May Music Thread

woolley, sorry, x-posted. Congratulations on her achievements in the festival.

DS enjoys playing for fun whenever he finds time though, like learning some tunes he found on Youtube and stuff. Very often I have to make him stop as it's time to go or have tea or shower or whatever. But apparently playing for fun shouldn't be counted as practice according to his teachers...

Music festival here this morning, dd got honours in both classes and came second with her bassoon in the beginners class.

Her biggest criticism in both classes was the lack of accompaniment, especially with the clarinet. It felt a bit harsh as it was unrelated to her playing but we have certainly learned for next time.

I fell like now we have learned it would be good to try again before next year but I don't know how to find other festivals.

I was surprised by the standard in the grade 3 class, dd definitely one of the better ones and may have won had she had a piano playing with her.

Green, I am not brave enough to uncover how little DS practises despite of the declaration of his love of music...

It's all due to the heavy commitment of the other activities he does. He is reaching to the point where he really needs to tidy up what he does and narrow things down a bit... I'm sure JD won't be happy otherwise! I'm just letting him carry on enjoying the other activities this term because we have already paid for the fees, then we will re-think for the next term's schedule over the summer. Hopefully we will find a better balance.

I don't sit with him for home practice, but I'm usually in the same room doing my stuff. He doesn't like me to interfere (apparently I'm only confusing him) but likes me to listen to him, or give him some positive comments. DH puts his headphone when he happens to be in the same room. DS seems to be feeling slightly sad about it, so I try to be his audience whenever I can (and I love listening to his music anyway).

Green and ICouldBe i have so many bits of work in different places I have to make a timetable for myself each week. But I am a great list maker as well. For DS2's practice I basically write down exactly what I think he should be doing down to bar numbers. I don't police homework apart from using it as a bargaining tool when asked for computer time!
DS2 has had an afternoon of cello rehearsal and seems pretty happy!
Have just had the results of DS1's Y10 GCSE mocks and his predicted grades. If he can pull off the predictions I will be a very happy woman but I think he needs to be doing more maths practice. The crafty so-and-so has of course been doing masses of music practice, quite possibly in the hope of distracting me! He is pretty good at keeping up with things but he's also good at keeping a low profile when it suits him!
As for music exams, DS2's teacher wants him to do the grade 4 this term and he is acting a bit non-committal. I think I've decided he's doing it - he's going to be sick of the pieces if he waits until November and I'd like him to be able to focus a bit more on grade 5 cello next term.

Nothing to report on my side except the fact that both teachers are now very laid back, they went from "you may need some extra Sunday lessons before the exam" (piano) and "I am not sure you'll be able to do grade 3 this term maybe we'll do it in the autumn term" to "all is great, your dd is the one I have no worries for with regards to exams (piano)" and "we'll stop playing the exams stuff now and have some Disney fun, we'll pick the pieces up again a couple of weeks before the exam".

So I stressed for the last two weeks and nagged dd to do exorbitant amounts of practice and it wasn't really needed

Pradaqueen, thanks. Good ideas. I will talk about this with her and let her choose by herself. I don't need worry her sight reading. she is really good at sight reading.

Greenleave，My DD spends about 4-5 hours per week to pracise except for Saturday JD lessons and NCO orchestra.

Kutik73, my DD is very happy with our JD. If she agree to try another JD, just because we want to know if she can reach that JD's requirement.

only great marathon ! I will pm you

Wall planner for us too.

However I have never, ever managed to train DH in the art of reading it!

Icould DS2 was a soloist at a couple of events last year, the programmes with their Biography are very special. Enjoy!

It'll be a long time til we have another (if ever), as the solos were specifically treble Chorister solos.

3 children=5 activities=4 hours driving (no activity further away than 30 min)

It's the wall planner in the kitchen for us too. If it's not written on there then it's not happening. Electronic shared calendars are all very well but I can't look at those while I'm washing the dishes. We go through the weekend's activities together on Friday so I can see who is home when and where I can fit meals in. At 17 DS is in control of his homework so I don't have to bother about that but we're now working around driving lessons and visits to the gym.

Hahahaha, Loose, I like "smth isnt there it doesnt exist"!:). I learnt to have a list from here last year, for some reason since beginning of this year I dropped. I need to start doing it. The good thing is someone cant blame me because in the past I didnt even know what day was homework and she has been pretty good in term of knowing her weekly schedule from beginning primary. Its just so much more now.

Green this week has been a disaster - I've been sending messages about school etc at the last moment and winging it! I'm out at a training event tomorrow, which is not helping!
However, what usually works if I fill it in properly is the wall planner in the kitchen and if something isn't on there it doesn't exist!

Wow Icould!! When is the concert?

Only: love your "marathon", love your sharing too.

Violinandpiano, Kutik, Only: your children play violin above g5, how much practice do you do on average and how do you structure your practice section? Do you need to be there? For violin, every practice, I still need to be there for it to have any progress.

