The violin isn't the first choice of a young hip-hop generation, but two Florida musicians are trying to change that.
The South Florida group, Black Violin, visited St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Tampa Thursday.
The pair have mixed hip-hop and classical music. That innovative combination has taken the violinists all over the world to perform. Thursday in Tampa, they encouraged students at St. Peter Claver to use that story as a learning tool.
"We ran across a lot of people who say they started playing in fifth grade, but they quit. But us, we just didn't quit. We just kept going," said violinist Wilner "Wil B" Baptiste.
The professionals also encouraged the elementary school students to be creative and think outside of the box.
"A lot of people think it's just about the violin," said violinist Kevin "Kev Marcus" Sylvester. "The violin is the vehicle we use to do something different."
The students loved it.
"Sometimes it makes me want to dance," said 10-year-old Cratiana Robinson.
The students at St. Peter Claver have been taking free violin lessons for the last two years through a partnership with Patel Conservatory. It's why Black Violin visited the school Thursday.
Black Violin will also perform Friday night in front of a larger audience at the Straz Center for Performing Arts.