1. Transplanted Wisconsinite friends went home and brought me some cheese from the Motherland.
2. We took my ring in to get the setting tightened before the sapphire fell out. The jeweler also smoothed off the prongs so they won’t snag things so often.
3. Another friend gave me her old guitar so I can learn how to play!
So the cheese is fantastic and I’m looking forward to nibbling on that. And I’m thrilled to be able to wear my ring again. But I am most excited about the guitar. I’ve wanted to learn how to play, but there was no way I was going to be able to shell out money for an instrument. It just wasn’t going to happen.
On a whim, I asked Facebook if anyone knew where I could get one, and this friend offered up her old one for free! It has a couple cracks, and she just bought a really beautiful new one, so she was just going to toss the old one in the trash. It took me six months to get up to her house to collect it (things got busy, she had a baby, life happened), but I drove up on Saturday to bring it home. I have no idea what I’m doing, really, but I’ve been working on chromatic scales and just getting my hands used to the feel of the instrument. I’ve got to work up calluses on my fingers and my friend showed me how I should position my left thumb so I’ve been working to keep that set the right way. Mostly, I’ve just been plucking things out: playing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and short bits of other songs as I find them. And scales. Lots of scales. I haven’t got a clue how to play any chords yet.
But it’s great! I’m having a lot of fun. The cracks make the sound a little more muted and mellow, I think. My friend played for me on both guitars so I could hear the difference. Her new one is much brighter and louder; it’s a beautiful instrument. But having one that’s quieter isn’t a bad thing for me right now. It’s less likely to drive Justin crazy when I’m sitting downstairs making nonsensical noise.
My fingertips are sore this morning and I think it’s fantastic! Does anybody have any beginner tips?
You could find some beginning classical guitar books on line, maybe…
Mom