I primarily play violin. I also play viola, cello, piano, and have orchestral experience on percussion… and I sing.
In chronological order:
Piano
Lessons when I was four or five years old. My parents sold the piano so I had to reteach myself when I was a teenager.
Recorder
Bought a tenor recorder when I graduated from high school. I also have an alto and some sopranos, including a Johannes Adler made from 25 year old pear wood that is now more like 60 years old.
Flute
Graduated from bamboo flutes to the real thing in the seventies. It is one of my best instruments and I can improvise the pants off just about anyone when I get going. I also have a rosewood flute from Thailand and a ceramic flute as well. Recently bought an Armstrong alto flute that is sheer mellowness in tone.
Guitar
Started with a little Aria six string steel and moved up to a big box Guild acoustic in 1981. I have a slim body Guild acoustic with pick-up onboard too.
Clarinet
I have an old granadilla wood licorice stick, but the 13 note register jump always throws me for a loop. I can play the Laurel and Hardy theme and Sweet Geogia Brown on it.
Saxophone
Bought a Beuscher C-melody saxophone (hi Ike!) at the Starvation Army in 1990 for $125.[sup]00[/sup] that dates back to the turn of the century. Got a Selmer/Bundy alto several years ago and also picked up a straight soprano recently.
Electric Guitar
Started electric guitar in 1989 with a cheesy Memphis that I had modified. Then I designed my own Stratocaster knock-off which I had custom built. The headstock has a vintage Fender decal and the name “pseudocaster” professionally labeled under it. I run this through a Gallien Krueger RG-200 amp into a 4x12 GK cabinet. I have a complete DOD pedal board with phase shift, delay, overdrive, MXR distortion and sustain. Just bought a Guild Starfire acoustic hollow body electric a while back.
Bass Guitar
A house guest left his entire bass rig here several years ago. It’s a cheapo Mateo bass and a nice Park amplifier. I use it to create the backing tracks for my more elaborate rock pieces.
Synthesizer
Bought a couple of old Yamaha analog synths for gits and shiggles. I’m getting ready to slag off my old Wurlitzer spinnet I’ve had for twenty years and go with a full midi rig. A Fatar 88 note weighted action velocity sensitive controller sounds like a good place to start.
Throw in a lot of harmonicas, a jews harp, the kazoo and a complete four track studio with open reel and cassette recorders an echoplex and a host of other effects. I also run through a Peavey 8 channel stereo PA system with tripod speakers and full microphone snake and all that stuff. I’ve produced open mics, talent showcases and performed in several bands. I’ve appeared on radio and played the Santa Clara county fair.
I can barely read sheet music, and am self taught on all of my instruments. I compose in classical, Spanish, jazz, blues, rock and roll, ballads and folk styles with a little Indian and Middle Eastern work thrown in. I also write and sing (full bass voice) my own lyrics in most of those styles as well.
People have asked me when my CD is coming out, so I must be doing something right.
So much talent here that I never knew the boards had!
If it’s any consolation, I can play a bit of ukulele. And alto and tenor recorder too. And bass crumhorm, which is always fun.
so, racinchikki, you are musically inclined, and you have worked on a NASCAR team? i have such a crush on you.
Forty years ago, I had 10 accordion lessons, and I’m proud to say that to this day, I play like a 7-year-old - my accordion is in my closet behind my hamper. The only thing I can play with ease is a polka I wrote - it’s a good piece.
I took up guitar - self-taught - at age 13 or so. I tried taking lessons to learn classical guitar, but I hated my instructor, so I quit. I took a few weeks of an adult-education guitar class and learned a lot of picking and strumming techniques.
When I was 22, I bought a piano and some lesson books. I taught myself enough to amuse myself.
I have sung in various school, church, and community groups on and off since I was 14 - started as soprano, now more alto, and I sang tenor once for a very short time.
I always wanted to play trumpet, but the one time I tried, the sound I made was reminiscent of a large animal in pain…
/best Animal voice/
“BEAT DRUMS! BEAT DRUMS!”
/best Animal voice/
I’ve got a five-piece early-sixties Rogers kit with Sabian brass.
Awwww yeahhhh… it rocks!
I don’t read music, although I’ve picked up a bit of piano.
Plus all sorts of hand drums and primitive percussions. Djembe, doumbek, talking drums…
Anyone know of a drum circle in N.E. Ohio? hmmmm?
I play a little guitar. Primarily, I’m a drummer, but I can play bass some, too. I sing, but not well. I used to be better at it, but too much time without doing it correctly has wrecked my breathing. I need to go back and reteach myself. A friend of mine has a band, Betwixt&Between, and they asked me to fill in for their drummer for a while when he broke his wrist.
Um… piano and guitar primarily, but not very well…
I also play an instrument I like to call my “Vocalchordian”… but only slightly better than I play anything else.
