I've tried a fair few instruments before finding ones that suited me. Middle school saw me taking 4 years of electric organ lessons (from a jazz organist when I wanted to learn folk guitar) That got me the basics of reading music, chords, keys - most of which I forgot, but 'twas easier to re-learn than from scratch.

Found that my hands were small for playing most guitar. Frustrating.

Then I got a bowed psaltery - and I learned a bit about playing by ear- still play it
Then I got a hammer dulcimer - and found I really didn't want to play tunes, and none of he HD teachers around me played it to accompany singers - sold it on, but learned a bit about intervals.

Then I fell in love with the Autoharp & stuck with it, where I learned more about chords, timing, finding a good key to sing in, transposing. I had very little instruction.

When I could no longer dance, and playing tunes became very attractive, I took up the concertina, with only a secondary urge to sing with it. Playing in dance bands with others with concertina and autoharp gave me a rich education in tunes, traditional keys, playing with others, and appreciating what the instruments around me could do.

Each different sort of instrument taught me different facets of music. The last one, the concertina was the hardest lesson. My hands were still on the small size, and playing a couple years before having the bars adjusted to alleviate strain was a huge mistake, with permanent damage. The fact that I also got addicted to practice with it only made that worse. I remember, even with keyboard, how hypnotic it could be to be playing the same tune over and over, almost like a meditation mantra. Might be good if you weren't wrecking yer hands.

What ever it is you learn to play, however well you learn to play, it can give such satisfaction to you. Playing music with others is adding joy to your life.

Joanne in Cleveland