Your Introduction To Music

[Pete Academy]

When I was about 3 I had a little toy piano that I plonked on. Before I was 10 I had: A small keyboard and a toy record player with multi-coloured discs with songs such as 'Turkey In The Straw' and 'Wouldn't It Be Lovely' (I played these records to death). My mum taught me to play the harmonica. Then we had a borrowed record player with a Herb Alpert album (which is why I love latin music) and a few singles, including 'Ride A White Swan' by T-Rex and 'Revolution' by the Beatles.

What were your early musical memories?

[ThomBassmonkey]

I played Piano when I was 5 for a couple of years, then gave up because I didn't like the teacher, then did keyboard at 11, gave up because I liked my playstation more. Started bass when I was 16.

My early memories are either of being dragged to a local folk club by my parents or going to Cajun or Zydeco gigs and finding it funny how my ears rang after standing next to the PA speakers (wish I knew then what I know now...).

[Lozz196]

The earliest memory I have of music is when George Harrisons My Sweet Lord was out, and it being played on the radio.

Whenever I hear it, it takes me back to that time.

[Bilbo]

First year music lesson at Croesyceiliog Comprehensive School, aged 11. The music teacher played us two films; Peter & The Wolf and Ravel's Bolero. I was hooked from that day on and wanted to play. The school were s*** and didn't let me learn anything and I didn't get a bass until I bought one for myself aged 17 (my family would not have been able to afford one earlier). I still think music is a middle class luxury denied a lot of working class kids but that's my chip......

[Jam]

I played violin when I was 5 but my teacher should never have been allowed to teach children, crotchety old hag. I gave it up because she was mean, which looking back was a shame because I might be quite good now. I picked up piano when I was about 14 odd, and played for about a year before my teacher retired from teaching.

Started playing bass at 18, my brother was awesome and got me one for my 18th birthday, what a hero.

[Blademan_98]

I played guitar at 13, but switched to piano at 15 because of a pretty girl who I was at school with took lessons!

I had a big gap of about ten years before I picked up a guitar again (Eric Clapton influences).

Another gap, then when I was 40 my wife bought me a guitar and started me down the road again

I took up bass this year because of the acoustic duo I play in needed someting else!

Just lovin every minute I have a bass in my hand.....

[bubinga5]

My dad was a classical pianist, and my mum listened to this guy alot.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjTK0pL1go"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjTK0pL1go[/url]

pretty much what i was brought up with...

[JordanRLS]

[quote name='Jam' post='1068316' date='Dec 23 2010, 10:31 PM']I picked up piano when I was about 14 odd[/quote]

I read this as "Picked up a piano" and was quite impressed by it

As for me, I started to play trumpet at age 9, or 10 (I forget) at primary school then gave up a couple of years later when I got to secondary school. Then I did nothing musical until the age of 15 (Other than a 2 week attempt to teach myself guitar which failed miserably) when I was in a Product design class and some music was playing while we worked and I had a sudden urge to play an instrument and join a band! So I started playing bass .

[Wil]

I remember listening to my dad's records and then CDs a lot as I was growing up. Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, The Beatles, Beach Boys, ELO, The Police, Bowie, Bach, Mozart, Paul Weller, Crowded House... I learned trumpet aged 7 or 8 at school, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. Eventually I asked my dad to get me a bass, aged 10 or so. It was when Oasis were at their peak and I was quite a fan, but as I'm sure you can imagine, it was the lack of a bass player in a band a few friends were forming rather than any particularly inspiring Oasis basslines that caused me to plump for the longer guitar. It was an Encore precision, and I still have it, although like Trigger's broom, the only thing about it that's the same is the body.

I had no amp for the first few years, so I played through an old Hi Fi amp. Sounded awful, so most of the time I played unplugged. It was only when I started listening to Jamiroquai that I really started to take note of what the bass was capable of, and instead of being the big dull guitar that sat in the corner of my room, it was a tool on which I could make sounds and melodies that were really underpinning and adding to the music. That was the point at which I started on the path to being a musician.

When I eventually do become one, I'll be well chuffed!

[Bassman Sam]

Started on the piano at 8 years old, played it to grade 5, stopped aged12. Then DB at school for 2 years, kicked out of the String section for not wanting to do the O level, just wanted to play and not learn about Bach.

At around the same time, I went to see Hair, the musical, as there were Nudies on stage, well I was 14. That was the 1st time I heard a live bass guitar, that was it it for me. Been a fan of nudies ever since.

[OliverBlackman]

Singing in a church choir (I know (n)) i hear someone play cornet and i really wanted play it. So my rents bought me a recorder and then there was saxophone when i was told i was tall enough and then bass at 14

[lojo]

went to see showaddywaddy in the 70s as a small boy, great show

[Cat Burrito]

It's funny how time blurs things but it'd be somewhere between my Grandfather playing Johnny Cash in Tyneside, my Mum's copy of With the Beatles, watching the Police on Top of the Pops doing Walking on the Moon (with Stuart Copeland banging his drum sticks on everything he could - which seriously impressed me!) or my Dad being an ex pro drummer being dragged out of retirement to play drums in his school's production of Jerusalem Joy (he was a Headmaster).

Dad's drumming had an unsuccessful attempt at rubbing off on me. My two best friends played instruments (clarinet and cornet) so in order to fit in I decided much to my Dad's delight I'd be a drummer at the tender age of about 7yrs old. I expected immediate success. However as a drummer I took after the cat, not my Dad!

[clauster]

Mum's a pianist and both of my parents are huge music fans.

Mum would practise for an hour minimum every day and the rest of the time there'd be Pink Floyd/Elton John/Classical or folk/etc etc on the record player.

I don't remember a time without music in our house.

[spike]

I started playing in the school recorder group when I was 7, when I was 9 I moved on to playing the tenor horn in the school band which I continued with until I left 6th form. A couple years later I realised I was really missing playing music so I took up the bass which I've been playing for 30 years now.

[lettsguitars]

obsesssed with bowie from age 8. one summer my cousin came to stay and brought his strat copy and def leppard hysteria tape. that was it! i knew what i had to do. rocket, yea!