A bass guitar, piano, banjo and mandolin sit together by the fireplace in the living room; upstairs rests an acoustic guitar and cello. Before college, senior Maya Bird-Murphy played six instruments. Three years ago she added one more to the collection: the charango.
Bird-Murphy took a music history class her freshman year where the professor introduced her to the charango. Later that year, she went to Mexico for a month where she heard a professional play.
When she came home, one of the first things she did was order a charango online.
Bird-Murphy said she learned to play her new instrument by ear.
“I usually just mess around; the way that I learn how to play an instrument is that I listen to songs that I know and listen to it on my phone and try to play them,” she said. “My ear is what led me to picking up so many instruments.”
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