Spring 21 virtual music thread

Evening, could I ask the advise of anyone who’s already experienced the new performance exam system please?

DD’s submission date is 28th of this month. We were a little surprised the deadline was so early in the session. She seems to think it can be pushed back if requested, but I don’t want to inadvertently cancel our original date and end up with zero in the system...is this possible, to pick/be issued a later date? And if so, how?

I wrote a long post about bassoon but it didn't post! My DD started on the big bassoon in October, which was challenging online, as we are in Scotland so no face to face. It is much heavier and needs more air but the sound is so much more satisfying. She is only ten but her hands ( and feet!) are as big as mine so it didn't take her long to adjust.
Would recommend the Showcase Virtual youth orchestra to join for anyone who's children want a fun project to join. Parts for mini and full size bassoon, and all orchestra instruments. There will also hopefully be a big double reed day zoom at some point, so watch out for that.

@Vaduz, she is in school a couple of days a week as I am a keyworker myself. I don't know how easy it would be to get into the music dept though. We are very lucky that they have a good set up where the library and sixth form centre are in a separate building that they are using but I do think it means the rest of the school is hut up.

@woolleybear, what a shame your DD has to return her instrument. Would her school let you go in and collect a school one if they're open for children of keyworkers ?

DS will change to a short-reach as he isn't very big for his age. His teacher has suggested one particular model but the specialist hire shop recommends coming in and trying a selection to see what suits best. We hire the tenoroon from Howarth in central London and I'm looking forward to visiting their bassoon room again after lockdown - so many beautiful instruments.

Nice to see so many other young bassoonists on this thread. I've always thought it was a very niche instrument but perhaps not!

Thanks all.

DD plays the bassoon also and we are having issues with that too! Unfortunately her current instrument has to be returned to the County Arts team, she is gutted! Hoping that she will be able to use a school one but no way of getting to those at the present time. Will he be using a short reach one @Vaduz? I am not sure dd will ever not be able to use one of these as she has small hands!

Hello all, I'm a long-time lurker on the music threads - finally feeling brave enough to join in!

I have a DS, 10, who is a cathedral chorister and plays bassoon and piano. He's a keen bassoon player, has been learning for almost 2 years and did his G3 exam just before Christmas. Unfortunately he's now a bit stuck progress-wise as he needs to change from tenoroon to full-size bassoon for G4 and we can't visit the hire shop to try out new instruments until lockdown lifts.

He's less enthusiastic about piano but gradually warming to it (compulsory instrument for choristers at his school). G2 exam was meant to happen last Easter but was cancelled last-minute due to lockdown, and now it looks like this term's planned G3 exam won't happen either. Luckily his teacher isn't too fixated on exams and is happy for him to move up to the next grade if he's ready. The dreaded G5 theory is on the horizon some time later this year too.

@woolleybear we upgraded DD's clarinet, and the teacher was very helpful in advising what should be next. It is quite a jump in terms of cost though. We had a service of the old one anyway, but it cost only £50 with somebody local to us (reduced rates), to keep as a spare in case of injury to the new one ever.

The new one is so much nicer to play apparently, and there is a difference in the quality of sound.

The replacement was recommended by her teacher and the local music school, and we bought it through Normans (online). They also serviced it for us and arranged collection/delivery last year. It is worth checking with any schools/groups that your DC plays with, as you might be able to order through them to save on VAT.

On the topic of new instruments, DDs teacher sold us her current oboe when she started, saying it will be great till about grade 8. ( It's a student one, rather than a beginner one) He also said recently that if she got into a JD, the first thing they would recommend was a new instrument. I guess this is fair as she is approximately grade 7/8 now but the double financial whammy might be a bit hard to cope with. I know nothing about clarinets, but I guess the teacher is best placed to know when they have outgrown the capability of the instrument and need a better one. I know DD is missing a couple of keys for more advanced techniques but it isn't a big issue just now. I don't know what improves the sound ( wood, craftsmanship, fittings etc?) but I expect if you try some different models you would ( hopefully!) hear a difference. I know when I got a better classical guitar as a teenager, the sound was so much better, it was more enjoyable to play and made me more keen to practice, so it may be money well spent.

