instruments

I am dying to get a banjo. The A string on my classical guitar broke, so I turned it into a banjo / bass. The high E became D, and the low E became a low G. I've been practicing banjo-style fingerpicking, or at least my best guess of how it goes. At least the main chords, I can say that I am familiar with by now. Brazilian banjos are like banjo-ukes, so they are totally useless for what I want. I would have to special order.

If you a looking for a non-boring workout (one of those endless searches in my life), consider playing bluegrass mandolin. It made me sweat very quickly. Unfortunately, the exercise is very localized.