Music Diary

First time playing in months...

18-01-2026

So, even though I have this whole webpage set up showing off my love for my instrument, in real life this love is hard to come by. My poor gurdy, I haven't touched it in months! Looking back, I think the last time I played was maybe end of spring/early summer 2025. I started this page as a way to get back into the idea of playing. Really, the idea has been on my mind for months, but the execution is the issue. The gurdy is a temperamentful instrument, and picking it up after months of not playing mostly means doing maintenance (re-applying rosin and cotton, checking string pressure, tuning the 4 strings, etc...) for an hour before you can actually start. Maintenance does hold me back from just getting on with it, but I have to confess it's not entirely the gurdy's fault. I just happen to have way more hobbies and way too little time, and this often means I will reach for the easy option when it's hobby time.

Well not today! After months of not playing and thinking about it, I finally took the time to get back to cranking. In hindsight, maintenance wasn't really a big deal and I was playing my favorite tune in no time. When I was finally playing, I noticed another thing that was holding me back. Here's my confession: I'm horrible at reading sheet music and playing along. Most of the time when I play I do it for the enjoyment. I feel much more at easy 'feeling' the music rather than being super structured. Not sure if that's bad or not, but I really need to get better at sheet music... Anyway, little wins, I played! and I will try playing more soon. Let's hope next entry doesn't come in 6 months :) To end this rant, I'll leave you with some music I like to play by heart with a lot of feeling and no structure: