Banjo of Destiny

I clearly didn't  bother to clean the living room before snapping this photo of my new banjo, but I can't say I care an awful lot.  Also, if you know banjos, it's clearly not set up for playing.  This is the "right out of the box" shot.

I have taken up the banjo.  Actually, let me rephrase, for the full weight of weirdness:

I, Shannon, an opera singer from a ghetto-fabulous cultural wasteland of a town, have taken up the banjo.

So here's what happened.  A closet bluegrass fan, I wanted to buy a banjo 10 years ago, because I really love the banjo, but I didn't do it.  I bought a mandolin instead because it seemed more "practical."  Ok, sure, Shan.

I decided that I was going to teach myself.  I can already read music, I said.  This will be easy, I said.

I was wrong about the last one.  I tried and failed.  Then tried a few more times and failed a few more times.  And gave up.  Somewhere in there was a horrific rendition of "Turkey in the Straw" played at Thanksgiving, and a few conversations about having trouble tuning the G-string, and then giggling like an adolescent boy about the G-string reference.

Recently, I said, "I need a change, so I'm either cutting off my hair or learning a new instrument."  I decided against an extreme makeover, found a mandolin teacher, and dragged my sorry self down to Berkeley for my first lesson on my poor, old, neglected mandolin.

Long story short, the teacher said my mandolin was super low end (I knew that) and that I'd have to replace it eventually if I was going to get serious about playing it.  I told him I had gone back and forth between banjo and mandolin, and we decided that if I was going to have to buy an instrument, I might as well buy and learn the one I really wanted.  He let me try playing a banjo, to help form my decision.  I tell you, it was magical.

It was a no-brainer.  Banjo and I are meant to be together.

Here were my first thoughts about it.

I ordered the banjo my teacher suggested and it arrived last night.  I squealed a little when I pulled it, gleaming with destiny, out of its case.  And then annoyed the heck out of my neighbors and my cat by practicing my clawhammer strum on an un-tuned instrument.

I'm very excited.  I think this was a better choice than cutting off my hair.

Look forward to more posts about this new hobby I know little-to-nothing about!