I neither had a real music instrument nor formal training in music growing up.  I could follow along the tunes I heard on a little red toy piano I had.  My father never sang anything.  It was just once in my lifetime I heard my father humming a tune that lasted no longer than a few seconds.  My mother will sing to herself at times, and my family was not one that had any musical inclinations.  My sister took piano lessons as directed by my parents because it was "proper" for the girl in the family to be able to play the instrument at social occasions.  She never developed a real enthusiasm for music.  I kept playing my toy-piano and the next time I had regular access to a music instrument was when I was in college.  My generous dorm mate granted me access to his violin whenever I liked, and I quickly got the hang of it.  The first purchase from my first salary was a Lark student violin.  Naively one day, I went to one musical legend in his retirement who lived in the area and I took my brand new violin.  Maestro Dayapala asked me "Whaaay do you want to learn this instrument?  Do you aSHpire to become a muSHiSHian?" I said "No sir -I just like playing music".  He said "Well... play something you know..." and walked away to fix himself a cup of tea.  He reappeared several minutes after.  "Okay" he said. "Have you had any training?"  "No Sir" I said.  "Great!!" I still do not know what he meant.  Maestro Dayapala had immense patience. He started by crunching my fists at the beginning of every lesson to give them some of that much needed flexibility for music that they had grown without. "Have you tried any other instruments?" he asked.  "No Sir" I said.  "Hm.........." he replied.  I understood what he meant eleven years later.  I went to Maestro Dayapala every Saturday for four years, and I practiced several hours a day, often trying new things.  I practiced and played for myself, and enjoyed it immensely.  I was not about "doing it well", but just the enjoyment of it.