Was violist (played the viola) for years. It's similar to a violin just a bit bigger and deeper. Have a true love for it... But it's expensive to maintain after a while because it's good to keep up private lessons, the maintenance of the instrument, and then having to buy sheet music/music books for only playing one song, one passage.. I miss it.. not the most expensive hobby, but got that way for me cause I am a mom of four and married.. SOOOO yeah
My older sister was a very accomplished viola player; she was playing for the all-state youth symphony orchestra (2nd chair?) when she was 16 or 17.
Then she went to BYU, got married, had fucked-if-I-know-how-many kids (it's at least eight), and.... Just doesn't do anything with it anymore. It's such a damn shame. I don't know if she could have been a professional concert violist, but she could have done more with it than she did. I have a friend that was a luthier before he had an accident, so I have a very rough idea of what a good instrument costs, and what maintenance and repairs run--and the cost of a good bow--so I know that shit's expensive. But still.
Yeah I get it. I was second chair for our highschool orchestra and symphonic orchestra. I also played pit orchestra for our plays. I definitely miss it.. but I just don't have time to play it like I would want... I also need to relearn to count and sight read