I grew up surrounded by music. Many members of my family can play an instrument or sing. My father has been a musician for most of his life and would often play his music in the house and in the car. He had several instruments around the house. While he was a bass player first, he also had a keyboard. As a child I often played around with it and dreamt of being a keyboard player in a rock band.

It is not so surprising then that during Elementary school I started taking piano lessons. My parents found a local teacher and even bought a piano for our house. I played for several years and learnt a lot of things. Around the time I was 11 or 12, I started to lose interest in some of the hobbies I had done for years. Piano was one of them. While I did not stop loving music, I think piano was just not for me.

When I got into high school, the idea of performing in a rock band was very appealing. I noticed my father and his bass, and decided I would like to give it a try myself. My father was probably overjoyed at me being interested in bass guitar as my older brother had become a drummer instead. He quickly took me out to buy my own bass guitar and amp. I started taking lessons from a bassist who was a member of a fairly well-known local band. He was very talented, and I learnt a lot from him. Me and my friends formed a band at school and started practicing together. Over the next several years I played with several different people, performed at school events, and even did school assessments with my bass.

 While I played less in University, I still played here and there. And eventually, I came to Japan. I originally decided I would buy a new bass here but… I never did. I found a few chances to play over the years, but overall, I played very little and never got back into playing. Recently I had the urge to finally buy a bass and so I decided to look at some local shops. I found a second-hand Ibanez in very good condition at a great price. I always wanted my own Ibanez, my friend’s dad had one and when I played it at his house it was so nice to play. So, I decided I should take this chance and pick it up.

Playing bass again has been a lot of fun. There is one problem, however. My skill has dropped...a lot. I can’t play like I used to at all. My fingers are getting sore quick from the thick strings too. It is going to take some time to get my skill back. None the less, it is a great feeling to return to a hobby of mine after such a long time. Hopefully I keep playing consistently and can get even better at playing than before.