cat guts and horse hair

For a long time I've thought that being part of a string quartet or something would be fantastic, but I never thought that I'd be able to have a family ensemble. Highstrung!, The Dickson 5, and Greener Blue, are all string ensembles made up of musical siblings, and they're awesome!! I guess you have loads of opportunities to practice when you're all living together. Anyways, when Josh expressed interest in starting a second instrument, I was constantly sending him mental-telapathic signals, "violin, viola, or cello ....violin, viola, or cello...." He must have been experiencing some static, or other signal interference, 'cuz he ended up choosing the trombone. As it is, trombone/violin duets aren't exactly the sweetest thing around, so shortly thereafter I gave up on the whole family stringed instruments idea.
This last year my brother David began to think about a second instrument, and I wasn't trying to influence his choice at all. "Clarinet? Sure thing. It's a great sounding instrument. Someday you can play the coolest part in Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", not to mention "The Cat" from "Peter and the Wolf". Go for it!" But then, right about the time my orchestra was wrapping up the season with our finale concert, David said that he wanted to learn cello. Cello! I told myself not to get my hopes up - I pointed out some more positive benefits to choosing clarinet. But no, all summer its been "cello, cello, cello". So once I got back from my three week trip to New England, Mom and I went over to the music store in Hillsboro and the next day bought David a beautiful cello and some beginners books. He was so excited!! He's hardly put it down since; he loves working at it. The enthusiasm must have been contagious, because the same day Joshua came to me and asked me to teach him how to play viola. I couldn't believe it! The two of them immediately started putting together duets, trios, piano ensembles, all that. It's so cool! We have so much fun just playing around, working out harmonies, and listening to the sounds we're making. We aren't quite to "music" yet, but man, is it ever fun getting there.