People who learned to play new instruments during lockdown

Many people dream of playing the piano or learning the guitar, but what about the Celtic harp? Or the dulcimer? Perhaps the kalimba is more your style. Researches from Yamaha shows 75% of have turned to music to beat lockdown blues. Other research found sales of instruments and music equipment have risen by 80% during lockdown. We have spoken to people who have used their time in lockdown to fulfill an ambition to make music, with a diverse array of musical instruments being reported.

Learning online with teachers as far away as Australia, South Africa and America, those who shared details of their new hobby, described how learning an instrument had helped them cope up with the traumas of the past year.

Sarah Melling

A student nurse in Hemel Hempstead bought a mountain dulcimer on a whim when lockdown started. Her teacher lives in the US and Melling fits her music lessons in between her university Zoom classes. “It looks a bit like a large violin and you play it on your lap,” she said. “I had visions of myself on a swinging chair on a porch, playing the dulcimer while taking swigs out of a bottle of whiskey, maybe with a blacked-out tooth too.” Melling is one of thousands of adults who have taken up an instrument during lockdown.

Dr Matthew Jackson

Others turned to music to help them with their mental health during the pandemic. Anticipating a traumatic time in his hospital, Matthew Jackson, an ICU doctor in Manchester, learned to play the banjo, tin whistle, bass and concertina. “I knew I would need a new challenge on the home front given the likely stresses at work, absolutely desperate for something new and fresh in my life after the underwhelming Christmas of 2020. I had never had the slightest desire to play an instrument before but it is magical.”