Choco 👍 what an experience!

Thank you for the recommendation!

Depending on where you are @woolleybear I highly recommend Woodwind & Reed in Cambridge. No pressure from the staff when looking at options and excellent advice/after care.

Thanks @Freedobby, I think that I will do that. I was going to ask if she knew of a service place anyway so will combine it all in one.

Interesting to read about the NYMT, definitely going to be looking into that in future years.

@woolleybear in answer to your clarinet query, my DC changed to the next level clarinet around G5/6 so it may be time to look at an upgrade. We always had excellent advice from the teacher so maybe he/she could recommend if that’s the best option.

Flute! Obviously it was a long time ago now though. And certainly pre-Covid!

Didn’t know you could travel the world with nymt - that sounds amazing choco - what was your instrument?

Thanks choco and come from away

It would be for bass I think as she’s higher in that and more useful.

Will see if she can get something together that isn’t classical 👍

Good afternoon all! I am new, and pleased to see this thread. My DD (13) plays clarinet and cello - and is teaching herself piano and ukulele just for fun. It is great to hear all of the stories, experience, and opportunities that your DCs have.

Throughout the past few months DD has her cello and clarinet lessons online, and joins a clarinet choir and a band (clarinet only) online each weekend (one unmuted, and the rest of them muted). She won't join the strings group for cello and does this under some sufferance at the moment.

Due to the lockdown last year we skipped G5 (ABRSM) for each instrument and she is working toward G6 for both. G5 theory will be an online exam, possibly in May, so that is the current focus. I will be interested to hear of anybody sitting the March exam, as we're aiming for May! Currently all tuition for G5 theory is provided by her cello teacher. DD sat the online practice test last week, and it wasn't a great result, so there is a lot of work for her still to do.

Good to meet you all.

Hi

Been good to read through here. I used to be on these threads but life has got in the way recently!

I was wondering if anyone has any clarinet advice. Dd had Grade 6 cancelled this term and has decided to move on and so has just started to learn some pieces to work on a few things before starting Grade 7. Her clarinet is currently not sounding great. Am I expecting too much of a beginner instrument? Debating whether it is worth the £140 for a full service or if we should just try and keep it going and start looking for a higher level instrument?

Ds is also thinking of auditioning for NYMT.

Go for it! They are auditioning from scratch this year. They need a lot of musicians for Beauty from what I gather.

Hi there!

Dd plays piano and bass and was thinking of auditioning for NYMT but seems to think it won’t happen or will be filled with kids from last year. I think worth doing a recording for the experience but not pushing it.

Her teachers are doing well with online lessons and it’s nice not having to drive around! She’s missing orchestras and real life productions. Prepping for piano 6 performance though teacher seems to be dreading the whole thing and not done one yet so it will be a learning experience all round.

My son goes to a piano teacher who specialises in jazz but he also teaches classical for technique.

Jazz is great for ear training.

Just having a lurk on here and wondered if anyone had any knowledge of transferring from classical to jazz or any pitfalls that I should avoid in doing this..
My dd 7 is grade 5 on piano and grade 1 on another instrument she's just started . She says she's bored of classical music and loves jazz. I don't really understand jazz but everytime I put jazz music on you can see dd loves it whilst I'm sat there confused by it,

We were hoping to aim for senior school scholarships so I'm a bit worried this will go against her if we transfer over to jazz. Obviously she has the basic knowledge of classical music now but I also want to weigh up preventing her from doing something she clearly will love more. Any info at all would be very helpful thanks.

[quote doesanybodyhaveamap]@lunar1 have you looked at the list of pieces not in the book to see if there's anything there he prefers..?[/quote]

Yes, we went through every one. He said he will pick when he's finished the others.