How Musical is your Family?

BigMoney

I tend to assume many musicians have music elsewhere in their family. I was introduced by my father when I was 5. Unfortunately I was more into Mario Brothers at the time. When I turned 10 I actually become interested. I wish I was interested when I was 5 though. How musical are your families? Super musical or not at all?

Cheers

Teetonetal

My dad played guitar a bit, my sister reached grade 8 saxophone. That's about it. I'm the only one who's done anything with music.

All the rest of my family on my dad's side are artists. My uncle is particularly good. Though two  of my cousins is starting to do really well.

My mum's side is more into reading.

Alnico

My late Father was Mike Johnston, lead guitarist with the Dions from 1962-65.
They regularly played alongside all the big Merseybeat bands especially in 'The Cavern'.
When Epstein and the other record companies started to take *some* bands into fame and fortune he left the band and joined the Army because he had no desire to go that far and their band didn't really get picked out in any significant way.
He used to drink at the bar with Priscilla White (Cilla Black) and John Lennon.
Lennon asked my Mum out on a date and she turned him down for my Dad.

When I was 8 he taught me all the chords on a 1960's 'Suzuki' dreadnought and he recorded me a C90 tape cassette with Pink Floyd on it. Wish you were here on one side and most of 'The Wall' on the other.
Then I got recorded, Van Halen, ACDC, Genesis, The Alan Parsons Project, Fairport Convention........
My whole life has been music and guitars since 1980.
I got my first electric in 1985 and a Marshall JCM800 full stack in 1987.

My Brother chose Bass guitar in 1985 and Dad taught him to play that too.
He taught us to play by ear so we both have the ability to listen to a song and tell you what the rough chords and structure of it is before we even pick the guitars up.
In later years Ben got very good at double bass and still plays one as well as his electric Bass.

My cousin in Chris Phillips.
Session drummer and spent most of the 90's touring with China Crisis among many others.

My other cousin is Jennifer Johnston.
Professional vocalist (Mezzo).

Clarky

my dad and brother are both guitarists, and my uncle is a pro baroque flautist and was a lecturer at the Guild Hall, Trinity College and the Royal Academy of Music..
interestingly, I only met them for the first time a few years ago
until I'd met them I'd assumed that I was the only musician in the family

Nitefly

My old man played the piano, but wouldn't ever play in public.  He listened to a lot of jazz pianists, which gave me a good ear for chords.

My Ma loves to sing, but she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket - she knows when to go up, and when to go down, but not by how much!  Her thing was Johnny Mathis and Ella Fitzgerald, with a lot of 50s / 60s musicals (My Fair Lady, Camelot, West Side Story, South Pacific, Gigi, The King And I), so I learned a lot of show tunes early.

Philly_Q

None of my family are musical.  Myself included.

Not strictly truthful...

My stepmother played in some kind of youth orchestra as a child, but in the time I knew her she would only very occasionally sit at the piano or pull out her violin.  And she sounded bloody awful.  Which doesn't mean she wasn't good once, but I have my doubts as she couldn't even tune the violin.

And one of my stepsisters is a full-time singer/songwriter/poet/playwright/philosopher - which actually means she lives on benefits and does all those things for the love of it without, as far as I know, ever making a penny from it.  But bless her, she's never given up.

As far as blood relatives go, I think I'm the only one who's ever really attempted to play an instrument.

ICBM

My dad was a jazz trumpeter, but gave up playing in bands before I was born… my mum hated him playing it in the house, so he never did. I barely even knew he was musical when I was a kid .

I'm entirely self-taught - I discovered music by myself, and only then did he show me some of his abilities and influences. Although it still shows - I play the conventional guitarist 'pentatonic blues scale' box position in an unusual way… learned from a book of trumpet theory he gave me.

Bucket

My dad started playing guitar at 17, and has been in bands as a bass player since his later teens/early 20s. Nothing that ever got very big, although he did see some success as a semi-pro musician when I was young, if I remember correctly - was in a pretty high-profile covers band that gigged up and down the country, sometimes in Europe too, and also dabbled in original material. I definitely remember he went out to gig a lot when my sister and I were little. As a six/seven-year-old kid, I sometimes came to the venue with him if he was setting up during the day, but never got to see him play an actual gig until I was more like twelve or thirteen. But I often got to meet the people he played with.

Maybe that had a subconscious effect on me picking the guitar up when I was twelve. He must have been my earliest influence - I don't remember a time when there wasn't something to do with music going on as a kid, and that was all down to him. I don't know that it's something that would have even crossed my mind if I hadn't already been exposed to it in that way - it always seemed like a possibility, and never like "something other people did".

He played bass in bands for about 30 years as his main instrument, but always played guitar in his spare time as well. He also did the PA for a covers band, and when their old guitarist (a close family friend) left, he took over on guitar and has been playing with them for about five or six years now, if I remember.

My sister dabbles in a couple of different instruments too but hasn't found anything that really sticks yet. She has some basic ability on guitar, bass, piano and saxophone though, which is more than I can boast  

TheBlueWolf

A couple of guitarist cousins; one is classically trained, the other a mix of styles. A few other cousins on that side took grades in piano.

