November Music Thread

Dd2 has that music stand too wiifit

Knittinganewme I am rather taken with that T-shirt! Excellent idea!
Folkmama ooh, would like details of the pens.
Those music stands are great, but I have to admit we got all of ours from car boot sales!

www.amazon.co.uk/Konig-Meyer-10010-000-99-1240mm-Adjustable/dp/B0002F6K2U/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=colourful+folding+music+stand&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1541333892&sr=8-6

This is the music stand we have. We dd NOT pay that for it though! I think we got it in a car boot sale!

Melting.
One day at a time. I'm sure your DCs will be great this week. Deep breaths.xx

Beautiful pens folk.

We just have boring music stands in our house. A rainbow-coloured one would be fun!

Waves hello to all the newcomers.

Am sorry you are feeling low disorganised. I know it must feel frustrating as you perceive others to be achieving goals, etc. but your DS is playing so well and at such a young age. Am sure he will get really useful feedback when he goes back to the GS in February.

It's not comparable as my DS is still a beginner on the viola and I am not familiar with strings at all. But I must admit to being mildly surprised at the amount of time in an hour's lesson not actually spent playing the instrument at all . His teacher has also mentioned to us that DS is hyper-mobile. Not something I have picked up myself as I also have super-bendy fingers, that is my 'normal' and I didn't notice that DS's hands were 'different' in any way. But his teacher has suggested finger-splints and spends what seems like a very long time each lesson working on bow-hold, posture, etc. Not being a string player myself I think am a bit naïve/clueless when it comes to that side of things.

Am feeling stressed today. The mega exam week is upon us with DS and DD both sitting theory exams on Tuesday and then on Thursday DS has a piano exam and poor DD has piano and 2 x recorder exams. And I have a busy week at work. AND I have given up alcohol until Christmas so I can't even take solace in that.

@Wiifitmama have messaged you x

@folkmamma those pens are amazing! I would love to know more as ds2 would love one!

Music stands never get used in my house! We actually have a rainbow coloured folding one that ds3 uses when his recorder teacher comes round, but as folk music is played by ear, the other two don't use them! Obviously, piano music sits on the piano stand.

We got Noo an awesome Kinsman folding conductor stand for her birthday, it's just fantastic! Got it on amazon.

My daddy makes some rather lovely hand turned pens / pencils..

A Christmas present for Dr Who musicians:

www.tostadora.co.uk/web/wibbly-wobbly_timey-wimey/677854?s=H_A27

Hi Everyone,

Cannot believe it is November already!

We have DD1 9, violin and oboe, DS 8, violin (and desperately wanting piano) and DD2 5, recorder. We are going through a bit of a difficult patch with practicing at the moment, so have bought a giant bag of jelly beans to bribe them for today, fingers crossed....

Oh, yes to ideas for music themed presents! I have a 17 year old guitar player who is impossible to buy for, a 14 year old whose whole life is music and therefore we have bought all the usual things!, and a 10 year old recorder player. All into folk music.

I suspect dd2 and the doublebass was a combination of niche and contraryness as well as some sort of genuine desire/attraction. Regardless of the motivation its going very well.

Disorganised I don't know if this would work but if DS agreed to it could you do a short video of him in practice and show him what you mean about posture? Obviously not if he wouldn't be comfortable with the idea. I had to get DS2 to record himself on the piano once to prove to him he'd got the timing wrong - he didn't believe me until he'd heard the recording! But I don't think he agreed to record anything again - he doesn't like to be wrong!
DS1 is 17 today and apart from the usual cash and a rash promise of driving lessons I got him a couple of books about music. This means I can save the usual music-themed T shirts and socks for Christmas! If anyone has some good ideas for music-themed stocking-fillers, let me know!

Ha Nerdy!! I think maybe he's trying to create a niche for himself which is quite cunning this is precisely why Noo started viola at Easter 😂 it's working so far....

Nerdy, I did the old music O level too - no composition, no performance if you had taken ABRSM or similar exams at a certain level, and history and analysis of Purcell's Dido and Aeneus (I still can't spell it!) and Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture.

I think grade 5 would be a good start, although it's much more straightforward than it used to be, so maybe grade 6 theory as well. There are so many free online resources available, your DS could probably teach himself with a bit of help from you.

