Little fish

Last spring, I bought myself a mandolin. Why a mandolin? Years back, I had a guitar and I wasn't bad at it, but I wasn't particularly good, either. So, last spring, when I was thinking about getting an instrument again, I thought about getting a guitar, but, I know several really good guitar players. How good? Albion falls about in the middle of the pack. Anyway, there we were in Piccolo's Music [blatant commercial plug] and they had a mandolin hanging on the wall, and I thought, "how many mandolin players do you run in to?" So I picked myself up one and (slowly) started teaching myself how to play.

I've had it for a little over nine months now and I've got about a half-dozen songs I can fumble my way through without sheet music, and about the same with. I'm no good at chords and haven't figured out how to inentionally play more than one note at a time, but I've reached the point where I'll actually bring it to events and doodle around during the day.

The first such outing was Twelfth night in Bronzehelm. After the fighting finished, I screwed up my courage and broke out the mandolin. After about fifteen minutes of doodling, what should walk in but a local folk band with not just one, but two mandolin players. What are the odds? In all my years in the SCA, I don't think I've ever encountered another mandolin player, and here was two of them. I continued to doodle until they were done setting up and then politely put away my instrument.

Undaunted, I tried again at the Feast of Saint Valentines, in Silver Keep. And lo and behold, not another mandolin in sight. A really cool ukulele and Albion and his guitar, but no mandolins. I've got to say this about Albion: he is an incredible supporter of new musicians. His experience as a music teacher shines through, but he can be a bit daunting. I was showing off my still quite thin music book and he starts sight-reading the music (that he'd never seen before) better than I can play it after practicing for several months.

Like I said, daunting.

But! I know he's been playing music longer than I've been alive (and I'm not exactly a spring chicken) and while his exhibitions of skill might be a little humbling, they're not really that unexpected. I mean, with as long as he's been playing, he should be better than me. And maybe, given time and a lot of practice, I may approach his level.