Let’s start from the beginning.
I had an interest in music from a fairly young age. A cousin of mine was taking lessons to learn how to play the organ, which is like a piano but with two levels of keys, and the pedals were just more keys. I wanted to learn music, too, and my grandparents, who I spent a lot of time with at that age, had an organ for my cousin to use for practice, so it was very accessible to get started. That was the first instrument I learned.
A couple of years later, I learned my school had an orchestra where I could learn to play a stringed instrument. Of course I chose the violin. It’s a fairly prestigious instrument in an orchestra, after all. At least, that was my thinking. It was also cheaper than the bigger instruments. So, again, the barrier to entry was lower. I got pretty good at it and even got to do some interesting events.
When I got to middle school, I wanted to do something else. I learned my dad had played trombone, and that he still had it. I don’t know if it’s because of his own experience or something else, but he discouraged me from going that route. Instead, I went trumpet. In middle school and the first year of high school, I played trumpet and various related instruments, including some interesting instruments for marching band.
As a sophomore, though, our band didn’t have enough trombone players, having only 1 in the section, while our trumpet section was too large. That 1 trombonist was a friend of mine, and I had a trombone that just needed reconditioning, so I volunteered to switch. As it turned out, I got good at it very fast, surpassing my friend in chair position very quickly. We, later, got a couple more trombonists in the section, and the only reason I didn’t get the solo parts was because of the instrument not having a rich tone as a “pea shooter” nickel plated instrument.
I’ve had a natural aptitude for music from the beginning. I’ve played many instruments in my life, only really missing out on percussion and woodwinds (granted, this is a pretty large amount of instruments). However, my life path wasn’t in music and, instead, I ended up in tech, so I kinda stopped for a while. I did try to be in a band at one point as a keyboardist and writer, but that didn’t last too long.
Today, I spend some of my spare time trying to get back to my musical roots. I have my old keyboard from the band days, and I have a guitar that I pick up every now and then. I hope to start documenting my progress here.