WW- I can't recall the first time I had that awareness, but I do know the feeling of playing. The BEST is when there are two or more musicians together in that same ethereal, magical state transceding not just everyday life but the everyday "music" you make at practice and other times playing. I think that is part of what keeps a lot of us at it. Perhaps there is a certain tonal harmony that stimulates some part of our consciousness and takes over. I can never remember being in that state and actually thinking about "I go to the e minor chord, then to the..." It all just seems to be there.

As to when it first occurred, I'd like to think that some of the times when I was a kid and was singing with the family or with others in the course of play, perhaps the same thing was going on. Or maybe childhood is the natural state when we are in that realm, and music can, at times transport us there again. Maybe that's why, in spite of all the hard work that goes into making music, it is still referred to as "playing music"?