(Mostly) August Music Thread

Thank you for the wishes, I'll let minifleur know you're thinking of her.

DS just turned 16 on 30th July his three best friends are born in September so they'll turn 17 in a few weeks time, you can only imagine how annoying DS finds it to not be able to drive soon like his friends. I haven't got a problem with it though.

Happy Birthday Minifleur

DS2 is a November birthday, and would have been far better in the year below socially/emotionally. Probably still would.

DD is the end of April, cried when she couldn't start school with her brother aged 2. Her main grip as one of the younger ones has been waiting to learn to drive this year. Some had passed before her birthday. And by the end of April she was concentrating on AS, so didn't start until the summer holidays.

We are back at fracture clinic this afternoon, fingers crossed they might remove the plaster cast.

DS2 had still a brilliant music week last week. He helped as a young music leader on a Gamelan and electronic music course being run at a local Day services centre.

The bigger the gold stars the better!

Alexandra, thanks for that tip on music theory. I drew out the piano keys (she is g2 piano) and it does help. We have just finished grade 4 theory exercise book and done some past exams. On target for November! I bought her a Fingerling yesterday as a reward.

My children are definitely " so not perfect" Green but lovely ( most of the time!!) anyway!!
Hope mini fleur has a lovely birthday

Fleur: happy birthday to miniFleur, hope she will be having a funtastic time this week!

Loose: you did make me laugh and feel better, oh our "so not perfect" children, they are such a pain arent they.

Helen, Gilly, thanks for sharing!!!

Schwanengesang: thank you for sharing your story. I am learning as a mother, I will learn from your story. Above everything I want her to close to me, trust me and sharing to me, nothing else matters.(its although very hard to know what she wants. The week before it was families of friends who have girls at my daughter age and play. For a moment I didnt mention her music neither dare to ask her play. This Saturday night I thought it was different where no-one plays or cares about music playing. There were also my friends parents who came from my home country to visit so I thought it would be nice to hear her playing, still no excuse for me. I surely will ask in private before hand next time).

Awesome, thanks! I got a secondhand Au10s descant for a couple of quid on our local trading site. Apparently Th0mannn own-brand are made in the same factory as those you mention, so might go for one of their sopraninos... and as you say, save up for a M0llenhauer if DS takes to it! He was having a great time sitting in his high chair before dinner, whacking a saucepan sort of in time to CPE Bach. He is in time so often (on easy music - not Bartok piano suites!) that I think he kind of gets it, though obviously it's way too early to tell and it"s what he does later with the knowledge that counts anyway. He is just so happy when music is on

Schwanen hi - I hope your tiny DS takes to the recorder. I started DD off on it when she was 5 and I noticed a few little friends coming out of school with violins - got in there before she asked for one too! Although DD also plays an orchestral instrument now she is still a really keen recorder player - I thought it might get dropped at some point in favour of the other one which she has many more opportunites to play in ensembles etc. I would really recommend these Descant and Sopranino Good plastic ones have far better sound than cheaper wooden ones - and have the advantage of just being able to wash with Fairy Liquid - huge bonus for little players!! DD got distinction at gr8 on these (so they are plenty good enough to start) whilst we saved up for good wooden ones - we also didn't want to commit to the expense as at the time we were not sure if she would carry on with recorder.
I have avoided taking part in the instrument count earlier in this thread, as we now have so many recorders - and other things!!

Wafflenose couldn't agree more re placement in year.

Recorder-players: does anyone know if there are more plastic head/wooden body models than the Moeck Flauto 1 Plus soprano/descant ones? If I am going to buy a descant and a sopranino for DH and I to play/ teach DS on in a few years, I like the combination of durable resin head & nicer sounding body.

Thanks for the wishes (and sympathy). Mine are both summer born, DS is 30th July. He was definitely ready for school, performed top of the class and was confident and great at relationship building.

Dd definitely wasn't ready to start school at 4, not from an academic point of view but more socially, she wasn't as mature as some of her Sept-Dec born peers. She's caught up by Year 3 I'd say.

Academically she's fine, not top of the class but in top third so a normal development I'd say. Top of the class are twin sisters born in December.

I think it depends on the child, statistics do say summer borns are disadvantaged and end up with less qualifications but fortunately mine don't seem to follow the stats. I think if you have supportive parents and no SEN then there shouldn't be any problems.

