OK.......I started taking piano lessons when I was 5 years old. The best thing about the piano was that I was able to learn how to read music.....& coordinate 2 hands at the same time with the notes.....but even with all the practice & starting at a young age, I never got really good at it. I played piano in my grade school orchestra.....from 3rd grade to 6th.

Got into junior high (that's what it was called back in my day of going to school) & I decided that I wanted to learn a different instrument.....the flute.....which to this day I still love. My mother wanted me to learn how to plan the clarinet....but I refused to listen to her & went with the flute. Because I already knew how to read music, it was really easy....only thing I had to learn was the fingering of 1 note at a time. Glad in the long run that I didn't take the clarinet....I didn't like dealing with the reeds & not only that but when I actually tried to play it.....I sounded like a sick goose.

I played flute through junior high & went from the beginning winds class to 1 seat in orchestra & for the fun of it, the semester I graduated, I had been elected president of the orchestra...so I got to conduct the orchestra for my graduation ceremony. High school, I went with marching band in the fall semester & then concert band in the spring....so I stuck with the flute the whole time....but the competition was much greater & there were many more outstanding flute players......so I never ended up being first flute.

Then came college & my thinking was that I had played music all my life.....majoring in music might not be a bad idea......real lessons & I started to get better.....then I actually bought a professional sterling silver flute.....wow.....I sounded great even when my playing wasn't as good as others.

While being a music major, I had a friend who loaned me his violin & tried to teach me over one summer. Fingering the notes on a violin & all the different positions & 4 strings to figure out which note I was supposed to play it on & trying to coordinate the bowing with one arm & my fingering the note with the other was more than my flute brain could handle....even with knowing how to read music......so gave that up as quickly as I thought about doing it......& just stuck with my flute......got my AA degree from the junior college in music on my flute.....I played in the marching band in college & also the orchestra & then got involved in a community orchestra. I could play ok to enjoy playing in the groups & I especially enjoyed chamber groups & absolutely LOVE chamber music......but when I transferred over to the 4 year university, I realized very quickly that there was too much really great performers on the flute & even practicing 8 hours a day....wasn't going to get me to the point where I could compete with them in the world of performing......so I decided to make my flute playing a hobby & take accounting information systems & computer science for my major & minor. Nothing like changing majors to that extent at the point I was a junior in college....it took me years to get through & actually get my BS degree at the university. I kept playing in chamber groups & at church & at other churches & weddings & any place I could find to play.....had a friend who played organ & we got together during the week & practiced many wonderful solo pieces while I was working on my real degree that would really earn a career & money......& until 5 years ago, I played my beautiful sounding silver flute.....it sang like my voice never was able to do.

Unfortunately 5 years ago.....I was driving back to California to bring more of my things back to my new farm in Kentucky.......& when I stopped one night in Albuquerque, I got up the next morning & my truck had been broken into...didn't realize at the time, but my ID had also been stolen off the CC I used to pay for the motel room......the bag they stole out of my truck was my catch all bag that had all my receipts in it that I was going to deal with then I got back to Calif.....my flute happened to be at the bottom of the bag.....not something they even could have known was there. I had it insured but only ended up being 1/2 of what the value was.......I was going to buy another one that I found....but played it & then thought about my finances & decided that I needed the insurance money for something more important....the medication that I was on.....needless to say, I never was able to buy another flute. Friends tried to give me old dilapidated ones that needed new pads before they could even make a sound.......it was like trying to ride a plow horse when your used to a grand prix dressage show horse......just couldn't find it in me to even enjoy playing an instrument that didn't have the sound that I really loved.....so that was the end of my flute playing.

My flute got me through some really rough times & a lot of memories attached to it.....I think playing a musical instrument is a wonderful & relaxing thing when you find the instrument that you really enjoy the sound of & playing it without feeling like you are fighting the instrument. It can take time to figure out where your passion lies.....but that's really key to choosing an instrument & is what will keep you coming back & learning more & more & just even get enjoyment out of sitting & playing by yourself without any need to perform.

Hope you can find the instrument that calls to you.....rent it for awhile if that's possible in India....know here in the US.....most people start by renting & trying to learn the instrument to see if they really like it before investing even in a cheap instrument.......really something to enjoy in life however....hope it works out for you.