Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Seven-year-old Ishmael Sanford takes old-time fiddle music lessons from John Boulware at the Folk School of Chattanooga on Forest Ave. in North Chattanooga.To many children, the endless repetition of studying a musical instrument is a chore, but those who know Ishmael Sanford, 7, say he puts the “play” back in practicing.
Whether he’s fine-tuning his scales during a classical violin lesson or polishing up an Irish jig, Ishmael, his instructors said, has demonstrated an intense passion since he took up the violin at age 4.
And if it’s not hard, it’s not fun, which is why Ishmael said he asked his mother to let him branch out from his classical studies earlier this year.
“It’s harder work. It’s more of a challenge,” Ishmael said of his decision to take up fiddling this spring.
Even before he was born, her son was demonstrating a musical bent, said Ishmael’s mother, Kay Sanford.