Hey, thanks for starting this, moonchild, this is the kind of thing that got me hooked on Mudcat last year. I taught myself to play guitar when I was a second year medical student in 1974, and have been stuck at mediocre ever since. My 1970 Martin D18 disappeared a while ago courtesy of my soon-to-be-ex-wife, but that's another story....Love to sing, though, and my voice is actually getting better with age, though the same can't be said for eyesight or memory. I really miss the song circles and shanty sings in the Northwest. Nothing quite like singing in harmony a capella.

CarolC, I know exactly how you feel about the accordian. A few months ago I was visiting a friend in Oregon and said, "Hey, what's that thing that looks like a musical instrument case?" It was a little Italian accordian, red, two octaves with four rows of buttons. Turns out it belongs to his daughter's ex-boyfriend, so he figured it was safe for me to borrow. I've figured out what the buttons do, and have started to learn "Under Paris Skies" -- that's the kind of music I want to play on it. The stuff you hear in movies from the 1950s. Yes, I've heard all the accordian jokes, but this thing is, as my friend Mbo would say, SOOOO COOOOOOL!!! Let me know if you find any good books, Carol.

Also, in the absence of my guitar (I'm back on my first guitar, a Signet with a thrice-broken neck) I've just bought an ukulele. About time, after living in Hawaii for 6 years. I actually got to play it on HearMe last week, and got a marriage proposal as a result, so it seems to work pretty well. I'm trying to find a book and/or a teacher so I can learn Hawaiian music, and also trying to learn slack-key guitar style.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I'm here at the hospital waiting for a 32-week premie to be born (who will no doubt be shipped off to the children's hospital in Honolulu soon afterward), so I have time on my hands.

Aloha,
Mark