New Year Music and Musicians Thread

Good luck with all the exams Green I think it is good to have a deadline for the theory and you can see where she is at closer to the exam date.

DD will be playing a lot of non exam pieces so not touching any grade pieces for a while but she started grade 4 scales. The plan is to play Beethoven, Bach, Clementi, Bartok and see where she may be next March or June session to do grade 5 practical. Meanwhile theory on the side hopefully she can take it sometimes in 2017.

Regarding to violin: she might be ok as she has been progressing well, I like to see her playing violin more than piano tobe honest, I could see her much better focused.

Regarding to theory: I think I gave our teacher a heart attack yeaterday as he thought the exam will be in two years time. However I reassure him that she has good memory, even she hasnt fully grasp the concept or know it very very well, a pass is still possible and thats all we want and if we dont pass then we will resit in December. She is now very excited with theory(loving "drawing" or what we call "composing". And Raspberry, yes, I also told him there is another mid term( he mentioned this term break has nearly gone so we might have too little time left).

Sometimes it helps to have a deadline! The half term before DS theory exam, we treated it like a project and lots of theory was scheduled in. Would that be an option?

Loose: renting is a good idea, especially for some period of time for a non perm size. I am small so I am not too sure if she will be as small, if she is then the 3/4 is permanent then we might get a good second hand violin after the renting. If she is bigger then I wont waste any money on 3/4 size. I am not in the position to worry about it yet until in couple of years time.
Fleur: we started with a Grade 4 piece last night( Indian Pony or smth, I cant remember exactly the name), the piece is longer than grade 3 however in term of technique, it isnt a huge jump( or might be just THAT piece).

I was working from home yesterday and feeling over optimistic and I registered for her grade 5 theory exam this June and also grade 3 violin end of this term. Now I am thinking that is a crazy plan as she only started learning theory mostly by herself since Jan stopped for a month and now only started grade 3. Again both me and my husband dont know any thing about music theory so we cant help her. We asked our teacher to do another 30mins each week until the theory exam for theory only. We can always cancel it at the last minute( wasting the money) or do it as a trial one if we fail( no harm-or thats what I am trying to tell myself)

Yes to Einaudi. DS1 had Le onde and DD is currently learning I giorni. She is around 3 - 4 standard I think.

Teacher has a policy of siblings learning different pieces wherever possible. But she also collects music cheaply whenever possible and lends it. I've given all our old syllabus stuff in return.

Misti I love the theme from Amelie. Is it downloadable or do I need to buy it? I'll get DD to listen to it tonight she if she likes it.

Green love the pictures of the new, shiny piano! I bet your DD is a bit overawed at the moment.
No new cello yet, but a plan. Will rent a 3/4 (hopefully stentor) from borough service for the exam and to give more time to look for nice second hand one. Teacher doesn't think it will be that long to full size - she says usually year 8 for boys but actually DS2 (y6) is already tall for his age, and no sign of slowing down, and advised against buying a brand new 3/4. I think she'll buy our 3/4 for her son when ds2 ready to move up.
She reminded me to remind DS2 about his left hand - not realising that we have this conversation every practice, and he always blames the too-small cello. He told me it's the "pinnacle of wrong" when I asked if it was really a problem!

Le Onde is pretty and very accessible (grade 4 ish, I would say; it was one of the pieces DD attempted before taking lessons).

The other modern classical piece they all learn here (tho' not in lessons) is the Tiernan theme from the film Amelie Poulain. It's pretty, but repetitive. It has a stretch in the left hand (but you can leave out the bass note) and, if played at speed, a fast section that is difficult to get completely accurate. Played slowly and without the LH stretch it is accessible from grade 3-4 (it was the first complete piece DD ever learnt on piano).

Einaudi is lovely to have playing in the background while you cook the dinner. DD has Le Onde.

ha, yes, dd2 has just gone through the stage of fur elise and moonlight sonata. But they were amongst my old music books so I am to blame.
I think it's nice to do different things, some easy ones to get "quick results" and something that is more difficult, but a nice challenge.
dd is more difficult though. Everything I suggest is boring, and she doesn't want to play same pieces as her younger sister.

Ah, Einaudi is nice to try, dd1 started on a piece which I l quite like. Never played it myself.

Fleur: so its the "for elise" a very popular one, just listened to it with my daughter, it must be every one's favourite, it makes me feel that all the hard work and money we are spending now on music is so worth it, its truly beautiful. I wish my daughter can play it one day.

She was excited, I wanted to make it as a surprise then we fed the builder who fitted the shutters to us and it slipped through my mouth, damn!! She sat on it and played but I havent got the feeling of her glueing to it as per my dream yet. Well, I am still putting my hope up.

