If you have siblings, you know all about hand-me-downs.
Some younger siblings get hand-me-down clothes — I got a hand-me-down violin.
When we were kids, my older sister played the violin for a few years. She was pretty good at it, but her interests took her in a different direction.
So for a while, there was a violin lying around our house, taking up space and not being played. It was like the proverbial roommate who never helps out with the dishes or chips in for rent.
Beyond that, my mother thought going silent was the saddest fate that could befall any musical instrument.
And like all mothers everywhere, she was right.
When I started fourth grade and had the chance to take violin classes at school, Mom dragged my sister’s old violin out of a closet, somewhere in the murky recesses of our house.
"Just give it a try," she said.
So I did. And I loved it.
Even though the flute and the piano eventually won out over the violin for my continued music education, I look back on my year as a violinist fondly. I got to play the instrument my sister had once played, and a musical instrument that had gone silent got a chance to sing again.
My violin career may have been short-lived but, luckily for me, it wasn't because I didn't have access to a quality instrument. Unfortunately not all children in Columbus can say the same, and Classical 101 wants to help.
Please donate a new or hand-me-down instrument during Replay!, Classical 101’s instrument drive, and help make sure another child has a chance to fall in love with making music.
Learn more at wosu.org/replay.
