Spring 21 virtual music thread

I'm so pleased that he appears to have got his composition mojo back! He composed a simple, but fully orchestrated overture in Year 10 which was to be submitted for his GCSE free choice but then got total procrastination about his set piece. Luckily exams were cancelled before his schools' internal submission date and the teacher used the first piece towards his CAG. Since then he has done not very much.

But then he got asked by his sister's musical theatre college if he would help them with a zoom project. They are writing the script and lyrics to a musical and asked if he would provide the music and he's been loving it. His college say it can be classed towards his work experience hours and last week he taught a group of Level 6 diploma students over zoom, the song he had written to their lyrics. He's also produced some incidental music for them. It's really fired him back up again.

My ds "practises" for around 2 hours a day on college days and around 5 hours a day on non college days but by practising I mean he usually sits sight-reading musical theatre scores rather than practising scales/his classical piece/going over fingerwork on tricky passages. So he's not really typical!

Thanks mini and horsey! That's really useful- I sometimes find it hard getting the right balance between 'persuading' my DD to practice and just letting her do her own thing. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

Polar - we are shameful I'm afraid.

DD2 (11), grade 6/7 flute, 4 cello, 3 bassoon manages 15 minutes on two every day (so half an hour in total) - she believes 15 minutes is the absolute gold standard and going beyond this is actually abuse.

I suspect that she's not going to be able to continue with this attitude as she goes up the grades - not even really getting through the flute pieces in the time now. I have NOT got the strength to argue.

DD1 (13), grade 5 ish violin and viola, 25 minutes a day split between both in a way dependant on which teacher has been most demanding this week.

We try to be efficient with the time we have as it is never very much (they are both very much into doing other things and I work very much full time and so does their dad)

Hi polar, if I say how much practice mine do just now it would give a false impression of normal life! With no clubs on at all and homeschooling they have plenty of time. They easily do 30 minutes of each instrument six times a week, with the odd day off if they are tired etc but it's really part of the rhythm of their life at the moment as everything else so vague. DD 1 grade 7/8 woodwind, 6 piano, DD2 grade 4/5 woodwind and piano, ( also ploughing through theory whilst school not too taxing at the moment) , ds grade 5/6 Piano. I think every day helps, if I say just 10 minutes, it's always more as they get into it. Often it's because they are not challenged enough or don't actually know how to practice effectively that they get stuck and just stop. We have phases of this and their teacher writes out what a good practice would look like. Eg, play through, put a star above any tricky bits then only practice them for a couple of days before playing through. Otherwise they do what ds does which is start at the beginning, play till you get stuck then go back to begin and repeat, not the most effective way to progress! (The first page is always very good though!)

@manuelandviolin no worries and it’s always good to know how other DCs are doing.

Just realised I seemed to have mixed up posters. It was ilovesushi who asked about second study practice! Lovely to talk to teachocolate though!

Great to read about everyone's musical DC! How much does your child practise per day on their first / second instrument and roughly what grade are they?

Thank you @manuelandviolin that’s helpful information. We may not start piano lesson at least now. DS is already busy by two instruments and homework. I will just support him to get used to read bass clef

Hi @teachocolate. It might not be definitely necessary but I think it's good to be able to play a bit of piano/keyboard. If your DS plays violin and viola at a good standard already, he probably doesn't need to invest lots of time to be reasonably good enough. My DS practised more regularly to a certain point but now survives with only once/twice a week of practice. It's doable. Of course, longer and more frequent practice would be better if he wants to improve though.

Hi @manuelandviolin I have DS plays violin and viola and just started composition. He loves composing and his teacher strongly recommends him to start piano. Do you think if it is necessary to play piano? I am concerned maybe three instruments are too much for him and hesitating to start. He is not a serious musician but a music scholar and will do music GCSE.

Hi teachocolate. I have a violin playing DS. For the first few years we thought piano was his first study but it's pushed down to the second study over the years. He likes playing the piano and often uses it for composition etc but actual practice happens only once or twice a week 20-30 mins each now. Ideally I would like it to be 3-4 times a week but just not enough time.

@ilovesushi DD started piano as second instrument on the last September. She practices 20 minutes every morning before school. 10 minutes study such as scale, Hannon etc and 10 minutes piece. That’s it.

@WordsandMusic2020 Thank you very much.

Thanks fiveoldteddies will pass this on

@teachocolate Yes, we've got Junior Guildhall info. I'll PM you.

MumsMeaningfulMayhem
recorder day: 8-25, with minimum of grade 3.
They also do easter (online) course: "The groups will be set by standard and will be approximately Grades 3-5, Grades 6-7 and Grade 8+, depending on the numbers booked",
summer course "aged 10-25 with a playing standard of Grade 5 up to Diploma"

Quick question about second instruments and practice and how other people's DC organise themselves. DD started a second instrument in January. She is doing really well and usually does a very short practice tagged on the end or beginning of her more established instrument. Obviously as she gets better she is going to need to do more than 5-10 minutes a day. Do other people do one big practice or do they keep the instruments quite separate? They are both woodwind by the way.

@PaddingtonPaddington thank you so much, I'm really struggling keeping it together homeschooling, working, prep for theory and a music competition this week! Much appreciated

Good morning. Is anyone applying for Junior Guildhall? I submitted the application form but cannot find the information audition and even don’t know if it is online or not.

@horseymum I'm just so glad that it wasn't wine aged in a bassoon or something. DD2 has been playing one for a year, and frankly nothing would surprise me anymore

Forgot to attach photo

@horseymum had to google the bassoon wine. It looks great but agree the postage expensive.

I’ve seen on the ISM website that it looks like face to face lessons can happen from 8th March where children are working towards an exam or audition so that’s such good news. Will be contacting DDs teachers to check later if I’ve understood it correctly.

@greenmonkeypuzzle there’s an FAQ on the Abrsm website. Hopefully attached as a photo