Music is my primary way of engaging with people outside my immediate family. I play at sessions, I sing in choirs, I go to gigs and concerts and camps — that’s how I meet new people and make friends. I’ve been this way my whole life.

There's always a tune running around in my head, often just a melody but sometimes a fully orchestrated symphonic work. I like the classical music stations on satellite radio because the repertoire occupies my mind in a — let’s say, a constructive way, that pop stuff rarely achieves. Music that’s mostly (or entirely) rhythm — rap and hip-hop, for example — irritates and depresses me; I need a tune.

I do not understand any of this, any more than birds understand air.