I am a 50 year old male living in California about 6o miles east of Los Angeles. I am married with a 17 year old daughter.Over the years I have pursued various interests including travel, competitive combat shooting, massage therapy, triathlon, kayaking, and sailing. Each brought something good to my life but did not fill a void I seemed to have.About 5 years ago, out of the blue, I decided to experiment with music with no background. I knew nothing about reading music, theory, and in some most cases very little about the instruments themselves.I started with an inexpensive keyboard and after learning a simple melody and a couple of chords I was hooked. I became a sound junkie and bought a number of professional quality electronic keyboards and went crazy experimenting. I loved the variety of sounds available but one day I sat down to grand piano and I realized the beauty of pure acoustic. I soon bought my own grand and it is still one of the most beautiful sounding instruments I have.I am very experimental and one day I saw a music video with a steel guitar being use in a rock song. I did not know what the instrument was but eventually I found out and bought a 12 string pedal steel guitar. This is a very complicated instrument to play and I was able to find a great instructor who started playing in Nashville in the 40's. He got me playing fairly quickly but he really helped me understand theory I had studied on my own and the role of mathmatics in music.After I got a firm foundation in theory I felt like I had the keys to the kingdom. Everything I liked I pursued. I subsequently picked up dobro, lap steel, as well as acoustic and electric guitar.One day I decided I wanted to try violin and I bought a cheap one from e bay to try. This changed my entire direction as I found the instrument I really loved. Even though I was playing everything I had I continued to experiment. I added the mandolin, harp, linear chromatic hammered dulcimer,great highland bagpipe, small pipes, and I have recently started to experiment with the flute.I had been learning the violin in a strict classical manner but I knew I wanted to free up. I went to Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp for 2 weeks in 07 and this changed everything. I learned the methods of picking up music by ear, which had never done. I learned fiddling was the direction I really wanted to go and I have never looked back. I try to play at least 3 hours a day and sometimes I am fortunate enough to play 10 hours on my day off. Because I had a daily workout routine which included at least 5 miles a day of walking I started to run out of time so a couple of years ago, shortly after I first started fiddle, I began playing during my workout.Because of shoulder surgery in 07 I unable to play fiddle for about 4 months. I was able to use a practice chanter to develop my bagpiping. I am currently focused on pipes and fiddle and arranging songs to allow them to be played together using concert tuned pipes.I may never have the ability to perform but I love the ability to create and play music. Nothing reaches me that way and I thank God I discovered this as it has enhanced my life immensely.I have finally reached a point I where I can play several instruments and record each secttion to create a finished song. Every day gets better
