Summer term 2019 music

DH not GH! Got GH on the brain...

Goo is likely to travel by train independently to friends/ family to stay overnight Fridays, then onwards the next day. I simply can't afford to go with her each week, GH works 2 Saturdays out of every 4 and I can't keep taking Rara too! Our only car is 20 years old and we can't afford anything else at the moment.

Hi all

I have dd(12) who’s having a disastrous run up to g6 violin in about 4 weeks (teacher still hasn’t agreed b piece), is playing viola to a similar level and working on g8 trumpet (teacher thinks end of summer, I want to hold her back for a while ...she needs a good distinction so I can rub it in the face of the school music department)...

She’s off to pro corda next week with some of the others on here I think!

Hi all, I also don't post much, mainly because I am quite fierce about protecting Dd's identity. Sometimes, I feel quite guilty sharing her journey. But the wealth of knowledge from everyone has helped me so much that I cherish these threads. So I will continue to jump in now and then

I have DD who is music mad at the moment. Plays violin, piano and bit of viola. She's loving MuseScore for composing. She sings, plays in orchestra and music pretty much dominates our week. Festivals and auditions coming up which are exciting and daunting Here's to a great term of music making

Hello - I occasionally post on these threads so thought I’d have another go. I have DS who’s 15 and plays guitar and piano. Doesn’t read sheet music but is pretty good. Enjoys composing and also did grade 5 theory a few weeks ago (anyone know when results for that come out). That’s the only grade he’s done.

DD is 13 and does a lot of musical theatre, sings (has grade 4 exam next week) and plays the flute a bit. Was going to do grade 4 last year but panicked and has also stopped lessons but is happier for having decided to stop lessons.

We are spoiled. I generally book music teachers who come to the house but am considering a piano teacher about quarter of a mile away and a flute teacher on the adjacent street ! We live in a cheap area near a city centre so it's basically full of musicians in house shares. A cautionary tale I sometimes think.

Regarding journeys i have considered calculating our music mileage for each kid but decided i'd probably scare myself
Next weekend is going to be a shocker 680km of driving between 2 of them, the third thankfully har no music plans.....

We have a new double clarinet case arriving sometime today!

My daughter also moans about the lack of a bright white hard case. Artfully battered and bestickered of course!

@stucknoue hello , can I ask how much formal singing / lessons your daughter did before becoming a choral scholar. My daughter has none at all planned for years 9-11 but it seems a pity. Wondering if school choir (high standard) and the occasional big service will be enough to keep her hand in. No idea what she will do in sixth form but hopefully sixth form college rather than specialist school will leave more room for choir and money for lessons.

So glad Goo has a plan now, what a journey each week though! I feel really lazy as I was hoping for a boarding place for dd and we live less than two miles away. She quite rightly has not been offered one. Rara sounds like she's flying. My cellist had to learn all the scales up to grade 6 over the February half term for her audition and then was most disgruntled to be asked for three really basic ones.

Hi everyone, first time actually posting! Been really interesting reading what goes on music-wise in other places.

Have DD(9) playing violin. She just sat G2 and now catching up on trad stuff in time for summer music festivals.

Also have DS(8) playing accordion. First music festival performance coming up in the summer.

Wondering if anyone has got any experience of the RCS trad exams for accordion (and/or fiddle?).

Swaying- try Future Talent? Or AYM?

Hi all and thanks to all involved in setting up new thread. I hadn't picked up on troll activity, sorry to hear that.

DS 1 16 plays double bass and has grade 6 exam coming up this term. He joined a second orchestra this year and has just got an electric bass. We are considering a trip to a double bass summer school in Germany this summer.He needs a new double bass.

DS2 10 started the uileann pipes this year.
They aren't easy but he has a good teacher and is getting on well.

Dad does music practice in our house.

PS Intrigued about the music thread trolling. Of all the places on MN where one might expect it (and I’m a regular in one of them!), I wouldn’t have guessed here. The mind boggles

Hi all, I’m new to the threads (though not MN) having found you while Googling for advice on helping DC with music exams. Hope it’s ok to drop in!

DD (nearly 9) has her Grade 1 flute exam on Wednesday, 14 months after starting the instrument, with five or six months work under her belt on the pieces etc. She’s worked hard and everything sounds good; I’m not a musician but feedback from her teacher is encouraging.

I don’t want to make a big deal of it, as it’s her first foray into the exam world and most important that it’s a positive experience, but if anyone has tips for low-key support especially not inadvertently making a big deal of it I’m all ears

Hello! I am a more cautious and occasional poster now because Of the trolls and because of being outed. But I still love these threads. They have been a life line!

I have two DSes - mainly here I post about DS2. He is 10, a chorister and plays the violin and piano. I have taught him the violin myself since he started at 7 but reluctantly for both of us, we are starting the process of finding a proper teacher.

Hello everyone, I wasn't really on the last thread as I missed the intros and then didn't want to wade in but have been on previous threads.

