Nimue Brown posted: " Once upon a time I played viola, violin and bouzouki. The violin I've played since childhood and the other two instruments I picked up during my Midlands period in my twenties. Some years ago, a compression injury took out my left shoulder a" Druid Life
Once upon a time I played viola, violin and bouzouki. The violin I've played since childhood and the other two instruments I picked up during my Midlands period in my twenties.
Some years ago, a compression injury took out my left shoulder and made it impossible to play. I have an entirely hypermobile body and they're easy to damage. I managed to mess up my hands and my right shoulder as well, and so I accepted that musical instruments weren't going to be a thing for me anymore. It was a big loss, especially the violin. However, in the absence of people to play with, I focused on the singing instead.
There aren't many things I'm keen on doing by myself. I'm a people oriented person and I'm always more interested in things I can share. It's the kinds of connections and interactions I can have with other musicians that makes music exciting for me. I'll practice (a lot) to make that work, but without the incentive of other people I just don't get moving.
At this point I don't think I'll ever be able to coax my arm and shoulder into a position that makes violin playing feasible. However, the viola being larger gives me more options, and I can just about manage it. Relearning the tunes I used to play on the violin is going to be quite a task - the muscle memory I have is wrong for the shape of the instrument. I need to develop muscle strength to help me offset the joint issues, and that's going to take work. Playing hurts, and to get back to where I was is going to involve weeks, if not months of pain while I build the necessary strength. I'm lifting small weights to build muscle, having had some guidance about what would strengthen the parts of me that are struggling.
The incentive to do this is considerable. There are people I want to play with and I have an Ominous Folk project under way that really would benefit from getting some instruments on it. Apparently I have rediscovered enough of my courage to take the occasional leap into the dark again, and every time I've done that in recent months it's worked out well for me.
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