At first blush, the childhoods of the Shankman children and the Krauss children don't seem all that different. The parents in both families were open-minded music lovers who exposed their children to music from a variety of genres. The children in both families were captivated, at early ages, by stringed instruments, and provided with lessons. They developed competitive spirits that motivated them to participate - and often win - contests around the country.

But there's quite a bit of contrast here. Vicki and Alan Shankman discovered the musical gifts of their twins Lauren and Dana rather by accident - it all started with an old banjo, left in a garage and picked up by a curious little girl. Vicki's own extensive formal musical training enabled her to recognize and encourage the twins' natural aptitude. Though the Shankmans began allowing their daughters to play professionally when they were still in grade school, there was never any question that they would complete their formal educations.

Louise and Fred Krauss felt that music was a critical lifeskill. Accordingly, they had a very general but very clear goal for their children's musical educations: both Alison and Viktor would receive five years of musical training on the instrument of their choice. When the Krausses became aware of the talent of their phenomenal offspring, they decided to let the children ride that extraordinary wave as long and as far as it would carry them.

Vicki Shankman, mother of Lauren, Dana, and Michael: Vicki and her husband, Alan, a retired doctor, are about to send their last child through college. Lauren and Dana, will graduate from UCLA this year. Michael Alden, who plays bass and sings with his sisters, will start at UCLA in the fall. This summer, the Shankman Twins plan to immerse themselves in their music, with plenty of touring and live performances. Their self-produced debut album was greeted with enthusiasm by fans and critics alike, and they're now working on their sophomore project with Rounder Records.

I graduated from the High School for Performing Arts, went to Julliard, and graduated from the Manhattan School of Music for classical piano performance. About as far from bluegrass as you can get! Before the kids, I was a staff songwriter for Warner Brothers in Manhattan.

I don't think the kids heard me play a lot, but there was a focus on music, because that is my love. I'm sure it influenced them. I played piano while they sang, but I didn't practice all day long or anything. We played all kinds of different music at home-show tunes, classical, folk.

My husband had a banjo in the garage, and he hadn't touched it for about 25 years. One day Dana found it. She liked the sound of it! I found out about the [nearby] Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor, so I started her with lessons.

Lauren started taking piano lessons way before that. When Dana was learning banjo, Lauren picked up the fiddle and played by ear. They both could play anything by ear.

When they were toddlers, they would always sing. In camp, they'd sing duets when there was a talent show. Instead of doing other things, or being attracted to sports, they would always do the singing. Everything was music-oriented. When they picked up the instruments, and were able to play anything by ear, I saw there was something there. There didn't have to be lessons to teach them how to do it. That was their direction. They were the ones steering us along.

Lauren and Dana are typical kids with a very, very strong interest in music. My son is part of the band, too. He's in his last year of high school, and he's going on to college. When he was younger, he was the star of all these neighborhood plays, and always had the lead in singing.

I never asked them to practice. I would never say they had to put in a certain number of hours. I don't think I had to, because they would always play and sing. I always felt that if you have to force a child to practice, it's not the right thing for them. They should go into what they enjoy, and what comes naturally. I think it's the kids that push us. It's the opposite of what people really think of stage moms!

We believe in the public school system, and in college. It was difficult having Lauren and Dana do both. Whenever they had bookings, they'd fly wherever they had to go and miss school if they had to. Music was the most important thing. The teachers were nice about it. They knew what the girls did. Lauren and Dana would take their work along. They were in a pretty difficult high school. They did the best they could; that's all they could do. Sometimes, they'd finish school and we'd catch the plane at night. We'd get to the festival late, then they'd get up in the morning and perform Y sometimes it was hard. There was no question, though: this was what they wanted to do.

I've always traveled with them. Our daughter Alison is 21, and plays some fiddle. She's in college, and not involved with bluegrass, but she comes and helps sell CDs.

The girls attend UCLA, and [play] music at the same time. UCLA is very demanding, and it took time, but now they'll have a college degree for the rest of their lives. I've tried to arrange for them to play on weekends. You don't know what the right thing is. They're going to be free as of next year. I think it was the right thing to do. I think their focus is going to be on their music. They might do something with their [educations]. In the world of bluegrass, it's nice to have something to fall back on. You just never know.

I guess I'm no different than any mom-when they're onstage, I just feel so proud! I could never encourage anything that they didn't like. This came so naturally. There wasn't even a question of what they would go into. They're talented, and it's what they find easy and enjoyable. Since I love music so much, it's wonderful for me to watch them!

