did your parents make you take music lessons when you were young...

I remember having piano lessons when I was about ten years old. I took them for several years. Practicing for hours nearly every day. I don't feel I was ever very good. You still can learn to play an instrument. It really isn't as hard as it may seem. I don't think kids should be pushed into learning to play but if they gravitate toward music it would be a good oportunity for them.

Yes, and no. I was in music lessons from the time I was three, but no instruments ... I'm a vocalist. See, my father is a musician, so it was understood that his daughters would be musically inclined as well. I started weekly lessons when I was 3, and they continued until I was 15. I participated in the Festival of the Arts yearly, as a soloist, and in a group choir with 6 others. When I was 15, I started singing publicly with my father, usually just harmony, but occasionally in a duet. Thanks to an extensive history, singing will probably always be the big love of my life. I'm so grateful that my parents insisted on lessons, even if I hated the inconvenience when I was young. My 12 year old girl and 13 year old boy are just going into music lessons to learn the acoustic guitar. I've always encouraged musical talents with them, but this is the first time they've made a concrete decision on an instrument. My 12 year old girl also has a keyboard that she's learning, slowly lol .. to play.

I learned to play the piano at a very young age. My cousins taught me to play the piano. Later on, my parents decided that I take formal piano lessons. I did not last that long as I preferred to learn playing the paino on my own. I still play the piano up to now. I also learned to play the guitar and drums at a young age but my parents did not send me to music school to learn guitar and drums formally. I do think that you should consider letting your kids have music lessons. If you are financially capable, go ahead. I am sure that they will enjoy it.

No - they didn't. I actually set it up myself in 5th grade through the school's music instructor (for instruments) so I could get an instrument. I don't think I realized that my parents would have to may payments on the instrument - I just got what I wanted and got lessons through the school. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was first chair. The instrument I played was the clarinet. Other than playing the scales, I never played it again after high school. But, my years in band were the best years in school. And, in high school, we had tickets to the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, so we'd go to see them a couple times a year and every year we'd get to go to NYC to see a Broadway Musical. It was great! The three we saw were: Sugar, 1776 and Jesus Christ Superstar. FANTASTIC!!! I still enjoy musicals and listening to instrumental music. I never made my kids do anything they didn't want to do (as far as extracurriculars go) - and couldn't afford the things my daughter often wanted to do (she wanted to be in gymnastics so much and even at 22 often reminds me how much she wanted to do that.) My son expressed an interest in playing an instrument and we did rent a clarinet for him, but he never really put himself into it - plus the music programs in Utah were operated entirely differently than in New Jersey (I don't think they encouraged the enthusiasm we had here, but that's my assumption). My daughter loves pianos and organs, but has never had lessons. She plunked herself down at my mother's organ and taught herself how to play some of the songs and read some of the music (I could still help her with that part), but mainly listens to oldies, country and hip hop (she has diverse tastes).

My parents knew how to play the guitar a bit but they didn't teach us how, even just the basics. My uncle, my mother's younger brother, knows how to play the guitar very well. He was excellent. But none of us were quite interested to learn the rigorous fundamentals. Lol. I would have preferred to learn the piano if I took music lessons when I was younger.

Yes they made me take guitar lessons. Although I learned some basic chords and a little finger work. I really wasn't able to use it because I'm really more into magic than any other hobby. Also I find it hard to continue with the guitar because I mix up the finger movements of the guitar with magic.