Play music again

I played clarinet, bassoon and piano when I was in school, and I’d love to play bassoon again, but the instruments are so darn expensive. (I never owned my own bassoon, I was always able to borrow the school’s instrument) I have a clarinet, but it needs to be re-padded before I can play it, which would not be as expensive. I’d love to play in an ensemble again; I most enjoyed playing as part of an orchestra. My partner has a couple of banjos, sometimes I think about maybe trying to learn to play the banjo…

For several years, I played one or more of the following: French horn, trumpet, piano, guitar, the tiniest bit of tuba and baritone, and, most recently, accordion.

It’s very hard to keep up your ability playing an instrument without a venue to do it. At some point I hope to get involved with a musical group again—maybe the Albuquerque Accordion Club or a salsa-oriented brass group.

I’m not totally sure what I mean by this, other than that I used to play clarinet and I used to be pretty good, although I’d rather pick up something else now. I used to be into a whole array of period and folk instruments, although I think my fascination with one would too quickly be replaced by my fascination with a new one in order to actually get anywhere with it. I have a vague idea that I want to play something that you can play while singing, like a guitar, but don’t totally want to throw my aptitude for wind instruments out the window.