Calm · 15 min
Pick up the instrumentagain
The guitar under the bed, the keyboard in the spare room: fifteen minutes, no goal, just to hear it.
Many people have an instrument they used to play. Starting again does not need lessons or a plan. It needs the case open and fifteen minutes.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Take the instrument out and leave it somewhere you will see it, out of its case if it is safe to.
Tune it, or check it still works. This counts as the practice on the first day if it is all you do.
Play something you used to know, even badly, even just the first line. Or play one scale, slowly.
Stop at fifteen minutes, while you still want more. Leave it out for tomorrow.
The reason
Why it helps
Playing asks for your hands, your ears and your attention all at once, which leaves very little room for worry. It also puts you back in touch with a part of yourself that existed before the current hard season. Fifteen minutes is short enough to fit and long enough to feel it.
A gentle variation
If your hands ache, play fewer notes, more slowly, and stop sooner. If you never played, a cheap ukulele, a harmonica or a tin whistle is a gentle place to start.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Play one song for someone in the house, or ask a friend who plays to come round. If there is a music night nearby, go and listen first.
Try it today
Take your instrument out today, tune it, and play anything you remember for fifteen minutes. Leave it out where you can see it.
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