...and reviewed my goal list with a view to revamping/updating it, I was passing a little local music store (which I go by at least twice a week), and my feet just made me turn in.
I had a lovely chat with one of the co-owners. One concern I’d had about signing up for music lessons was wanting to be sure that I found a teacher who was accustomed to working with adults, not just kids. While I was there, his next student (a budding cellist) arrived: she was easily my age, and when I asked her how she’s enjoying her lessons, she recommended him highly. With their permission, I stayed and listened to the lesson. And that was enough to persuade me that he’s good with those of us who are well past our childhood and adolescence.
So I used some Christmas money to buy myself a second-hand guitar and pay for a few lessons. (Not having taken lessons was the chief reason for my failing to learn guitar when I was a teenager.)
I picked guitar instead of keyboard after some deliberation: guitar was the instrument I first wanted to learn, and it’s more portable. (One of my goals for the first 6 months is to be able to take it to a party and play along for at least one simple sing-along number, even if I don’t have the nerve until everyone else is well-lubricated.) I still own the keyboard I bought a dozen years back, but there’s just something more pleasantly tactile about the guitar for me: cradling it makes me feel closer to the music. It’s like hugging the sound.
I’ve now had a couple of months’ worth of weekly lessons. I haven’t yet gotten into the habit of practising regularly in between lessons, but partly that’s because the guitar I bought is too big for my frame. My teacher has ordered a 3/4-sized instrument for me instead, and when it arrives, the shop will allow me to trade in the “starter” instrument I bought. When I go for my lesson, I use a half-sized model that they have on site, and it makes a big difference.
So far, I can pick out (verrrrry slowly) several little tunes. I make mistakes, of course, but at least I have a good enough ear to hear when I’ve gone off – and I’m starting to get a sense for what I need to do to correct the mistakes.
Chords are still awfully hard for my tiny little hands to create. And I don’t believe that the smaller guitar will help me there: the size difference is in the body of the guitar, not in the neck. Guess I’ll just have to figure out how to grow longer fingers.
My initial goal is to be able to play a tune all the way through in time for a friend’s mid-summer birthday.