Very little to report, which begs the question of why I’m posting something - but then, seeing that this is not public, it’s kind of a moot point.
Anyway, this is just me taking a moment to acknowledge my lack of progress. I need to accept the fact that I’m not 20 anymore, life has responsibilities, and as a result there are going to be good weeks and bad weeks. I have been working through two books, and in both cases I am only about the 3-4 pages in. I’d wager that the amount of time I have spent on the instrument over the last few weeks could be measured in minutes rather than hours, which is probably the issue.
It is also very strange being a beginner again, particularly in terms of sound. When I was learning to play the different saxophones, and to double on flute (and to a lesser extent, clarinet) my priority was always getting a good sound first, and then worrying about technical fluency second. At present I feel I’m in the opposite position - I am working on my fingerboard geography, which is slowly coming together, but the method of sound production is so different to what I am used to (what even is a bow?), so I’m really struggling to intuit how to improve that.
Needless to say, it is time for me to get a teacher!