My mother got me started on the trumpet in the 4th grade …she died when I was in the 5th and a few years later I had to go back and live with my father who killed my trumpet playing. He killed everything constructive and inflicted harm in its place. I was the only one out of 5 living with him who finished HS . In grade school all my brothers and sisters were some of the best kids….some never made it to the 9th grade. I only did a little better because of those years away from him…those other 4 did not have that. I actually have 100 units of college but didn’t want to finish for many reasons.
I shouldn’t make the trumpet joke because of this back story…but it’s funny when careers are being discussed. I don’t want to play the trumpet anymore but I help my kids with any musical interest and tell them of the benefits learning an instrument can bring. My middle son wants to play percussion and I am going to facilitate that. Last summer we enrolled him in a “stomp” class. I want them to play guitar, or a wind or brass instrument, but they are not having it.