Taking stock

A few days off work. I do a bit of this, a bit of that, not much of anything: unwinding, mostly. From time to time the fan mentions that I haven't played for while. I hum music, I have it in my head, I listen to music, I think about playing, but he's right: I don't actually play much. I worry that this means despite everything I am not really a musician, a music-lover, a piper: I'm just someone who happens to play pipes once in a while.

But there are other things I love and don't do all the time. I've only managed one trip to the allotment. I've finished knitting a lovely shawl but have done nothing at all about blocking it. I've just pulled out my needle point project to work on after this. I've literally not touched it since before Christmas. I don't feel these gaps make me any less of a gardener, a knitter or a needlewoman, so why should I play every day to consider myself a piper?

I suppose I am still feeling at a bit of an impasse. It has been a mistake to take on such a large number of new tunes. Many have fallen by the wayside, others I peg away at but don't seem to improve on. Tunes I knew have got muddled with others. I suppose I've learned one or two: Bee is the most successful. Some I've consolidated. Both Magersfontein and the King more reliable than they were.

Demonstrating the Monkey to family at the weekend I thought I'd be clever, pick my tunes ahead of time, hum them, remember them. I was going for the Galloway/Flett/Bee set but struggled to remember how Galloway began, thought I moved on to Flett and realised I was only playing Galloway again, only faster. Couldn't remember how Bee went at all. Stage fright again, I suppose.

I keep meaning not to fling right into tunes, but to play a run up and down first to make sure everything is comfortable. I thought that mentally running through tunes ahead of time would help, but the fan says this is the Wrong Thing to Do. In the end I ended up with the Rowan Tree, which I don't seem to play much at present.

Anyway, I played this afternoon, in D. I played McIntyre's Farewell, Cabot Trail, Home Town, King, Glomach, Balmacara, Braemar, Dargai, Magersfontein. It went OK. If this is a plateau it's a pleasant one. I'd be happy to rest here awhile.