OK, there are dabblers, those who give musical instruments a try.
However, it is clear that the majority of the individuals here on the C&F FF are musicians, of one stripe or another, at least.
So, fellow musicians, what brought you to music?
Begged for piano lessons in fifth grade. I mean begged.
Two years of that, then I went to saxophone in middle school, and I was beyond hope. Took up whistle in high school, and now I play that and flute pretty much exclusively. I’ve played a lot of instruments in the in-betweens, but I’m down to those two, now. Though the other day I did find a harmonica I never learned to play. I’ve been messing with it…
I think when I was a kid (10-12 maybe) I had a romantic notion of living as a hermit and playing a flute-type instrument to my goat herd on the side of a mountain. 
First it was friends in elementary school. We were a couple of guys who decided to start playing trumpet when everyone else played recorders. Then I quit and several years later it was the spirit of a couple of runned down Irish pubs in France and Spain that got me interested in ITM.
My parents, especially my father. He had a band back then when I was 5, and I used to “practise” on his electric piano when he wasn’t at home. Had a short look into classical guitar shortly after that but it didn’t work for me. So my parents finally were convinced that they’ll have to buy a piano. 
Played that thing for quite some years, but I quit in the later years on high school since I had too much other things to do (e.g. sitting in front of my computer and playing video games). At 16 I had to learn this “pseudo-medieval bagpipe”, ordered one and started on the rec***er to practise the fingering. The bagpipe never arrived, a singer of my medieval music band back then brought me to irish music when I was 18, I fell in love with flute and uilleann pipes and the rest is history as they say. I’m 21 now.
At my grade school, they had an “instrument zoo” day (the high school jazz band came, played, and you could try out the instruments). I’d always loved the Pink Pather tune, and they played that…so I had to start playing the sax.
I came to ITM through two avenues - a local Irish pub across the hall from a comedy club my wife and I used to go to and because of that damnable Matt Malloy and the Chieftans. Malley & Co opened the door, but I thought the music was only played in Ireland until we heard it coming from the pub one night after watching a comedy club.
Eric
I’m not a musician. I was a church musician in childhood but not in adulthood.
Thought I’d give it a go again at age 42 now that I no longer live in an apartment with a day-sleeper upstairs and the land-lady next door.
I chose the flute because I learned a little of it as a child and thought it was easy back then, plus I just love the sound of a flute.
Irish music is what gave me the idea to try music again. Otherwise, I think I’d still be music-less.
I once was sport addict… but it gave pleasure to no one but me.
I am still a decent painter and good drawer… but the joy I sometimes give to others is constantly delayed.
I now try to be a decent player in order to give instant joy to people (stille work to do though!).
Pascal.
In grade school, we had a music instructor who got us all those white plastic flageolets with the burgundy-colored fipples and bell-shaped ends (sort of like a recorder). He would give us sheets with our individual parts on it to play as a choir. The parts were written in numbers, as in the number of fingers covering the holes for each note. It was a great system. I found that I had a good ear for figuring out tunes on my own, and have been playing ever since.
Cubbitt - I’m pretty sure those are flutophones…we had them, too, but didn’t start using them in school until after I was already playing the sax and reading music. I found that numbering system maddening!
Eric
Right you are, Eric! Here’s a picture and write-up:
http://musiced.about.com/od/windinstruments/p/flutophone.htm
What “brought” me to music?
I’m pretty sure it was “birth”.
I was born into music. I came out singing.
Still can’t stop.
Drives my office-mates crazy.
Can you hear me?
It’s an odd and sordid tale…
When I was a kid my brother David had a recorder he’d bought while in college, and when he’d come home on breaks he’d play little songs on it by ear.
I was enchanted.
I hit fifth grade and mandatory P.E. classes. I hated P.E. because I was horrible at everything. I wasn’t a fast runner, not a good catcher, couldn’t throw, had the all the graceful coordination of a drunken elephant, hated sports…the one physical thing I was good at was riding a bicycle, which did me no good at all in P.E.
By the time I finished that year, my life was at one of its lowest ebbs. Thanks to P.E. class, I was now known as an easy mark for bullying. I hated school with a passion.
Then I found out that if you are in band you don’t have to take P.E., and my black world had a hint of color around the edges again.
I begged my parents–literally got on my knees and begged–to play anything, didn’t care what.
To make a long story short, I would up playing flute because the only cheaper band instrument available was the drums, and my parents couldn’t abide the thought of my playing drums.
I think also my dad thought that I would get picked on for playing flute (he was right), and that I would hate it and want to quit (he was wrong). My folks weren’t expecting me to stick with it–they rented the flute for the first several months instead of buying it.
Here’s where it gets neat.
I was good at playing the flute.
I loved playing it. For the first time in my young life, I had found something I could do well at.
–James
Edited to fix a typo.
So music is instant gratification! Very nicely put.
I grew up with musical parents, too.
My first love was classical music. I had a love affair with Tchaikovsky, starting in first grade.
I’m grateful to my elementary music teacher, Mrs. Carpenter, for pulling me out of the window-well where I was humming along to something, and making me part of her after-school singing group.
Jennie
I never really got the bug for music unti I was in my early twenties. Some artist types in Ithaca, NY where I was lliving at the time dabbled in music. At some point I got a hold of a recorder and taught myself to read music and began to play simple early music. After a few years of that I heard this band called DeDannan at the Philly Folk Festival, and shortly thereafter got hold of a whistle, then a flute, then a low whistle, a practice set of pipes…well, you can see where this is going. Oh look, there’s my banjo and fiddle…
Arbo
peeplj your story is awesome! Thanks for sharing it!
A willow switch.
Hmmm…
…it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to, while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.
(from “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien)
You are most welcome.
–James
i begged for piano lessons too but got really crappy guitar lessons instead and a really crappy guitar too. i finally got the piano lessons in high school, my new sister-in-law taught me for $2 a lesson. i got a monstrous beautiful old piano for $50 that had a damper switch. i’ve never seen a bigger upright piano.
we had an organist at our little country church. she played with her feet and everything. she could make things happen. i wanted to do that too. i am. i play the guitar, whistle, and flute in church but i’m most sneakily happy to play the harmonica in a catholic church. only in west virginia.
It’s not that I hated school, at that time, but at seven years old, going on eight, I was able to take music lessons, which I found to be a great relief, and downright enjoyable, too!
OK, eventually I learned to “hate” school.
Worse, eventually I went on to do well at mechanical engineering, talk about math, physics, and all else to do with school!
Ah, music!!!