I used to think of myself as being very musical - but I never played any music.

For most of my adult life, I have been quietly able to give people the impression that I know a great deal about music; but no-one would have ever heard me making any music because I never did.

As a child, I was taught to play tuba by a rather splendid musician called David Honeyball. I played for ten years, and progressed fairly well - but I only reached Grade 5.

In fact I seldom practised at home - although I was in a few bands (some of very high quality) the tuba parts tend to be the least challenging, so I could cruise along merrily without expending any effort.

At school, because I played in brass bands my music theory was always at an advanced stage from my classmates, so I breezed through the school music curriculum with almost no effort.

And after I left school, I wasn't in a band so although I bought a second-hand cornet when I was in my early twenties I never played it.

And I spent the next twenty years convinced of my "talent" for music.

Only when I discovered the mindsets theory did I realise that although I dearly loved making music, I never did the one thing that could enable me to do so; practise.

Now I play the flugel horn for one to three hours a week; and I love it. I'm not very good yet, but I hugely enjoy practising and just getting better gradually.

In fact, projecting my enjoyment and growth mindset inspired my wife to address her long-standing desire to play the Sax. She had always been afraid to before, you see. Now my son also plays cornet, and if my daughter starts playing clarinet next year as she hopes we'll have a whole wind-band going.

My wife is amazing when learning; she never played an instrument apart from briefly learning the piano aged 7. Now she takes lists of scales to bed with her; I've never seen anyone take so much delight in trying to master, say, F# major before.

So, a long way round, but with the help of David Honeyball and Carol Dweck, our house is filled with music.