Let's talk music!

I remember the exact moment I noticed what music was. I was 7 (possibly younger actually) and I was listening on headphones to my dad's vinyl copy of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke's 'Gotta Get Back To You'. The high pitched organ played its little melody and from that point on I was switched on. It sounded so other worldly to me. I listened to the whole album countless times after that. It still gets me a bit welled up whenever I hear that song as it means so much to me. I'm self taught too - by playing by ear I've gotten to a decent level playing two handed on keyboard instruments - still can't read music fast enough to play it though. Writing music has always been much more of a priority than being able to play well - I have a good ear - if you give me a melody, a bass line or a vocal or any other part to a song I can usually find the chords pretty quickly and come up with something to go with it or even 'wrap' a new song around it. That's kind of my skill I guess. Being as music is my job I don't really have any genre/style preferences - I can usually find something to like about any piece of music I hear - I guess I'm always interested. Having said that... my preferred listening will usually be something electronic like Autechre, Pan Sonic, Alva Noto - unpredictable and complex music is a real brain workout for me that I find very beneficial to my thought processes. I guess I veer towards more 'intellectual' music rather than 'pleasure' music if that makes sense - music that gives your brain room to maneuver and think. Really nice idea for a thread btw - will be cool to see where it goes. Hope it doesn't get moved to the lounge - don't like it in there!

late 1940s for me. my Dad used to listen to AFN and the fledgeling Radio Luxembourg. So did I. We also had a lot of New Orleans style jazz 78s. I was exposed to SO many different styles of music so early it never occurred to me to want to do anything else. By the age of ten I had transcended skiffle groups and had joined a dixieland band on (borrowed) banjo. Paid gigs followed shortly thereafter. Oldest member was clarinettist at 15, youngest 7 - the drummer. Trombone player and I were 10 and the trumpet player was 14. Drummer was his kid brother. I was also strumming away on my old acoustic guitar on anything and everything I heard. Yiddish and Balkan stuff from the thirties on up, because we lived in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood & my Mums best friend down the street was married to a toastmaster specialising in weddings, funerals Bar Miz... you get the picture. Lately I have returned to my roots and now mostly play heavily South Coast-influenced stuff. Gulf that is, not Dover! Robo - don't go getting all confused. Even of you swing it, it is STILL 4/4. And nothing wrong with that. My take on this is that any of you getting hung up on technique or time sigs, styles, etc., just haven't quite got there yet. None of that stuff matters once you get to the stage where you think of something, pick up your instrument and just play what you thought. Everything else is just stuff you have to get out of your way so you can really make music. :D Think about it. While you are playing in AflatDemented....with a F#m7 in there too, if you like. And anyway - what's wrong with Gm7? :D Two Smiley Alert!!!!

Jazz / Skiffle / Elvis ... ... was a 'beatnick'; clothing comprised : green wool knitted jumper (with moth holes), drain pipe Levis, duffle coat. Given guitar (Rosetti acoustic single cutaway) in early 1957. Put a single 'screw to neck' pickup on it in 1958. Given 15 watt amp and 12" speaker enclosure late 1958. Given good grass late 1958. Went to Ronnie Scotts. Never looked back... Love this music stuff... !!! God bless all .... Fred

Started out as a kid playing classical music (flute and other woodwinds) to give me something to do after school. It was pretty lame but I carried on with it until about the age of twenty when I went to university. By then I had done some paid gigs for TV stuff, live concerts and even some stuff that ended up in some early sample libraries. Ditched the classical music like a hot potato the day I arrived at university A friend there was a guitar player and wanted someone to back him up playing some ska and hardish rock at some after hours clubs and a few bars. He told me I should be able to bash out some power chords to back him up given my background as a paid musician and so I did. So I got some cheapo ibanez and some kind of amp and spent about nine months bashing our A and E power chords and G,C, D cowboy chords in bars and clubs After doing that for a while I got bored and quit music completely for around 17 years Then about 5 or 6 years ago I decided I wanted to write some songs and so needed to teach myself to play guitar properly (along with building a guitar and rebuilding an amp) Since doing that I have written/recorded I think 21 songs and played a little over 100 shows and have not got sick of it yet

Music 

What started me in music? The first time I heard Hank Williams on WSM.

Great input, guys! Am enjoying the read immensely.

loving this thread. love all genres. love so much of what you all have wrote. I'm 57. I can relate to so much of what you all have written. OP, I love gentle on my mind. there is a john hartford lesson dvd. he plays steam powered aereoplane. it's a duet rendition. john on banjo, other guy on acoustic guitar. might be a happy traum series dvd. the performance is short. it is sublime. I have loved music, since I was young. love of music inspired very much by the beautiful sound of my mother humming and softly singing. early memories. also liked transistor radio. also put plastic (possibly panasonic) speakers from cheap stereo 8th grade graduation present, next to ears like headphones. loved all music you guys have mentioned. and many many thousands more. music is like really good food, really pretty girls, really funny stuff, really good true love.

awesome RoboPlankton!! thank you very much!!!

I was born in '69 an only child and grew up on a college campus during the '70's. My record player was my best friend. I was exposed to all styles and kinds of music. But seeing KISS on The Midnight Special show got me to playing guitar. And into rock, and later, heavy metal. Which I still enjoy. Today I like to listen to new age/trance/atmospheric music and soundtracks. And it's the music I try to make. And I'm VERY into mixing which is what I study now. I *LOVE* taking multitracks and mixing it. It's like a video game to me. And I would like to make money at it someday.