November Music Thread

Ha, I meant dd, just changed them both into boys hahaha

Attempting to keep up this month.....
Two ds, 10 yr old is a violinist, and 8 yr old is a percussionist. Both auditioned for NCO, but strings is crazily competitive- so who knows. Second audition for percussionist, she didn’t get in last yr, she would be in under 10’s if she does get in- so we shall see

Loose yours is certainly not the only family that does that... my two are on the cello/violin, both at G7/8 and I play the piano, violin and viola - the perfect string duet/trio? No! They absolutely refuse
One day they may surprise me, but I'm not holding my breath!

Thank you Mending, Waffle and drummers. That sounds an easy job now.

drummers, attach a belt to your chair so you are prepared to any news from your DS. He will continue bringing in.

Oh and forgot to recap. DS 15 plays drums piano and orchestral percussion. He's a scholar and attends jd. Did all three g8's last year and two days ago he mentioned diploma and I almost fell off my chair.
Everyone, keep us posted on NCO!

kutik what I mean is everything was out of envelopes, just the sheets

kutik as you're applying to some of the schools I did... I layered form and references and whetever else on top of each other and clipped it all together and sent it in an A4 envelope. Form on top of course.
waffle thanks for new thread things had gotten out of control...

No experience but i would probably put both references in an envelope and label it 'minikutik references for application x'

I have a quick question about the reference for music scholarship application. I need to get at least two references and I got one from DS's violin teacher which was loosely put in an open envelope and jotted down my DS's name on the envelope. And, another one is from his youth orchestra, and this one was typed in a word file which then sent to me by email as attachment.

Well, I don't think I should submit the envelope written down my DS's name so I assume I should re-write to address the school. But should I write the address of the school as well like I am posting as it is? I am going to submit the references together with the application form so all will be in a large envelope in the end. Could I take the letter out of the envelope and put together with the application form, like layering a couple of A4 sheets.

In regard to the one I received by email, it's typed in a word file so doesn't have a hand written signature nor envelope. Is it OK without hand written signature? Should I put it in an envelope and address the school on it, or could I just layer them together as a couple of A4 sheets and put all in one large envelope??

I may be asking something very basic, but I am very confused and not sure what the right way....

Floot, thank you for answering to my rather nosy question. I often hear how anti-social the profession of orchestral/touring musicians is, so I was wondering if DS has a right personality to cope with the package. Obviously I am thinking too way ahead and he may discover another passion along the way (he already made the dramatic change from being a sport-mad to a music-geek ). But I am a licensed worrier so couldn't resist asking!

Great news, Mending & Loose!

Mending that is really lovely and kind of your DD1.
Forgot to mention DS2 has been invited to take part in a special strings workshop with the music hub early next year in collaboration with a neighbouring music service. I’m really pleased they’ve got a project for the string players as they have been a bit left out until now - not ‘senior’ enough for the tour and so on. So he will lose Sundays in February but gain in experience!

When my girls play together at home it tends to get stressy, but i did get a beautiful report from the leader of the extension/talent program they both attend. For context Dd2 was just started and is the youngest. The kids were working with a folk/jazz group learning by ear, and the group were using a neighbouring but not our local language and dd2 was struggling somewhat. Dd1 saw this and took the initiative to help her sort it out, no big Song and dance. Was very Nice from my point og view to get a lovely report og and dd1 was very proud when i printer out she had been caught in her good deed 😊

I’m kind of relieved to hear mine aren’t the only ones who won’t play together in public! They don’t fight with each other but I can imagine it would get tense if they were playing music together!
I’ve never tried piano duets with DS2 but he might possibly entertain the idea if I do everything his way!

Loose mine would never play together and argue all of the time at the moment. occasionally ds helps dd out with her practice and he can be quite encouraging when he tries !!Hi Floot your ds sounds like he's doing well I wouldn't be at all put off by what other exams dcs might or might not have done . Good luck for the audition results

Both dc do talk about doing oboe/bassoon duets from time to time. Might think about our local festival - either a wind duet or family class. Never done any festivals before though. I did raise the possibility of doing the festival with DD1 the other day and was amazed when she didn't immediately run in horror.

Damn, that makes me think twice about persuading DD to play along with younger DD on some easier violin duets. I had it all planned in my head, but now I can see that it could end in tears.

Not saying I'm not going to try though!

