Mom plays piano, bell choir, and used to play accordion. Dad sings and does music therapy in nursing homes (though he'd never dream of calling it that). One sister plays piano, recorder, pennywhistle, and fantasizes about bagpipes. One sister plays recorder. One sister has no interest in making music. I now focus on fiddle on guitar, and intermittently play piano, pennywhistle, and guitar, and sometimes contemplate playing the bagpipes.

Our parents bought piano lessons for the two of us who were interested for as long as we were interested. Our family actually never played together much in the living room, though at various times the hymn-sings in old folks' homes would be a family outing (with Mom or one of us daughters on piano).

Unfortunately dancing was a sin in my parents' home, so my sister and I are late discovers of Irish and other folk dancing.

There's a fiddle under my grandma's bed I dream of getting my hands on someday. My grandma and great-grandpa were fiddlers, and great-great-grandpa was a violinist, so it's my ancestral instrument, but unfortunately I have the wrong last name so my uncle is the heir apparent. The miserable thing is that my uncle doesn't play, and when he tried to learn once, he PAINTED fret lines onto its neck, and he GLUED the tuning pegs to the head ("so they wouldn't slip"... they're supposed to be adjustable dammit!) under the apparent belief that the fine tuning pegs were all he'd ever need. Sigh... what a vandal...

Good idea for a thread,

Marion