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

Yes only 2 more concerts to go plus one set of carols !! It’s been quite a marathon . I think ds definitely needs a break - though he seems to think he’s doing lots of trumpet/ cornet ( he’s got a tricky brass band test piece to sort out !

DS finished on Friday and has also been lounging around. End of term reports have put a stop to that, with plenty for him to be working on. Hope you are all enjoying yourevents this week - nearly there now!

Hi all

We're nearly at the end of term. I've stopped getting the children to practise for the next few days because they seem quite worn out. However, my daughter (5) is going to learn to play the violin from next term and is really excited - she got it out today and played while I played the piano.

NBB has finally finished musical events for the term (he has had a rehearsal, audition, performance or JD every day since the latter half of November...often more than 1 on the same day).

I have a school performance tomorrow, then we all break up on Friday.

Then A-level mocks in January, and 6th form open evenings for DD...

We have finished school and completed all Christmas musical commitments. Just me now limping through to the end of the week before I can have time off. Well DH is still working too and DD1 is revising for mocks.

Well dd finished on Friday and is enjoying lounging around doing nothing, except for practice.
Hope you and/or your dc enjoy their concerts.

3 left after tonight’s Nine Lessons

Last one tomorrow for us - DS2 playing in school Carol concert, then we're done! We all finish for term on Friday - can't wait!

hm sat in the car waiting yesterday, thinking about some earlier posts about attending your dc perfomanaces.
and realised dc had about 10 performances, of which only 3.5 I have/will attend..
2 they couldn't make (no transport),
3 they had a lift from someone else,
1 was not for parents anyway
0.5 I will be a bit late

Anyway they know I would attend all if I could

We are crawling to the end of term now. And still have quite a list of performances left to go this week. But it’s the home stretch.... the biggest 3 will be over by bedtime tomorrow. I just have one more week of work to survive to finish off our busiest month

Swedish folk music is great in general IMO. I don't want to totally out myself but I have a friend who plays it - if anyone wants Spotify links to an album or two of theirs then do PM me!

Mending I had to look her up - that was too intriguing - and I have to say she is just amazing!

I'm a big fan of letting kids hear/experience/try a wide range of instruments/ music styles. You just never know when something might really ignight a fire. I have a very soft spot for Emilia amper and her nyckelharpa after she played a little open concert at our local culture centre.....

Doubleup I think that's great they get them all to have a go at cor. Too many adult amateurs look nervous when offered one.
I had to look up heckelphone horseymum, that is cool! We had a bass oboe in for a recent concert but heckelphone's a new one on me. I wonder how different it sounds, seems to be more or less the same range.

Another crazy day here, a broken ferry dock added a 3 hour drive each way (plus 30 minutes on the ferry) to what should have just been a 30 minute ferry ride..... but we did it the kids were brilliant in concert and we've taken the opportunity to stop in the city for dinner out and some late night shopping

Thanks! She had only been playing for 15 months at audition time so it genuinely was just for experience. Now we have the tiniest chance she may get in. However, will be happy to go on the training course as I think the leader last year was wind director at the conservatoire, so if he is doing it again, it should be really worthwhile. DD fancies cor as she plays all the recorders and likes the difference in tone across instruments. I think she will be some time before she is strong enough. Does it take a very different technique? Her teacher is actually a bassoonist so doesn't have one. Although he did have a heckelphone for a concert which he let her try! Think there are less than 100 in existence! Currently playing Christmas carols in the house on the bass recorder, a welcome change from the descant!

Not sure how big you have to be for the cor horsey, but they are quite heavy - and obviously longer. DD1 will have no issues with that as she’s taller than me now! I’m hoping she has stopped growing.....

Well done your DDs for their exam results and for the reserve place for NYOS. She’s still very young from what I remember.

Only been lurking this month, always a busy one musically, but lovely. Dd2 passed her grade 1 piano, which was a relief as she had only just started letting anyone listen! Dd1 passed grade 4 and got a reserve place in NYOS juniors on oboe ( so will go on the training ensemble unless a place comes up.) We have 3 school choir outings, 2 assemblies ( choir and recorder ensemble), one school carol service, a nativity play a church carol service and a care home carol service this week but I love it! Lovely to hear that double ups DD is getting a chance to play cor, our music service is meant to have one but haven't been able to locate it. Maybe it will turn up. Not sure how big you need to be to play it.

Catkind, she already plays in a double reed ensemble (with her sister) and there are a couple of oboists who playcor in that already. It’s more of an extension thing, coupled with the fact that the head of woodwind wants all the oboists in the county youth orchestra to have a cor too. She’s very much looking forward to it.

DD just has regular lessons too glorious, I just wondered given she is little. We do do Suzuki pieces at the moment though, total nostalgia trip as I learned with Suzuki myself.

DS was cute in his Christmas concert. Didn't realise he was one of only two selected to play a solo! Benefits of playing a novelty value instrument. I think it was a bit mean they didn't fit in a few more actually, it only takes a couple of minutes and there are no performance opportunities normally unless they play piano. I don't feel like the head values instrumental music, and the only teacher who did has left.

Good luck to raspberry's DS with the results and doubleup's DD1 in due course. Cor anglais sounds like an exciting development - is that with an ensemble in mind?

Sympathies on the wait for results raspberry. DD1 did Grade 7 sax at the end of Nov and wasn’t entirely happy with it, but we won’t know the result until mid-Jan when she’s back at school and had her lesson. Although thinking about it she goes back to two weeks of mocks so unlikely to have a lesson until w/c 21 Jan

In other news both DD1’s oboe teacher and DD2’s bassoon teacher have said this evening that they want them to take Grade 8 in the summer. I feel the need for a bit of a boot camp over the holidays to kick start things. We may be getting hold of a cor anglais in the next week or so for DD1 to play which is exciting. Would be hired from the music centre, but apparently it’s a nice one. Much excitement when I told her.

Thank you everyone for the stories about children with performance anxiety. It's great to hear that we're not alone! She seems to be feeling more positive now a little more time has passed, and I think doing a few performances of the school Christmas show (class singing) helped as well.

Didi that's wonderful! Well done DS!

Catkind just regular lessons. She did observe Suzuki lessons for 2.5 years from the age of 1 (just coincidentally he childminder's children learnt Suzuki), and I think that's why she was so keen to learn and picked it up quickly. But we moved house before she was old enough to start lessons. We met the local Suzuki teacher but they didn't click and I felt she was too dogmatic. So we found someone else and started lessons at 4.5.

Sounds like some amazing christmas music going on. So inspiring. My DD2 - having vowed she would not touch the flute again this week after her exam, pulled it out this morning in order to perfect (!) the Handel Giga she was given last Saturday by her teacher - as she wants to play it for the talent show at school.
Thrilled to see her playing again, amused that she has worked out that Handel is unlikely to be a primary school crowd pleaser so has decided to segue into Baby Shark at the end (wonder if her headteacher - who is a classical violinist) will be horrified or impressed.