We looked inside the piano and the system looks so sophisticated, music instruments are all wonderful, I feel small and modest(not too sure whats the right word for it)

Oh and I do suspect DD will soon discover the Moonlight sonata and Clair de Lune (which she attempted an easier version already but then got busy with other stuff) and then we are all doomed.

green how was the piano received by your DD?

All approved by Dd's teacher, apparently it was on her list of pieces to do in the near future so she's looking forward to help DD learn it.

I think my only worry was that it may be past Dd's level of ability and would put her off piano. But now I feel better.

I think some teachers rightly object when parents buy music that is way beyond the level their child is playing, or just not suitable at that time.
I agree though if your child likes a challenge, sometimes it's good for them to play the next grade up even if the last isn't quite consolidated.
As long as they are improving and learning the technical stuff their teachers set, there should be no problem playing extra music when they have the urge/ time.

Sometimes you can find repertoire that is ungraded and appears to have always been. These are good too as you don't get bogged down with levels and grades, enjoying the piece for what it is.

Fleur, try not to worry too much, Fur Elise, in whatever version you order is a young pianist's rite of passage

I'm with raspberry, holding back on your DD's fun stuff from the teacher is a great idea....go on, rebel a little!

In the very early days, my DD would say when restricted on what she could play (for very good reasons), her response would be but it's like having library full of books, but only being allowed to read them one at a time

I could not argue with this logic...although granted, some of the books were not age/level appropriate...

Well its up to you. My DC refused to show their piano teacher some of the additional music they got for Christmas/birthdays on the grounds that it was fun stuff for them not for lessons and was just for their enjoyment.

*she'd think, typing on my phone so I apologise.

Ohhhhh what a beauty! Enjoy the new piano Green! It looks exactly the same like hours but I suspect it is taller if you got the U3, Icouldbe is right, we stopped noticing it about a month later, and now it doesn't feel big at all but initially it felt like the main furniture in the room.

Pique I meant I will record her not you. I am not a stalker, I swear.

Raspberry I was just wondering out of consideration what she's think as I am sure all piano teachers hear the "when can I play fur Elise" question quite often. Not sure what she thinks though yet, I have texted her about an hour ago to check if DD would be ready for it. Sure, DD can learn what she wants generally but ideally her teacher has an input also to ensure something comes out of it, be it tehnique, progress or just enjoyment. For the current books that I have just purchased her teacher sat at the piano and played a few pieces to check if DD likes them.

Hahaha, thank you everyone, remember there is someone eating beans on toast tonight. The best thing about it is it has lock, we could lock it so the cheeky baby wont be tempted during the day. The silent system is nice however its definitely not too loud

Green it looks beautiful. Enjoy!

Sorry, the teacher not on board was specifically directed at Fleur for the Fur Elise as she seemed concerned as to what her teacher would think. It wouldn't bother me as long as they were doing what they were supposed to do. It's supposed to be for fun/enjoyment too!

Greenleave The piano may be huge now but in a couple of weeks you'll stop noticing it, your eye will just slide past it.

Cost of music - don't get me started. I love the idea of the grade pieces being in a book, that was never an option for us so it was three pieces of music every exam. We were fortunate enough to borrow from his teacher until he'd narrowed it down to the final three because it could otherwise have been very expensive indeed. I am so looking forward to collecting bassoon music (no, not really) but I'm going to learn from past mistakes and it will have its own cardboard file right from the start.

The bassoon is on loan from the woodwind teacher, she was not at all bothered about the stuck joint and said if it does it again then sandpaper was an option. That will not be happening. What's really funny about this is that DS can't remember learning to play his first instrument (16 now, 7 when he started). I can and "hot cross buns" and "auld lang syne" is bringing it all back. The good thing is that this time around I'm not called on to identify the note he just played or work out what that note is that he should be playing.

Icould: how on earth I missed Mr Bassoon story last night, it would have made my bed time much better.
Fleur: will google fur Elise tonight. Sounds exciting.

Prada: thank you, will def visit. I wont be able to afford a new violin now until its a must( she would need a 3/4 in couple of years-if she still plays)
Newlife: I am lucky as my 8yrs old doesnt have any friends who learn/knows theory so she is still ok with printed music sheet which I printed them for her.

We received the black beast this afternoon and its huge and beautiful!

I don't know tbh.

I have lots of titles in my head, but just before she was playing devils something? Aria by Bossa are the gr7 pieces.
I don't think it matters if teachers aren't on board, dd thinks her teacher would say Aria was too difficult but she's almost there with it.
I know they need to do the pieces/ exercises set by the teacher, foremost.

Fleur
It's good because you know they are the right level and when they are being used for consolidating purpose are great.
I often think that festival/ comp adjudicators must get sick of hearing the same syllabus tunes too.