Ocarina Music? (publ. 2024-12-27)

Something that has been missing from my life, since I started having children, is music. What I mean is that I used to play musical instruments, but I haven't for several years now.

In high school I took piano lessons for a year or two. In theory I could pick it back up again, but we don't have a piano, and keyboards tend to be unwieldy or unsatisfying.

I also played guitar for many years. I never achieved a great level of skill, but I could do basic chords and finger-picking. The problems I have with guitar now are: (1) it is very hard to play a guitar when small children are around, as they are irresistibly drawn toward playing with the strings and knobs; (2) guitar can be hard on the wrists, and also they are hard on the fingers if you don't practice enough to keep your callouses hard.

For a few months I played the flute, and I still have one. I still like the flute, but flute sheet music tends to be rather complicated. Also, it is a surprisingly loud and somewhat shrill instrument, or at least it seems that way, and I never quite feel comfortable playing one inside a crowded apartment building.

I tried at one point to learn the violin on my own, using an inexpensive fiddle a friend gave me. I would still like to learn the violin, but it seems too difficult for me to learn without lessons. I never was able to get past tuning.

Recently a relative gave me an ocarina. More specifically, a 12-hole, single chamber transverse ocarina. I have only had it for a few days, but this instruments seems to fit well the various requirements I have right now. For one, it has a mellow sound which is not embarrassing to play in an apartment building. Also, it is a simple instrument that is easy to learn — at least the basic scale notes. And also it is not difficult to play it around children, as there is not much for them to grab or run their fingers over. A few of the boys asked if they could try it, but I just told them that it is Dad's instrument only, and they didn't show much interest after that.

Something that would be helpful: if any of my readers could share links to ocarina music on the Internet, in particular easier pieces that are good for a beginner, that would be appreciated. I've done some searching but am hampered a bit since I don't enable Javascript, and also I would prefer not to have to sign up for an account anywhere.

I'd prefer to play music that is mellow, introspective, solemn, or fantasy-like. A few I've tried so far are "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Zelda's Lullaby". The instrument is a 12 hole C ocarina and has two sub holes.

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