So I’m down to the last hour or so of 2008, and, as I’ve been doing since October, I’m thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2009.
I don’t make the kind of resolutions most people make (lose weight, go to the gym, get organized). After all, I’m not broken, wayward, or degenerate. I don’t need fixing, making-over, or reforming. I don’t carry around ridiculous burdens of guilt for failing to measure up to arbitrary social yardsticks.
Plus, I flat-out refuse to suffer. Especially not for ridiculous things such as the size of my ass or the state of the “junk drawer” in the kitchen.
I am most likely to see things through and put a resolution into effect if it is something that will expand my horizons, challenge me in meaningful ways, and increase the sum total of my happiness at being alive. So over the last couple of years my resolutions have been things like “drink Champagne whenever you want it, not just on special occasions,” “go look at more art,” and travel to at least two places.” And I’ve done those things, and had a great time.
This year, the big one is “Move back to San Francisco.”
But the other one, which I only decided upon a few days ago, was “Finally learn to play a musical instrument (as you’ve wanted to do since you were fourteen, for crying out loud).”As a teenager, I wanted to learn the guitar. My parents, however, nipped my career as a rock star in the bud by refusing to buy me a guitar or pay for lessons, or drive me to said lessons. They didn’t even try using guitar lessons as a carrot to get me to bring my dismal grades up to an acceptable level (at least straight Cs), which shows how little they liked the idea.
As a twentysomething, I wanted to learn the piano. However, I was chronically broke, and did not like the sound of digital keyboards, and believed I did not have the money to buy a proper piano. And frankly, I was afraid of the learning curve (I was afraid of a lot, back then, especially looking ignorant, and as I knew absolutely nothing about pianos I was doomed to spend a lot of time looking ignorant).
As a thirtysomething, I was trying too hard to become an academic, and shoved music off my list of things to do. It got relegated to “Later,” that great midden of deferred dreams.
So here I am, 41, and I’ve spent most of my life aware that I am missing out on something truly wonderful because I don’t know how to make music, and envying people who could. (Singing, by the way, is out of the question–I have an absolutely horrible voice, the kind that makes Florence Foster Jenkins sound like Leontyne Price. It’s just…no.)
And when I woke up this morning, it was with sudden insight into why I’ve envied musicians (and, by extension, theatre people) for so long: they don’t have to go it alone.
Painters and other fine artists, more often than not, shut themselves away in their studios to work in solitude. When they gather in groups to do art, it’s almost always at life-drawing sessions, and even then they are still alone, and the room is filled only with the sound of the radio and the dry scratch of charcoal against paper. Even at breaks, there is little talking or laughter because a large part of each artists’ awareness is still drifting off in the Zone, still focused on drawing. At the end of a session, everyone is usually too “wired & tired” to go socialize–spending three hours seeing so intensely is exhausting.
Writers work alone, too. It’s you and the blank screen and the blinking cursor. And like visual artists, writers don’t start interacting with other artists, or the people who will get their work to market, or their intended audience, until after they have finished carrying out their work in solitude.
Musicians are different. Sure, they do a lot of practicing and perfecting technique behind closed doors, but when they get together? They make music as a group. They hold jam sessions. They collaborate. They sit around and joke and laugh as they teach each other new things, or figure out new songs. And they don’t have to show up somewhere with the specific intent of making music in order to do so. You can take a guitar to a party, and maybe someone else has brought theirs, too, and maybe your hosts have a couple of small drums someone is willing to play, and one thing leads to another and soon those folks are sitting in a circle, making music.
Whereas if you’re a visual artist, just try bringing a canvas and paint to a party and see if you get anything done, much less have an enjoyable experience. Short of scribbling cartoons and caricatures, or being the weirdo in the corner making sketches, it’s not going to work. Making images is, by and large, not a social artform. Writing is the same way; you can’t bring your laptop and the first draft of your latest short story along and expect to be the life of the party.
But music is social–not only for the individuals making it, but for their audience, too. And musicians, from everything I’ve seen, love to get together and jam with other musicians and talk about music. Organized local groups usually create a welcoming atmosphere for beginners, in a way art and writing groups do not. After all, most people learn to play an instrument directly from other individuals, be it formal weekly lessons or someone at a party with just a bit more experience showing you how to play something new.
That sociability? That’s what I’ve always envied.
So what instrument, then?
I wanted something portable, that I could take with me (so the piano was out). I wanted something that was relatively simple, that I could gain basic proficiency at without enormous effort, and for which I wouldn’t have to seek out the one or two teachers in the region. I wanted something that was a real instrument, but that was fun, as well. And, to be perfectly honest, I wanted something that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg.
When I asked a music-teacher friend for guitar advice, he asked me, “Have you considered the ukulele? It’s easier to learn than the guitar, so you’ll make progress much faster, which means you’ll enjoy it more and stick with it. You can get a really nice starter one much cheaper than even a crappy guitar. And in the right hands, it can be an amazing little instrument. Go look on YouTube; there are lots of ukulele videos.”
So after watching lots and lots of videos, and lurking on ukulele forums, and thinking about it, and checking the availability of uke lessons here in Seattle and in San Francisco, and comparison shopping like mad–I took the plunge.
This afternoon I bought a really nice ukulele from eBay seller musicguymic (who, I have come to realize, is something of a legend/demigod among ukulele devotees): a Koa Pili Koko concert uke, made of solid acacia (closely related to the traditional–and much more expensive–Hawaiian koa wood). There were several starter ukes that would have served me very well, but the instant I saw this one I knew it was the one. It was like going from “Oh, that one’s really nice…” to “YES! OMG, THAT ONE NOW!” Even after waiting 24 hours to make sure I wasn’t being crazy and reckless, I still got that thrill looking at it. So I’m trusting my gut reaction; it’s never steered me wrong, after all.
Here’s pics:
The strong grain pattern of the wood caught my eye right away–it’s beautiful on its own, and any ornamentation would have been excess. The neck is solid mahogany, and the fretboard and bridge are rosewood.
Even better, the hard case is included, and musicguymic ships his ukes with all the set-up done–including polishing, adjustments to the action, and an upgrade to high-quality strings. So it’ll be pretty much ready to go once it gets here.
I ended up spending more than twice what I initially planned, but I still spent less than what a cheap guitar would have cost, and from everything I’ve read and heard about these ukes, this is a really nice instrument that I can grow with and enjoy for a long time to come. In about a week it will show up on my doorstep, and let me tell you–I can’t wait.
So who knows? I might become a rock star, yet.
And if you’ve made it this far, I shall now leave you with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, as they perform the theme from Shaft:
Happy New Year, everyone!
1 Comment
January 4, 2009 at 8:19 pm
[...] years I have wanted to learn to play a musical instrument (as described here on my primary blog). But a guitar or piano were expensive, and so were lessons. The learning curve was bound to be [...]