April Music Thread

of sorry Trumpet - missed you! well done - sounds like ds had a lot of fun as well as a great audition

Great news for mini2nd! and well done minitrumpet! Also well done Goo for being assertive.
I have started a grade 5 piano piece today and we'll see how it goes. I am definitely not thinking about doing an exam for a long time - if ever - also I've seen the scales requirements!

well done mini2nd :)

Congrats to mini2nd! Still waiting for results here - 4 weeks tomorrow since dd took her exam....

Great news 2nd and well done to your dd
Thank you fleur

Well done mini2nd! Time to celebrate!

Trumpet good luck with both the audition and grade 7.

And thank you for the reassurance Trumpet I do agree that sometimes we stress more than the dcs, a great example is DS who just came through the door after playing some football while I expected him to be revising. He can't see what the big deal is.

So today's audition went well I think and it seemed like they all had a creative day of music making and ds thoroughly enjoyed himself , now we just wait and see....
oh and ds is definitely doing grade 7 this term just when I thought he could have some pressure free practice, but he seems quite upbeat about it ( so fleur I will stress and worry in the background and he will just get on with it !!)

Drummers I like that, I should print it and post it around my house, I do feel my stress levels are sky high with DS starting the exams in 3 weeks, dd's music exams and secondary school exams. I know I sound like a broken record but I do find it too much at times.

“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” ... and repeat...

Doubleup happy to hear I helped indirectly.

Fleur you just reminded me to check secondary school open evening which turns out to be this week. Nearly missed it!

Well done that MrKutik...can see where Master K gets it from now! Kutik, if I've give the impression that DD gets the balance just right between swimming and music, then I must have posted on a good day

By the sounds of it, she may have company for G7 piano? Going to try and push back the exam to Autumn with teacher this week. She's caught us all off guard by grasping her pieces quicker than previous, but time to hone them well for this short term with stuff may not work. Just hate the thought of carrying them over through the holidays though, we are a classic household of under/over-cooking if timing's not right!

Ooof, been away for a week and no music has occurred whatsoever. Felt very odd being away from the piano. DS3 has his first piano lesson tonight so we are very excited about that. It's going to be hard when he already plays/composes but he HAS to start right at the beginning and get the proper technique, I feel a battle ahead . We get our certificates from last term though so I'm really excited! So between us we will be doing grade 3 piano (me), piano for the joy of it (DS2), grade 2 flute and looking at grade 1 piano as well because he's beyond he prep test already for DS1. No exams this term though so no pressure and just enjoy the music. Then straight out to squad swimming for the youngest two as well. Holidays have been great but it's nice to have the structure back.

Fleur I tend to react the same way. I get the diary and start making notes of dates, things to sort out, info not to get caught at the last minute. But Trumpet is right... Ans here's a quote for you:
“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.”

Fleur she will be fine- I think we worry about these things much more than our dc's.

Indeed a marathon practice drummers but not sure it can be replicated again till next weekend.

Today I had to register dd for her secondary school exam and MAT. It now feels so real that I hyperventilated when I received the email from her primary school reminding us to do so.

Very impressive MrKutik and also miniFleur that practice is a marathon in itself. Loose your DS may soon be charging for party entertainment

We've had a successful music practice day today. She did about 45 min this morning and ... an hour and 45 min this evening. I think she suddenly feels motivated when I said she has 7 weeks till the exams begin so theoretically she could get week 1.

It is a lot to practice, all the scales for both clarinet and piano, sight reading for both, all the pieces, practice the bars that need more work and then the rest of the piece....

I didn't even ask her to do so much, that is how much it took to do all that her teachers asked for.

It isn't sustainable for the rest of the week though so we'll have to become more efficient somehow.

Well done MrKutik! Sounds like a very good day indeed!
Thanks Alexandra! Apparently there is video of the dancing but I'm not allowed to see it! Although I reckon I can work on the best friend... and big sympathies about the booster injection for your boy! Glad he felt better today.

DH ran for a charity so he had a lovely reception after the marathon and came back home very happily. As usual he started showing us all the goodies and medal and stuff, then lastly he showed us a couple of photographs of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well as Prince Harry on his mobile. Wow!

Sorry, read the posts too fast as I am diving in the ironing job. MrKutik is a great example for your son to follow, many of my colleagues are the same and London marathon still always their highlights of their annual activities. Today is a big day. In fact, we heard of Richmond and moved to live here because many of our colleagues live somewhere between Wandsworth to Richmond train line where they can run in the park or row on the river Thames.
I dont know for sure if it will definitely this November yet, however we booked 2 weeks skiing and 2 weeks midterm going back to my home country next year so even delaying till the Spring doesn't give us any more time. This girl also needs to start picking up her academic side from next year so after Autumn term there could be less time for activities if she has so much to catch up.

well done MrKutik!