January to March 2019 music thread (Title edited by MNHQ)

Minisnowballs, can you switch accompanist, they shouldnt be the one adding additional pressure at all.
Neleus, thirdfiddle: I might give it a try for couple of lessons to see how it goes, will report back(not this week lesson though as its canceled due to a clash with another plan)

Good luck to minisnowballs and 😮at fierce accompanist.... not what anyone needs just before an exam

Also thanks for the cello movies recommendation book muggleaunt. I have it - (because dd wants to learn hedwig's theme) do you know which of the pieces in it are the easier ones? (is it in difficulty order) I genuinely know nothing about cello and never see DD2's teacher (learns at school) so I can't work out what is hard and easy. I don't really understand the cello - extensions, positions etc, which makes it very hard to help.

Thanks for cello bow recommendation. On order (express delivery). DD2's G2 Exam is Friday and ensemble leader says she needs it in case the other one 'explodes' on the day- which really doesn't fill me with confidence. Rehearsal yesterday with slightly fierce accompanist reduced dd to tears... just hope she's less scared on the day. How I HATE music exams.

4strings- they wouldn’t ask her back for a main audition if they weren’t interested- they turn plenty away at advice and assessment audition....

I keep having wobbles about this specialist school audition. I really don’t know, still, if I’m doing the right thing by going through the process. I think dd is amazing, but is she that good, and am I setting her up for a fall?

She’s 11 and fairly adamant, at the moment at least, that she wants to play professionally.

QueenMabby yes, ABRSM here too. He needed time to work on sight reading & rhythm but he's getting much better at these.
He likes string instruments and wants to play in the orchestra once he gets to secondary school so I'm fairly sure he's keen, but just a tad frustrated.
Thanks for the comments about second instrument practise Neleus, that's reassuring.

Confusion caused by learning several instruments at the same time may depend on the choice of the instruments. I assume it's a bit like learning language - sometimes learning two totally different languages is easier (less confusing) than the ones from the same root. DS started piano first but violin was added shortly after so he was still a very beginner pianist. I don't recall any confusion but it seemed only accelerated the progress of each instrument. Time management wasn't a problem neither as the priority was very clear from the beginning. He rarely practised violin at home for the first couple of years. And the priority simply swapped when he told us he preferred violin to piano. He may have had a problem if he had picked two instruments from the same family. Luckily the combo of piano and violin worked fine in his case.

Anyway I always think when a child is keen that's the best time to start.

My DD is backwards, she needs convincing that she's good at violin which is her stronger instrument! I think piano just sounds cooler to her because of the playing tune and accompaniment together aspect.

KittyOSullivanKrauss - snap! This is exactly it with DD! A part of her just can’t get why she can’t pick up a second instrument and immediately play it to the standard of her first. .
It’s a real battle sometimes but she is very musical so I know she’ll get there. It’s just hard to get her to see that.
Hope your DS’s piano is going well. What board is he doing? We’re doing ABRSM.

Thank you so much minisnowballs and muggleaunt for the cello book suggestions. I'll look into those. I also found this. If anyone has used it and can tell me if it's any good I'd be grateful:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Melodies-Cello-Instrumental-Folio/dp/1480384372/ref=mpssa111?ie=UTF8&qid=1552249566&sr=8-1&pi=ACSX2366SY340QL65&keywords=easy+cello+music&dpPl=1&dpID=51MS2WpYIvL&ref=plSrch

QueenMabby, DS is also struggling with motivation during practise probably because he compares his cello playing to the piano. He's doing great with his cello but finds it hard to see because he's preparing grade 3 piano so he's much more competent with this (exam will be summer term for him). I also can't help him as much with the cello. Sounds like your DD is doing great.

Happy practice is everything I wish for too QueenMabby, yay!

Good point thirdfiddle! My first started violin at 7 together with almost everyone in her class and by then she has been playing piano for nearly 2 years. We had to drop school lessons as almost everyone else did after couple of terms(they do 30mins during lunch break, group lesson and they didnt have a great teacher so everyone lost interest).

