I’m reading Careless In Red by Elizabeth George and ran across a seemingly random mention of bluegrass. In a list of the contents of the murder victim’s car was “a bluegrass CD”. I found it especially surprising since, although the author is American, the book is set in England with all English characters, and the victim was a teenage boy. Apparently it has nothing to do with the plot, but I haven’t finished the book yet. Maybe it turns out to be the key piece of evidence!
So here we are at the last day of 2008. It is a good time to take stock of what progress, if any, you’ve made in your playing this year. (It’s also my cousin Helena Herring’s birthday—Happy Birthday Helena!!) How many songs have you learned? Are you satisfied with that number? Have you made an effort to find and play with other people?
Make some goals for your learning this coming year. Perhaps you want to make it all the way through the Jam Session Standards DVD, or perhaps you want to go to a camp, or maybe this will be the year to play in your first jam session. Don’t make huge goals that you are unlikely to accomplish (such as “This is the year I’ll play on the Grand Ole Opry!”) because even though they are practically impossible, and you know it, you’ll still feel bad if you don’t get there. If you make some (small, reasonable) goals, it will give you something to work towards and when you get there you can proudly mark it off your list. Maybe a list of songs to learn.
In any case, resolve to make the banjo (or the guitar or mandolin or whatever) a priority, and spend your new year happily picking and strumming away!
Tags: casey, Elizabeth George, resolutions