Electronic/Mechanical bracket:
Acoustic Grand Piano
Electric Guitar
Pipe Organ
Music Box
Electric Bass
Electric B3/Hammond Organ
Electronic Drum Kit
Pedal Steel Guitar
On behalf of the ladies and gentlemen in the back row, I would like to encourage a little love for that most noble of instruments, the tuba. The player of the King of Brass is the musical mason of the band, laying the foundation upon which all the squawkers and tweeters can build. He or she who can shoulder 18 feet and maybe 40 lbs. of raw brass and elevate it to the art of Roger Bobo, Sam Pilafian, Patrick Sheridan . . . these are Musicians. Elevate them. Praise their Names. Vote for Number 10.
I am Sigmagirl, and I am a Tuba Wife.
I’ll stick with my “Madness” custom of highlighting my picks in red.
Aerophone bracket:
Trumpet
vs 16. Jug (gotta have some first-round upsets)
Clarinet (my dad is a clarinet & sax man, so the “licorice stick” truly helped feed me for many years)
vs 15. Slide Whistle
Trombone
vs 14. Ocarina (one of my brothers plays trombone, and often seemed to be most motivated to practice when he knew it would most annoy me)
Saxophone
vs 13. Recorder (I “blew” at this instrument, and not in a good way)
Flute
vs 12. Harmonica (my sister plays the flute, and earned the nickname “Flutehead the Boothead” when she worked on certain passages over and over because 99.99999999999% proficiency was JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH)
French Horn
vs. 11. Bagpipe (of course, this would probably not be my pick if any of my siblings had made it his/her “torture instrument” of choice)
Bassoon (the Purdue band’s “Dancing Tubas” are beloved by some of the fans, and thus have to perform before every home women’s basketball game – except during the NCAA Tournament, when such frivolity is thankfully prohibited)
vs 10. Tuba
Accordion (Weird Al fan representin’!)
vs 9. Oboe
** Idiophones/Membranophone bracket:**
Drumkit
vs 16. Rainstick (had to look this one up)
Tambourine (“Hey Mr. Washboard man, play a song for me”? Nope, didn’t think so)
vs 15. Washboard
Vibraphone (salute to Lionel Hampton)
vs 14. Musical Saw
Timpani
vs 13. Flexatone (another one I needed to look up)
Marimba (the Spanish class may be deeply divided on this one)
vs 12. Castanets
Tubular Bells
vs 11. Jew Harp (I prefer Jew’s harp, but that’s a quibble – thanks for not calling it a “jaw harp”)
Glockenspiel
vs 10. Steel Drums (I’ll go for the one that’s more associated with warm weather)
Celesta
vs 9. Kazoo (a great Scrabble word, if not a great instrument) Chordophone bracket:
Steelstring Acoustic Guitar (sometimes the underdog isn’t as lovable as the favorite)
vs 16. Dulcimer
Violin
vs 15. Lute (Martin Prince will thank me)
Cello
vs 14. Zither (I thought this was essentially the same thing as the dulcimer, but I guess the relationship isn’t quite that close)
Orchestral Harp
vs 13. Ukulele (fixed the spelling for you)
Banjo (fond memories of Steve Martin at his peak)
vs 12. Sitar
