Christmas and January Music Thread *Thread title edited by MNHQ*

Piccolo, thinking of you. Hope all is well today.

thinking of you today piccolo 💐

Piccolo

Thinking of you today piccolo The carol service sounds lovely.

Thinking of you Piccolo.

Piccolo thinking of you today

for piccolo

Piccolo hope things go ok today

Glad it was a lovely service piccolo
glorious, when dd1 was younger she really wanted to play a piece at her great grandmas 95 birthday but couldnt bear the thought of being watched so she played in a corner, facing the corner . That phase didnt last long but she disliked being clapped or praised after a performance for a while longer. No issues now.

piccolo, I hope the service goes as well as these things can

Hi Didi! Nice to see you here. Bravo to DS and also to DD for being super supportive. As we've said before, our DC's are very similar. So I understand what a big deal that is!! My DD is astounding us all at the moment- she's gone from barely looking up from the floor in a performance situation to absolutely smashing it in a professional theatre production this Christmas- this transformation has taken 3 years. Don't get me wrong, the anxiety is still there but it manifests in other ways now. And she's starting to understand it. So hang in there!!

Thank you, Melting.
Tonight's nine lessons and carols in the cathedral was lovely. DD 's choir want beautifully and she looked so grown up - first time wearing long black and heels.
Home now and about to have some cheese and biscuits and a large gin, in the hope it will help me sleep tonight.x

Aw Didi that's so brilliant your DS is giving it a go with the Christingle! Is it something they play together at home? We tried my two playing duets together last year, they had so little patience it was a never again so second your Dd's canonisation.

Hi glorious, nice to meet another little violinist :) Sounds like she's going great. Are you doing Suzuki or anything or just normal lessons? Mine's 6 now, currently trying to persuade her to use her 4th without it pointing at the ceiling between uses.

On the subject of performing I think you just keep offering and take your lead from them. It's great she's asked to play for her class. My DD seems to have decided that should be an annual event, so far every teacher has said yes please, this year's teacher seems very grumpy though so not sure she'll be allowed. There's a lovely and very talented family who go to our local music festival, mum told me one of the DC hated playing in front of anyone for two years when he started, he loves it now, smiles all the way through.

I read all these threads but don't post much. I have dd 9 who's is grade 2 ish violin and ds 6 who has spent a year fiercely not learning the violin by turning every request to practice into an argument and actively doing it wrong to wind me up. However he has HF ASD and once a week goes willingly to his lesson and happily engages with his lovely teacher accepting correction and interacting so we are regarding it as therapy ! He gets very distressed if we suggest stopping it so we muddle through. He also has extreme social/performance anxiety and this week managed his first ever nativity. He has now announced he is going to play the open string accompaniment to his sister in church in the Christingle tomorrow in front of the whole school.. I am absolutely gobsmacked he is even considering it and am so proud of him even if he doesn't do it. And his sister is a saint to let him...

Welcome to hidden & glorious.

piccolo - will be thinking of you tomorrow and I hope the service goes well .

Some little children especially just find standing up in front of an audience really daunting . My 2 never have !?! but I find that when I’m organising school plays etc it can be the most surprising of children who hate it - often those who love singing etc really but then become mute when it’s time to do the performance
I guess it’s just a mixture of not pushing the performance aspect so that they can continue to enjoy playing , but also giving them opportunities to perform so they can get used to it

Hello all, I'm new here. I have one DD who is 5 and plays violin after a lot of nagging on her part! DH and I both have music degrees though neither of us have pursued music as a career.

DD is making good progress and really enjoys it. She's just starting to use her 4th finger and can play two noted to a bow. She's mostly in tune. She's fine playing for family and friends and asked to play to her class at school, which she enjoyed. She recently did a bigger concert as part of a group she attends and was very nervous. It went really well and I thought she'd feel better afterwards, but she really hated it. I'm not sure why!

I don't think it matters at all if she's just not ready to perform but I wondered whether other people's DC have had similar reactions and whether anything has helped. Any thoughts gratefully received!

Hidden that's great, well done her! It sounds like she's laid a really good foundation there so hopefully she will find that gives her a bit of a boost.

I hate having to check exam results - but it always seems to be me that ends up entering them

I have had a Royal Pain booking my DS's exam. Long story but it's taken the best part of a year with one thing and another. But now I'm so glad I can log in myself to check if his result is published yet. Will it be Grade result or NCO outcome first?! I may be slightly distracted at work this week!

Trumpet not just slow to start with here.

Lovely story hidden so pleased she got there with her grade 1 - piano can be so slow to start with
Good luck with the result Panda I’m sure she’s done just fine

Piccolo glad you have taken some time for yourself and hope you enjoy the concert.

Hidden sounds like your DD is making good progress.

DD had her piano exam at school this morning and got a text from her to say it had not gone well. However we’ve been here before with violin exams where she’s been overly critical of herself and she still passed. Chocolate bar at the ready for when she gets home!

well done to mini- hidden . The early stages are often the slowest, especially on the piano. And the investment in technique is worth it in the end! DS2 was very much pre-grade 1 for two years, then he suddenly got the hang of it, and went straight to grade 2 last summer. He is playing lovely little pieces now, and really enjoys the piano.

Onwards and upwards, and welcome to the thread!

Thank you all, for being here for me to share with and for reading and for your lovely comments . Probably when you hear is to do with examiners, but just to say DD's exam was on 30th Nov and her teacher heard last night. Hope it is good news (soon) for all DC (and parents) waiting.