My mums two youngest sisters were in a punk band

TTBZ

Not at all. My brother was ok at piano but gave it up as a teenager. Neither of my parents are that into decent music, when I was growing up all I remember them listening to was stuff like Simply Red. Although dad did have a Hendrix cd where I first heard voodoo Chile and decided I wanted to play guitar. 

richardhomer

My dad played cornet for the works brass band, when he was an apprentice. My mother played piano. Both had given up playing long before I was born.

I had an uncle (Jack) on my father's side, who was apparently an exceptional saxophonist who played professionally. He died on the Thetis - a submarine that failed to resurface on its maiden voyage. He was in his early 20s, I believe.

About 20 years ago, I was in a second hand book shop in Wales and found a book about the Thetis. It had an alphabetical list of those who were lost - when I got to 'J' I was surprised not to see Jack's name.

When I got to 'R' I was chilled to see 'Richard Homer' on the page.

Approximately 12 years on from my father's death, that's how I found I was named after Richard 'Jack' Homer. My dad simply never spoke about the tradegy of losing him - so I'm not surprised he never got round to telling me. Though I'm probably not as good a player as he was - it's fitting that I've played music all my life.....

fields5069

I couldn't class myself as a musician, I could become competent with application but that's not saying much.

I have a natural talent at music which stops somewhere around grade 2, and I hate practice.

My sister got grade 8 in cello and 5 in piano. My mum played the guitar and piano competently, in the late 70s she fancied herself as something of a Welsh Joan Baez.

ROOG

Good question, no one in my extended family has any interest in playing  any instrument or even to sing. I have always loved playing since i pickedd up a recorder at the age of 5 despite my lack of tallent or commitment to one instrument. I have tried to engage my kids in music  to no avail. I find this a little saddening  , as i consider music to be a great social skill. Pperhaps the abundance of 'free' music offering very high production values makes learninng feel unobtainable? 

Skiffle for the 50's must have been so much More attainable no?

mike_l

Mum has previously played piano and violin.
Grandad on Mum's side taught piano, and sang in the church choir.
Dad plays harmonica occasionally.
Sister used to play piano (grade 7/8) and clarinet (again grade 7/8).

Sporky

My mum played piano when she was young, my brother dabbled in guitar as a teenager. I've kept on going, and Lady BMcH is teaching herself piano with considerable success.

Axe_meister

My dad was a professional drummer in 60s london, a drummer for hire and probably played with most of the London based bands at the time, even if only one gig. In fact he stood in for Charlie Watts once (but couldn't recall the band name). He also got thrown out of the army smuggling instruments into the German POW camp in North Africa.

My Grandfather was a woodwind musician for the Army during the war.
After the war his second job (day job was working on the railways) he played in various dance bands.
When he retired he carried on playing and became a teacher and instrument repair guy (all woodwind instruments)
Step dad was grade 8 Violin and Piano.
Daughter is grade 8 Violin and Piano and grade 5 flute.
Son is a bloody talented drummer and is picking up the guitar well.

guitarfishbay

Mum was a pro Opera singer. Of course I inherited my dad's singing skills.

guitars4you

My grand father was pro in the 30's - Sax and violin - Often in the 'summer season' they would play 3 times  a day - Tea dance in the afternoon - Dinner music early evening and then the dance later - Good money then as well compared to labour jobs down the mill/mine - He won best sax player in a Melody Maker competition sometime in the 30's as part of a big band competition - He then played in local dance bands until the mid 70's - A fine and respected musician in the area and had perfect pitch

Dad played sax + clarinet - was pro for a short while in the early 60's - with Ray McVay band - then semi pro for a few years and only recently retired playing at 80 - At the time of national service in the 50's my dad was in the army band on clarinet for a couple of years

Granddad worked in the music business in a store as a manager before taking over the shop (Wisher Derby Ltd) and establishing the family business in the mid 60's - My dad was effectively born above the music shop my granddad had previously worked in - I started as a 14 year old as a Saturday lad 

So in some form or another we've been involved for around 90 years and collectively over 150 years between us in the music industry - Think this will be the end of it as my daughter is not interested in a career in music

EricTheWeary

My paternal grandmother used to organise amateur variety show things but didn't play an instrument apart from the kazoo. My mother played piano a bit but I only ever knew her play from the Methodist hymn book ( she came from a very religious family so I think all her side could bash out Earth Rejoice on the family piano). My three older siblings all had lessons at various things (trombone, guitar, piano)but didn't stick with it. My sister has a decent singing voice and has done am dram musicals. 
I'd say my two sons have a much more natural ear for music than I do, the eldest lost interest in his reed instruments but the younger one still plays some guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. He isn't very interested in 'bands' but he likes mixing and production and plays bass on projects at college. 

Fuengi

We never had a musical instrument in the house when I was a kid. I've never seen my parents or my sister even pick up an instrument, let alone try to play one, so I always felt that playing music was for other children, not for us. 

I was determined to change that for my two lads, so learnt the ukulele first for a couple of years then bought my first guitar about 5 years ago. My older lad has a keyboard permanently set up in his room which he plays and we have a xylophone and a squeeze box around for the little one to play. 

I think if you can encourage kids to give it a go and they can play something they recognise they will be hooked. 

bodhi

My great-grandmother could apparently play guitar and harmonica.

No-one in my family is interested in music very much.  I always had a desire to play guitar.  My dad has a picture of me aged 3 or 4 with a little green guitar and I've played on and off since then (mostly on), and I'm still no good.  But I enjoy it - it calms me down at the end of each day.  That's what it does for me, really - stress relief.