Do you play any musical instruments? What do you play and why? If you don’t, what sort of instrument would you consider? What are you drawn to? What genre of music do you enjoy and would like to learn? I am fascinated by the variety of instruments out there and the responses I receive. Many seasoned musicians seemed to have started really young, influenced by their families. So what would you choose as an adult?
At the age of 5 my mother allowed me to join keyboard lessons. Having a family friend that was older and experienced, he soon taught me how to play the piano. One reason or another, I didn’t enjoy it and told my mother I wanted to stop. I don’t recall much of it, I did play a few pieces but sadly it’s all left me.
school years
At the age of 9, the concert band program of my primary school allowed us a chance to learn an instrument and perform. I initially asked whether or not I can play the saxophone. I was told my hands were too small so I chose the trumpet. Each instrument separated to their respective tutoring lessons once a week. The band would gather and do rehearsals twice a week. It was here that I learnt how to read music again. The chance to perform for local communities such as nursing homes, competitions, marching parades and for family was a positive experience in all.
I continued the trumpet all the way to the penultimate year of high school. Opting out for the final year to focus on my studies (supposedly). I soon encountered a piece played on cello in an anime (cartoon) that I found beautiful. The sweet mellow sound of the cello playing Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude by J.S. Bach that made me curious what instrument it was. As there were never any options to pick string instruments in both primary and high school, I wasn’t familiar with this family. I still had trumpet and opted to not learn a new instrument.
New Country
I found myself wanting a new hobby after moving to a new country. Something to spend my energy positively on. I decided to revisit that curiosity I had in the cello. Having learnt a previous instrument and knowing how to read music made it easier to pick up. However, the pandemic occurred and that meant there were no lessons for a period of time. I found it hard to keep motivation up, added with the cumbersome shape, size, lack of portability and the fussy nature of it, I soon made the decision to put the cello aside for now and maybe revisit it later.
New beginnings
The ukulele is also a 4 string instrument, but the size resembling more of the violin/viola. The origins from Hawaii, modeled after instruments introduced by the Portuguese. It is portable, relatively cheap and easy to learn. The frets are close together for my short fingers and the frets allow me to play with relatively correct intonation without having really good ears.
Something about the instrument radiates a casual vibe and lends itself well to be shared around the campsite and induce sing-a-longs from others. Hopefully I can bring it along with me on trips and more casual outings as a medium to connect with others. This is one of the major upsides to this environment. A guitar is still very large, whereas the ukulele feels just right.
For now I’ve purchased three books to get me going. Let’s see how far I can go on this instrument! Join me as I embark on learning ukulele music.
