New Year Music and Musicians Thread

Congratulations Raspberry, just timed nicely before revision season ramps up.

raspberry

Well done to your dd, is that it now? Are they finished?
It is lovely for her and such an achievement if she finds exams hard going.
Some children and adults lap them up, but i'm sure they are the exception to the rule.
Will you miss the running about for them or have you still got plenty to do? I miss it so much, I didn't think I would being really ready for a break at the time.
Sorry, have just read how many questions I have asked you

raspberry fantastic results. You must be delighted (and relieved it's all over).

green we still have a basic digital piano, which has its limitations (lack of dynamic range and only one pedal) but dd practices sometimes on the grand piano at the music school. Going to have to bite the bullet and fork out some money at some point (assuming she keeps it up).

The Ave Maria, to clarify!

Newlife DS2 sang that in a concert last year. I recorded him in rehearsal, trying to keep a little bit of a record as ro how he sounds as a treble, and sent it to various elderly relatives who don't get to hear him, and had than all in tears!

DD has passed her Grade 8 sax with Merit. Exactly the same score as DS1 yesterday!

I am proud of them both but very, very proud of DD for doing the Exam. She hates them and gets very nervous, this is a huge personal achievement for her!

Green

I realised last night she hasn't performed Ave Maria in a concert before, so have printed off a free copy, not sure if it will suit or she'll like it, but running out of ideas.
Not sure how that will fit into the Into The Woods medley though

I also like "Once Upon A Time In The West", but she's not so keen. If you don't know it youtube the song, I love it, it's beautiful.

Newlife: no idea to suggest I am afraid however do share what will be chosen eventually!
Loose: happy cello shopping
Drummer: its such a sweet story, its surely a very specially piano. It must be expensive at the time I guess. I bought my piano for £700 on ebay 4 years ago without knowing anything about piano(or ebay betting) so I am sure it isnt worth that much. When we started we were only having fun(mostly the tutor playing and singing with her-4.5 yrs old by then for a year) then we changed to our tutor now and on the first day he said: we wont be able to progress past grade 3 with this piano because many technical aspects cant be done on this one(its a very old digital, will have a look tonight what model). Then to make it worse the little baby sister who draws on all walls in the house pencilled/made holes on all the sponge where the sound came out. I am lucky in the sense that the 8yrs old hasnt got a concept of complaining yet so we have been carrying on with it. Till now, its time, grade 3 is passed, we need a new one and I am hoping to use it for life. Made an appointment with the piano shop this Saturday, I am very hopeful.

drummers what a lovely story!

Happy shopping everyone.
DH and I bought our Yamaha upright many many moons ago. We had just got married, had set up a joint business and had just received our first paycheck: 1K. We were behind on the rent but landlord was lovely and never made a fuss. We were walking along a very narrow steet in a remote city and discovered a very hidden shop. A polish man worked there alone, he would import pianos from Japan and fix them before selling them. We fell in love with one, made in the fifites, Mad Men design with a Japanese touch, deep sound. We asked how much it would be and he said: "for you, 1K". It had to be fate! DH looked at the check, we shared a smile and rent had to wait Since then, many tuners have told us how special it is, all the mechanism inside wooden, as opposed to plastic, and a very unique look. I hope to keep it all my life. DS started banging it like a naughty rubber duck when he was 8 months old...

Loose - we have done the stringers exchange scheme since DD was on an 1/8. We are def thinking of having a v cheap alternative once DD gets to senior school as no way could she manage a not-chest full size, bags, bus/train. Lots of cello kids we know do this. But do ask your teacher how long he is likely to be on 3/4.....DD finds the 4/4 easier to play as is less 'cramped' but her teacher did try her out with one first and then we 'borrowed' one from the shop for a few weeks so DD and teacher could check it out from all angles. But transition in size was v simple.

howabout - thanks, that does make a lot of sense. It would also spare me the problem of selling on the 3/4 privately later. I notice Stringers in London offers this option. Taking the cello to school is an issue as he starts secondary in September, and it's walking distance, but at least there is a cupboard there to lock it in.
I must admit I very much like the viola, too. There have been moments watching DS2 lugging a cello on his back when I wondered if he might switch at some point! Also there are hardly any viola players whereas in the training string orchestra he plays in there are around nine cellos!

