September Music Thread

Thanks guys! All done now so back to routine!

Sorry if I missed lots of news there is a lot going on in my life at the moment.

That sounds promising fleur! Fingers crossed.

Thank you for the kind words Kutik, it was one of the main reasons we chose the school for her. I'm sure minikutik will be very successful in his applications.

I could be - you are quite right, October is aaaaages away 😂

Sounds good fleur!

Oh loose what a drag poor thing. Coincidently DS has been on four different antibiotics for the last month fighting an ear infection. Unfortunately the last one gave him a full allergic reaction and we had to rush to hospital. Give him some probiotic to make up for the loss of good bacteria and tell him the drum kit is going nowhere and will be there next time.

She's out said all went well, she managed to mention she plays the clarinet and took grade 3 (they actually asked her what other instruments she plays and her level) they even said wow when they heard she took grade 3 after only playing for a year. Hopefully it will be good news.

Good luck MiniFleur - hope all went well today!
So glad MiniPrada has settled in well.
DS1 has chest infection and needs to rest, take antiobiotics. He is very glum because he can't do his drum and bass lessons tonight - I've had to remind him that health is more important and he's in no fit state to use a drum kit!

Sorry, I misunderstood Fleur was talking about only NCO audition. So it is miniFleur's audition day! Good luck!!

Fleur, thanks for your good wishes! I think it's your DD's audition day today? Elephant enormous good luck to miniFleur!

Prada, so nice to hear from you again and such happy news that your DD is enjoying her new school. It sounds like they provide high quality of music education by having such strong musicians. I would love DS to go to such school (he still has a danger of ending up with a school with almost zero musical activities).

Green, good luck with your 11+ preparation. I really want to reassure you that starting this early will make the whole process less stressful and manageable so no need to panic and you really is in a right place now! What I understand about NVR/VR is they can be coached easily that's why so many kids practise heavily and also some schools have removed them from their entrance exams. With such a smart brain, miniGreen will soon fly through and may actually start enjoying it (it's a bit like a puzzle, isn't it?). DS hasn't practised those as the schools he is applying for don't test them. But he did a mock test a while ago at a local centre (the place I told you) and they just gave children all the 4 subjects so he had to do all of them although he didn't need to practise NVR/VR. And surprisingly he scored near perfect for both. So, he seems good at them naturally. Sadly, they are not required and instead DS has to do what he is not so good at (comprehension)!!! It would have been much easier for us if NVR/VR had been the requirement for us....

Good luck minifleur

Hi all! Dd is doing her audition as we speak. We also got the NCO audition date 30th October. Some time to prepare.

Good luck minikutik!

(At the time didn't see the 10 min cgp in the shop, only reason we went for Bond , but defin usd cgp for GCSE revision)

Bold fail due to morning eyesight.

No, it is not nearly October, there's ages and ages to go yet *Prada^.

It's such a long way off that there's no need to be panicking that the musical application thing with the deadline of the end of September isn't done yet. Auditions (assuming that the application does actually go in on time) start in November and DS is at least planning on playing things that he's played before. But wait, instead of playing the second movement which we know, let's learn the third instead because that sounds fun. While we're at it, let's just do all of it because it's a useful addition to repertoire and we might need it someday. This is true but all he needs at the moment is one movement, just one.

I am going to prime his music teacher to get him to finally name his choice of audition pieces and stop faffing about but that can wait until after we have completed the application.

Hello all! Well it's been a busy couple of weeks here - new term as a music scholar for miniprada who loves the new school! Kids all seem quite lovely and definitely there is a different vibe when they are all of a similar level (educationally speaking).

I haven't caught up with the full thread yet, but hope to do so over the next couple of days.. so apologies if I have missed someone's big news... I just wanted to say to Green - don't panic over NVR. It really is a matter of repetition and practice. Personally I would recommend CGP books rather than bond and once you get going, work at the level up from minigreen's age. Aim to be at 12-13yrs by next Sept. For NVR, have a look at anything written by Susan Daughtrey. Her books cover most techniques she willl face. None of the 11+ stuff needs to be onerous though just fit it in where you can!