Loose

You could never lower any tone my love
At least they are honest about not wanting to play together, sometimes it works well, but most kids I've known it's been a recipe for disaster[ grin]. I knew twin teens once who put one another in A&E because even though they loved each other they'd fight to the end.
One day they had a musical disagreement and that was it.
Their parents were mortified as they really were lovely lads, from a good background, they just saw red.

Thank you to Waffle for the thread.
DS1 is nearly 16 and is doing a music performance diploma in bass guitar in the hopefully quite distant future. He should also be doing grade 6 percussion and refuses to do an exam in drum kit but has a fantastic teacher and is learning a lot.
DS2 is 12 and has g5 cello, piano and theory looming on the horizon but has discovered electric guitar and is doing very well at it! I suggested they did a nice duet so I could video it for you and they informed me the history of brothers in bands is not good so no they won’t.
We are definitely the family hat lowers the tone of this thread!

Thanks for the new thread Waffle!

I have DD1 (14) who plays oboe and alto sax and is a music scholar at her school. Grade 6 sax exam in December and potentially Grade 7 oboe in the spring session. DD2 (10) plays bassoon and guitar. She did Grade 7 bassoon in July and was in NCO for the last two years. She auditioned again this year, so we are waiting for the results. Not entirely sure how it went - mixed, I think. Hoping there will be no exams for her for a while, but we have school auditions coming up in January.

Mine dont do exams either! Dd1 is nearly 12 and plays violin and since september also piano - first piano concert tomorrow eek. Dd2 is 9 and plays flute and wants to start double bass double eek. Ds is 7 and plays drums and piano.

Gillybeanz I'm more than happy to try to answer any opera questions you have. You must miss being hands on with your DD' s music, but how fantastic that she's at a school where she can do what she loves 24/7. :-)

Sunset DS has been through physio and OT. He was given all sorts of hand/finger exercises and also some theraputty with beads in it to pick out, to help with his fine motor skills. In actual fact, his hypermobility is lessening with age, fortunately, although he still has to work hard to play on his fingertips, as opposed to flat fingers, so his teacher has purposely kept him on a cello that is slightly too small for him.

Kutik thanks for the welcome. :-)
Good question! We both worked for a touring opera company until DD was 2 and I was pregnant with DS. We used to take DD and my mum on tour with us, so it worked really well, but got more difficult when she got to school age. We tried various things - splitting work between us etc - but in the end, neither of us was happy, so I stepped down from performing mostly and now do more teaching. DH still tours away and we have no family to help out, so it Is the only real option for us. In the event, I was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition a few years ago and my DD was diagnosed with ADHD, so it has been the right choice, although I miss working with DH.

DS is the one who doesn't do exams at all. It would have been easy for me to see where he was if he had taken them, but I think the non-exam route really suits him as he can just get on with things without ticking every box for passing exams.

Welcome, Floot! Just a quick question if I'm allowed. So both you and your DH are an orchestral musician, which means I assume you both tend to be busy in the evening? I was wondering how you manage the family life if you are both working in the evening? A totally nosy question, sorry. I am curious as my DS is currently fantasising to be a musician, and I am not sure if the profession really suites to his personality...

Floottoot, we're in an almost identical situation to you in that DS (9) auditioned for NCO for the first time this year too, also on cello. He would be aiming for under 10's and I have to say, reading these threads has really helped as we kept being told by people we met at various orchestras and workshops that all the cellists in under 10's are all at grade 7+! If it wasn't for this forum making me aware that this actually wasn't the case I wouldn't have even put him in for audition as there's no way he could compete with that! On the day DS played two grade 4 exam pieces. He doesn't think he did well enough and I have no idea as I wasn't in the room and couldn't hear through the doors but whether he gets in or not, he had a lovely time and came out of the audition buzzing so I can't ask more than that!
Would be really interested to know what you have been doing to help with your son's hypermobility as my DS has the same problem and recently his little finger keeps locking out straight but with the tip bent over (if you see what I mean) when he plays faster pieces or forward extensions and he has to physically stop and use his right hand to bend the finger back as it just won't unlock on it's own!

Hi Floottoot.

I can sympathise with not wanting to be a tiger mum, it's hard sometimes getting the fine line right.

My dh is a pro musician and I was an entertainer, we both met working together also

I may be asking for your insight into Opera as we know very little and dd is mad on opera. I'm learning all the time, but quite often come unstuck with something.
We attend as many as we can together, but she mostly goes with school now
Good luck to your ds