I'd say I'm "modestly talented". I can learn just about any instrument, but I'm never going to be the best at it, no matter how hard I work at it.
My most favorite part about high school was being in marching band. I played trumpet and absolutely loved being on the field. I loved knowing what I was supposed to do...working together as a team where everyone else knew what they were supposed to do...and we all tried to do well at it. I played trumpet again in a church orchestra for a few years as an adult many many years after leaving high school, and recently I've started learning the guitar.
I've got music playing just about any time I can get away with it. Sometimes it's too distracting when I'm working, but usually it helps keep my energy up. I can't stand synthesized instruments/music...so even though I can play piano, I avoid the keyboard if it sounds too synthesized. That said, the lyrics have to hold special significance for me, so I'd rather listen to well-done synthesized music with good lyrics than purely organic music with destructive lyrics. Most mainstream music is too caustic/destructive/immoral for my tastes. Call me a prude if you want, lol, but I really prefer certain Christian groups. Right now, Tenth Avenue North, Sanctus Real, and Shawn McDonald are some of my favorites with a few other songs that I listen to over and over and over (Jason Gray's "Remind me who I am", Matthew West's "More" and "The story of your life", and Brandon Heath's "Love never fails").
In high school, I really liked alternative groups. They Might Be Giants was a favorite, and a little B-52's. It wasn't so much the sound as something that took on significance for me. The movie Flashback (Keifer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper) meant a lot to me, and one of the songs on that track, "It's the End of the World as We Know It" (R.E.M.), came to have almost prophetic significance to me. Then I also like folksy?-type music, purely for the sound...Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz...but only certain of their songs.
