I’ve been working in various magics for a little over 15 years now. It’s a lot of research, a lot of patience, and a lot of failure. Just like any art or practice.
You can always request, out loud or on paper, accommodations for communication as Mereoleona said.
I found auto-writing and tarot reading were good methods of communication. For auto-writing, sometimes if I can’t read something I simply ask for the entity to write it more clearly. Some things are misspelled. It takes a little deciphering but it’s not too bad.
You can ask simple questions with a tarot deck, as well (or honestly anything; I collected every paint card at the hardware store, which are free, and use those sometimes). If the message doesnt make sense, you draw until it does. Think of it like a radio. There’s static in between and you have to decipher what’s going on in there.
You could also look into your local area and your personal heritage if you have any connection with it for additional branches of magic. Local spirits that have seen you on your worst and best days, the gravel that you walk by every day, the wood and brick that built your home, they all know you intimately and can also help you. It takes patience.
Put out a teaspoon of milk and sugar for your house wights, for example. You can write or speak to them, give them little offerings or gifts, nothing too ostentatious, and as long as you are kind and grateful many house spirits help bring good fortune.
For my “dagger” I use a fancy pair of scissors. You could also use a kitchen knife or a stick you found outside as a wand. The point is usually to aim and focus your energy, but the dagger has different meanings cross-culturally. Is it a focus, for you? Does it represent pain, blood, power, authority? If you’re not attached to the dagger literalism, you can even use your pointer or first two fingers.
I have very weak visualization, I’m nearly aphantasic, so I prefer non-visualization methods myself since it’s easier to deal with. When I scry, I use a bowl of water and stir in some rosemary until it makes a shape. I let the rosemary settle and interpret what the shapes remind me of. I also use other local cultural methods of divination. You don’t need to spend money if you have just a regular bowl and some herbs.
As a musician, you may be able to use sand (or salt, sugar, etc) and sound. I am very much not well versed in the science of sound nor music, but essentially the vibrations on a surface to my understanding can create images.
You can use anything for divination, and therefore communication.
Here’s some of my other methods:
Alternative Methods for the Secret or Poor Magician
Additional things I’ve written that maybe relevant:
Correspondences, Properties, and Inversions
Vampirism, Necromancy, and Shapeshifting
Dreadweaving and Astral Destruction (an extension of my vampirism)
Mottled Magic: My Personal Grimoire
Mottled Musings: Magic Journaling
(I haven’t updated in a long time but it may contain some ideas for ways you can practice)
I don’t know how helpful any of this will be, I only briefly perused your posts, but I hope they will.
Good luck on your journey.