November Music Thread

One of our references had no signature, but a name and an address.

Kutik fast forward a moment to DS being 17. When you apply to conservatoire the references can be emailed (so no signature) BUT they have to come directly from the referee because otherwise the applicant could have written their own. You could ask the referee to send the reference directly to the school, if you were submitting other paperwork I would print and add the reference as well with a note that said "X has sent this to you directly, I am including it here for completeness"

It would take all of five minutes to create a new email address that resembled that of the referee but I hope that they check enough to stop that happening.

Prada, so no signature is needed?

Kutik, submit what you have. Make sure if it's an email you show the detail so they could contact the referee if they wanted to.

I have another query on reference for a music scholarship application. One of those who I asked for a reference emailed me the word file. Is it OK for me to print it out and submit? Isn't it the signature needed...? Without the signature, anyone can rewrite the contents, and I am not sure if it's formally acceptable....

why didn't you notice that I deliberately played the B flats as naturals, then?" ha ha that's so cheeky niggle!!!!
trumpet so nice to hear about the masterclass.

prada 😂

Prada

Following our Vibrato discussions folks, this came up on today's FB feed 😂

Trumpet, I pmed you. Have just dropped her off, so hopefully she will have fun. Next youngest to DD is a Year 7 boy, so should be fine.

It's a shame some youth orchestras won't consider the younger ones, even if they are the right standard. Maybe it has something to do with extra safeguarding issues?

I do like that phrase, Prada, extracurricular peers. I shall take it.

Re: age differences, I agree that miniprada is sround 4/5 yrs younger than her extra-curricular peers. However they are very welcoming of her and a bit 'check this kid out' to each other. She likes that 😂

Niggle if I remember you live quite close to me so I wonder if your dd is going to the same orchestra as my ds? ( though not there tonight as he has a school show!!) I'll pm you to check.
So ds has come back from his masterclass with the famous trumpet player absolutely buzzing !! With some very positive comments about his playing which is nice as well as some useful feedback and ideas about progression. Good to know that ds is on the right track . as I hear the pieces he plays everyday sometimes it's hard not to focus on the errors rather than appreciate how far he has progressed with his playing. I'm just impressed he managed to play in front of him- I don't think I would have the nerve

Another thing about joining orchestra, DS joined the youth orchestra after he did g5 theory. It's not a big issue, but I do think if it had been the other way round it would have been much easier to understand some concepts in g5 theory. For someone with zero knowledge of orchestral instruments/music, there were quite a few 'imagining' process.

DS2 has not yet been invited to join the school orchestra. He is hoping that doing his Grade 8 next summer will put him in a stronger position.

He is coping well with wind band (in the 'third clarinet' section 😄) and has been invited to join a small clarinet ensemble with some of the stronger players, which is encouraging.

My DD is 1st clarinet in her school orchestra, 2nd clarinet in her windbands and in her JD small ensemble they switch between who has first and second. She's desperate to join junior orchestra but the music service are being a bit funny about it because of her age despite her being well above required standard.
I think they get a huge amount from ensemble. She is about 5 years younger than the rest of her one of her bands, and about 3 or 4 younger than the other, bar one y6 child in each ensemble. She still loves it. She doesn't really have friends there but they're nice to her - more so in her Saturday band. Monday band she seems to just sit on her own at break and stuff but she says "I don't mind, I can sit and sing in my head in peace". The only age problem thats arisen is a forthcoming big trip where they said secondary pupils only- after telling her she could go.

Niggle yes, it works well - usually only a bit of muttering!

Loose, that's what weekends are for! Although mini musicians sometimes think otherwise..

Kutik, thanks for that. I think you are right about "team sports". I was thinking before that orchestral work would take up valuable time that would be better spent playing at home. But this is most probably wrong! DD plays at home six days a week with me, and I just know she plays better on the day with her teacher. I asked why the other day, and she said that I didn't notice flat/sharp notes. Demonstrated recently when she played a grade 5 exam piece and she actually turned to me and said "how was that, mummy". I correctly answered "lovely". Then she said, "why didn't you notice that I deliberately played the B flats as naturals, then?". She has rumbled me as not being of the required standard for her playing. But playing in a mediocre way, frequently, is not good for her, and she would definitely up her game, as she does with her teacher, in an orchestra environment where she knows everyone will notice bad notes.

Hopefully there will be some Y7's to 9's for DD tonight then. I hadn't thought that they would naturally split off into different groups, but yes, that makes sense.

I am sure most musicians are absolutely charming and the girls we met at the theory exam were there as a prerequisite to GSCE music or something like that.

One off late night returns from performances are, I think, unavoidable for extracurricular activities, including swim meets/dance/singing, etc. Although it probably helps if there aren't too many.

And it's during weekdays so he has school next day....

Minimal practice this week. DS2 is skipping a piano lesson for best friend’s birthday - lovely piano teacher agreed to reschedule.
However, that meant a bit less practice. The cello will have been out for lesson and ensemble so think there had better be a decent session on Sunday!
DS1 is going into school tomorrow (!) to try to finish off some coursework for GCSE music. Then the programming exam for computing begins on Monday.

Although there are lots of 'ancient people' in the youth orchestra, there are a few Y7-9 and DS has fun with them during break. While those older ones often stay in the rehearsal room or just go to the roof top to have a chat, those Y9 and under plays 'it' or something and run around.

A slight problem for us is some events are scheduled too late for primary school age. DS is going to an evening performance next month and he will be back home near 11pm...

Niggle, I always heard how beneficial orchestra would be and how much DCs would improve by the experience. Yet I had never considered finding one for DS for a long time, and even turned down when someone invited DS. DS didn't have much time for music, and getting involved in weekly rehearsals looked too draining. I also thought, as DS had such little time for music, it would be better spending his already limited time on individual practice than committing to 'team sports (orchestra!)'.

How wrong I was. He just started orchestra last term. The improvement was immediate. There was no rehearsal during summer holiday, so he actually hasn't done much yet, but he really looks like a different person already. I'm like, wow! I am very sure your DD would improve enormously.

I do understand your concerns about mixing her with older ages. But boys are less problematic I suppose, so it's been alright. Though DS calls some older kids in the orchestra 'those ancient people' (I should be a fossil then).

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Trumpet and Prada.

On the introductory day at DS's JD, the head explained their rotation policy as they believe it's important and valuable to experience and learn different positions. She specifically mentioned this as there were always people who were very conscious about the place in the orchestra and she wanted to make it clear that stronger players in the front/first and weaker ones in the back/second would be not in their case.

DS's youth orchestra may work differently with the seating position but anyway this 1st/2nd business was never my concern. It was more of which one would be better suited to DS at this stage by given the choice.

I looked around a few youth orchestras prior to joining, and this one was the highest standard among our choices. It's geared to senior school age and they audition every candidate. The concert master is absolutely fantastic. DS had never done orchestra before this one (apart from NCO but it's only once a month or less) so he hasn't gained much experience yet. Perhaps, DS may be better staying where he is and learns the leading and supporting skills. Minimising external pressure when he starts secondary school is a good point. As Prada suggested I'll just let DS decide where he thinks he would be happier though.

Someone also told me that the hardest seat in violin would be at the very back near viola, and the loneliest seat would be the very back and at the outer corner of 1st violin. Suppose there would be different views on this but I found it interesting as I was not very aware of this kind of thinking as an audience!

Oh, she is leader of the 2nd's in the string orchestra!