For busy children's parents, how do you remember your children activities, home work. I need to go back to my plan on what day to fo what as I feel I am loosing track. Each week time flies so fast and I feel like we are chasing tail end (Eg. last week we missed doing homework). Violin lesson was rescheduled (because we werent well) to tomorrow although we havent done any practice since last Sunday. My new teacher is very strict in term of some small practice has to happen daily. We were told off badly last week(school trip hence no practice). I must say I like her though.

Hi @pianoandviolin what style of playing does she like? Mine likes fast Bowing like Vivaldi so we've chosen concerto pieces by him in the past. What they are looking for in the audition is solid sight reading skills and a passion for playing. I would get her to listen to the current G6&7 pieces on line and then see what she likes the sound of and then confer with the teacher. It's fine to play a graded piece in the audition as long as it is done really well regardless of level. The competition is fierce though even for u10!

Things I never expected as a parent number 3,219 - drafting my child's biography for a concert programme. The last time I did it I found it easier because there were seven of them on the programme so space was limited. This time DS is The Soloist. DH is OTT Proud Parent while DS would write (name) has been playing (instrument) for (some) years and be done so I get to start it off and then watch one of them try to put things in while the other is crossing things off.

Google has once again come to my rescue.

pianoandviolin, how about Accolay concerto? Or Meditation from the opera Thais? I think both are beautiful and a nicely showstopper. I'm sorry I'm not an expert so my knowledge is rather limited! Hopefully someone who is more experienced and knowledgeable can give you more alternatives.

Also..., are you unhappy with your JD? I just wonder why you may think of your DD trying another JD next year just after one or two years of joining the current one. DS is starting from this Sep so I feel slightly concerned!

Onlymusic- it's so true, and yes the second born does surprisingly well without all the extra input. I also think that she picks up the theory side a whole lot quicker than her sister, even though their both fairly bright.
2nd borns get a more relaxed parenting don't they- you're more relaxed as a parent second time round x

Pradaqueen, sorry I need clarify my DD's birthday is just last week, so she will apply NCO under 10 not under 11.

Pradaqueen, thanks. My DD is 9. I have no idea about her level. We started violin with a Suzuki teacher, last summer term she played vavidle A minor 1st & 3rd movements, Bach double etc. the teacher said she has been solid grade 6. But from last Sept we went to a JD, we started grade 6 scales and sight reading and some pieces like Hungarian dance, Air varie, which are also about grade 6 level. But the teacher has talked with us about grade 7 exam.

Only, I only heard lots of DC try both and they get offer from both JDs. We did not compare them which is better and just choose one which is convenient for us. Maybe next year we can try another one to see if DD can get in as well.

@violinandpiano re: NCO pieces - how old is your little one and what level currently? Then we should be able to help you with a piece

only, I like your marathon posts. Here are my marathon replies.

Chopin Nocturne in C# minor is a G7 piece. It's so beautiful but agree that you need maturity to understand the sentiment. DS is apparently going to have a go as part of Chopin study he has been doing but he may be too young, we will see.

to get an opinion about child's playing/abilities without actually enrolling into JD or music school
You can arrange a consultation lesson with almost all the music schools/JDs. The play day at Menuhin sounds a perfect opportunity for the purpose. I know a few DCs who are trying to get in Menuhin. They all said to me how beautiful the school/location was. Just visiting the school itself sounds fun - and the 20 mins with the tutors and a feedback are such a bonus?!

this is the main problem-how many non-musical parents know if their dc have a good teaching?
Therefore, JD serves well for those who has no clue like me, in the same way as a naive traveller goes to a packaged holiday! I don't think JD guarantees a good teaching as building a good teacher/pupil relationship is so personal. But yes, you would feel a bit safer and it would be less likely to be a bad experience. I just wanted to point out that you can do what JD does without going there as long as you know what you are doing, and in fact, if you do well, it could be a better option as you can work on precisely for your DC's needs. If you are in the business (teacher or pro performer and so on), it may be much easier, but I also met a few non-musical parents who has been doing/did successfully. You just need a total dedication though.

It was such an eye opener to me as I didn't think it's possible. Luckily we live very close to JD my DS is going, and also due to DS's personality, JD is a perfect option for us (for now at least). But I know some people have to travel a long way and some may give up because of the inconvenience. So I just wanted to share the view in case it helps others to know what is achievable without going.

Phew... fully updated now.....

Kutik73 I think you described JD very well! However, this is the main problem-how many non-musical parents know if their dc have a good teaching? How many times I have read on MN - trust your teacher! But the truth is -how do we know if we could trust a teacher if it is our first child/ first instrument/ first year of lessons? JD in a way is a some guarantee of a good teaching (or is it not??). I mean private lessons can be tailored to the needs of a particular child, but can parent judge if those lessons any good?