Went to a fun theremin workshop at WFMU’s Monty Hall in Jersey City with the lovely Dorit Chrysler. I’ve had a fascination with this instrument since I first heard of it in the late 80s — but it always seemed so mysterious and I never had the slightly clue how to navigate playing one. The class opened with Ms. Chrysler playing a piece of her music, which was really moving. After a short talk, she invited folks up to fumble around the 6 thereminis that they had around the stage (each with a pair of earbuds attached) a few times. One interesting point Dorit made was that both trained musicians and non-trained everybodies would be in the same boat playing the theremin for the first time. The one question I had was in relation to Chysler saying she was a “lefty,” so the tone arm of the theremin was on left. This confused me because I couldn’t really comprehend which side of the instrument (the volume or the tone) would be considered the “main” side (e.g., like the frets of a guitar). She confessed that it really hard to say and that you “really need both hands equally”. It was just a matter of what feels right. There were about 60 people in attendance but they said they’ll be doing smaller workshops (one person per theremin) throughout the year 2025.