I used to fool around with playing mandolin years ago. It was fun, but I never really got good at it. It's tuned like a violin but with double strings. I mostly just played chords on it, sometimes in order to sing folk songs.

I love slide whistle, harmonica, kazoo, drums, and way more I won't be able to list.

@larrys , that is really nice, I enjoyed the little video of the tongue drum!  Looks like a lot of fun, and it's a pretty sound too.

Yes its made of metal. And it has 3 rubber feet on the bottom with a rubber plug in the bottom. If you remove it you can tune it with magnets on the underside of the tongues.

Cool video of the tongue drum, @larrys !  

Do they have flat bottoms so they don't roll around, I guess?  Do they sound louder/better when played on a hard surface as opposed to in the lap?  Are yours made of metal?

I got a couple of tongue drums recently, theyre quite  fun things to play around with. You can get them in many keys including strange, minor keys. And you can tune them yourself with little magnets.

Tongue drum

I guess bodhrans just naturally go real well with penny whistles.   

I have a few frame drums that I enjoy for fun, but have never been able to get good on them. 😥

Well.......just ordered my Xmas present.

Seydel Saxony orchestra tuned chromatic harmonica. Most of my harmonicas have ABS combs, but this one has an aluminium comb, so now I'm looking forward to seeing how different the tone will be.

If the guitar isn't a pleasure any more, take a look at ukulele, lots of guitarists have taken to them.

Flutes are nice, but I've had difficulty in obtaining my embouchure, it comes & goes, but I keep trying. I now have a couple of nice keyless 'simple system' flutes (& piccolos) in my collection.

Acoustic guitar - my choice to make my neighbours happy ;D Seriously, i play guitar for more then 10 years, and it's getting less funny and interesting for me, but i keep playing sometimes. Now i try to learn play flute as good as i play guitar, or even better(i'm not sure for that)

Good for you, Larry, I hope it works out OK, I used to like mine, it was just a bit too quiet for me.

Decided to try out a (cheap) bamboo Chinese Dizi - it arrived with some 'membrane' in a packet, no idea what it was meant for, but there seemed to be one too many holes, so I taped it up, & now I have a spare bamboo flute in 'F'.

I have been having a good time with my M&E 'F' flute this past 2 days, seemed to get the embouchure just right, on some easy tunes.

(Have also been playing my 'A' & low 'D' whistles.)

I have a feeling that may be due to the prevalence of wound strings on guitars, my ukes have fluorocarbon strings in the main - but I will also be trying it out on my steel string electric uke, with the effects that are on my amp.

Funnily enough, I've just bought a glass slide for my ukes, I'd been been meaning to get one for ages, (about a year actually).

I'm currently enjoying playing with slide guitar in open G tuning.

Bit of slide

Thought I'd try multi tracking a tune using 3 different whistles.

https://soundcloud.com/user-604445267/shall-we-gather-at-the-river-using-3-different-whistles

ShallWeGather3.mp3  •  896KB

I totally agree, my music making is just for my own enjoyment, & I can get a tune out of most of my instruments, but, of course, some better than others.

I also know it was said in good faith. I do agree to a certain extent, that I'm better off getting to know one instrument well, & I know that that instrument is the chromatic harmonica for me.

(At this time of year, with the colder weather, our breath condensates on the windsavers, therefore sticking the two parts together, causing notes to not sound, so we need to keep them, our chromatic harmonicas, warmed up to about body temperature)

But I like other instruments too, latest fascination being the whistle, & as I used to play recorders, it isn't too much of a learning curve for me, (just need to get more proficient with half holeing).

Here's something I wrote about never being 'good enough' back in 2009.  It's on my dulcimer blog but it applies to playing any instrument I think:

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/09/am-i-too-old.html

There's no way I could concentrate only on one type of instrument for months at a time. It's not in my genetic makeup!
More accurately, it would take some of the joy out of making music at home for me.

Wow, I didn't know one had to keep harmonicas from getting cold.  Who knew?  

On one of my other forums, I've been told I should concentrate on just one instrument - until I'm proficient - not sure that I can do that, but my harmonicas do take first priority.

(I just found out the other day, that reptile heating mats are good for warming up my chromatics, so I went online to order one to try out.)

Much easier with keys, mine was a Yamaha, as were my others.

I used to have recorders, my favourite was the tenor, always fancied trying a bass, but couldn't justify the price.

I've got a collection of all but soprano & sopranino - my fingers are too big for comfort on them.

My present favourite size is tenor scale on a concert sized body, & my best one is a solid acacia KoAloha Opio, backed up by my solid mahogany Ohana, I really like these two. :)

Other instruments?

I retired three years ago, & I was determined to learn to play a musical instrument.

First I bought a digital piano - that didn't work out. Next, I bought a (diatonic/blues) harmonica - but I couldn't get my head around sucking & blowing, let alone bending notes, so I also bought a chromatic, but still couldn't get it to work.

Next came the uke (ukulele), that actually worked for me - so started my musical journey. :)

Eighteen months, & I was just about playing tunes, & of course, UAS had got to me! Couldn't stop buying them, they're all different, you know. ;)

So then I went back to try my harmonicas again. This time, I got it, & started to be able to play tunes on them - slowly - but recognisably - & caught HAS.

Then I thought that I would try my old flute, purchased in the 80s, when I was trying to learn to play - at that time I had recorders. That lead me to the Chiff & Fipple forum, where I quickly caught the whistle bug, & WAS, but they are mainly Irish music, & I like a variety, so I went & did an online search for (tin)whistle forums & found this site.

UAS = Ukulele Aquisition Syndrome - HAS = Harmonica Aquisition Syndrome - WAS = Whistle Aquisition Syndrome

Cool mack. My dad had a banjo that he made too

Mack, that's a super cool photo!!  

I made my first banjo from stuff lying around the ranch.  That's it and me about 1950.

I tend to like to experiment in various instruments and genres of music over time.  I won't list 'all' the instruments I've dabbled in at one time or another, but it also means I will never be an expert player in any one specific instrument.  I've come to accept this and just enjoy the journey.  :)
The ones I currently turn to, either often or maybe just occasionally... are banjo, mountain dulcimer (and it's relatives the epinette des Vosges and the Swedish hummel), the bones, rebec, jouhikko, and of course my penny whistles.

Do you play other instruments aside from the whistle?

Tell us about your playing fun on other instruments!