Tyler: I picked up cello about a year and a half ago. I decided to start playing it because some instrumentalists came into my primary school and one instrumentalist was playing the cello. I loved the sound it made, it was mellow and it was also quite a challenging instrument to play. I fell in love with it and tried to find somewhere I could start picking it up.

Pat: My belief is that a child playing an instrument should be absolutely child-led, obviously not verging on the ridiculous, like if they want to play a very, very expensive instrument. If a child takes lessons and you don't have to force them to practise and they are willing and look forward to lessons and they don't make excuses for not going to them then you will know that the instrument is right for your child.

Pat: I would say the only drawback to playing the cello is if you don't have your own transport it is a very large instrument and it is quite heavy to carry around. As for pros - it depends on your child's taste in sounds. It is a sound that my daughter really enjoys and it is a variable sound. You can play bass and you can get lots of sounds from the one instrument.

Tyler: I absolutely love the cello and when I have lots of homework on, I can break it up by playing cello. It is sort of like a therapy - because I love it so much.

Pat: From the child's point of view it is heavy and there is a lot of stress on your back and they have a lot of blisters on their fingers. That is actually a small price to pay if they enjoy it, and after a while the fingers and the back accommodate the instrument it just gets used to it.

Tyler: I would like to do it to the highest grade I can so I am an experienced cellist. I would also like to bring it with me to university so I can give private tutoring, not to children, maybe to adults to help me through my studies.