Spring/ Summer Music and Musicians Thread

I feel very bad about it but academic work of my 8yo is totally ignored in our household at the moment. And I don't know how to get the balance right. Luckily she is a bright girl and manages without it (not that we have loads of homework from school anyway). We keep after school activities to the minimum too. My effort goes to dd's music and homework of my number two who is in reception (seems like they have more homework in reception than in year 3!).

Green leaves, I also find it a bit difficult to keep the balance. Academics are still most important in our house (even though DC might not agree)but I don't think primary school is important from that point of view. My dc spent minimum time on homework at that age. However once at secondary school expext them to get top grades and then they can fill the remaining times with as many activities as they(and i) can fit in. Next "problem" is that none of them want to stick to one or two things only to get really good at it but rather try lot of different things. . But as we are on a music thread...they will therefore not get to grade 8 when they are 12 or 14 but hopefully can to at least grade 6 before uni and scope up a few UCAS points.

Waffle: just last Nov, before joining this thread chain I could never imagine so many children have such a busy life out of school(in a good way) where they pursue many extra curr and later on become competitive and then very good and could even pursue gcse and even College and could even have a career out of it. Its such a huge commitment, time spend, energy(not mentioning cost) from the child. At school in primary we would expect 30mins-1 hour homework a week. For the children who is passionate about extra curri activities like music or dance then there are hours and they want more, could do more. Their mentality is so in it. Just last night I read a papers about Goldman Sach head of HR about their recruitment criteria. She said nowaday its not that you are graduated from Havard or similar, its whats else happening in your life and any particular hobby you gave and what you gave done about it. Now, after all this glamorous things in their CV, from the back of it are many years of hard work. Its even much more challenging than being good academically. For parents, although I think the most challenging is keeping everything in the right balance(or thats what I have been telling myself and trying to do so). I think Goo has been very busy and still now is. Her mentality is now in music. To balance her back with her academic then if music could take a little less busy. For myself, we are so not confident with the theory, every night when she has her books in her hands I wanted to tell her about the practice for both theory and practical she hasnt done or should have done. I have to bite my toungue and let her read. Thats why you see me here manytimes on this thread whining (reminding myself) that this is only extra curri activities for now. Where is the balance point. This is what I am thinking interms of primary children who parents also aim for being good academically. Hope you are not crossed with me

I have used the Susan Paradis material when the kids were younger. Little duets and things.

But I'm nicking the scales jar idea. The only kilner jar I have contains granola so we need more!

PiqueABoo Average of about 1 hour a week is about all my kids do. But they seemed to have managed on this and made reasonable progress - enough to be happy and interested. And the teachers are happy. I suspect if I push them more they would progress faster. But then to like the thing is half the battle won so ... Besides they are not aiming to be career musicians.

Y8 kids can definitely be more motivated and organised than Y5 kids. It was in mid Y8 that my DD restarted music on a series of new instruments (having dropped music lessons completely 18 months before) and basically taught herself two instruments to a pretty decent standard.

However, the population of Y8 kids that music teachers see is very different to their primary school students. A lot of kids drop out around Y7/8, as homework and travel to and from school take up more time, and as parents get fed up of paying for lessons when their bolshy pre-adolescent refuses to practise. So almost by definition, any Y8 child that is still doing instrument lessons is more committed, organised and motivated than average.

PiqueABoo I think that playing for pleasure - even when it doesn't look much like "practise" - is still useful. DD almost never "practices" guitar but she plays every day and she's progressed pretty well over the last three years!

"takes 30 minutes to get through her daily list ... both flute and piano teachers say she is more like a Year 8 than a Year 5 child"

Not like my Y8 DD, or at least not in terms of diligent daily piano practice.

It has increased a bit lately, but ignoring occasional random episodes of not-lesson stuff which can be very focused and lengthy, the average weekly total practice in recent years isn't much over an hour. DD's school homework management is excellent and largely invisible, but piano is typically mood driven and I've never wanted to nag her very much in case that put her off. Still she has stuck with it and has progressed well enough, so...

Waffle so pleased Goo is enjoying piano and she's definitely doing well if she's already steamed through Dozen a Day. As you say, it will help with GCSE.
I was out when cello scales practice happened today. I am going to insist on a full run-through tomorrow!

thanks, yes I found it and will show them to dd2 (as dd1 would not want to listen to me)

And that was meant to say great fast progress Waffle, right, time to relax and put the phone away. See you tomorrow all.

