The Pink Violin.

Today, my daughter took her Grade 5 ABRSM violin exam.

She's an amazing musician by the way - plays the descant and treble recorders, guitar (she's strumming K.T. Tunstall's 'You're the other side of the world' while I'm typing!), piano, and has also tried viola and harp. Given the chance, I'm sure she'd pinch her brother's double bass...

(I'm quite envious - I can sing, sort of, but I have to learn everything by ear as I'm no good at reading music. I did play the drums for a while, but keeping a beat is easy by comparison.)

Anyway, while waiting for J to come out of the exam, I got talking to a fellow parent. His daughter was taking her Grade 1 exam - on a baby-pink, personalised-with-her-name-and-a-mermaid-picture, violin. 'Well,' said the dad, 'you've got to have fun doing these things, haven't you?' I totally agree - having a funky instrument might do wonders in enticing the child to practise...

I replied that we were going to buy J a purple recorder, because she's hoping to play with a local Border Morris group whose costumes are black, silver and purple. 

After seeing that pink violin, I'm now thinking through what I can do to personalise a purple recorder!