I have DD (12) who plays piano, cello & recorder and DS (10) who plays piano & viola.

DD has just passed Grade 5 treble & Grade 5 descant recorder & we are still waiting for Grade 3 cello results. DS is waiting for Grade 5 theory results (hopefully this week).

In the summer term, DD will be sitting Grade 5 piano & possibly Grade 6 theory. Still waiting to see if DS will be ready for Grade 4 piano or not. They both have festivals coming up too - on recorder for DD and piano for DS.

DS has been learning the viola for nearly a year - no exams taken on that yet.

Trying unsuccessfully to save up to buy DD a full-sized cello when her teacher says she's ready - we rent a 3/4 size at the moment & she's moaning that she's the only person she knows without a hard case.

Hello everyone! Thanks for the new thread, great to hear how everyone is getting on.
We have a 13 year old DD who is taking grade 8 flute tomorrow (eek) .. just encouraged her into bed with a book in the hope of an early night! Also 3DSs oldest plays French horn, second one has just passed grade 1 clarinet and youngest plays a very small (and frequently dropped) violin. It’s actually his second 1/4 size as the last one cracked!
Good luck to everybody waiting for exam and audition results and well done to waffle s DD getting a place at JD, hope it goes well.

Hi everyone. I usually find time to post on these threads a couple of times a year. I lurk the rest of the time and love to see how everyone is getting on.

I have DS1 who is in his first year at RAM where he is studying organ. DS2 is also now away at university where he is studying English but potters away with his saxophone. DS3 no longers plays.

DD is in year 12 at specialist music school and hopes to go on to music college. She has just returned from a music trip to Berlin which she loved. Doing open days and consultation lessons at the moment. A very busy year or so coming up. I think the plan is ARSM in the summer.

It's lovely to think how long these threads have been going on.

Thanks for the new thread!

I have 13 year old violinist (at jd type arrangement 2 hours from home) who also dables with piano. 11 year old with flute / double bass and an 8 year old drummer who also plays piano.

I play brass (probably about the level of the 11 year old) and for those of you on the last thread i survived the triangle solo on sunday!

Good to see you again waffle will the travel be train or driving?

Hi everyone!! I've pretty much been lurking since trollgate, but like Waffle, am pleased the thread has continued and am popping in to say hi!

I have DD1, 11, violinist and violist at JD playing around G8 standard, piano not at JD, frustratingly jiffing around with minimal effort somewhere between G4-5, and voice for funsies to support her other love, MT. DD1 has a busy few weeks of residential courses over Easter, followed by her assessed platform performance at JD, so things are a little intense for her right now. Oh, and a LAMDA exam in amongst all that, just to add to it all!!

DD2, 9, is my little cellist/pianist. She's just changed teacher on cello so we're going through a difficult phase of technique adjustment. Much needed, but she's not very compliant (with ANYTHING) so it's very hard work just to get her in the practice room. She has G2 piano coming up in May, in which she will either get a high distinction or will scrape a pass. Nothing in between and I have no idea which!

I'm a reasonable amateur violinist and lapsed clarinettist, lamenting the reality that I can no longer demonstrate the tricky parts of DD1's pieces because I can't actually play them! I noodle around with my folk trio when time allows.

Dd is starting her singing diploma after Easter but she's older than most here I think though. She's a choral scholar so not much of a surprise.

Thanks for starting this threads- I find it all so useful. Dd2 is my keener musician. She’s nine and plays flute and cello- will take grade 4 flute next term and is waiting for the results of grade 2 cello. She studies her first instrument at cym in London - and her second at school. Her sister (11) learns violin and piano - and will probably take grade 4 in autumn on violin- piano is very new and she has just taken grade 1. Joy to see her playing in the orchestra at secondary and with the borough music service now- but she doesn’t exactly shine with her love of practising right now!

Thanks for the new thread! I needed a good break from it all, but am glad to see we're still continuing. Yes, there is a troll who still pops up occasionally - scenario changes every time, always involves girl children/ stepchildren and some unlikely claims. There's also a blast from the past who thinks I talk rubbish about recorders, exams and all stuff diploma related, so I'm not saying much at the moment.

I have Goo, 13 who was my reason for starting the threads in 2011. She is a diploma level flautist, intermediate pianist, budding composer and lapsed recorder player. She has a laugh and basically twiddles her thumbs at school, and we've basically burnt our bridges with her current Centre of Advanced Training. So she is going to Guildhall JD from September. It's 3 hours each way, so a massive commitment. I hope it works out well.

I also have Rara 10, who just got a good merit for her Grade 5 Clarinet exam, and who will take Grade 5 Cello at some point - probably next year. She has also done recorder and likes to nick my saxophones from time to time. A very different character to her sister, and a selective mute, she hates exams (only does the odd numbers), hates singing, and said if I ever make her do JD she will just give up!! So she's with South West Music School. She's way behind with the stuff she doesn't like... namely scales and theory. I have taught her since the age of 4, but am passing her on to another clarinet teacher when she goes into year 7. Yippee!