Sour Notes

Maria set up her music stand, then took out her violin. She began to play, but as she drew her bow across the strings, many notes were shaky and unsure. "I'm outta here!" exclaimed her brother Carlos, heading for the door. "Those high, squeaky notes hurt my ears!""Carlos is right--they sound awful!" wailed Maria. "My teacher calls those sour notes. This piece is too hard!" "Try it again," said Mom, coming into the room. "Keep practicing."With a sigh, Maria did so. Though she still couldn't play the song perfectly by the end of her thirty-minute practice session, it had definitely improved."Did everyone have a good day?" asked Dad at dinner that evening. "What did you all do?""I practiced the new piece my violin teacher assigned," said Maria. "It still needs a lot of work, but it's coming along.""I played ball with some friends at the park," Carlos said. "John got mad and went home. He doesn't do that as much as he used to, but he sure blew it today.""That's too bad," said Mom, "but I'm