So happy to be on this thread!
Floot: that's reassuring. Tbh I'm not massively impressed by the GCSE syllabus (compared to old-fashioned o level that DH and I both did.) and it'd be a shame to sacrifice a GCSE option for it, although he'd probably find it fun. It's so hard choosing GCSE options with a view to sixth form and university when it's unclear what he wants to do in life (same for most 14 year olds I'm sure).Given how much he enjoys music I think it's very possible he might want to do it at university. I can't see him at music college as I don't think he has the patience and attention to detail that is required to be a serious performer.

I guess I should get my act together and get him to do some theory exams. At least - from what I recall - it's actual quite useful stuff to learn.

I just hope school is flexible about the IB thing. Schools can be a bit jobsworth but at least they know him.

Trumpet: I love your name! Also chuckling about the 'see how high' comment! That's mostly how my son is so I was quite surprised about the flugel. I think maybe he's trying to create a niche for himself which is quite cunning. Taking up the viola - I joke - is to teach him humility!

Disorganised don’t worry about grades . Where we were yesterday they really don’t care about grades and whilst I know that some of the players there had grade 8 whilst they were still very young - ds still hasn’t taken it but in terms of joining in and enjoying the music making it made no difference yesterday . It is hard though when you feel that it’s something that everyone else is doing . Ds struggled a bit with imposter syndrome I think when he joined NCO as he hadn’t been on the exam treadmill ( no need we were never going to go for music scholarships) . He definitely does care now but it took a while.

I think the asd diagnosis may have something to to do with him not putting the posture into practice when he plays in orchestras . A bit like not wanting to do school work at home - the two might not seem to be connected in his mind . Could you try some sort of visual or written cue/ checklist similar to that suggested by Taggie but written down? When I worked in ASD support it was the visual or written cues that were the key - saying it often wasn’t enough , and it was the making links between different situations that the students often found difficult.

disorganised, your DS sounds wonderful. He WILL get there, even if it takes a bit longer than you'd hoped. Technique is a marathon learning experience - baby steps. As you say, it's tricky when DCs are playing in so many ensembles, where just getting through the notes is challenging enough; DS has hypermobility, which affects his bow hold, and it gets worse and worse, the more notes he has to play!
Also, posture inevitably gets worse in ensembles, where space is limited - take a look at the flute section, next time you go to a concert. 😱😱😱

Nerdy, I taught flute at an international college that only did the IB, and had lots of pupils that were doing higher music. The minority were British - the rest were from all over the world, so no GCSE music for them. As long as your DS plays at a decent level, I'd say he'd be fine. The rest of the syllabus can be learnt as a stand alone course, although he might find the composition part more challenging if he hasn't done any before.

NerdBethoven - I don’t have IB experience (except having taken it myself donkeys year ago!) but we are looking at music A level for ds2. He will not have music GCSE as he is home educated and it can’t be taken as a private candidate because of the coursework. This has not been an issue at anywhere we have looked at. We have been told that instrument grade 6 (which is equivilant to GCSE) and theory grade 5 are sufficient replacements.

technique issues are always there as something to be improved. Absolutely trumpet. And sometimes things you have been working on and thought were fixed slip back in when a new focus comes in to play. They are all just at the beginning of their learning really and no one on here is the finished package just yet.

Disorganised I really feel for you as I know how much DS wants this and how much you want it for him. He is incredibly resilient in going for his dream and whatever comes from this process, he will be a better violinist at the end of it and will have gained so much from the experience.

Taggie's advice is spot on. Nothing to add except hang in there- it can take a long time to embed new habits. Xx

Thank you both Taggie and Trumpet for your lovely words. I'm feeling a bit dispairing today mainly because his peers seem to be racing through grades and going for scholarships and auditions and getting in where as ds isn't. He is autistic which is a major factor. Dh has always been very grounded about it and said that maybe he just doesn't have the talent 🤷‍♀️. It's possible. His teacher is amazing and is working v v hard on his technique but ds struggles to put it all into practice. The trouble is that whilst he plays in 2 ensembles and 3 orchestras,only 1 really focuses on technique so he is playing the whole time with his bloody violin pointing almost at the floor 😩🔫.

I also had the pleasure of watching ds play alongside lots of really talented older trumpet players yesterday and I think they were all doing things slightly differently!! Disorganised I think technique issues are always there as something to be improved. Currently ds needs to work on lazy fingers !! I’m pleased his new teacher is working on this now I have a reason to nag when I walk past and spot it , though he seems to have sorted out playing with too much pressure - for now !! Which is lucky as he’s played almost constantly for the past week . But I know that these technique pluses and minuses will change as he works on different things . Also different teachers will have different things that they think are important