Parental support

[emin]

Did your parents support your musical aspirations when you were starting out?

My parents didn't necessarily try to stop me from playing, but there was no support/encouragement back when I first started playing. They didn't get me lessons, or even buy me a guitar.

Fast forward about 35 years, and my parents came to see me play a gig at a local bar. First time they ever saw me play. They were impressed and now they think I'm a rock star! Said they had no idea that I could "really" play.

[K-Bizzle]

Did your parents support your musical aspirations when you were starting out?

My parents didn't necessarily try to stop me from playing, but there was no support/encouragement back when I first started playing. They didn't get me lessons, or even buy me a guitar.

Fast forward about 35 years, and my parents came to see me play a gig at a local bar. First time they ever saw me play. They were impressed and now they think I'm a rock star! Said they had no idea that I could "really" play.

This sounds about right in line with my experience.
My parents were just annoyed with the noise mostly, I've been hearing from my mom for years that shes gonna come up for a show sometime.

Overall I'd say it was for the best though, I look at my failed friends whose parents were fully on board and supportive who are still trying to make it.
They're talented and in awesome bands, but theres only so much room at the top, especially in such a niche genre.

[JerEvil]

Nope. They bought me my first guitar and amp, then it became a nuisance and a way to punish me growing up. Grades slipped, guitar goes in dad's closet for a month. Come home 10 minutes late, guitar gets put up for the week...

[Marc G]

I had to buy all my own gear growing up, the only time my parents helped was when I wanted to get a new acoustic guitar and I only had $200 and when my Dad asked if that was the guitar I REALLY wanted and I told him the model $50 more was better so they chipped in and brought it back from the US when they went on vacation. The next time they helped was when I was 22 and didn't have a credit card and wanted to get a bass amp online so my Dad let me use his credit card to order it, which I had to pay him back right away lol. They paid for me to get some lessons over one summer when I was 16 but never really said I had to go or made me practice... It wasn't till I was 25 or so till my parents and brothers saw me play and they had the same reaction as the OP, no clue I could ACTUALLY play lol... My Dad never saw me play after that but my Mom has caught a couple of my shows after that.

[Ostinato Rubato]

I've had a lot of support from my parents and they've always been interested in what I'm doing. It started with keyboard/piano at age 10 and guitar by 14 but they've always been a fan of me as a musician. I've been loved.

[GuitarBilly]

Yes, my parents supported me and helped me with gear/lessons/rides to practice and gigs etc. I don't think they were very thrilled about it, but they supported me anyway. The only condition they imposed was that I had to go to college or trade school and have a plan B. Once I was done with school, I could try to be a professional musician if I wanted to (and I did), but not before. And I am actually thankful for that.

[jgreenwd]

My folks were very supportive. I started with trumpet and horn in 6th grade band and never looked back.

I couldn't rehearse and get someone knocked up at the same time!

[fretless]

yes but I hated it

[ajaxlepinski]

The only thing I got from my parents was bad advice.

[nightflameauto]

Sort of. I mean, looking back I can see how they thought they were being supportive, though at critical moments they'd pull the rug and gut any forward momentum I had going for me.

Violin? All in. They loved it.

Piano they were so-so on.

Guitar they apparently saw as a giant fuck you, and it ran the gamut from "you're too loud" even playing an electric unplugged to practice, to "if you don't start playing things people want to hear, like top forty, you'll never get anywhere," to the all inspiring sit-down as I was contemplating moving to a more musical city where I was screamed at and told I was going to fail and be homeless if I even tried it.

Years of that, and I had almost forgotten about the support in the early days, until mom heard I'd broken the old violin back out. Then I get, "you should join the symphony here. You were always so talented."



So, I guess they supported what they understood, and hated what they didn't.

[Maddnotez]

No support ever. Divorced parents and I lived with each one at some point.

My mom pretended to support but never encouraged, no lessons, no gear. In fact she snooped into my personal shit when I used to write lyrics at a young age and ruined that for me to where I just stopped writing out of embarrassment.

When I lived with pops I was a little older and was getting into being in a band. We used to practice at my place (mostly when nobody was home) which he hated and I do understand but one time I thought he was going to try to beat up my singer back in the day idk why but my dad hated him. He is actually in a fairly successful band now for their demographic.

My dad did come see us play once though, it was kind of funny. We were doing really well and we played some pretty brutal shit. Pops was up front watching his kid play until the music started I don't think he knew what was about to happen but guys used to throw down hard in the pit where I grew up. Too funny but sad at the same time.

My kid is 6 now and the wife and I fully support and encourage whatever he wants to do. He is not into music much, he likes trying to breakdance and is in classes for that. I got him a drum kit and he beat on it from time to time but whatever it is that he does I plan to give him 100% support. I won't push anything on him but he will certainly get more support than I did.

[BroSlinger]

My parents wholeheartedly supported my music, as long as I continued to play sports as well.

I had to take lessons and use my aunt's classical guitar for one year before they would buy me an electric guitar and amp though.

My Mom bought me a Korean Charvel and a crate gx-15 when I was about 12-13. Then, she helped me buy a Crate GX-130C combo in 7th grade.

They still come to my gigs. They haven't missed many of them.

[Devin]

My mom was pretty supportive - I was obsessed with music in general from a very young age and my mom used to always talk about how she wanted me to play guitar and that she'd buy me one someday....

Eventually I got the bug and for my 11th or 12th birthday my mom got me a crappy little Harmony guitar+amp kit from a Fingerhut catalog....I was fucking over the moon excited with that thing. After a year or two of just using that, I discovered "Gain" when I tried a 15 watt Epi combo in a Service Merchandise store...."Gain" was what I had been missing!! My crappy little plastic Harmony amp had a volume and a tone knob - that's it. It stayed completely clean until you cranked it loud enough that the speaker and enclosure started vibrating, creating an ultra shitty "distortion"

Anyways, I saved up some money and bought that Epi combo and never looked back.

My mom liked to listen to me play acoustic stuff, and my dad would ask me to play "Enter Sandman" for him

Neither of them ever came to any of the proper gigs I've played, and mom passed away last year

Maybe I can get my dad out to one of my shows one day....