Busy

Being busy seems to be the bane of my existence.  I bring a lot of the busyness on myself.  Some is just stuff that has to be done – grocery shopping, laundry, food preparation, work.  But then again, some of the things that keep me busy are things I enjoy that I have added on to my already full enough schedule.   What would life be, though, if all it consisted of was the busy work that had to be done.

So, I am learning to play the upright bass (string bass, bass viol, whatever you call it – it is big and non-electric).  I am surprised at how much I have learned so far.  I am participating in the local strings orchestra – which is really way, way above me – and most of the time I am simply lost.  But I am beginning to get it!  I can play the open string notes with enough ease that I can keep up in speed.  Mind you, my bowing is a bit crappy!  Sometimes I am up bowing when I should be down bowing and then there is this sideways sliding thing the bow does when I am not looking – which is a good deal of the time since half the time I am looking a where my fingers should be to be playing the right note.

This weekend I bought a metronome.  My teacher told me I had to get one.  I am surprised at the difference it makes.  It is like having a teacher there telling me to keep up, to play faster and to not lose the beat when I am hunting for the note. 

I also found a book that shows all the fingerings for all the notes.  The first book I bought really only showed the fingerings for D Major and G scales.  There is a lot more than just those two scales to learn.  It also makes more sense to me seeing how all the notes are laid out. 

So I am on my way.  And mostly having a lot of fun.