Just curious. I started tinkering around on a cheap acoustic guitar at around 12. My son took to piano fairly early but at 10 started getting *really* interested and by the time he hit his 11th bday was taking lessons. He’s showing a naturally good ear and seems to have taken to reading music surprisingly fast. As a parent pretty neat to see his musical development but just as a fellow human it’s cool to have another music nerd in the house now.

It depends what you would count. I was diddling around on an acoustic guitar in my teens. Played with music software around age 18-22 but didn't get very far.

The first instrument I tried to actually learn was the keys at 28. I'm a very basic player but it has definitely bettered my hearing, and helped me understand some theory.

I'm 32 now and thinking of taking up the electric guitar because there are many songs I think would be fun to play. Even some songs I don't like to listen to.

I seem to recall band and instrument lessons starting in Grade 4 at my grade school, so I think I would have been 9 when I started with just a snare drum. I believe I was 11 when my brother and I got our first drumset.

I'd really taken to this Fisher-Price xylophone piano I was given as a toddler, so by age 3 I was in piano lessons. Took them up through high school, got my RCM Grade 8. But I was an uncommitted student and always kind of sucked at it. I have kind of innate musical ability, absolute pitch and such (neutral statement, do not mean to boast), but never worked to properly develop it. On my RCM exams I'd always get 10/10 on the ear training portion, routinely 3 or 2/10 for sight-reading, and middling grades on the actual performances/pieces. Those are the only music lessons I've taken besides about six weeks of voice as an adolescent (I still can't reliably sing "from my diaphragm").

My dad played a little guitar and I was almost always more interested in the guitar than the piano. I was given a child-size classical guitar from Sears for Christmas when I was maybe six. I got my first electric guitar and amp for Christmas as well, I was in Grade 5 I think. I've played continuously since then, although in those 20 years I don't think I've ever played a scale or any other intentional rudiment/exercise on the guitar.

Picked up a Peavey drum kit for $100 about when I started high school. Parents vetoed that after a week just from the noise, but they liked the general idea so they bought an old Yamaha digital drum kit my friend was selling. So I just hit that a bunch til eventually I could marginally play the drums. The digital kit gave me almost no transferable playing skills for my eventual acoustic kit (other than the obvious one of knowing which drums are which), but it helped a lot in learning to understand/write drum parts.

I think drums are the only instrument where it would really behoove me to take one or two lessons. Since I an instrument where poor form/ergonomics can fuck you up. I used to have a problem where if I played anything shorter than quarter notes on the hi-hat, my arm would go numb. That doesn't happen anymore, but I should get a more experienced drummer to give my technique a once-over.

Eleven, but did not sit down with a guitar properly until fifteen. Then I did not touch one again between the ages of twenty two and thirty eight. Now forty five and have been playing again for the last seven years. So, a bit patchy I think!

Mason wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:10 amThose are the only music lessons I've taken besides about six weeks of voice as an adolescent (I still can't reliably sing "from my diaphragm").

Oh yeah, singing! Been doing that forever. Even took some lessons a few years ago. Same as with you my voice is not totally reliable, it depends on the day. Other people say it sounds good and it feels like it does. Should probably record myself to find out.

Age 12, in 1984. My dad had an Eko bass laying around from his college days. I was heavily into music, and so I asked if I could start messing around on it. I was good at playing by ear and was in a band by the end of the school year. Started playing along to Rush and Iron Maiden, and that made me a pretty good bass player by the time I was 14.

I found a tape of me practicing in ‘85 the other day. Quite amusing.

My mom offered to sign me up for music lessons when I was 8 or 9 and the instrument I chose? Accordion!

We would ride the bus across town every Saturday morning for about 8 weeks for the hour lesson. I got pretty good but the next step was to purchase my own accordion so I could play at home (up until then, I learned on the loaner). Mom couldn’t afford it so that was the end of accordion for me.

However, there was an old acoustic guitar in the house with a missing string and high action and so I started plunking away on that when I was 12. Took a few lessons from a dude up the street. When I was 16 I was able to afford an electric guitar (Explorer-style Aria Pro II) and a practice amp. Would occasionally jam with friends by the age of 19 and played in a band a few years after moving to Vancouver, from 1990 - 93.

Didn't start playing bass until just before I turned 21.

Took drum lessons briefly when I was 10/11, then got credit on the rental snare drum I had towards the purchase of a 90s Memphis Strat copy and got a solid state Epiphone practice amp when I was 11/12.

Played on and off but never in bands growing up. Got more serious about it when I got to college and actually met people who played in bands.

Was making a record with a friend and their band needed a bassist, so they'd asked me. Had never really played bass before, and had to borrow my roommate's 90s Memphis P-Bass copy. This was January '03--a month or two before we went on our first tour in August I bought my real bass rig--early 90's MIJ Fender P-Bass, GK400RB, and SWR Workingman 4x10, all of which I still own.

Have dabbled back in guitar, but bass is pretty much my instrument at this point.

Mater was hellbent on sending me to The Julliard School. I began piano lessons at Lyon & Healy at the age of four. For the following four years it was like Whiplash. I mean, not really, but pater wasn't so keen on having my life be a succession of lessons, recitals, lessons, and recitals, while having an overzealous and excitable show-parent for a mother (she also played, and played quite well). For the next couple of years I languished in childhood things until I decided I wanted to learn how to play drums. Never had a lesson!