Well, rats. I was hoping to legitimately re-use one of the greatest one-liners I’ve ever heard.
Trampy Voice Major at CSU Hayward: I play Skin Flute.
New Tuba Major: You should learn flesh horn; then you could double.
Anyway.
I gots me a BA in Music Performance on Tuba, said degree having gotten me, depending on how you look at it, nothing or everything that’s important in my life. My favorite piece is Trigon, by Earl Zindars.
I play the drums, and also a little guitar.
Wait, that might be considered a ukelele. I should say I play some guitar, mainly just messing around with chords. 
I like to plink around on an old mandolin banjo. Not a mandolin nor a banjo, rather a hybrid from early in the last century. No lessons, self taught.
Anything Celtic.
Started out on Violin, played all through high school, private lessons and everything. Wanted to play in a rock band, bought an electric pickup for my violin, but nobody would let me play. I even ran it through a distortion box, and all kinds of guitar stomp boxes.
So, I bought an old Moog synth, and learned how to play keyboard. But it only played one note at a time, so I bought a vox jaguar organ, and learned that. Bought a bunch of other keyboards. After a couple of years, I discovered the piano(seems there was a Stienway upright grand in my parents livingroom all this time, and I had completely forgot about it. I started getting into blues, so the piano all of a sudden was cool.
I now have a few synths, a rhodes electric piano, a hammond C3, and an electronic piano(sounds and feels like a regular piano)
I also play mandolin, because if you play violin, you can pretty much play mandolin
I had a guitar player I played with who wanted me to learn harmonica to play along with him acoustically places. So I now play an adequate blues harmonica.
I don’t remember the names of the written music I played violin to, and most of my keyboard stuff I pretty much improvise(great thing about blues).
Mom taught me to play piano when I was young, about 6 or 7, IIRC. Thanks Mom! for teaching me to read music and play the piano. My favorite piece is The Entertainer, and I love hearing Mom play Maple Leaf Rag. Scott Joplin was just brilliant.
Jr. High I fell in love with the alto saxophone. Moved up to tenor sax in tenth grade and I love it even more. Still dream of buying my own tenor sax. Favorite piece would be In the Mood.
Fiddled around with the trombone for a few weeks in HS, but my lips were so used to playing a reed that I couldn’t really make the adjustment.
Started playing the Tin Whistle several years ago. Haven’t really got a favorite piece yet.
I started playing piano when I was 8. I love that instrument…I just wish I could do more with it than I can.
I began alto saxophone when I was 11 and can still play, but I don’t like it very much. I can also play bari sax.
I taught myself alto recorder somewhere along the way.
I began bassoon at 14…I absolutely adore it…and I can play contrabassoon, too.
I know a few chords on guitar, but I’m not very good at it. I’m better at mandolin, but I’m working on getting really good at that, since my parents gave me one for Christmas.
I think the next instrument I’m going to take up is the ukelele.
I think that the Original posters had a good idea for this thread. There seems to be not only a large number of musicians here, but also a number of multi-instrumentalists. Music’s the best drug on the planet, isn’t it? 
I am a composer by trade. I do music and sound for TV and (hopefully one day) movies. I’m new to the game, just done a few pilots and local stuff, but one day I hope to be scoring full movie soundtracks.
I play most winds (some rater poorly, I’m afraid), keys, some percussion, and a mean ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ on the strings. I taught High School music (band, orchestra, and gen. music) for a while, but that got old and I decided to stop teaching it and start doing it.
I’m open to suggestions. If there are any truly serious pro musicians that need a piece, let me know. I do commissions. 
My favorite Piece for all of the above:
Carmina Burana by Carl Orf.
Talk about powerful! WAH!
I play bassoon, flute and a little bit of piano. Bassoon has got to be my favorite though, I started that at 13 or 14 I think and have been playing for a couple years now. I finally got lessons too!! My favorite song for bassoon would have to be “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.
Nocturne, your my hero!
I had some piano lessons when I was Very Young. I don’t remember a bit of it.
I played sax in the band in elementary and had some private lessons in junior high, got to be mediocre, and don’t remember it much at all. (But I still have my sax, though I’m thinking of selling it…I could use $500)
Now my instrument of choice is the digeridoo. I was in Queensland, wandered into a didge shop, (with real instruments, not the crummy bamboo or plastic ones you see in the states) and of course everyone had to try playing one. Most folks got some embarassing farty noises, but I could actually play it. The owner of the shop got all excited and sat down with me and gave me an impromptu 40-minute lesson. Very cool. So now I have two lovely didges. I’m good enough that I can play various rhythms, but I can’t yet do set compositions, so I don’t have a favorite piece.
I’ve been playing viola since fourth grade and I play in my high school orchestra now. But I hardly ever practice.
I bought a guitar two weeks ago, and I’m teaching myself to play. That’s something I wanted to do for a while.
And I can play Marry Had a Little Lamb on several different instruments.
Rita