I was alot like you when I started. I too was teaching myself. One
thing that I found very helpful (for several reasons) was attending
the South Sligo Summer Music School this past July in Ireland. I had
three hours of wonderful lessons for six days. It was worth it to sit
with a great instructor like Eamonn Welsh. I highly recommend it to
any new (and experienced) player.
Hi Rick,
Age? I got my practice set 5 months after I turned 56.
Hmm.. the left hand must be the finger positioning. New players (and the ones out of practice) usually have trouble with the bottom hand rather than left hand and wrist.
Are you covering the holes properly? No finger tips, all pads, the bottom finger of each hand uses the first pad, the upper fingers use the second pad to cover the hole.
You can see a pix of me playing (fingering a C natural) here
When I get sore, the muscle that run across the “point” of my bag arm shoulder hurts.
I got two nurf basketballs to excersize my muscles before I got my practice set to strengthen them. I would put one in each armpit and pretend I was playing.
I do arm/shoulder stretching excersises for about 5 minutes before I practice/perform.
If you overdo it, try two cups of epsom salts in a “too” hot bath for about a half hour. Don’t go to sleep and drown…
“Doctor it hurts when I do this!”
…“Don’t do that!”
Seriously though…It’s NEVER to late. I hate the players that try to talk one out of playing maybe because you will never “excel” at it, or be a “concert” player..or even be able to hold your own in a session…
So what? .. if all you can do is makes the drones go..and it makes you smile…good enough!