Yay to happy practice QueenMabby!
I was also going to agree greenleave, age is no reason not to play if they seem ready. I might give it a small gap from starting violin though - partly because 0 to 2 practices a day is a jump, partly because the finger numbering is different and I'd want to get violin numbering firmly established before mixing in piano numbering.

And thanks also to the pp who recommended the cello book to a different poster - I may order it for dd!

I just want to come on here and report with glee that dd did cello practice today without tears!!
She’s been so wobbly about her cello for the last few weeks as she’s finding it rather tricky (a first for her - she normally picks things up very quickly!). I’ve had to do a lot of active parenting over it and I’m hoping we’re over the worst. For now....
She’s working towards her grade 2 (1/2 term in) and has now been having individual lessons for nearly a year so fingers crossed she starts feeling a bit more confident soon!
Well done for all those taking exams. DD has g3 piano at the end of this term and we’re pretty much there - she’s much more confident with that!

Violin scales are easier - less different fingerings!

I am with you Greenleave. It got easier after grade 5 but I didn't say it got enjoyable. I have only one child but if I had another I would be tempted to introduce different instruments, celo or something. But I understand it only adds unwelcoming complication!

I dont aim for music school or musical route, just hope they enjoy and play at high level for pleasure
To be honest, aiming specialist education or professional career in music are a rare thing, even here on this music thread. Most people enjoy their musical journey for pure pleasure (or some sort of ticking a box as part of education). In some way it's better that way....

Mine hates piano scales with passions, she knows she has to do it though. The G7 piano scales wasnt too bad agreed however, and yes, we have the same issue with g5 scales. For some reasons, she has never complained about violin scales though or not nearly as much. I dont know if there is a difference. I really want my second to learn different instruments however the cost savings and logistics work so well for both of the current instruments so I might just stick to violin and piano for the second too.(both teachers come to our house and we do combined lesson: £50/hour or £65 for 1.5hour). I dont aim for music school or musical route, just hope they enjoy and play at high level for pleasure.

Greenleave, once again everyone develops differently so just because the older one wasn't ready at 5, it doesn't mean the younger one would be the same. I understand if you want to delay for logistic reasons but if you are delaying because of her age then I would say forget about age but see how she is.

Re, g8 piano scales, interestingly DS was the same. He'd been playing grade 8 scales already when he took grade 7 that may have made grade 7 scales easier to handle. But actually, grade 5 scales were more overwhelming than grade 7 and 8 for DS. Maybe the sudden increase of the volume (he skipped grade 4). After grade 5, somehow scales got easier. Not sure about violin as he only took grade 8 for that one.

4strings, you must be a very proud mama! My 11 yrs old still needs nags to remember her practice.

Do you think so Neleus? My elder started at 5.5 and I think it was too young(she spent first 2 years rolling around during lessons). However to be honest, my second appears much more matured compare to her elder sister. She sings non-stop. She appears so much more musical compare to her elder sister, could be because hearing and seeing her sister playing since young age.

In my post above the cello book recommendation was for KittyOSullivanKrauss

Greenleaves, don't worry about the age thing. Everyone develops differently and some are ready at 8 and some are at 2 (yes, really). I would get a cue for when to start from how she is rather than her age.

4strings, if she is aiming at specialist school, having mature tones is so positive. Often it's more important than how advanced her pieces are.

Hi minisnowballs,

We got this bow at Grade 2 to replace a poor bow and his teacher was pleased with the quality of it:

Carbon Fibre 1/2 size cello bow from Amazon

For film themes, we've had good use of:
Classic Movie Instrumental Solos for Strings: Cello (Book & CD) (Pop Instrumental Solo) It has a good variety including some that are easy. It includes Hedwig's Theme which turns up as a grade 3 exam piece.

Dd has just had a session with an accompanist who thought she was 15/16 due to the maturity of her sound. She’s 11!!!