November Music Thread

Talking of schools, DD1 showed me a letter she got from her music department (she's a music scholar) about attendance at choir. As she described it, a bit 'passive-aggressive". They had a huge number of girls who were in upper sixth who left at the end of the summer, meaning that their numbers have dropped significantly. They are pretty much insisting that all music scholars attend.

DD has not been in choir before and was not sure if she would be able to attend given other commitments we have as a family on the day and was told that as a music scholar and taking GCSE music, perhaps she should show a bit more commitment! Given that she plays in sax ensemble, concert band, orchestra and oboe trio already, I'm not sure how they can say she isn't showing commitment! I shall be having a quiet word at parents' evening in a couple of week.......

Exactly trumpet. Although I suspect when they see a child doing so much they immediately know there must be support at home and they relax even in terms of academics.

Wow drummers that sounds great . Ds also would much rather do music ( or warhammer) than anything to do with school work . Once he gets going it's ok but it's a battle. Not that we're anywhere near GCSEs yet . I'm sure your ds will be fine . I did say to school this week that I was a bit concerned about how much ds had going on at the minute but they were like oh don't worry we usually find that students like your ds are the ones that do cope ( they don't have to do all the help with time management at home though !!)

He sounds lovely Frigglet. Good luck to him, with his mature approach he will crack it for sure.

Wow trumpet that sounds fab. We love Colin Currie, DS attended a marimba masterclass by him. He's a role model not only as a musician but as someone who has been very smart at building a career.
DS played yesterday on several percussion elements and it was one of his most inspired performances and we were all (family) very proud and happy for him. He then had a sleepover and when I called him this morning he was playing more music with his friend. He just doesn't want to ever stop now. But GCSEs are knock knock knocking on the door... (our door, not heaven's).

Good morning all. Thanks for all advice and info. Speaking to his mum again last night, I could hear him playing in the background and it sounded vaguely recognisable, which is a good start.

I’m going to take him out for pancakes this afternoon and spend time with him for moral support while he practices. He’s driven and wants to do his best, but adamant that he wants to keep up with his school homework too. Given the advice here, that shouldn’t be an issue.

We all went to see Haken Hardenberger play yeaterday , amazing and really interesting. He works closely with a percussionist called Colin Currie who was equally amazing. They performed 3 modern pieces commissioned by the duo. Must have been good as even dd didn't wriggle too much!! Then we got to listen to their students perform which was equally good. The trumpets sounded beautiful and there was this amazing piece of percussion music called "Drumming" which had the audience captivated . An inspiring afternoon out

Sorry I misunderstood yesterday I thought it was grade 4 yes grade 2 is definitely achievable. When ds did his grade 3 I'm sure he only had six weeks at best to learn his last piece by then it was good to have something new to learn and it stops it going stale . Really lovely that he sounds so committed to practicing too, though I'm sure he won't have to practice that much !! Wish him lots of luck !!

I also think 4 weeks is ample at garde 2 - especially on sax and with a piece that he know.

We are not in the UK - here in music schools it is common for compulsory exam pieces to be set in May for end of year exams in June. In many respects I think this works better, as it means students have a deadline and the piece doesn't get stale.

Thanks for the advice and assurance. I’ll be speaking to his mum again tonight and hopefully put her at ease a little.

It’s just one new piece. It seems he had been practicing two from group A instead of one each from group A and B.

He’s now learning Food Glorious Food, which is the longest piece out of that group, but he’s chosen that because he knows the song (he performed in the play on stage last year) which has influenced him and he says will help because he can hear when he goes wrong.

Thanks for your replies. Just checked with his mum and he’s taking grade 2 and took grade 1 earlier this year. Apparently the scales are the right ones, but she’s reluctant to let him miss it because he’s really working hard and looking forward to it.

When I spoke to him tonight, he said he doesn’t mind if he gets a lower mark, but he definitely wants to do it. He’s now learning Food Glorious Food and says will practice for an hour each weekday and 3 hours each weekend day. I think if that’s what he’s determined to commit himself to, then perhaps that’s what he and his mum should do??

Hi Frigglet,
What grade is your godson taking? Has he done exams before?
My worry would be that if the teacher has taught him the wrong pieces, has he also taught him the wrong scales?
It IS possible to learn new pieces in a few weeks, but would depend on how able a student is, the difficulty of the pieces etc.
If it was my child, I'd consider what I hoped to achieve by cramming now (unless the exam needs to be passed as part of something else) - it would be worth losing the cost of the exam entry and re-entering next year, in order to get a better mark through being better prepared. Just a thought.

Well ds pretty much prepared for his grade 7 in 2 months including learning 1 of the pieces from scratch but it was very stressful and something that we will never repeat. If they can play the other pieces and scales etc already then it will probably be fine without too much stress. I guess it will also depend if preparing for grade 4 is at the top of their playing level or if grade 4 pieces are fairly achievable and easily learnt.

Hello all. Sorry for gate crashing, but I’ve seen the threads and wanted some advice, if you’d be so kind. My godson is doing his Sax exam in 4 weeks, but found out today that the teacher had given him the wrymusic to learn. He now has to learn new music in time; do you think this is realistic?

His mum wants to get him to practice the new one daily until the exam and write a note to the class teacher to explain that he won’t be able to do his homework in the meanwhile? Any advice or thoughts welcome. My friend is frantic, but doesn’t want to put her son under too much stress. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the advice Prada. The private school requested head teacher’s reference for general entrance. They contacted her directly (we provided the contact details). So I felt it would be odd to ask her again to write another reference for a scholarship (for the same school). But you are right, I shouldn’t assume but just ask. She may refer other teacher to write it. I think I’ve been very lazy really. I’ll talk her on Monday.

*c&p

Kutik - your head teacher needs to help you out now. If I were you, I'd explain you thought you'd need a reference from the JD or external teacher, you'd organised that but apparently it needs to come from the school. Sorry for the short notice, but could she help out by writing a reference as head of music or refer to whoever that is? Then give to her on plain paper and via email a cv style summary of his achievements and extra-curricular activities so she can c&b everything. In my experience, the easier you make it for the head to say yes, it happens!

Interesting assumption is going around. Quite a few people said to me DS would be invited to the audition by letting the school know that he goes to jd. I just spoke to the Head of jd and she told me some pupils didn’t get called to the audition in the past so actually there is no guarantee. The school wanted a reference from Head of Music at school, not from Head of jd apparently.

DS’s school has no music dept so no Head of Music nor music teacher. And Head of jd cannot write any official reference for a pupil who just started although she said she would be happy to have informal chat with the school if they ring her. Well, what can I do more!

Thanks ealing. I may be one of those who rely on hand delivery if I couldn’t put all in time for special delivery is effective enough. Just remembered I did hand delivering on the closing date for jd acceptance. Welcome to the disorganised world!

You'll be amazed at how many parents rock up to schools personally hand delivering envelopes a minute before deadline close kutik; you'll be fine

Thank you guys. Anyway I will see the person next Wednesday so will bring the printed copy and ask for a signature just in case. On Monday I need to go to a teacher’s house to collect another reference. There is no much time till the deadline so can’t wait till the next lesson! I hope I’m not only one who left this process this late and that the school won’t see us less enthusiastic... Im very forgettable but getting worse theses days. So disorganised.