Okay, I've been among the missing for a while now, and thought it was about time to check back in with my ABF buddies. I've been laid up with not only tendonitis in both elbows (from playing piano), but a torn rotator cuff (from a fall in February of last year in which I broke my right hand). Not looking for any pity here, just 'splainin' why I've been gone so long. The injuries have kept me from practicing anywhere nearly as frequently as I'd like (which would be about 45 minutes a day, at least) and I felt like I'd sorta fallen behind all the rest of you. But what the heck, right? I'm still playing some and have continued to take weekly lessons (mostly studying theory so as to not aggravate the elbows and shoulder too much) with my original teacher. In addition, in February I began taking twice a month lessons with a fabulous local blues & boogie-woogie teacher and am absolutely loving it!! On Tuesday, it will be two years since I took my first-ever piano lesson and my only regret is that I didn't start about 40 years earlier. To anyone who's out there reading this and thinking about getting started: Go for it! I just turned 57 yesterday, so it's not too late for you, either.

Happy birthday! My 52nd is tomorrow; I started lessons last August. It is NEVER too late!

Hmmm, there's a local jazz piano teacher... twice a month, you say? I wonder if he'll take a part-time student. That sounds like fun!

HB from me, too. Glad to hear you're still blues-ing

Cathy

Thanks AP, and an early Happy Birthday to you! I just saw Saffire - the Uppity Blues Women here in Seattle on Saturday night. Two of the women are over 60. One (piano player, Ann Rabson) told me she didn't start playing until she was 37 -- and you should hear her play now!!! Learning that she got started that "late" was truly an inspiration!

Cathy, great to hear from you!! Thanks for the b-day wishes. :-)

Welcome "ba-aack" BB!

Sorry to hear about your health problems. You gotta be one tough lady to keep hanging in there after all that. I'm still at it too -- officially at 2 yrs/9 mos now. I sure know what you mean about wishing you started 40 years ago. Some days it feels like the fingers just don't go where I tell them, no matter how hard I try. The funny thing is I'm probably better now than I ever thought I would be when I started, but the more I learn the more I realize how little I know.

Oh well. I guess if we learned as kids we wouldn't have the fun of learning now. Glad to have you back on the board!

Good to hear from you again, Blues Babe! Hope your tendonitis heals soon.

Ouch! Talk about taking things with reasonably good cheer though. Keep on practicing!

Happy B-Day!!

The thought of an injury keeping me from playing really scares me.

Nice to hear you're doing better!!

Hey! Great to hear from ya bluekeys, Monica K., Piano Dad, and Triryche!! It's nice to know that although I've been gone, I haven't been forgotten. The elbow and rotator cuff problems have had me fairly discouraged over the past year, but hearing from you all has cheered me up considerably. I keep ruminating about how far along I could be by now if I'd been able to practice as much as I wanted without aggravating the aforementioned conditions. On the other hand, I've learned more theory in the past year than I proabably ever would have otherwise. I'm not so sure I'm "tough", bluekeys -- it's more like stubborn. I'm determined to not let these injuries prevent me from continuing to pursue my lifelong dream of being able to play piano competently. Anyway, I continue to practice as much as I comfortably can and know that, one of these days, things will be better.

At the risk of starting an "organ recital" --I had rotator cuff surgery at the age of 70 and, following weeks of physical therapy, was playing pretty comfortably two months later. My doc told me three months and I said Nope, 6 weeks for Bach and 2 months for Rachmaninoff. And I did it! I am the poster granny for rotator cuff surgery. Also have golfer's elbow (from carrying amps, etc.) and wear a strap that keeps me comfortable even during playing, arthritis in both thumbs (wear a thingy for that and I can play fine with it -- it reminds me to keep my thumb behaving, not sticking out). I can't take NSAIDS, am allergic. Occasional Tylenol. With all these straps I look kinda like a mummy, perhaps, but I play with ease and you will, too. Do what you can and quit when your body says Stop! You will be able to reach around and pat yourself on the back, I promise!

Thanks for the encouraging news, Retread! I'd be happy just to be able to scratch my back at this point.