musical instruments

(click to see bigger image of my harp)



I've been practising more harp. I hadn't played in a couple of weeks, and was horrified to find that my "harp calluses" had nearly disappeared. My fingers were so sore after an hour of playing that I couldn't play the next day. Now I try to play for at least a few minutes every day.

Poll question: What musical instruments do you play or have ever tried learning to play? Any particularly good or bad experiences? (Click on the POST link at the bottom of this page)



My worst experience was when I tried learning to play the trumpet in Grade 13 in high school. Learning to play a new instrument for two weeks was part of the curriculum that year. I have no idea why I picked the trumpet.

What a disaster. The best sound I could ever produce during those two weeks could be compared to a leaking whoopee cushion. My parents nearly went crazy during this period, as you can imagine. Not as crazy as they went while I was trying to learn the violin on my own, but it was still pretty painful for everyone in the house even though I practised in the basement with the door closed.



I've started playing a bit more piano these days, inspired by my sheet music reorg. Yesterday, went through some of Elton John: Greatest Hits (1975 Warner Bros) and The Blues, Boogie and Barrelhouse Piano Workbook (by Aaron Blumenfeld, Ekay Music, 1992).

Got lots of work done on my novel revision (Puck's Hollow) yesterday. My Writing-World.com column is due next week, a magazine article due in two weeks (got the go-ahead on another query two days ago), and I owe a Muse's Muse songwriting column to Jodi by the end of the month.

Links/News:

Check out this site to see the ongoing project of a fellow gradually creating an amazingly detailed visual record of everything in his house. Yes, everything. You can look in drawers, peer at his book shelves, etc.
(Found via boingboing.net)

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Today's Blatherpics:

These are photos that Larry Fisher sent me while he was making my harp. The photo at the top is the studio photo that he took when the harp was finished, for use on his Web site. The comments below each photo are mine. If you're interested in seeing more "harp in progress" pictures, go here.

Jan/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