Back to the familiar...

The last few months have been quite a ride as far as music and instruments go. In January I wanted to start on shakuhachi again. Then changed my mind and decided to switch up things and give the bagpipes and tin whistle a shot as they seemed interesting and would be a something honoring my heritage. After the amount of time I've now invested in this I admit I was wrong. Not that the instruments are bad or that I'm not gifted enough to continue.Simply put, they are just not the instruments for me. They don't feel "right" at the present time. What about them is causing this?

  For me an instrument has to feel good in the hands,to become a part of my body. The whistle was not too bad I will admit as I play flutes and thought this would be easy.But the sound and range are not something I want to study right now. The same goes with the bagpipes and chanter. It is both a "not right" feeling as well as the fact it is simply not an extension of me. So these two instruments are now going to be put away and I shall perhaps some other time in my life take them up again. At least they are there for me if desired.

  So what instruments am I going to go back to? The familiar. Those that feel an extension of my soul,my body and essentially,my heart: the classical guitar and the Native American flutes. I might also delve back into blues guitar as well but for now I want to get the fingers back into shape.

This is my classical guitar: A Cordoba Dolce 7/8 classical with

• Solid Canadian cedar top
• Mahogany back and sides
• 50mm nut width
• Solid Cedar top
• All wood inlaid rosette
• Solid Cedar top, 7/8 size

This is the guitar I've had now for 5 years and I love it. Granted, there are much better guitars out there with higher price tags and better sound. But this 7/8 size fits me well and sounds delightful!
So back to this beauty I go with hopes of being back where I belong in a month of practice.

In addition to my classical, I also have a superb Fender Stratocaster in Midnight Blue,made in 2001.
Love the maple fretboard and the way the action lets me move quickly and effortlessly. This is a guitar I plan on using for years. Also use a Fender Mustang I as an amp.

Also on my list of instruments that "work" well for me and are something I can actually play decently, are the many Native American flutes owned. I currently have 6 rim blown flutes made by both Coyote Oldman and also Geoffrey Ellis is various species such as black walnut,cedar and others.

Here are the three from Michael Allen, aka Coyote Oldman, a very well known Native American flute player and craftsman. Top to bottom: Hopi flute,Mojave and then Anasazi, all from cedar.

                                                              http://coyoteoldman.com

Next up are the two made by Geoffrey Ellis of Earth Tone flutes, one an Anasazi (Pueblo) flute and the other a

                                                            http://www.ellisflutes.com

And also a Mojave 6 in black walnut that looks very similar to the Anasazi above but shorter with a slightly different range and tone.

Then there is the Butch Hall NA fipple flute in black walnut as well. A wonderful tone and strong flute!

 So there they are. These are the flutes I shall be playing again very soon. They have been part of my life for years but I strayed and tried other things. Now I'm full circle and back to them. Might happen again too. That is the fun part about living and learning.

If you are interested in hearing some of my flute playing, I have a few low grade recordings on Soundcloud at this link:

 https://soundcloud.com/handlebar

Also, check out Flute Portla for other flute related goodies.

 http://forums.fluteportal.com


That is all for this post. As I just found out tonight that my Ross tartan kilt is in after 8 weeks, I shall be heading down to fetch it tomorrow and hope to have a review with pics soon.