As his brother collected jazz-records, Michael Brecker listened to fine jazz musicians as a child and his father took him on concerts of such legends as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Jimmy Smith. He soon started studying alto saxophone. As a teenager Michael Brecker listened recordings of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Jimmy Giuffre etc. Michael Brecker started playing tenor saxophone in high school.

He at first performed with rock bands, but continued to listen to recordings of Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. Michael Brecker played with some of his friends and classmates during high school. They performed on local scene; Eric Gravatt, a drummer who later played with McCoy Tyner, Marc Copeland, a piano player and Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone. He had lot of other interests beside jazz; very good at basketball and interested in biology (he had subscription to Scientific American). Confused with all those different occupations at that point in his life Michael Brecker was going to study medicine.

Following his brother Michael Brecker we University of Indiana at Bloomington at the age of eighteen, deciding for a major in Fine Arts rather than music, because he was curios to experience something other than music. At that time his brother, Randy Brecker, already moved to New York and was very active as a musician.

Although, he played jazz during in his high school days, Michael Brecker still was uncertain if he wanted to be a musician. He played often with Randy Sandke, trumpet player, his schoolmate with same doubts about pursuing carrier as a musician.

"There were always jam sessions in my house with my dad and his friends, most of whom were non-professional but not bad players; occasionally a pro would come over. So both Randy and I were exposed to it early. My father and brother were really my biggest influences and that's where my love of jazz began. I genuinely loved listening to jazz. I had records that I played over and over until they wore out."

Michael Brecker