it and what-do-you-know, I can get a sound out on the oboe! And all through sixth grade, I play oboe...til the middle of seventh grade when I have to do this honor band thing with five other kids from my school. Being a double reed player, I have to sit next to other oboes and the bassoons. I though the bassoon was like, the coolest thing ever, so when I get back, I tell my teacher all about the bassoon and she asks me if I want to try it out. I accepted, and at first, I HATED it. I didn't play it for like, five months. Until my band teacher wanted me to play it at the concert. And at the beginning of eight grade, I had no access to oboe reeds, so I learned more and more on the bassoon...and now I haven't played it in class in ages (but don't worry, I have practiced on it). I ended up learning flute two months or so ago from my friend, a phenomenal flautist (even though she won't admit it). And the same day I learned flute...I also kinda picked up clarinet, too. I don't play it in the band or, anything, but I can get a good few notes on it. It's almost funny how similar it is to the oboe, but only in some ways. OH! And I have played a song or too, before, on a English Horn, which is like a really big oboe. The only difference, really, is the size and the fact that English Horn is in the key of F.

WOW! You are amazing! I can only dream of knowing to play that many instruments! Hey, also...if you can play clarinet...then you can also play bass clarinet. The fingerings are all the same, so I've heard

I know how you feel about rhythms...gosh. I am horrible at sightreading...I just can't do it, at least not by myself. In class, I'm fine, but if I'm in an audition...I lock up, you know? I can do scales fine, but my mind freaks when it comes to sightreading.

Yes, yes, I know how you feel about writing. It's a pain when you have like seven plus stories going on at once and a billion other things to do...Ooh! You write novels? You'll have to show me some writing or yours sometime

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_{i think i'm in love with the concept, but i know they'll never get that far}

Well, no matter what, it's still cool. I hate practicing at home. I feel like everyone is listening to my mistakes...and even then...I play somewhat of unusual instruments...so it can be hard sometimes.

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_{i think i'm in love with the concept, but i know they'll never get that far}

Yeah, well the only way you're going to get any better is to keep playing.

Especially with woodwinds. The mistakes are noticeable. lol