Yes it is a real instrument, it's a real fun instrument designed to accompany and pick out simple tunes.
Some people moved it beyond what it was primarily designed for and made it into something like a small guitar
The tenors and the concerts come along and then some people seem to stress up on trying to emulate the people who play for "hours " a day and think that they can emulate that style of play by twenty minutes a day of exercise and regimented rigidity. No offence ,it is just a fact that you need to put more time in to get more result out.
Point is , for me ,that whatever style you want to play , then that is your style and nobody has the real right to scoff at anybody elses' style, which sometimes blurs the lines here. If it hurts you when you play then you are doing it wrong FOR YOU, so try a different way . I don't plant my thumb on the back of the neck ALL the time , I move it around ,to ease tension and ache and to get some real pesky chords that older getting fingers can't quite reach.
In this wordy bag of bollox I am not saying that I am right , just that I think that you don't learn from a rigid structure alone , but with experimentation and improvised exploration. But best of all have enjoyment in doing it.
I speak as a no good slob who has taught myself many instruments over the decades , finally about two months ago, I braved the violin ......at the risk of sounding big headed ,after 8 weeks I can produce some simple tunes and some improvisation over simple jazz that aren't full of squeaks and squawks and scratches.
Why ? Because I don't agonise at how I am getting the tune right ,just that it sounds right. Watch a few vids on YT dismiss what doesn't work for me and what I don't need at the moment and then play with the instrument ...hours a day.... That's the fun part.
Ad then sling it through ooooh lots of degrees tuck it under my arm and strum it . However if you prefer a more structured and rigid application ,have fun doing it, Horses for courses. But whatever you do ,play the bejabus out of it . Stretch the scope of what youdo and get a really big book of chords , or learn moveable chord shapes and go up and down the neck . Just with a smile and passion.
Ciao, Tschuss and ...the Russian one. DossiDanube or something
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