I do have a shitload of beer. I’m sad that Moon Dog stopped their Moon Doggies subscription box, but understand that they need to do other things.
Because I do still struggle to finish books, and write poetry (I write most when I’m reading heaps), I turned to the arms of another for comfort.
The viola da gamba.
Here’s some of the music I’ve been learning. I try to learn all tenor parts, and if the range suits, some of the treble and bass parts too.
Pay attention to the Byrd and Lawes consorts, they are really fucking hard. But goddamn, what amazing music. Finally, now when I practise, I feel alive, and good-tired.
The first half is solo stuff, but I don’t practise that stuff as much as I do the consorts because it’s pretty rad being in tune enough to sound like you’re part of the recording. Highly recommend for happy hormone production.
Oh yeah, maybe I thought it was assumed but those of you who don’t know, I was trained as a (Western) classical music nerd before writing, which I came to through literary, cultural, and French language studies. How I got into beer or food writing is still beyond me, especially given I didn’t actually start eating that long ago, given my age (I’d say about a decade ago?). Because I no longer play flute due to overuse injury sustained whilst at a conservatory, I decided to play my ‘less serious’ (ie. I sounded absolutely shithouse on it) second instrument whose repertoire is most plentiful from 1750 and before (anything before 1750 is considered ‘early’ for the purposes of Western high art music – there’s a reason, but I don’t want to bore you to death with even a reductive explanation).
Anyway, I’m not just glad but lucky to have access to the knowledge of Western music. It’s an amazing artform, and will always be a massive part of who I am, even when mental health issues conspire to screw me over. There will always be my beloved music.