Fleur I sympathise with a summer born. Dd spends most of the school year longing to be the "new" age - spent most of yr 4 proclaiming that soon she will be 9 like X y and z friends when in fact her birthday is in the summer holidays.

And thanks Alex too (crossposted)

Thanks Waffle, that is useful to know. I have never played anything smaller than a descant, and only played a variety of recorders as an adult after I'd grokked the point about finger placement making a difference, so i hadn't really thought about what a good starting point would be. We will start with sopranino, and I can play my treble with him. DH can play the descant.

In the meantime it's back to blowing raspberries in the kitchen funnel and beating time to Bartok on an upturned saucepan

Hello all! We're still on holiday back home next Sunday and while I love it I have to say I feel truly relaxed and ready for the next few challenges (GCSEs results, 11+, music audition, NCO and whatever else comes this way) and so does the whole family.

Dd turned 10 this week (finally, she's the last in her class at school and she finds it annoying to some extent).

Well done Helen and Loose for the great results!

Any any other results that may have arrived, apologies if I missed anybody, only read the last couple of pages.

Green Dd only performs for my in laws, I never ask as I know she'll refuse me and we'll get in a pickle over it. The funny bit is that there is a piano here where we're staying and found her tinkering with it the other day, it is badly out of tune, it is an old piano for display only I suspect. I did my best to ignore it as the moment I acknowledge she's playing in front of people she usually stops.

HelenluvsRob NORVIS looks awesome. I know someone who went last year & year before - soooo envious!

AlexandraLeaving I was just looking up Garklein recorders, musing on an instrument DS might be able to play when he gets more coordination and focus (hand size is already probably big enough - he's in 2yo clothes and has big hands and long fingers). He so desperately wants my violin, and loves the piano and glockenspiel. He can beat time quite recognizably now, though like Green's daughter, doesn't do it on demand!

Greenleave I am very impressed by the humility of your reaction to the whole thing - my mother tried to force me to be a performing monkey all my childhood and used to viciously humiliate me in front of guests if I refused or did it badly. I used to desperately wish I could make her understand that I didn't want to be scrutinized by a bunch of random adults with no interest in music. But to her that was the whole point - she thought that forcing me to perform would make me confident and self-assured. All it did was give me a phobia of performing that I still struggle badly with, 30 years later.

It didn't help that my sister absolutely loves performing - to her that is the whole point of music - so she was always the beautiful one in the lovely dress with the big smile and the nicely-played party pieces, that the guests would coo over... while I was the ugly one in the ugly glasses and handmedowns that were always too short, miserable and awkward, hating the whole performing monkey routine and the looks of sympathy my mother got whenever I was being prodded to play.

On the positive side I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of playing and singing now, almost never performing in a conventional sense (singing in a cathedral choir where the choir is out of sight and there's usually almost no congregation isn't like performing). I think it is largely down to our early experiences that my sister now doesn't play unless it's for a concert where she knows people will definitely come to hear her.

Green

My dd is the same, unless she is prepared and performing in a concert she won't play for family and friends.
I know better than to ask her
I suppose it's good in a way, they may not feel like it or not like being on show.
Mine told me she wasn't a performing monkey who could just play for anyone's whim.
That told me.

Well done on all the recent results! Just skim-read a lot of the thread to catch up after spending the best part of 3 weeks with various elements of family up in Scotland. Done that 7 hour-ish journey 4 times with me being sole driver - exhausting!

Trying to get DD2 back into the habit of practice again and it is like drawing teeth. She hates playing when she thinks anyone can hear, so we were trying to catch times when everyone else was out. Still practicing her purple patches for NCO next week and has a lesson in the middle of this week, but I feel like leaving her to it and letting her pick up the pieces......

Did have a good distraction yesterday though as we were at the athletics in London. The noise was deafening when the GB team won the 4x100m. Picked a great session to attend

Helen lovely that your youngest got to be the star! Also very best of luck for results day!
Green if this is any consolation, DS1 refused to go out for lunch despite much cajoling, promises of shopping for new clothes, dire warnings etc. We ended up having soup and bread indoors. I let off steam by weeding front garden, which now looks more like someone has vented their frustration on it! However, DH and I went off for a nice walk and a cream tea later on - even that didn't lure him out into the sunshine.
I wonder if he's entering a Goth phase (hiding in darkened cave/bedroom) or just being plain awkward!