28. Learn to play the melodeon well enough to join in sessions, accompany singing, and have fun.
29 August 2006: I guess I was having fun with the melodeon before I started. I resolved the 'join in sessions' bit of this over the weekend at the Towersey Village Festival, largely thanks to the excellent session workshops run by David Oliver of Folkworks. He convinced me that the thing I needed to enjoy sessions was a change in attitude; that it was perfectly ok to join in with just a few notes, and that there was no such thing as a wrong note. He also taught us some popular tunes, which is great for building enthusiasm in the actual session.
So then I did about four different sessions, and had a great time. Now I need to pick up my playing enough that I can start a tune from time to time, and I need to learn about accompanying singing.