Old dogs can definitely learn new tricks. Or, at least attempt them. In this allegory I am the old-ish dog, and playing stringed instruments is the set of tricks I am still working on learning. As part of my quest to learn all the things, I’ve been in an ongoing attempt to learn to play the ukulele. Kind of. A friend of mine who lived on my hall my freshman year needed a place to store her instrument for the summer as she traveled across the country, so I now possess a temporary uke. I took some time earlier this week to diligently follow YouTube tutorials. So far, Riptide, First Day of my Life, and Uptown Funk are in my repertoire. (Fun fact: Google just taught me that repertoire is a real musical term.) Then, a friend stopped by my room to actually play…while singing. I put my ukulele away after that.

Once upon a time (in elementary school) I was a cellist, too. A friend brought his cello up to campus just a few weeks ago, so this weekend he let me give that a try. I learned to play a scale (again)! Next J-Term, I’ll probably take a real lesson from a real instructor. I’m pretty determined, actually.