Spring/ Summer Music and Musicians Thread

On the subject of practice audits, DD only got back from school 20 mins ago and she has already eaten, and is now getting down to the serious business of "giving herself a little concert" (guitar and singing). NewLife's DH definitely wouldn't count this as practice.

She had her piano lesson today and after getting her supposedly obligatory exam piece performance-ready over our spring holidays, it turns out that she is not taking an exam this year after all . There is supposed to be a formal audition/ exam in front of a jury, for students completing the first "cycle" of study (approx grade 4), but the conservatoire director has now decided that she is already de facto in cycle 2 so there is no point in her doing the exam. Instead, she is being asked to play her Chopin nocturne at a concert. DD (who is infuriatingly casual about this sort of thing) has no idea where or when. It makes planning very difficult.

No drama this week at practice times. A miracle.

But the older one is getting the hang of a nice crescendo on the piano. And he can refrain from going faster at the same time.

Heard today that DS's clarinet exam was a Merit (apparently they get moderated, but it seems likely that his level will stay because it's not particularly close to either of the borders).

Right, audition next step.

Thankyou howabout very interesting. I know next to nothing about brass so will have to gen up. There are a few music shops around that rent cornets AFAIK so something to consider.

Oh, Greenleave, it is very kind of you to say, but think about your own dd (or other children in this thread!), she is the same sort of level with piano and theory and those two are more difficult!
Sounds like you have a really good arrangement with your teacher, it is not that easy to find flexibility nowadays, I would definitely stick to him for the time being. I also think that teachers are more tolerant to mischief if they were teaching a child from an early age...

I think forus our biggest problem and make us being less flexible is because we need a teacher who could come to us during the week(and preferable 4.30-6.00) as I usually get back home around 6.30 then a quick dinner, shower/bath for the kids, tuck the toddler to bed. I really like my tutor now as he is energetic, great communication and flexible(to an extend). He has been with us for nearly 3 years so I am hoping he will stay and help with the toddler later on too(well she is even more active, she doesnt stand, she hangs upside down on the sofa almost all the times and shediesnt walk, she just runs top speed(I know, sigh!).
It shouldnt be stressful I know, it should be only slightly challenging and a tiny bit stretched. If I see a sign of stressful then I will definitely cut it down as we are not very musical, we only learn it to enjoy and appreciate it

Onlymusic: your daughter inspired me(and I will tell my daughter tonight about her and I am sure she will be inspired too). Its always so much easier to related to someone similar age. After every Orchestra my daughter always come back and saying: mom xxx is so good, he is so good, I am jawdropped everytime I hear him playing.
We havent practised that much on violin as we are supposed to as last week was most in the play ground then too exhausted in the evening. The last couple of days we were on the chords practise that our teacher give us as an extra. We try to do scale in each of our practise however its definitely not always. Scales, sight reading and aural are her weakness

Fleur: not at all flamed, in fact very opposite. I am appreciated for your sharing and especially sharing your thoughts. I was only thinking he isnt the best in violin or he is much better with piano. However for her level now and for the convenience he is great.

oh yes, ealingwestmum, your words made me laugh too :)

ealing your comments on highly strung female string teachers made me smile. I have a slight preference for detached male teachers for my 2 DDs. They seem to respond well to the "well if you want to play get on and do the work" approach as opposed to the more "encouraging and caring" approach but I don't think that would apply to all girls.

That said they get on great with the female strings teacher at school who welcomes them to her ensembles and never undermines or takes offence at me teaching them, so we're not all cut from the same cloth

Greenleave, dd did grade 3 piano last November. She clearly prefers piano (well, until recently anyway), but I don't think she has aptitude for it to be honest. She is doing ok but just about. I should discuss theory with our teachers, you are right....

Fleurdelise, thank you for your kind words, but not yet, not yet, let us wait till exams are over :) She is doing violin at summer, not piano. Talking about achievements - well, she started early and look at your dd and other children in this thread - I am really impressed!
About male teachers - I totally agree with your observations. I hope I will not say something horrible but occasionally male teachers help mums to get more involved into the educational process too . Depends though :)

Statistically, I have mixed experience with male teachers, we had one arrogant male teacher in the past, but in general I find them more in control of their emotions. Which is good when dc are not behaving, but bad when they need praise as females REALLY praise, and males just praise...

lucy I have a trumpeter. Trumpet for orchestra and cornet for band. Completely interchangeable in terms of notes and playing technique. DD has played trumpet for 5 years and recently joined a band. She has no issues playing the cornet and swaps between the 2. Some bands have their own instrument store and so will be able to lend out a cornet

*shell (not she'll)

Phew!

And just to reiterate: the fact that she has a male teacher at school was a massive positive for DD. She came out of her she'll this year, she is doing her best to impress Mr X with her research homework, she responds more in class and under no circumstances should Mr X be cross with her.

Loose, sounds like you are mastering that quiet but I am still in charge look to perfection...even more of a skill if you can do it with young adults!

Not at all flamed...I did not read it that way at all .

They're all so different...that's why we share our observations here!

ealing I think it was more about the reaction a young male teacher can trigger in a little girl. More so if he is inexperienced in dealing with certain types of behaviour.

I know that sounds bad but I think instinctually my DD (and other girls her age from what I have seen) seem to behave differently, in both a positive and negative way, in the presence of a male teacher.

