Rosa has difficulty choosing a special birthday present to buy with the coins her mother and grandmother have saved, until she hears a man playing beautiful music on an accordion.
Little Rat loves the violin but hates to practice, until her teacher suggests she perform a duet with one of the advanced students at the holiday concert.
A young boy, faced with the prospect of having to take a music class, thinks about all the terrible stories he has heard about the music teacher, Miss LaNote, and the ordeals she forces her students to endure.