I think we will skip NCO auditions this year - miniprada has so many orchestral experiences to have at school - including residential - I think there is an opportunity to do pro-corda too - not sure if anyone's child has done that? Would anyone recommend it? I also don't want any pressure on her whilst she gets to grip with a new school, travelling and making new friends. Her music scholars concert is this week so we are excited to see the different performances across the range of scholars. Miniprada is dragging out an old trusted piece which requires not much polishing up so less stress all around! She said yesterday she was at the school junior orchestra (yrs 7-9) and the girls next to her in 1st violins was on her 3rd diploma already so I think the standard there is already very high...

Can't believe we are nearly in October!

Kutik - don't worry about he length of time; they will know what he can do/feels I. Less time than that 😀 More imp is that he wants to play those pieces. Good luck!

drummers, I PMed you. Thank you for your suggestion!

Anyway, DS has a music audition at a state secondary this Friday. He has to perform something within 3 mins so we went through his old pieces today and after a way beyond his bedtime, we finally settled with one which is less than 2 mins (he came back from football nearly 8pm so we started this process at a wrong time of a day - bad mama management!). It's an easy, fun piece so DS doesn't need to work hard. Then DS said he might use the same piece for NCO audition next week. He picked one that goes as a contrast piece, again pretty easy piece. The two pieces together will be less than 5 mins. I agree he shouldn't go for any big piece at this stage as no time to polish up (NCO is next week). But if my memory is right, NCO stated up to 5 mins each piece? I know it doesn't mean you have to play that long for each, but, DS's audition will finish in a blink...

kutik isn't jd at 9am? Open morning is at 10am. You have a direct tube train from one to the other. Then you can go back to jd after 1pm?

drummers, DH is made from steel so nothing works. DS tried everything to'make him understand how much DS cares about music, but I-know-all and oh-so-self believer DH never listened to him. When DS was Y4, DS started asking to reduce his commitment to sports so that he could have more time for music. DS enjoyed all kind of physical activities, so he wasn't asking to stop all, but just to review the balance. DH's answer was always 'Not yet'. So one day DS asked DH when DH would let him have more time for music. His answer was, 'Not until you'd prove me you were indeed brilliant at music. Otherwise it's just waste of time and better focusing on sports instead.' DS was only 8 at the time. An 8 years old boy telling his dad he found something he felt strongly and asking to let him have time for it, dad's answer was until he indeed became brilliant at it! How can a child become brilliant without being given time to spend on it and forced to be super busy with other stuff!

DH is a lovely dad actually, and DS adores him dearly. But he can be such a pain at the same time!!!

Loose, I am trying my hardest not to give minidrummers any slight hint of my admiration, and the fact that I am running the fan club. Teenagers need space and respect! Poor your DS1, after a good night sleep, I hope he'll feel much better next day.

MomOfTwo, yes DS will probably be fine alone as he knows where he has to go next and how more than me already (I was simply a Sherpa last Saturday...). So I was OK for DH to just drop him there. But DH said he couldn't due to his cycling. So the problem is between home to JD rather than within JD... Headache!

Kutik73 have you asked your DS if he might manage it himself next week?

He sounds to be a confident capable boy.

I bet if he had a clear timetable and details of which rooms, perhaps a little map, he would find his way. And of course, ask if he needs help!!

And to Green hope all your coughs are better - and you are so right about this weather!

drummers thanks for your good wishes! Hopefully he'll finally get a good night's sleep and be back at school tomorrow.

kutik to your DH:
Maybe minikutik can explain to his dad, who I'm sure loves him to bits, how important music is for him and how helpful it would be if he did this? (With lovable puppy eyes)

kutik herts and loose thanks for your lovely words, you encourage me so much. The way I see it, no child in this thread has been forced under duress. They are all willingly adding music to their very busy lives. And that in my opinion makes them ALL exceptional.

loose sorry to hear he's feeling so poorly Wish he was old enough to mix in a bit of whisky, works wonders

green we have a smart blu-ray player connected to internet with lots of apps. One of them is the bbc iPlayer. That means we can browse the factual or music category and with patience we always find something worth watching. Our absolute favourites have been Planet Earth, all series by Simon Shama and of course de unbeatable, unmissable BBC Young Musician!!! We were also users of Lovefilm by post, one of the few ways to watch old classics and famous documentaries. But alas it's now finished because apparently everyone just wants to stream...

Oh Loose, hope he is feeling better soon, it is this weather that wearing us all down, we are coughing like a crazy family Orchestra the last couple of nights too.