Learning to Play Musical Instruments

without getting injured

It's a bit bonkers to be honest. I haven't been composing much (a few goes on Garageband - which is somehow pretty cool for making things that actually sound like proper songs - and Ableton Note - which is an iPad little sister to Ableton Live. I like Ableton Note - great little app for £5 I think - but it's very digital and synthy sounding and somehow not great at producing things that sound like songs.) Anyway, I haven't been focusing much on composition.

I have been learning to play musical instruments. A lot. It feels odd, like a crazy thing to be doing with my time but I'm having a go for now.

Ukulele

A soprano ukulele made by Mahalo with quite a high, trebly sound to it. I've been going along to a weekly group for the last eighteen months and we get together and study and play a bunch of songs. The ukulele feels much more right than the guitar because it doesn't hurt to play it. It's the right size for an instrument. Recently 'Here Comes The Sun' and pushing myself with this flamenco piece by Jeff Peterson. I find the high G string very weird so I have UAS (Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome) and need to get another uke with a low G.

Baritone Ukulele

OK so the baritone ukulele is something like a cross between a ukulele and guitar. It has four strings (like a ukulele) but these are tuned to DGBE (unlike traditional ukulele tuning but like the four highest pitched strings of the guitar). Perfect, I thought, when I heard about it and quickly bought one. I still have the instrument but it was a disaster which I just had to leave alone for a while. Was it me or was it badly made? Are nuts and bridges supposed to be removable or are they supposed to be glued in? Here's a good website all about the baritone ukulele.

Guitar

Post-baritone-ukulele-debacle, I returned to the guitar. Which I used to study (with Justin mainly) a lot. And I basically returned to it too fast and injured my arm. I drafted quite a sorry for myself post about Repetitive Strain Injury which was a bit over-the-top. What is it? RSI? Tendonitis? Arthritis? I'm 51 years old so suddenly picking up the guitar and playing for two hours straight is probably unwise. 

So my right hand and tendons swelled up for a few days. I rested my arm and took it more sensibly. Ibuprofen is helpful because it relaxes the muscles. I'm back to playing guitar and not sure if I'm damaging or just training my muscles now. It feels ok, a lot better. Here's an interesting post on RSI that emphasises the need for your whole body to be relaxed.

I began with Justin Guitar songbook (it's pretty good I think - well paced for beginners). I'm not sure I'm ever going to play clean barre chords (I've been playing guitar, very on and off, for nearly thirty years).

I've kind of migrated back to Russ Shipton which is the first book I learned to play guitar. And, being me, I went right back to the start ('Amazing Grace') and am going at it properly. It's hard to know if it was my work on barre chords for 'Twist and Shout' - vice-like gripping on my left hand - or the overkill of fingerstyle (Russ is very folky; those were the days, my friends) that did in my right arm.

This is a bit strange because I used to study scales and play along with songs and learn riffs and arpeggios and even jazz chords but now I am back to the basics. It's kind of fun. This is on acoustic guitar (pretty cheap; I used to like it; probably could do with a new set of strings).

Bass

I bought a second-hand bass guitar made by Encore off eBay (£68) and this was... wow... gorgeous looking and just all round quite lovely. Andrew Poulska's StudyBass is the most thorough guide to learning an instrument I've ever seen. I've studied a bit and still am only up to very early plucking and fretting exercises. I like the course though. Free, and I highly recommend having a look if you're a bass guitarist.

Keyboards

This is an M-Audio Keystation 61 (Mk 3) (very good) which I hook up (just USB) to Ableton Live. I'm studying a book called The Complete Keyboard Player by Kenneth Baker which is pop songs. This is the furthest progress I've ever made with the piano/keyboards. I'm just taking a break from 'Annie's Song' by John Denver (you'll probably know it) to write this.

That's it. I am hoping to have another go at the harmonica soon. I bought a violin and a recorder but they are a step too far I think. I went to a classical concert yesterday lunchtime and that was incredibly impressive.

So, sometimes I ask myself, where is all this going? The focus on learning with these quite prescriptive songbooks is helping to elevate my mood and that's really why I'm doing it. I guess at some point I'll stop learning songs on most of these instruments (I'm likely to continue with the ukulele) and focus on something else (like composition? writing songs? Maybe).

I'll leave books I have been reading about music for another post. This makes a little comprehensive guide to the musical instruments I have recently been learning to play.