As I said DD (8) has a male teacher at school this year. We went to a curriculum meeting where the DCs were also present. The girls (8-9 yo) behave in a way that made us all adults smile. A lot of giggling, a lot of Mr X look at this "giggle giggle giggle", Mr X Sophie said... "Giggle giggle giggle". A lot of them being loud trying to gain his attention on top of each other. Also all jumping to impress him with knowledge, helpful and so on. Fortunately he knows how to deal with them, it is a positive response from all of them because they are all trying to be a favourite. This behaviour doesn't happen in front of the female teachers (female head teacher also present and ignored).

I don't want this to be intrerpreted as sexualising young girls, it is just an observation I made following my Dd's curriculum meeting and on taking with another two mothers after the meeting they agreed.

Oh and I also don't think the girls realise they behave differently or have the notion of "I am trying to impress a man" in an adult sort of way. I think it is just an instinctual response.

Ultimately male or female, it comes down to the way the teacher knows how to manage and react to pupils behaviour.

I hope I won't get flamed writing down my observations.

ealingwest "subtle assertiveness" is exactly the right quality! I need to cultivate that with my (further ed) students! I have learned to go very quiet, look at the culprit and wait when there's a low-level chatter, giggling, texting etc. No one has rolled on the floor. Yet.
DS2 has been incredibly fortunate to have had the same two lovely women teachers for cello and piano since he started. He gets on very well with them and the piano teacher only commented that he could be a bit distracted but she had some sympathy! Never a negative word from cello teacher. They are both mums, one with little children and one with much older.
Fleur thanks for the scales tip - I will definitely check that out!

Hi all and thanks lemanitoba and Suspended I take it trumpet is for orchestra, and cornet is for band? but otherwise are they similar in terms of pitch and clef? You are quite right re recorder of course as Waffles DD has shown and they do sound lovely (at a slightly higher level than my DD has got!)...

Interesting debate on the gender of the teacher and effectiveness of managing DCs.

DD's violin teachers have all been female (3 of them since age 7, she's now 12). All have, at some point, said she is a challenge to teach. Conversely, her male piano teacher (taught from age 7 to present) has never commented on her personality. Not once. And even when she's cried from frustration, he's patiently sat there, waiting for her to recompose and then carried on. A quiet, unassuming young man but with such subtle assertiveness I have to admire his style vs the more exuberant but at times, highly emotional violin ladies! Lovely, all of them but it's been like treading on egg shells...

Last night I was trying to find some ready made cards online for the scales jar and I discovered the Susan Paradis resources which are amazing. Lots of music activity worksheets, flash cards, games. I think she is American as she uses the terms "quarter note, half note" but still really good. I thought I'll share the info so if you google Susan Paradis scales cards or anything it will come up with her website.

Mistigri good luck to your DD with her project, it really sounds exciting!

onlymusic good luck with grade 4 piano this summer!

From what I have read and Dd's teacher experience I agree that starting young takes longer to progress. Dd's teacher only takes students over 6 but has a few exceptions when the parents insist to start earlier, but told me she is teaching under 6s differently, more games and rythm related, clapping, stomping, singing rythms, the time for formal learning is reduced to 10 min only.

DD started at 6 and progressed fast by her teacher's standards, that was the reason for which she skipped grade 2.

onlymusic your Dd did progress fast though, grade 4 at 8 is a great achievement.

There are pink and red(small book), my daughter finds the red(small) one is much easier to read, it although doesnt have as much in detail explanation. She has to go back there often during her practice. Why not set up a goal Onlymusic, say this Dec for theory test then plan working toward it. I think until Dec is definitely doable especially she has a G4 practical done.
Please can I ask what grade your daughter is on piano now? How does she find between them. Which one she prefers?

Mistigri: your daughter project sounds very exciting.(its like corporate fiance when you plan for budget, cost, cashflow, discounted etc). There must be something online to help with her plan. It also means she will have to record and keep records of all related receipts, bills. Exciting!!!

Also like the idea of a jar, was thinking of something similar - having like a raffle tickets with the scale names and do half every day...

Greenleave, dd started her piano lessons at roughly the same age as your dd and I totally agree with you - it was too early and I am not repeating this experience with my second child . She will be doing grade 4 this summer. Thank you for your kind wishes

Mistigri good luck with your dd application (I was reading about it earlier, as well as your thoughts on talent in music which was one of the reasons I decided to join this thread so next time I can express my admiration to what you have said :) :) :))

AaoograhaHoa re moving onto clarinet, the disadvantage of descant recorder is that the fingering is different. It's much the same as sax though so bear that in mind! DD played recorder to about G5 as a younger child but then gave up. Last year it took her about two terms to get back to nearly the same level, this time on sax.

I don't think DD has ever played a scale on piano but I have been noting her practice for once and she does do a reasonable amount. Piano tends to be a bit irregular, because she gets home from school too late/too tired to play every evening - but it is very rare for her not to play her guitar. Often she retires to bed with one of the acoustics. She did 2x45 mins guitar on Mon and Tues and both times I had to stop her because her brother wanted to go to sleep. Today she did 1 hour of piano (somewhat under duress: she has her first lesson in a month tomorrow) and about an hour of guitar.

We had the meeting about her grant application today. The council people are very helpful and professional and had lots of good ideas about what she can put in her application, but now it's up to her. Whatever the outcome I think experience will be very valuable - she is expected to put forward a budget, make a schedule, and propose ways of evaluating the success of her project. I also had her old guitar teacher on the phone tonight proposing to get together later this month to work on the arrangements for some of her songs. So things are starting to move for her ...