I’m not sure if this originated with him or not, but the late, great Johnny Carson used to say something that, as a musician, still strikes a funny chord with me…so I thought I’d pass it along to you as well. Enjoy!
“The least spoken phrase in the English language is ‘That’s the banjo player’s Porsche.’”
Johnny Carson, king of late-night comedy
With apologies to Steve Martin and all of the other exceedingly talented banjo players out there who may also own Porsches. :-)
To the banjo-playing PTMs (Part-Time Musicians) among us, I must apologize in advance. The banjo is a fascinating instrument, combining elements of various other stringed instruments (frets, bridge) and percussion as well (head/membrane)…but its uniqueness makes it somewhat of a target. That said, since we (usually) choose which instrument to play…deal with it! ;-)
Q: Why do some people have an instant aversion to banjo players? A: It saves time in the long run.
Glenn Donnellan, professional violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra, recently made his own electric violin…from a baseball bat. Yes, you read that correctly! Here is the video of Glenn playing the Star-Spangled Banner on his batolin:
This is one of those cases where the interests of Full-Time Musicians (FTMs) and Part-Time Musicians (PTMs) overlap. Many PTMs enjoy tinkering with their instruments nearly as much as they do playing them. It’s another creative outlet, one that some find stressful and others find relaxing. Go figure.
While I do enjoy tinkering a bit myself, for major tasks and/or adjustments, we take our instruments to the professionals at our local instrument shop. Or the sporting goods store, depending upon who is working that day.
