the year of the fiddle

In the zodiac of my life, there are instrument obsessions that define certain time spans, so since last November this has definitely been the year of the fiddle. Which surprised me because I never had much interest in violins until I accidentally succeeded in repairing the old one that my aunt had (and didn't enjoy much) as a little girl back in the 1930s.

After playing it rather too enthusiastically at the folk weekend (in April) I've begun to notice some joint pains in the fingers of the left hand, so I'm not putting in massive amounts of practice but I do make sure to play a few folk tunes and a bit of Mozart (K525 or K304) every day, progressing very slowly.

For the anniversary, I've recorded the Äppelbo Gånglåt again (only to realise later that I already shared a version of that at the six-month milestone. Comparison of both videos shows that I play it a bit faster now (by around 10%) and a bit less out of tune. So all indicators going in the right direction.

Family reunion: All three instruments have been in the family for more than half a century: Heinrich the cello, Blue the guitar and Christa the violin.

PS Previous instruments on the zodiac were:

• tenor sax 8/21-10/22 (the ergonomically designed instrument that works even with a frozen shoulder, also suited to keep people at a distance during plague times)
• cello 3/20 - 9/22 (Plague Year Bach Project brought to a halt by shoulder problems)
• alto recorder 1/19 - 2/20 (both my altos appear in this year review, the black Triebert is the one I play regularly)