I am a self-taught musician who plays by ear, with no formal training whatsoever. I taught myself to play organ and electronic keyboards during the 70s, and I made hundreds of home recordings of pop and rock tunes on a Wersi organ (which I built from a kit) and Yamaha keyboards. I didn't play any string instruments until 1994, when I bought a 21 chord autoharp. The chord progressions that I learned on keyboard and organ transferred well to the autoharp. It took about 5 years of playing before I got the hang of being able to pick out melodies on the autoharp. Being self-taught, I never got used to fingerpicks, and I still play the autoharp with only a thumbpick.

In 1996, I joined my first band, The Earth Tones, a folk band composed of EPA employees in the Region 5 office in Chicago. We've endured a number of personnel changes over the years, but we're still together, with a fiddle, autoharp, tenor banjo, and 2 guitars; playing mostly "in house" at EPA functions, such as Earth Day (April 22).

http://earthtones.envy.nu 

During the late 90s, I tried learning guitar but I wasn't able to make much progress, so I gave it up for a few years. During Christmas vacation in 2002, I bought a baritone ukulele and quickly learned a bunch of chords and I found that I was able to pick out the melody notes inside the chords (I think it's called called "chord soloing" or "crosspicking". In a year's time, I had amassed a dozen ukes in all four sizes (baritone, tenor, concert, soprano). I then mail ordered a 4-string tenor guitar, which I played tuned to DGBE, and after a while, I was able to adapt my playing style to a 6-string guitar. I eventually bought a 12-string guitar, tenor banjo, and a strumstick.

It was my good fortune to meet the Novits in 2003, who asked me to join their band, Loose Change & Friends. They were gracious in letting me play a variety of instruments on different songs.  Since 2003, we have performed more than 100 concerts.

http://loosechangeandfriends.com

In 2004, I joined a group that played Hawaiian music, eventually based at Oakton Community College (where I teach earth science, part-time), and we took the name, Na Mele Aloha.  In 2007, the group grew to more than a dozen members and we were given a monthly performance gig at a local Hawaiian bar and grill, The Tiki Terrace. 

http://namelealoha.org/ 

I haven't done many solo recordings since I stopped playing keyboards regularly, but one rare evening, when I had the house to myself, I sat down and recorded 10 tunes on my ukes. Due to the site rules, I can only post a few of them which are public domain. As time permits, I will try recording and posting more folk songs on guitar, autoharp, and ukulele. Thanks for listening.