Look who's back! It is I, your glory-beaming blogger, returned from my travels abroad. I hope you enjoyed the posts that I scheduled for you during my absence. After almost a full month of vacationing in Rhodes, Greece, it's time to get back to business — and music!
As I mentioned last month, I had to leave my fiddle and banjo at home while I was traveling. The closest I got to an instrument was listening to a traditional Greek dance band at a festival in the village of Psinthos, where I ate delicious chickpea and goat stew. The band was comprised of a lyra, bouzouki, guitar and what looked like a cajon that the vocalist played. It was a great time.
I had hoped to find a record store so I could provide you with a Greek-flavored "Vinyl Hunter" post, but I struck out. The only time I saw any LPs was at a shop in Old Town that had huge selection of Greek music for sale on CD. Above the floor-to-ceiling shelves, I spied old album covers. But when I asked if they were for sale, the merchant responded with a grimace and a sharp head nod indicating the negative.
Before embarking on this Rhodian adventure, I concluded a nearly three-month streak of playing my instruments every day. My fiddling streak ended at 89 days, while my banjo streak stopped at 86. Upon returning, I have since started a new streak. However, those first few days back were awfully rough. It seemed I had altogether forgotten how to play music, especially on the fiddle.
Bowing felt like trying to steer a kite through a hurricane. My digits danced around the fingerboard hitting all but the right notes. My tone was worse than the honks of an asthmatic goose.
It seemed three weeks away had undone all the progress I'd made since my streak began back in May. However, the urge to start a new streak to bust my personal best was strong, and persistence has paid off as slowly but surely the rust of having not played in so long has been shaken free. I'm not back to where I left off, but I'm getting there. The biggest trick of returning from a long break has been forgetting how bad I sound and just working through it.
Have any of you taken a long break from playing music? How did you get back into playing shape? Let me know in the comments!
I had hoped to find a record store so I could provide you with a Greek-flavored "Vinyl Hunter" post, but I struck out. The only time I saw any LPs was at a shop in Old Town that had huge selection of Greek music for sale on CD. Above the floor-to-ceiling shelves, I spied old album covers. But when I asked if they were for sale, the merchant responded with a grimace and a sharp head nod indicating the negative.
Before embarking on this Rhodian adventure, I concluded a nearly three-month streak of playing my instruments every day. My fiddling streak ended at 89 days, while my banjo streak stopped at 86. Upon returning, I have since started a new streak. However, those first few days back were awfully rough. It seemed I had altogether forgotten how to play music, especially on the fiddle.
Bowing felt like trying to steer a kite through a hurricane. My digits danced around the fingerboard hitting all but the right notes. My tone was worse than the honks of an asthmatic goose.
It seemed three weeks away had undone all the progress I'd made since my streak began back in May. However, the urge to start a new streak to bust my personal best was strong, and persistence has paid off as slowly but surely the rust of having not played in so long has been shaken free. I'm not back to where I left off, but I'm getting there. The biggest trick of returning from a long break has been forgetting how bad I sound and just working through it.
Have any of you taken a long break from playing music? How did you get back into playing shape? Let me know in the comments!
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