Your professional, academic, or social relationshipwithmusic

[JMB]

I'm from Germany, 17 years old. The region in which I live is stongly marked of folk music played by wind orchestras. In those wind orchestras, music is a hobby and fun and community stands in foreground. But for me, music is more then a hobby.
I play the trombone for 6 years and the piano since 7 years, but trombone is my favorite. I play the trombone in a BigBand, in a (youth) symphony orchestra, in a youth wind orchstra, in a wind orchestra and in a 'assortment wind orchestra' which plays symphonical pieces. I also played in a msuical made by our school and I sing in a choir. The latest work, we sang, was Haydn's Chiemseemesse.
As you can see, I play and listen to all kinds of music. Its more than a hobby to me.

[Springeragh]

Only a few people in my family don't play music.

To hopefully avoid confusion on relations, I am the oldest of seven (I'm 20), my mother was an only child, my father had three brothers, and I have ten cousins. My twin sister is also married to a tone-deaf engineer.

I play the piano and the guitar equally well; the guitar is supposed to be my main instrument but I like the paino better. I can play the violin almost badly enough to make my brother in law want to scratch a chalkboard. Neither of my two brothers play anything (they can sing though), but all my sisters except the youngest play the piano; my twin sister also plays the clarinet, my next youngest sister plays the violin as do three of my cousins, and the other one plays the flute as does another one of our cousins. My dad could play the banjo, but we don't hear much of that since he died in July. He was the second youngest; the youngest plays the 'cello, and the oldest plays the viola. Both my brother in law's parents play the horn...where did he get his tone-deafness from? And I also have a deaf cousin who plays the harp. Hardly a moment without music around here.

[willard3]

I was forced to start taking piano lessons at age 5. Still taking lessons, and I'm a senior in college...music major. Taught myself the flute in high school, started organ lessons 2 years ago.

My older brother also plays the piano and organ, my mom played flute/pic and violin in high school/college, my younger sister plays the violin, and my dad sings.

[tanga]

Wel, none of my parents have actually played any music but my siblings and I all do yep!

Started the piano when I was five and still going!
My sister, well she switches all around with differnet intruments
And them my brother plays the violin

[mattkhoo87]

hi.. i`m matthew, 21 yrs old from malaysia. my music background started since i was in primary school. My parents took me to piano classes... i finished my grade 3 practical during primary 6 and at that time, i hated it a lot. Piano classes bored me to death. At secondary school, i learnt the guitar from my dad who plays for a family band in his young age. He taught me 3 chords C, G, and F major and asked me to learn the rest myself. So i go online and learn chords myself and slowly learn songs. A few months after my guitar lesson, i took an interest in drums and started learning. at the age of 16 i`ve decided to take music as my further studies. My plan was to major in drums.

At the age of 20(2007), i got offered into a local university in Malaysia (University Malaya) for Bachelor Degree in Performing Arts(Music), majoring in percussions. Before entering the university, my music background was always contemporary music. I actually auditioned to major in the drumset for my university application, but the university only offers classical music. So i thought, why not i go into classical since it`s good foundation for my music career. And ever since then, i have never regretted going into classical music majoring in classical percussion instruments. I`m loving the timpani a lot!

So far in my family, i`m the only one furthering my studies in music. My elder brother who is a teacher now is a very good musician. He studied the piano till grade 8 ABRSM and on the path road of decision, was deciding between taking up an education course or go into music. I guess he had his callling into being a teacher. Would be cool if he did music though Then i`d be able to learn from him

well.. that`s about my music background.. love this forum a lot really cool sites i can get for scores!

any percussionist here?

[Crystalviolin]

I'm just a concert master at my middle school, but I hope to take violin as my lifelong profession. I don't care whether I end up as famous as Charlie Daniels or as last chair of a Symphony Orchestra - as long as I'm performing and making a decent income I'll be OK.

[aldona]

really cool sites i can get for scores!

