Violin lessons are certainly not for everyone – the endless hours of practice, the humiliation of sitting in the very back of a youth orchestra, unsure what everyone else is doing. But for an adult 20 years removed from the experience, suddenly carrying around a violin for a day can lead to an unexpected outpouring of good will. “It is code for a different sort of person – artistic, freethinking, single. A wearer of Goth tops, not a person with lice shampoo in her handbag.”