Louise Krauss, mother of Alison and Viktor: Alison Krauss... the name is synonymous with ethereal harmonies, elegant material, and extraordinary musicianship. Before Alison and her brother, Viktor, were even born, Louise and Fred Krauss decided that their children would have five years of formal music instruction. Viktor now plays bass with country singer Lyle Lovett, and has also worked on projects with Elvis Costello, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Acoustic Alchemy. And Alison? She's a legendary performer whose music consistently transcends boundaries and prejudices. Alison has now won more Grammies - a total of 13 - than any other female entertainer except Aretha Franklin.

I didn't know what direction it would go, but we wanted Alison and Viktor to both have five years of lessons. That was our plan, long before we had children. I wish I had been the originator of this idea, but we knew someone else whose father insisted on that, and she couldn't thank him enough. I said, "Aha! This is some good advice." If someone only plays for six months, they haven't really done anything. They have to give it a chance. Five years allows enough time to get into something.

The five-year commitment was for Fred and me. If we stayed interested and enthusiastic, we hoped they would, too. And if they'd really hated it, I wouldn't have made them keep doing it. But that's what we talked about: "We've got to keep them excited for five years!" That certainly worked. They also had to pass their swimming test at the Y. Those were two things we felt they needed for survival.

When they started, they were quite young. Alison was five; Viktor was a little older. He had always been interested in keyboard; you could put him in a highchair and push him up against the piano, and he'd stay happy for hours. She wanted that too, but we knew that if she took on the same thing, one of them was going to quit. She received her first 1/8 size rental violin under the Christmas tree. They were told that if at any point they wanted to switch, they could.

We lived in a university town, and went to recitals, concert performances, and free concerts in the park. They sang in opera choruses as children. They saw and heard everything from rock to kabuki. They fell asleep at a lot of performances because it was usually very late and they were very young. They had a lot of other interests, but I still think the early exposure was most helpful. Through early exposure, they saw it as part of what people do.

Once lessons actually began, my intention was to keep them moving forward. A lot of things centered around the music. They loved it! To keep both of the kids excited, we upgraded instruments; there'd be something under the Christmas tree, or on a special occasion - a poster, a new tape - that went along with what they were doing. We had toys and games that were designed around music education. If a musician was doing a workshop in town, I'd take them out of school and we'd go. After you've been playing for a while, it's self-reinforcing.

Our contrived efforts to get her to practice didn't work. We tried to bargain a little: "Well, if you really start to practice, maybe we could get a dog!" It didn't work. We got the dog, but we didn't get the practice! When we were going to the big fiddle contest, I put a calendar up; it was so many days away, and that meant she ought to be practicing! She read though my little scheme. It always had to stay very positive, with no pressure. Real motivation comes in odd packages. I think she liked being a little on the edge with some of the contests. Perhaps she liked the concentration that she needed to have to pull it off.

By the time she was 15, she had a contract with Rounder Records. When she was in high school, she was a little embarrassed by the way her peers reacted to this form of music. Bluegrass was not the music of choice for this area and age group. She sang in musicals and enjoyed pop and rock but didn't appreciate harassment. At this point, I don't know if she'd done The Tonight Show, but she'd done a live performance on national television; she'd been in People magazine; there was a lot of material on her in the media already. She was always modest about her accomplishments.

She had two years of high school, and then went on to college. After a short time in school, she was invited to tour the country with the Masters of the Folk Violin through the Smithsonian, with fiddlers representing different styles. She then had the opportunity to go overseas. These choices were too good. She traveled to the Middle East, through Israel, Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, and Pakistan, and Viktor played with the band on that tour. I remember getting the first long distance calls, telling us about what was happening. It was one of those things where you make hay while the sun shines. So, she dropped out after a year and a half of college.

Throughout her early career, we talked to music teachers, university people, and music professionals about her potential. They encouraged us to "think big" and "go for it." We did extensive research when her contract with Rounder was offered. We were concerned about the restrictive nature of a recording agreement for Alison because she was only 14 years old. We didn't want to exclude other forms of music or create contract nightmares.

The decisions are very small decisions, little increments of expanding what you do. If somebody says a 10-year-old is gonna be playing in a bar somewhere, and that their fiddle case, when they open it for orchestra in school the next day, is gonna smell like beer and cigarettes, you think, "No way! I'm a concerned and interested parent. I wouldn't expose my child to this!" Well, lo and behold, you do. Over time, you expand what you thought was okay. Alison was playing with a country band, and the band leader was very protective of her. But that still didn't make her fiddle case smell any better. Venues for bluegrass were not common, and they played where they could.

Did we question our own decisions? I'm sure we did. Quitting college - she was more worried about it than we were. We always felt she could go back if she wanted. Chances are, she would have gone to medical school, and never done anything musical! Who knows what would have happened? But this is what happened, and everything turned out great.

Please join me next month for Part IV of this series. The final installment will include interviews with the parents of Ryan Holladay and Chris Thile. -C.W.