Hahaha, well just in case you don't want to go on holiday but you are after some scales flash cards the link is below

www.susanparadis.com

Sounds like great fast Waffle, really good, I guess if she really likes it and she is practising so much so early her teacher is right, she will be there in no time. That just shows that sometimes it is better to just give up if the child is not ready and come back to it later when they love it.

Misti your guitar lesson sounds good, dd will start some improvisation in her lessons and I can't wait to hear how you actually start improvising. I used to think that improvising means just playing random notes until they sound good enough but I can see it isn't as it sounds really rubbish if you have no clue. I tried.

The Chopin waltz I love in C# minor op 64 no 2 apparently is around grade 7. I checked as I would love DD to play it. I'll have to wait then for another 3-4 years then.

O, well just realised today I told dd2 to learn the wrong scale for her recorder exam. She struggles a bit with one of them and not sure why but thought I better double check on the ABSM website what she needs to do.... New one is easier.

Ha, I googled Susan Paradise and first I saw was the holiday website....but will definitely print off some piano scales tomorrow!

Fleur she's definitely well beyond grade 4, but I think you'd need to be a good grade 7/8 pianist to be confident playing Chopin nocturnes, and she's not! The third page (of four) is still a bit ropey and it's proving a challenge to get it right. She is OK with the rhythmic difficulties (LH triplets with RH quavers and semi-quavers) but she's struggling to get it fast enough, and at the same tempo as the other three pages.

I would love to get a video of her playing piano but she thinks she's rubbish :( She hasn't tried any Chopin waltzes, I wonder if they are easier than the nof turnes?

I don't talk much about my own rather pathetic attempts to learn guitar, but in my lesson this week our teacher made us take turns to play improvised solos for the whole hour. Six months ago I would have (a) not known where to start and (b) died of embarrassment. So there is hope even for the least musical of us!

can he improvise and take solos

Yes, absolutely to both - he's done improvisation as an option in all his [Trinity] exams, and in the music centre and second tier jazz bands at things like Music for Youth and NCBF.

Somebody really annoyed me today with their musical DC competitiveness, I am dying to talk bitchabout it but I can't as I would out myself (which I may have done already anyway)

Misti if your DD is playing the Chopin Nocturnes she's definitely higher than grade 4, the only grade 4 Chopin I found and the teacher recommended at grade four are a couple of preludes which apparently are more towards grade 5 level but can be approached by a grade 4. I can't wait till DD will be able to play the Waltzes, I just love them. In the meantime can you get your DD to play them and post it on FB as I love them so much? Well done to her for achieving so high and good luck with her concert preparation.

Teacher well done to your DS for his clarinet exam and good luck with his audition. Sounds exciting!

Waffle how is Goo progressing with her piano lessons? Have you got an exam date yet for the exam this summer?

can he improvise and take solo's. I know that this used to be the part of the audition that a lot used to dislike.
If he is quite confident then he'll be fine, they can't all be expected to be Charlir Parker.

Dd had her Jazz assessment and after the panic said it went quite well.
Little does she know that her assessor is yet another colleague of dh, who text him immediately after.
So when she called later we told her what he'd asked her to do etc and she was so freaked out We are so cruel.

Yes, auditioning on clarinet, over the next couple of weeks. Has already been to two trial rehearsals, as they follow on from his existing jazz band.

He's already 'known' within that little world, being an enthusiastic soloist for the second tier hand, and having been a member of the overall jazz centre for a long time (since they had a junior jazz band which took him in when he was 10 and had been kicked out of the local football academy). It's just whether he is ready for the senior band or in that awkward in between of being 'a bit above the second group but not quite ready for the first'.

teacher

I can remember now
When is it? Is he fine for preparation?
grade 6 sax has got some lovely pieces on the syllabus.
Would he audition on clarinet now?

Sorry for the questions I love Jazz orchestras and bands.
I'm hoping some more girls start at dd school or within the next 2 years they all leave and she'll be the only one All other girls are 6th form.

Sorry, should have said. County-level senior jazz orchestra. May well not get in this time, in which case the plan is to accelerate his grade 6 saxophone plans and audition on that instead in January.

Misti

Your dd sounds so much like mine, it does make any planning difficult, I sympathise.

Ha Ha, no little concerts until practice is done

teacher Well done to your ds, what audition is next. I'm sorry but there's so many now, I forget what went before?
He sounds like a whizz on clarinet