Dulcimers and Fiddles and Guitars OH MY!

Before I even jump into this one I have to admit I am not the most musically inclined person. I am not sure its so much lack of interest, definitely lack of talent but most likely was a lack of time. I have always been fascinated with people who could make music. My own father plays the guitar and banjo and I always found it so fun to watch him do it. (and I am a little sad he doesn't play much at all anymore)

As a child I took piano lessons for a while, but I didn't have a proper piano to practice on but instead used my grandmother's organ. Not quite the same thing. It was hard and I didn't have the most charismatic teacher and so I stopped. I think I took an intro to music class in college and that ended my extended exposure to music that I would directly be involved in.

Of course, I listen to music all the time like the next person but believed I could never be responsible for making it myself. And then came along Jenna Woginrich. She is a writer and I stumbled along her book, Made from Scratch. I love this book for so many reasons but especially for a chapter dedicated to mountain music. Jenna taught herself (mind you she had some music in her background) how to play the fiddle while living in Idaho. Well if she could do it so can I, right?

Well I don't rightly know, but I am damn sure going to give it a try. I have always had visions of sitting around a fire with someone strumming a guitar or any musical instrument and finding it to be the most peaceful moment one can find. I suppose it would work out just fine for me to be that person.

So here I am about to start an interesting journey into the world of music. Jenna mentions in her book about how easy the dulcimer is to learn and although I definitely have my sights set on the fiddle I think learning something easy might boost my confidence. We will see. I am starting to do a lot of research and hunt down samples of music but ultimately I have a feeling I will end up with at least one or both of them.

And then of course there is the guitar. I have always wanted to learn to play but it definitely is a challenging instrument but such a beautiful sound. One of my favorite singers is Brandi Carlile and I would just love to play some of her songs. Of course, I wish I could sing like her too, but I think I would be happy to at the very least strum out her tunes.

Wish me luck...I still have to purchase an instrument, some instructional aids and inevitably find myself a teacher but I am excited to think of where I could be a year from now.

Here is a taste of the mountain dulcimer:

Stephen Siefert playing Whiskey before Breakfast (gotta love that title):