The most beautiful instrument

Some may know I play the banjo. The banjo apparently is the butt of many jokes, it gets no respect. I think it must be that people are jealous they can't play such an angelic sounding instrument.

Today Shoshanah says, "You've got to read this article in the Isthmus. Its about learning to play the banjo." I read the article. You can too. Wow, I didn't realize it was that bad!

Rather than as the author did, learning claw hammer first, I learned to play 3 finger picking style first. I remember times when I pulled out the banjo to learn how to play something and Shoshanah would go upstairs. "I'm sure it'll sound better with practice." she said. It probably did sound pretty horrible. I'm learning claw hammer now and it seems MUCH simpler than 3 finger picking, the blood pressure goes down and all it good. But three finger is so fun when you actually almost get a song out.

Now its been 3 years and I think I'm a little better. Not so horrible anymore, sometimes I can even get Shoshanah to do a little jig. I even played for dear Zelma last night and she looked at me with such awe and confusion. But she didn't cry or run away (not that she could since she can't even crawl). So she must have liked it, or at least could stand it. Then of course Shoshanah gets out the fiddle and starts playing and Zelma smiles and starts kicking her feet in excitement...