November Music Thread

Disorganised I don’t know from a string point of view but he’s still so young and I think posture and technical issues can arise as they grow and have to adjust what they are doing every time they have a growth spurt . This happens to ds anyway . If there are specific issues and he really wants to go to the guildhall then I’d talk to his teacher about it - even if he still doesn’t get in his technique will be better . but I think everything that they said sounded positive at your recent audition . Ds’s previous teacher was obsessed with technique ( in a good way) but ds will still struggle at times - need to see how the new teacher will deal with this .

Also whilst guildhall is great your ds is enjoying playing in all his different ensembles and there’s more than one path to becoming a musician going to a jd is just one

Disorganised . I can empathise with the sitting in a concert and wanting to make technical corrections. My DS2, although musical, also finds the physical learning of the violin very difficult. This is linked to severe hyper mobility (diagnosed) and likely dyspraxia (not yet diagnosed). It takes a long time for him to embed good habits sufficiently well that he remembers all the time.

What has helped in the last year is approaching things from a more fundamental perspective. We have worked a lot on Alexander technique and start every practice session off with Alexander exes, followed by basic technical exes. He spends half his practice on this (15 minutes). I would very strongly recommend this type of approach for your DS. It may seem like a lot of time, but you will see the results quite quickly, especially in less demanding pieces.

Another thing that has helped is incorporating a simple posture routine into his performances. In orchestra, every time he has more than a bar of rest, he checks his posture (feet, hips, head, armpits (!), shoulders, bow hold). And every time he has a long note, he checks his bow hold and straight bow. We introduced this before NCO and it made a huge difference to his playing compared to Pro Corda (where he went back to bad habits).

A few thoughts anyhow. Feel free to pm me if you like xx

Morning everyone. It's taken me a while to catch up with what everyone is up to. This is us;

I have 2 ds's-12 and 10 and a half. Ds2 is sporty. Ds1 plays violin and plays in a couple of local orchestras plus county orchestra. Music is his life,it's all he wants to do. Last month he auditioned for Junior Guildhall but wasn't successful,however he has been invited back for an assessment in February with the head of strings with a view to a further audition in the summer. He needs to work on very specific technical things and up his practice.

To be honest,I'm starting to wonder whether he has what it takes. He is so passionate and it does shine through his playing but clearly it's not enough as he does struggle with his posture and other fundamentals of technique. I was watching him playing in a concert last night- he was leading the 2nds but a lot of the time his violin was too low. Sorry for the pity post but feeling a bit low about it all today 😔.

Talking of schlepping, it’s the South Easterlies concert today which will be a long drive. In some ways nice to bring this year’s NCO adventure to a close.

Welcome April, Kitty and Nerdy. I’d be interested to know about IB music too. DD1 is currently thinking about subjects she might do if she does IB. It would be a toss-up between music and art as they are both the same block.

Mending, your schlepping is slightly amplified with the geography of where you live!

Nerdy hi
I spend my whole life sitting in the car ( currently mostly in the dark) so I understand where you are coming from
I love a flugelhorn , really hoping ds falls in love with the sound as much as me at some point and asks for one ( he’s more of a lead trumpet - let’s see how high I can play today - kind of player though )

Lovely to see some new faces!

April - grade 1 is amazing for 5! Especially on the piano, which tends to have a steeper learning curve to grade 1 than other instruments.

Nerdy - can’t help with the IB, as my DCs are much younger. But can empathise with the taxi/cheque-writing service!

Welcome nerdy and yes there is a lot of schlepping around!
Lovely to hear that you have a flugelhorn in the family, such a beautiful sound.

Hello! This is the first time I've read this thread. I really hope it is one of the nicest corners of Mumsnet!!

This is us: DS1 is in Year 9. Plays trumpet, abandoned the piano, noodles endlessly on the electric guitar, sings (in the safety of choirs, as it's not a voice you'd ever want to listen to for long), has recently bought a flugelhorn with his pocket money and took up the viola earlier this year. DS2 in Year 7. Plays violin well but a bit reluctantly, fell out with the piano, has taught himself the bass guitar and wants to be a rocker, and also plays the trombone. My husband and I both have music degrees: I play the cello (in various amateur orchestras) and am harbouring a desire to join a choir . DH played the flute and says he always hated it. He prefers singing but hasn't really motivated himself to find a choir for years. Both boys play in various ensembles at school / town / county. I spend a lot of time schlepping around after them but don't begrudge it one bit (nor the money) as I see the fun they're having and I hope they will always love their music-making. We don't do many exams as it's a stress (mainly for me) but I do try to get them to practice regularly and properly. Mmmmm - that's quite a challenge. I've also been known to bash through various piano accompaniments for them. Currently saving up to have a music studio (and new piano) built in the garden.

