The remarkable take-up of the violin and the coalescence of a culture of learning and playing stringed instruments in the classical tradition, 1870–1930, had structural and democratizing effects on how British musical life developed. Expanding numbers of competent players increased the size and depth of the music profession and contributed to the growth of opportunities for audiences to hear live music, often well beyond the concert hall. The interrelated expansion of teacher numbers generated new generations of learners who would treat music as a leisure pursuit and whose critical mass prompted the foundation of many amateur symphony orchestras and often sustained amateur choral performances nationwide. Alongside came a significant revolution in string playing’s social demography. Whereas in 1870 string playing was the occupation or pastime of men, by the early twentieth century women had broken firmly into these arenas and were obtaining work in many (though not all) areas of the music profession. Cross-class, multigenerational learning contributed to the sea change, especially in the wave of working-class adults and children who found affordable group string instruction at local educational institutes or in elementary schools.