Learning to Play a New Instrument

One of the high points of last week was having some music jam sessions/rehearsals in our house.  Easter is coming, and it's time to get ready.

We've been trying to be safe, of course.  On Wednesday evening, we began in the back yard, where we could stay spaced out, and when it got dark, we moved inside, where we could still stay spaced out.  Yesterday, we stayed inside for a variety of reasons (sun sensitivity of one of our members, the need to protect some of the instruments, the need to stay cool).

Yes, we are singing during a pandemic, which carries risk.  But we've tried to minimize the risks.  We haven't had very many people come to rehearse--our house is not that big, and neither is the choir at our church.  Everyone has had at least one dose of vaccine.  We've been working together musically throughout the pandemic (a pandemic pod of sorts), and been taking measures to stay safe as we move about in the world.

One of the problems of being a small group is that we can only play so many instruments and sing.  So yesterday, when one of the members realized that the bass line might be easy for me to play, she gave me a quick lesson in her big instrument so that she could play the banjo ukulele.  And that's how I found myself here:

What a cool instrument!  What a cool experience.  I realized that I never thought of the bass as a percussion instrument.  I know about bass and treble clefs, so I never thought of it as carrying the melody line, but yesterday's experience shifted my perspective.

As always, I am surprised by how hard it is to keep the beat.  I see people play the tambourine, which seems like it wouldn't be hard, and I am surprised by how deeply I have to concentrate to do the same thing.

I had a Zoom meeting with my small group for my spiritual direction certificate program.  It was so cool to sit in the front bedroom with the group of 3 rehearsing on the other side of the closed door.  It was cool that my spouse was having a good time while I needed to be away.

It was so great this week to have people over, to feel connected in a deeper way.  We've only done that with our quarantine pod of neighborhood friends.  I've felt myself feeling a bit more detached from most people, more than is usual for me.  These 2 rehearsal sessions have given me hope that the detachment will be necessary.