While the band is full of woodwinds and brass instruments, string instruments are not unfamiliar to some musicians. Freshmen Langston Wilkins and Braylon Whipps, despite playing different instruments in the band, have experience in playing the violin. While both are active in many musical activities, they both still find time to share their interest in the strings.

Wilkins, while being quite active on the trombone throughout the school year, began his musical journey by learning to play the violin. Before the beginning of band in fifth grade, Wilkins had already begun playing an instrument.

“I wanted to [play violin] because my dad plays violin,” Wilkins said. “I’ve been playing for five years, and I started taking online lessons during COVID. It didn’t really work very well, and eventually we got me a real teacher. ”

Whipps, while starting on the trumpet, learned to play the violin separately, in addition to his endeavors in band.

“I started about 3 years ago, in the middle of my seventh-grade year,” Whipps said. “I was just trying to find a new instrument to learn. I thought the violin would be a challenging but also more unique form to play music.”

With every instrument, there come challenges. By playing different instruments, most players are often confronted with equally different experiences, resulting in different obstacles.

“[The violin] is just so much more different than most instruments that you commonly see as a kid. There’s a lot more technique that has to go into it, too,” Wilkins said.

Simultaneously, playing multiple instruments also comes with its benefits, in more than just the instrumental aspect.

“I would say, honestly, [the violin] has connected me less to instruments in band [than] it has in singing, or vocally, because a lot about playing violin is hearing it, and just finding the right spot on the string, which I would say is more similar to finding the right note when you sing than just doing a fingering on the trumpet,” Whipps said.

Another major difference in these young players’ ventures in the violin is the individuality and independence associated with playing a personal instrument. While most student musicians participate in curricular or extracurricular activities, Wilkins and Whipps mostly play the violin outside of school, away from the stress of academics and larger ensembles, but also away from the supportive groups of people involved with the activities.

“You don’t get as much of the community built around band,” Wilkins said. “Outside of school, it’s just practicing solos, really, and some technique stuff is mostly with your teachers.”

There are also noticeable differences when practicing or performing music personally in comparison to playing in a band.

“I would say, whenever I play violin for band or anything like that, you kind of realize ‘oh, it’s less about me’ because when you’re playing by yourself, it’s mainly solo, etudes and stuff like that that gives you the melody every time, but anytime I’ve ever accompanied, or done stuff for band, it was always like the harmony, or just like a nice background to the song,” Whipps said.

Wilkins shares a similar perspective. While first learning to play the violin, he considers the second instrument he learned to be his most skilled.

“I would still say trombone’s my primary instrument, just because of how often I’m playing it in an ensemble. With trombone, I’m playing an hour and a half a day, or I guess every other day because I’m in band,” Wilkins said. “And violin, I at most get half an hour a day of practicing between all the other stuff I do.”

Both musicians still have future prospects to continue playing the violin.

“I hope to get to a point where I can play fluently for maybe a symphony when I get older, like as an adult, just like a small chamber, or something,” Whipps said. “I don’t see myself getting very far with like advanced methods, but I would say it’s definitely something I plan to keep doing in my adulthood.”

Wilkins, while wanting to continue his efforts with the violin, is still conflicted.

“Yeah, I’d say I’m planning on continuing playing, definitely through high school, possibly in college. Right now, things are kind of in a limbo between trombone and violin, which I both play, and just deciding which path I want to take, because you either have to decide symphony or band,” Wilkins said.

Despite Wilkin’s conflict with the trombone, he still finds much appreciation in the stringed instrument.

“I’d say I just really like the sound that it produces when played well. I just like playing fast on the violin,” Wilkins said. “It’s different from the trombone. On trombone, they give you whole notes and half notes, and you get a lot faster stuff with the violin.”

Whipps, while finding gratitude in the violin, has most importantly found much learning and growth.

“I would say my favorite part is less about just the overall instrument stuff, but I think my favorite thing that it’s taught me is how to hear notes and intervals,” Whipps said. “I feel like that’s just made me such a stronger musician, and I honestly don’t know how good I’d be without playing violin.”