I started writing this blog more than ten years ago, during one of the most challenging times of my life.

My mother, Sue, had been diagnosed with dementia, and not just Sue’s world, but my life too, cracked apart, in ways that are still reverberating.

And there were (and are) both clouds and silver linings.

 One silver lining is this blog.

It helps me make sense of challenging times.

Another silver lining is my reconnection with my musical north star, via the ukulele.

Finding my way home to music

At the age of six I’d experienced the joy of soul-aligned music, when Sue introduced me to the ukulele. She taught me three chords and three songs.

I can still remember the delight and certainty of that moment. I thought: “This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life!”

And then I spent nearly 50 years trying to get back to that feeling. But it wasn’t that easy.

 Having started me off, my mother didn’t follow up. She had three children and a passion for being an archaeologist. She just had too many other things to do.

 Soon afterwards, I was sent off to violin lessons. Which weren’t fun or joyful. The teacher was mean and scary.

I did 15 years of classical music training on violin, viola and piano. All the way to university, before I finally accepted that playing classical music wasn’t where I wanted to be. Even though I loved JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.

Having a PTSD “rabbit in the headlights” experience whenever I stood on stage or did an exam didn’t help.

There were plenty of other musical opportunities. Playing bluegrass fiddle was followed by 20 years in rock bands, on a variety of instruments including violin, bass guitar, drums.

I made records, wrote songs and even appeared in a few videos.

I’ve contributed music in early childhood education and in dementia facilities. I‘ve sung in a cappella vocal groups. I’ve played fiddle for rooms full of joyous folk dancers.

I loved all this musical exploration. But I didn’t find a music-related occupation or genre that really felt like home. In between, I spent long periods burned out, frustrated and not making music.

Finally, I signed up to work with a life coach.

Within a few months I found my way back to the ukulele. And I learned to create my own musical space in the world.

On Saturday afternoons you’ll find me strumming and singing my heart out with my friends in the Strumbles, our nine-member ukulele group. That’s my happy place.

And this has led to my life’s work: first, teaching groups of adults to play ukulele in my local community, and then teaching online, and creating my Youtube channel, which currently has 100 videos and about 5,000 subscribers.

And then, developing Music Life Coaching, a relational approach to music coaching.

I especially love helping folks who long to make music, but have struggled with discouraging experiences, reconnect with music in a way that works for them.

You can find more about this on my music website, www.AliceBulmerMusic.com