I was five years old and I worked out the melody to "Doe A Dear" on my grandfather's piano.
The "lesson" I was given was: "Major chords are four up and five down". Anyone who plays knows that's an inversion.
When I was eight or so, I latched on to Elvis and started really digging the music. I needed an electric guitar.
My grandparents bought me a harmonica and said if I learned to play it, they would buy me a guitar. I became pretty good on the harmonica and waited for my birthday present. My grandparents got me ... an acoustic guitar and insisted I had to take lessons.
My instructor was insistent that I could ONLY play what he was teaching me; nothing else. No learning stuff on my own (even with this "junky" acoustic my grandparents - having no knowledge of guitars - had bought me).
Well, that didn't help me advance my dreams. So, I started delivering newspapers, shoveling snow, cutting grass, etc. and saved $110 (1977) and bought myself a used electric.
I got pretty good. I was in a band which started my junior year of high school. That summer (leading to senior year), we had an entire summer (minimum three gigs a week) booked at the Jersey Shore. With three weeks before the first gig, our bass player just up and walked.
I was third guitar/lead singer and I had maintained my crazy work ethic. So, I was dragooned into the bass position. I took to it, immediately.
We got signed, we recorded, we toured. We did okay. I occasionally played some keyboards, too; just accents and stuff.
As a result of playing the bass, a close musical relationship grew between the drummer and myself and I was glued into what he was playing. We were sitting around, shooting the breeze one night in the studio and someone suggested we cover a Judas Priest tune. The drummer kind of made a face and I said: "I'll play it, if you want." He laughed.
I got behind the kit and signaled the guitar players. I played it (almost perfectly) and the drummer was floored.
"Where did you learn to play?"
"From watching you."
A year later, for his birthday, I bought him a drum set he had been drooling over (an old double-kick Rodgers kit). As a result, he gifted me his old set and I began really learning.
fast forward (quite a few years). I wasn't playing very much life had changed. I'd started a family ... in 1999, I lost two fingertips on my right hand (middle and third). No more fast triplets on the bass for me!
I was mostly playing guitar, drumming and singing.
My old band wanted to do a whole reunion package. I told them my sad tale. So, that was out.
I started playing bass again (mostly using a pick).
Last year, I lost my right leg. I'm currently learning how to play the drums "lefty".
ETA: I apologize for the long post, but that's my story (and I'm stickin' to it!).