Piano, guitar and viola sounds multi-instrument enough to me, Ron! And your opinion is very much appreciated. I also think you are right about learning the dots. I'm going to give it a try!

Kim - The encouragement from my new tutor is invaluable - I know exactly what you mean.

I like the confirmation that 30 minutes at a time is good. It's about all I can do without my mind drifting :-(

Thanks all and feel free to keep the ideas coming.

DtG