Loose the strings shop I use (in Scotland so no help for you) will let you part exchange your smaller student sizes when you upgrade. So this would be something worth checking on.

Agree with those saying a decent student model is a good option. My DD has a stentor conservatoire with dominant strings (£250ish). It has a shorter than average bow which I find helpful for teaching as it makes bow control easier for younger players and enforces whole bow geography. DD was playing my instrument but didn't like the responsibility of taking it to school etc, so that is another factor to consider.

Mind you she is now approaching grade 7 and if she were preparing for an exam I suspect my instrument would give her a few free marks.

DD2 played the cello to start with before switching to the viola. It is much easier practically and she likes that its range is close to her voice but I think the mellowness of the cello is lovely.

Thanks fleur .. That's really helpful. I hadn't thought about renting. We've got a good music shop in town.. I'll take a look

Many thanks! I'll check out Stringers, for sure. DS2 is tall for age 11 so am a bit worried now about growth spurts! I think current rental is a stentor student 1/2 size.

trout we did a rent to buy when DD started piano lessons 2 and a half years ago. Again, Yamahas seem to be the most popular as the quality seems to be quite high, Arius is a really good model. The way it worked for us: we rented the instrument for 6 months and after this period we had the option to purchase the instrument while the first 6 months rent would be taken into account as part of the payment, continue renting or return the instrument.

There are quite a few music shops doing this scheme.

Good luck to your kids Raspberry.. Am very impressed.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a digital piano? Dd plays an old keyboard at home and keyboard /piano at school but it isn't ideal as our keyboard is pretty basic. We can't fit a piano into our house (plus I can't afford one).
We've seen a Yamaha that looks good but tbh I have no idea and wondered if anyone could give me tips

Loose I think stringers have some good ones at that price; we just moved to full size and did splurge somewhat and the sound quality is a real step up (as long as DD doesn't play on the finger board!!). We only stayed on 3/4 for 12months to our surprise as DD (10) had a growth spurt and has long back/limbs. So I am glad we didn't go the more expensive route earlier. We also looked at stentor II and they seemed equally good at 3/4 size.

That's a 3/4 cello, I mean - could have been any stringed instrument from my post!!

Mine are 3 1/4 years apart, both like music and computers but elder is dreamy and absent minded and younger is practical and independent. dS2 is emphatic that DS1 must not learn piano as he might overtake him, although I think that's a bit paranoid! Luckily DS1 is obsessed with guitars and percussion.
On the subject of instrument shopping, can anyone recommend a good student 3/4 model and a place in London or nearby that I could get one second hand? When I wasn't looking for 3/4 size I saw quite a few private adverts. Now I want to get one, they've gone. I think stentor II is good but if there's any other advice it will be gratefully received. My budget is about £450 - I'll spend more on the full size. At the moment DS2 looks like a spider monkey wrapped around a 1/2 size!

What about a lovely Fauré song?

I never dust our piano I'm really bad and it needs tuning before summer holidays.
Good job nobody needs it in tune.
Dh is doing arrangements atm, paper everywhere, some for big band, some for quartet, some 12 piece.

Dd has asked me again for some song ideas, me and her trail youtube, forums, and can't find what she is looking for, I don't think it exists.
I need a competition piece for voice that is showy so not the technical stuff (although this is important), but not modern Theatre that will contrast into the woods medley, opera or classical but not the biggie arias obviously.
Doesn't need to be on the syllabus but at same level as 6-8
All suggestions on a post card because I've failed miserably.