I too have enjoyed the responses to this thread.  My situation seems
a little off the beaten path.  I grew up with a father who listened to
country/bluegrass music and my mom sang in the church choir.  I never
really got into the country music scene but can appreciate some of the fine
musicians I heard.  I did sing in the church choir for many years starting
in the 4th grade and on up until my voice changed from a respectable boy
soprano who sang solos and everything to the classic "frog" Funny thing
happened when I received a Sears Roebuck modular record changer.  Only
had a couple of bubblegum rock 45's (I was in the 6th grade mind you) but
somehow found these unfulfilling.  As I was walking home one day I passed
a neighbor's house as he was cleaning out his garage and he was throwing
away a stack of old 78's.  One in particular caught my fancy.  Pierre
Monteaux with the San Francisco Symphony doing Scheherezade.  It took I
believe 6 discs for the entire piece.  I was enchanted with the sound of
the orchestra, especially the brass playing (trumpet in particular) but
that great trombone solo at the end of the 4th movement really bowled me
over.  The more I listened to orchestral music the more fascinated I became
that someone could write music like this.  But even more that human effort
could produce these type of sounds.  I plowed through the other 78's of
Beethoven, Gilbert & Sullivan, Mozart, Ravel etc.  and never seemed to get
enough.  Then another amazing discovery.  The public library checked out
33 1/3 LP's of classical music!  For FREE!  Just started checking them out
each week.  Mahler #1 really captivated me.  Janacek Sinfonietta and Taras
Bulba, Prokofiev Lt.  Kije and Kodaly Harry Janos along with Brass ensemble
music of various types including the famous Chicago/Philadelphia/Cleveland
Gabrieli Album.  All this together made me want to perform some of this
music.  I got an old beat up cornet from a neighbor's attic and joined the
beginning band at our school.  1/2 hour a week.  by 7th grade I was in the
Intermediate school band as well as the orchestra.  All the while listening
to music and now performing it as well.  Played in bands, orchestras and
brass ensembles all through high school along with youth symphony and went
to college to continue.  My parents were always supportive of my choices
even though they didn't share my passion for this type of music.  My dad
fronted the money for my first professional model trumpet and I paid him
back from paper routes and odd jobs.  Went to the local music store and
got one volume of the Trumpet Orchestral Excerpts books each payday during
the summer of 9th grade and was thrilled to actually play the same notes as
the real players were on those great albums.  (My first piece to learn was
Scheherezade in which I had to learn to transpose to A from a C trumpet)
Today I teach middle school band, and private lessons, play in the local
symphony, a working brass quintet and the local community band as well as
church work and weddings.  Somehow I never stopped loving that music from
those old 78's.  I will forever be indebted to that neighbor who gave these
to me.

Sorry so long, but someone did ask "How you got started."

Bill Dishman
Gainesville, Florida