Just wait until July 1 when IMSLP's own collection of scores comes back!

aldona

[Sergeï]

I'm pretty much the 1st musician in my family. My mother has never really been into music, my father enjoys listening very much but doesn't play anything. I was introduced to the violin around 5 quite simply because my best friend was from a family of musicians who thought it would be easier to teach him an instrument if the both of us went to lessons together. I am 21 and have not let go of my violin since.

I was lucky enough to run into an amateur orchestra made up entirely of other teens some years ago, lead by cellist Takashi Kondo. Our best experience will always be our two concerts in Osaka, Japan - an uncommon accomplishment for a French amateur orchestra of under-aged musicians

My studies have, unfortunately, not allowed me to keep on playing in my orchestra (not enough time, plus 300 miles' distance between where I study and where the orchestra plays). So now, music is just basically a hobby - though one I do all I can to keep as alive as possible.

[Luk3]

I started taking piano lessons at a very young age, around my first year of grade school. I used to loathe piano lessons and practice and my parents had to force me to practice. I dropped lessons for 2 years while searching for a different teacher, ( i did not play at all during this time) then I finally found a good one. However, my hate of lessons and practice persisted until I turned 16 the end of the year 2007. I was choosing a piece to play and found Beethoven's Piano Sonata #8. I decided to play the third movement and I was hooked.

Since then I have fallen in love with piano, I practice every spare moment I have. I wanted to learn peaces as fast as possible, so I used memorization techniques but then I decided that memorizing by ear is not the only piano skill I should rely on. I have been training myself lately to be a better note reader. I love romantic music especially Chopin and Rachmaninoff. My father loves mostly jazz piano and my mother used to play the cello.

I regret wasting all that time I used to spend avoiding the piano, because now I don't feel I am as skilled as I should be. I doubt I will ever achieve being a professional pianist, but if I could have one wish it would be to make me a piano virtuoso. I am determined to play Rachmaninoff's piano sonata #2 before I die.

[ZacPB189]

I'm a junior in High School, so technically, I'm only a student; but I'm also a symphonist/trumpet player/Mahler and Bruckner disciple, so It's mostly a spiritual relationship.

[KGill]

I started teaching myself to read and write music and compose when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I listened to a lot of Chopin and in fact used the Cortot recording and scores of the Etudes to learn to read music. Also, most of my early compositions were failed imitations of some of the more interesting examples from that set. My horizons were broadened by Debussy and especially Ravel, along with some Scriabin. Later, I got very interested in Shostakovich, starting with a Philadelphia Orchestra concert in 2004 of his Sixth Symphony, and now am fond of Varese, Berio, Lutoslawski, etc. I have been a theory/composition student for about three and a half years, which has greatly increased my abilities in those areas. Though a high school sophomore, I have managed to produce a large body of small, rather mediocre works, including one symphonic scherzo. I really have no plans to pursue music as a career, following the experience of my mother- she went to Juilliard and Peabody (DMA in piano) and now works part-time in medical billing. So that doesn't exactly encourage me. As for the rest of my family, my father studied piano, my sister played oboe and saxophone, my great-grandmother was an opera singer, my uncle is a semi-professional violinist, etc. (I also have played the violin since age 9). I plan to be a computer programmer, and maybe if I went to a huge school like Princeton I could minor in composition.
Not very exciting, but you asked so I told...

[allegroamabile]

Well, I am a student currently studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy. I wish to become a professional clarinetist, conductor, and musicologist. My parents were/are amatuer musicians so that is how I became acquainted with the subject. I started playing piano when I was around 8 years old and was never very serious with it. I regret not practicing and keeping with the instrument. Eventually, when I turned twelve years old, I decided to take up the clarinet. I guess I was better built for the clarinet so I improved rapidly over time and at one point I decided that I wanted to become a professional. Couple years back I started playing the saxophone on the side. It is very easy to learn if you are already a clarinetist.