https://thesummerhouseyears.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Drummond-Ave-30-1.mp3

Making music in retirement once more. In an effort to change the tone of this week from grindingly difficult to something more positive, i.e. from hospital visits and work in the vineyard on the bloody netting, I decided to focus on an another aspect of my retirement life, namely my music. If I had thought this would be easy well, guess what, it wasn’t. It was different but not necessarily easier.

Because I was so tired after working with the netting on Thursday I didn’t go to the folk fiddle rehearsal on Thursday night. The second rehearsal I’ve missed since the new term started the week before. So feeling a bit guilty I decided to try and make a musical recording (of The Leaving of Liverpool) like a number of the group have been doing of late and posting on our WhatsApp page. How hard can it be, right? If they can do then so can I, right?

Well wrong as it turned out. The part that I expected to be difficult – getting a balance between instruments – keyboard and violin and to record both – worked out fine. Probably more by luck than skill but I’ll take that. The part I expected to be easier, on the grounds that it was a bit like recording a podcast and as we all know I’m an expert at that, well that was more complicated than I expected.

Anyway judge for yourself, assuming I can get the technical bit right it’s added at the end of this blog. On Sunday it’s the first jazz workshop, we’re doing Autumn Leaves and Moonlight in Vermont among others, so should probably have a bit of a practice as  it’s a long time since I picked up a jazz guitar in anger or indeed with any emotion at all. As I’ve written elsewhere it’s slightly worrying that without the pressure of some kind of public performance I choose not to play my various instruments. Not sure why.
Making music in retirement summary
Perhaps now the rehearsals, gigs, practices are starting again this part of my retirement life might become better balanced than they have been these last few weeks. We’re going up to the vineyard again tomorrow to do more with the netting, so I’m not getting away from this part of my retirement but at least this part will be buttressed by something different. We will see how it all turns out over the next few weeks.

PS. That’s obviously not me playing the violin despite the picture at the top of this blog