Playing musical families

The family that plays together. . . Time was, everybody had a party piece. Before there were media, families made their own entertainment. Making music was an important skill - because otherwise you weren't going to get much chance to hear it.

Creating beautiful sounds as a family seems to be something that most of us have forgotten about or given up on. Sure, we send our children to piano and violin lessons. But how many families actually make the effort to learn instruments and make music together? Usually we're passive listeners to music made by other people.

I'm full of admiration for musical families, such as cellist Moya O'Grady and her son and daughter, David O'Doherty (28), a violinist and Geraldine O'Doherty (24), a harpist. Their father is Michael O'Doherty, chief architect of the OPW, and designer of the National Concert Hall. "It was a question of immersion - you had the idea that there wasn't anything else worth doing," says David about his musical upbringing.

Violinist Geraldine O'Grady is an aunt. A grandmother, Sheila O'Grady, was a schoolteacher who didn't play a musical instrument but followed the music world closely and encouraged the family to become musicians.

Musical parents can be too ambitious, says David, and their children can become overwhelmed: "You have to make a desperate effort to find a balance. Dad being an architect helped. At the same time, you need a firm hand for the hard slog. You have to spend long hours practising, so you have to learn to resist peer pressure to be more socially acceptable."

The family have just produced a CD, on their own label, Absolute Music (www.abslmusic.com) of music for strings with a variety of classical and contemporary composers from Boccherini to Arvo PΣrt. It's soulful, sad and meditative, very fitting for the times we're in. The kind of music kids love to close their eyes and listen to, so that they can imagine stories.

Try using music to lull your children to sleep at night - that's what Moya O'Grady did.