Music is one of those things that you can love, hate, or have feelings somewhere in between the two. Some people love every aspect of music from listening to and/or playing instruments to listening to and/or singing it. And for some that may even mean teaching music. Then there are those that may just like one of those many components. While some would rather total silence.
For me it's all about the mood I'm in. Sometimes I like to listen to instrumental music while I'm working on other things so it doesn't distract me from what I'm doing. There's just something that's soothing about instrumental music that relaxes me to the soul. Whereas if someone is singing to the music I can often times get lost in the words and distracted from what I'm supposed to be doing. It's too much like people talking in the background, I just can't tune them out and focus. The one aspect of music I'm not really into myself is playing any sort of instrument. I tried once in middle school, but I ended up quitting because I just couldn't keep up with those around me so I got too frustrated. I tried a few different instruments, but I never did "click" with any of them to the point of catching on well enough to keep going.
For some, like my daughter, learning to play an instrument comes what I would call naturally. She's been playing an array of percussion instruments at school for the last three years and loves it. She picks up on things she enjoys really easily so it didn't take her long to learn several different instruments in the percussion group. She also happens to be one of those people that likes to listen to and sing along with music. She's what one might call musically inclined. She can hear a tune and just get in sync with it like nothing.
For those that enjoy music and want to learn more about it and how to not only play an instrument but also care for them there's an abundance of resources online like those over at Musician Authority. They have some great "how to" and "best of" lists that have really come in handy for us when talking about what she wants to learn next. Starting high school next year she wants to broaden her musical abilities from just percussion instruments to other instruments too. And as a parent I want to be sure to do my part to help her find what interests her most and follow her dreams!
