Mom started me on the piano when I was four or five, and I hated it (at the time). Hated it all the way up to 5th grade; when we got to pick instruments to learn in middle school, I went with the trombone. Hated that. Went to cello in the sixth grade because my brother had done some amazing things with it, but had to leave it after the seventh because private schools in Georgia don't have music programs.
So, I started playing the guitar, also because of my brother. I messed around with it a little at first, but after hearing Type O Negative's album October Rust, I was inspired to do better. I became a guitar junkie foregoing video games, my computer, and watching TV so I could practice for 4-5 hours a day. This continued incessantly for about five years, persisting through a move up the coast to Silver Spring, MD, going through a few bands up there, moving to Oklahoma City, going through a band or two here, and eventually died out when I started up college.
By the end of it all, I had become proficient enough to fill any slot in a metal band, be it vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards/piano, etc. Outside of that, I picked up a few Irish instruments as well, including the psaltry, feadog, and dobhrain (not sure if any of their names are spelled right, though). Other weird things include the digeridoo, autoharp, organ, lap steel, drum machine/sampler, turntables + mixer (though I'm horrible at it), harp, and a few other things I can't remember the names of.
These days, I'm trying to get back into guitar, as there aren't any decently good bands in OKC that I can think of. I still play the piano about twice a week, and oddly enough it's the only instrument I can read music for. I never do, though... it's more of a catharsis than anything.
