Banging the drum for this musical way to beat stress

When I was younger, playing an instrument never really appealed to me.

I remember a few of my friends getting time out of classes for chanter or violin lessons but I was more interested in kicking a football or having my nose stuck in a book.

Apart from being a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland for a couple of years and bashing some keys on the keyboard I was given for Christmas when I was ten, making music hasn’t been for me.

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In the past year, though, I’ve taken an interest in learning about instruments it’s just taken me 20 years to realise the benefits of playing a wee tune!

It’s my boyfriend’s fault that I’ve all of a sudden became an instrumental geek. Nick plays the guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, drums and a bit of piano, all pretty well, as well as having a decent set of lungs on him.

About nine months ago, he and I bought a uke for my room in a spur of the moment purchase and since then I’ve been learning how to play.

Now, I won’t lie to you– playing an instrument isn’t something which comes naturally to me. I’ve only managed to perfect three tunes on the uke, which doesn’t look great when Nick pulls out the guitar with his almost encyclopaedic knowledge of chords and strumming patterns.

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It’s not so much my skill set (or lack off) that I’m particularly interested in, though. What I’ve quickly come to realise is that playing an instrument is a massive stress buster, which comes in handy when you have a life as jam-packed as mine!

The cherry on top has to be Nick’s latest purchase. I’ve never fancied myself as a drummer but, holy smokes, do I enjoy banging a set of drums after a tough day.