While I'm here, I have a big question. DOES ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE OF MUSIC AT INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREAT LEVEL? My son's taking his GCSE options this year and is unlikely to do music. His school does the IB instead of A levels at sixth form, so I'm wondering how difficult it would be to pick up IB music at higher level if he hasn't done GCSE. I know school will have that answer but I don't really want to ask them until I've done a bit of my own research!

Catkind: very familiar, DS will also try to play without the music in front of him, or go off on a tangent!

Floottoot: thank you, it was the metal rings I was looking at closely on the Gewa straps. I'm wondering if it may be worth an expensive strap to avoid an even more expensive bump!

TaggieOHara: my DS didn't play that piece but I totally understand about being well and truly over the pieces but exam time. I hum them at work and probably annoy my colleagues!

April: that's amazing that your stepdaughter is ready for the exam. My DD is 5 and has recently started bashing away, mainly to copy her brother. She asked for lessons and I think she's not ready formally but she's done some pages of Tunes for Ten Fingers and Poco Piano with me. She seems to enjoy it. Being ready for an exam at that age is impressive, good luck to her, hope it goes well.

My stepdaughter learns the piano. Her teacher told me she is really ready for her first exam now. She’s 5 years old now. He’s going to enter her in for G1. I did grade one and two musical theory as a child. I also took singing lessons. I can also play the piano although I never had any lessons.

Hmm - putting a 3/4 in a full size case might be a good option if we are going to make an investment.

Both of those look great. DS2 has a thing for oblong cases, and needs something robust for the purposes of surviving the weekly rigours of the school locker room (jointly purposed for wrestling/football/storing valuable instruments). We have extensive insurance, but I’d rather not have to use it!!

Thank you both!

This one

Taggie- I would highly recommend a BAM case- quite heavy I find( although she walks to school with it- so possibly any case would be quite heavy, plus she has music in it- so makes it even heavier) - but absolutely solid!

@TaggieOHara we have a Tom and Will one which is quite nice and more importantly, oblong 😂 although she is tapping us up for a cello case shaped one for Christmas which will be a full size case with a 3/4 size violin in....

Welcome kitty. DS2 is at about the same stage on the piano. Did his grade 2 in the summer. Goodness me - by the time he took the exam, I was sick of those pieces... did your DC’s play that wretched Prokofiev thing??

Quick question for folk and other violin parents... what is the best cheapish violin case (order of £100) for a 3/4 instrument? DS2’s case is falling to bits!

I have been woefully absent from the monthly threads and have also namechanged, to confuse matters.

Middle son plays the clarinet in three ensembles/orchestras (and sings in a choir). He is preparing to take his Grade 8 next month.

He has started A-level courses in four demanding subjects and is finding it challenging to fit in music practice and commitments with the increased study requirements of Y12.

Hi, Kitty - welcome!
Your DS sounds very able and musical!
My DS is a cellist and has a Gewa case. They are a very good brand and not cheap, so I'm not surprised the straps are expensive. I will say that DS's case straps have a special added extra wire, that means if the clip comes undone/breaks, the case won't crash to the floor. Not sure if that's the case with the ones you're looking at, but it might explain the price if so.

Yes to the playing by ear thing too. DS has come home from his lesson with a brand new piece and sat there trying to play it without opening his book. Impressive memory that he gets anywhere after one read through in the lesson but aaargh! I think possibly starting second instrument last term is starting to help a little. Going back to really simple pieces on a single line instrument has helped him move towards the idea of reading the notes. So hopefully cello will have the same effect!

Thanks for the welcoming responses! MeltingWax your DS sounds very similar to mine. He tends to play a lot by ear which is nice in a way but not conducive at all to confident sight reading and it's really quite painful getting him to do it because he finds it hard. He finds scales ok though thankfully.
catkind, thank you for the reassurance & advice. DH (utterly non musical & tone deaf) suggested the same but I wasn't sure. I'll take a look.
Thank you!

Hi there Kitty, I also have a 9-yr-old pianist DS who has been playing for 2 years. He also had a merit at Grade 2 in the summer. He is also a reluctant sight-reader . And a very reluctant scales-practicer. Basically, he gets obsessed with pieces he loves and plays them over and over to the point where I feel pity for the neighbours and has little interest in the other stuff which would help with technique.

Hi kitty, I also have a 9 yr old pianist who's been learning a couple of years - mine only has grade 1 so sounds like your DS is doing great to me :) Gewa are very posh cases. While I'm sure their straps would be great, I imagine you could also find generic straps that would do the job fine. A few come up if I Google clip on shoulder strap or similar.