other ideas. Her son, she decided, would learn to play the violin.

Duly enrolled in the Suzuki method at the Bermuda Conservatory of Music, he remembers his first lesson well.

"I didn't want to go, but when the lesson ended I was crying because I had to leave,'' he smiles.

Which was a good sign, because the little lad not only did very well, but continues to do so, even at age 15.

In fact, while he admits that he sometimes finds it hard to practice, the violin remains his favourite instrument, not least because it presents the greatest challenge for his long, thin fingers to master.

"It is hard to get the sound right,'' he explains. "If your tone is a little off it sounds weird, and the same for the fingers. You have to get your bowing and the vibrato just right.'' But don't conjure up visions of him as a future classical musician, playing away in the ranks of symphony or string ensembles, and bringing to life the glorious works of Beethoven, Bach or Chopin. While Mr. Charles respects that musical genre and has been playing its works for most of his life, he confesses that "it gets tedious after a while''. Instead, being a thoroughly modern young man, he loves jazz, and has placed an electric violin at the top of his wish list so that he can pursue his passion for jazz violin.

Amazingly, perhaps, the violin is not the sole object of Mr. Charles' musical attention. The gifted teenager is also studying the flute, baritone saxophone and tuba -- all of which lend themselves well to jazz, and all of which present their own challenges.

"After the violin fingering, where it is hard to get the sound right, the flute is very definite,'' he explains. "It gave me a lot more headaches than the tuba or baritone sax ever did because I had never played a wind instrument before, but I study with Shine Hayward, and he is a very good teacher.'' Asked if he plays classical music on the flute, he responds: "I played Greensleeves once, but after that Mr. Hayward had me doing improvisation, and that was the first instrument on which I did it.'' Mr. Charles says that, in the early stages, learning to play wind instruments was "kind of dizzying''-- much, one supposes, as blowing up balloons is -- and it took him about six months to master the blowing and fingering on the flute alone.

He also notes that the wind instruments require different blowing techniques, and therefore different lip/mouth actions.

"With the tuba you have to keep your lips vibrating,'' he explains. "Sound is created in the mouthpiece, not by the amount of air that travels through it. With the flute you blow across the hole.'' Always an attention-getter because of its size, Mr. Charles says the tuba, which he studies with Saltus Grammar School brass teacher Timothy Rhodes, is bulky but not heavy.

How he became involved with this instrument says a great deal about his musical aptitude.

"Mrs. Henderson, head of music at Saltus, needed a tuba player for the wind band, and she thought I could pick up the instrument quickly,'' he says casually.

Mr. Charles finds the baritone saxophone, which he has been studying with Mr.

Hayward since last Christmas, an easier instrument to learn "because it has been engineered to make it more convenient to play''.

Asked what fascinates him about the tuba and baritone sax, the student says: "You get the base line in most performances. It's fun because it's not incredibly complicated but it sounds real good, so you get to sit back and enjoy performing.'' Bearing in mind that Mr. Charles is a "A'' student in his fifth year of high school at Saltus, the question arises: given his academic workload, how does he find time to practice, let alone learn, four instruments at once? "It's kind of hectic trying to practice them all,'' he admits, "and I emphasise trying.'' So would he consider giving any of them up? "My parents would never let me quit the violin, which they say I will thank them for one day. I suppose I will,'' he offers. "Jazz is just a lot of fun so I really don't want to quit the others.'' A participant in school music trips, who has also performed in one of the Premier's concerts, Mr. Charles particularly enjoys jammin' with other young musicians. He plays in a jazz ensemble every weekend, and has also played with Mahogany -- experiences he clearly enjoys because of the improvisation they require.

"It is a lot of fun,'' he says. "In jazz, you memorise the key you are in and from there you go crazy.'' Asked how he sees his future as a musician, the teenager replies: "I would like to continue music, but I am not sure how it is going to fit into my other studies.'' Meanwhile, he lists computers, economics and physical education as his favourite subjects at school, and while he has no idea yet which academic path he will pursue at college level, information technology is a consideration.

The son of Bermuda Union of Teachers Secretary Michael Charles and nurse Valda Charles, young Machel says that he doesn't know exactly where his musical talent comes from, but suggests it is possibly from his father, who was a bass singer with the West Indian Association of Bermuda Folksingers.

To other young, aspiring musicians, Machel Charles has these words of advice: "No matter how much it annoys you, practice, and always listen to your music and to your teacher.''