November Music Thread

waffle, sounds incredibly difficult, both musically and financially.

That’s difficult waffle . I hope they get back in touch with you soon and that Goo still gets to go on her music tour . She’s so good and has done so well once she’s had some time and space she could definitely return to it and do amazingly they’re all still so young .
Good luck with the hunt for a new teacher too - hopefully you have some possible teachers in mind . Ds’s old teacher was great and ds misses his lessons - but the new teacher has had an amazing impact on his playing and attitude ( this especially) in the last few weeks sometimes change can be a good thing ( even when we feel it’s been forced upon us for whatever reason)

Difficult situation Waffle. Is there the opportunity to withdraw your notice before the end of 3 months if Goo has a change of heart?

That is a lot to lose in one go, Waffle. Is the school trip a music tour? Does the school have any kind of hardship funding you could apply for?
Perhaps knowing the end I'd coming will give Goo time to (re)think and consider what she wants to do, moving forward.

Very sorry to hear that waffle , difficult time for you. I hope that things will turn out ok 💐 🍷

So sorry to hear this Waffle
Maybe she has temporarily burned out and may seem music as keeping her away from other things. I know this probably isn't true but their minds are funny at this age.
She may well come back to it after a break and she certainly wouldn't be the first.
Another thought is, now she has reached such a high standard perhaps she feels as though she has nothing else to work towards and she has gone as far as she wants to for now.

Very sorry to hear that waffle

So sorry to hear that Wafflenose. Really hope things turn around for Goo. It's a horrible age. Best wishes to you both x

should read Berklee, not Barklee

hapsburg

I think that's an important point.
teaching staff can change from one year to another and new teachers create a new/ different atmosphere.
Different styles too can make a huge difference.
I know that Barklee and Juilliard are really best for Jazz in America, but Yale comes pretty much top for classical.
In England Jazz at present is Trinity Laban and Guildhall, but this could change next year.
Also, just because somebody names a college as best for their dc it could be quite unsuitable for your own.
Over the years I've learned that firstly look at the reputation, then suitability/ good fit of teacher, then environment and personal suitability.

DD has already lined up where she wants to go - but this is totally dependent on the teachers rather than the actual college, which of course could easily have changed by the time she is auditioning.

Scary statistics!

DS2 made me laugh the other day. He is only 10 and has no clue about how competitive a music career is, or how good you have to be. He thinks perhaps if getting a highly paid job as a YouTuber/Barrister doesn't work out, it would be good to have the violin as a reserve option.

Ummm - maybe not...

tHapsburg - I think yes and no regarding the skew. The total applicant figures is 8,000 (i.e. 8,000 people applied via UCAS) but if you look at the table for individual colleges the total is around 15,000 so each student is applying to around 2 colleges (or maybe 3 including Guildhall) on average. A lot of the overall data is therefore not skewed but yes when you drill down there are multiple applications. For example yes 120 applications for percussion for 30 places is not 120 people but probably more like 60 overall although most of the those 60 have probably applied for leading places like RCM and RAM and not so many say at Cardiff. So RCM has maybe 60 people for say 6 slots with a large chunk of the 60 having it first or second choice.

*Clementi

Is anybody going to take part in Clemeti competition in Tunbridge Wells? I signed up DS but getting a bit nervous, he is doing grade 3 piano in a few weeks, has been studying for a little over a year (started last September) and the competition is for grades 4 to 6. Hopefully he will be ok.

This discussion is so useful! Just ordered DS reeds for his clarinet. Thank you for the recommendations.

Crazygirlmama thank you for the clarinet info. Really good to know.

Please someone tell me if I am being really thick, but surely the UCAS application/acceptance figures are massively skewed by the fact that each applicant will probably make at least 3 or 4 applications, but can only accept 1 place.

SE22 so pleased you went for it and DD is in a better place!!! Great news.

Congrats to Snowballs dad, hero!!!

Yes European schools look great!!!
Haven’t looked at US- but will have a look 👀

Zak
It's good isn't it, dd has been looking for a while.
Another interesting area to look are the European and American schools, and how they all vary.

Just looked up the UCAS thing- Conservatoires.....very interesting!
None accepted on any years (although tiny numbers- like 5-10- but still) on jazz violin....
Others seem to have huge application numbers like violin, piano and quite low acceptance figures.
Percussion similar too- although small numbers applying and then smaller numbers being accepted