Spring 22 music thread

I agree, accompanying is a sure fire way to make you popular, it's a generous skill

He sounds brilliant. Accompanying is a rare skill I think - I'm in awe of the people I know who can do that well- they are truly amazing. So glad his friends are supportive.

He is an amazing sight reader and accompanist but he isn't a solo player. He is currently in heavy demand with the kids on the Musical Theatre Btec because none of their tutors play piano to the standard he can to accompany their songs, so they ask him to play for them instead of using backing tracks but it means he spends a LOT of time learning accompaniments and not so much time on solo audition pieces. I worry he is spreading himself too thinly.

But the upside is he has lots of friends at college whereas at school he really was an outsider.

Thank you @Yourheartwillleadyouhome, my DD will only be 11 but is keen to attend one of the junior courses. She has attended music residentials before but this would be the first full week one.

That sounds very sensible - my brother plays piano very well but I think it's quite a lonely instrument..

DD didn't start any music at all until Year 3 (and then it was group primary lessons). From year 4 it all came in a rush...Sometimes I blink and wonder what happened - certainly if we had planned it for her this would not have been the plan, especially since I'm not sure either me or her dad could have identified a bassoon in a line up of instruments until two years ago.

@minisnowballs
Everyone has different issues :-)
DD's first instrument is piano but then had to pick up a new orchestral instrument in year 3 to open up more options.

She's 12, MissScotland, and I'm sure would be better to concentrate on fewer instruments, especially since none of them is the very useful piano), but she's not easily told.

@minisnowballs That's very impressive! And a lot of work, I'm sure.
How old is she?
With my DD it took a while to get to a point where practice lasts a while. They need to grow up and mature first, well most of them anyway :-)

I wish my daughter would want to find 1.5 hours to practise, MissScotland! However, it's wonderful to see her knuckling down to it more after new year, as she knows she wants a better score than for her grade 7 for grade 8, and she's realised she going to have to work harder for that. Suddenly she seems to be much more grown up about it. She's also potentially looking at THREE grade five exams this term, which is ridiculous (and expensive) so something is going to have to give.

Comefromaway, I'm really hoping your son is feeling less despondent now. It's so hard when they only see their weaknesses, not their strengths. My dd is an amazing sightreader, which means video auditions have really not played to her strengths, because most only required prepared extracts, but I reckon it is one of the hardest skills to master! Good luck to him.

Very wise words @Jovanka !!

Hello everyone, checking in for the new thread - thank you thirdfiddle

2 DCs here who play 5 instruments between them - one is more serious about it than the other. I think eldest may study music beyond secondary-school age but probably not youngest.

One DC may sit a piano exam in the spring session but still not sure if he's ready. Other DC will likely have auditions to prep for.

Just weighing in on the whole schools debate. It's obviously natural to ask for opinions and advice when thinking about all the options. But I would say that every child is different as well as everyone's family circumstances. It's not as simple as saying state vs indy. Some state schools have amazing music depts, some don't. The same could be said for independents. It all depends on what's available in your area, what your realistic, feasible options are, how far you are willing to travel, finances, etc. But crucially the best school fit for your child at the time of making the decision. The best school for your child at 11 - from your realistic, feasible options - might not be the same at 15. Most people, unless things are going pear-shaped or they identify a much better option, will keep their child at the same school 11-16 so we can only go with what we think best at the time of making the initial choice.

I would also say that I have friends who have DCs at all types of schools - specialist music, indy with strong music depts, indy with weak music depts, grammars (some with music specialism), state with music specialisms, state with no 'known' music depts. And they ALL - without exception - have something to moan about. So, I also wouldn't fall into the trap of thinking there is a perfect school.

When we were looking at secondary schools in Year 6, I had a pang of regret that the school we chose did not have a strong music offer. I remember hearing from people at the time who said that a music scholarship at a school which has lots of opportunities could be a double-edged sword as there are lots of demands on the music scholar's time and there is a risk that the child plays in several mediocre ensembles instead of prioritising individual practice. At the time, I couldn't see the problem - it sounded great to me - lots of playing opportunities, surely that's a good experience in itself, etc. It's only now - especially as my eldest is in the GCSE years - that I can properly appreciate the challenge of prioritising.

We 'chose' the route of a normal comprehensive school with maximising musical activities outside of school as much as possible. I say 'chose' because it wasn't as though we had much choice. We don't live in a grammar area and we wouldn't be able to afford private even with a scholarship. Mind you, I say that, the amount of money we seem to spend on the out-of-school music - it might not come to much less than school fees

@yodaforpresident we had excellent experiences of Eton Choral Courses for two of our sons when they were 16-17, they were superb

From my experience at an indie this is very true. The kids have very long days on top of which my daughter needs to find another 1-1.5 hours to practice. I have to admit, some days just don't allow it.

Ah yes horsey- I know one teacher who is a peri at a very well known indie with an exceptionally impressive music department. Complains a lot that the children there who she teaches do not have time to practise and make very little progress because they are so overscheduled elsewhere (not that mine aren’t overscheduled too of course, but I get the feeling it isn’t quite as bad).

I would definitely second the point about making sure there is enough time for practice as they get older. The best lessons and facilities aren't going to help if they have no time to practice. For some independent schools I imagine ( may be wrong) that they are often longer days. Whether that includes homework might make a difference though. We find our state school with its fairly short days means there is plenty of time to practice and do other things.

All brilliant points thank you. I think she'd love a choral residential so will look into those.
Scheduling and chauffeuring is a second job for us at the moment though, it's a bit much really.

We're in London, so no driving and the girls have free transport or buses and can travel very cheaply on trains. I work full time (but I'm freelance, so plenty of flex).

Everything has to fit either into the Saturday, into the school day, or into the holidays. Two sets of music lessons in school time (the peripatetic teachers are very similar at a good state school to an indie one - though notably you pay less), and two on Saturdays with orchestra, theory, ensembles, stagecraft (bizarrely) and aural training on Saturdays too. Holiday orchestras and choirs both day and residential in the school hols (obviously), originally doubling as childcare (though that's less necessary now they're older).

DD2 was 9 when she started at her Saturday Centre so there was 'ferrying' and I do still go with her now, but that's mainly as the bodyguard for the bassoon rather than because she needs anything! I just sit in the canteen and drink tea (and occasionally serve it) nowadays.

We are in London so I don't drive them to anything, but in terms of music we have teachers who come to our house for lessons not on Saturdays and I limit other activities to swimming lessons once a week and art club because it's on the next street! They do need to have time to practice too so finding a balance is key. We both work full time so can't be spending our lives taxi- ing children about

By "do it" I mean driving to all extra curricular stuff. Both my kids are training for several hours a week in a sport too, plus other classes and swimming. We're a bit overloaded!

All really interesting replies thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I think my dd is likely to be good but wouldn't be interested enough for a specialist school. Can I ask those who do all the ferrying, do you work full time? I'm currently part time so can do it but would need to go full time to get promoted, which I will want to do in future. I'm struggling to see how we could do it and work, although I suppose as they get older the classes get later? Thanks

Hi all, happy new year! @huy456, our dc goes to a state school with a kind and supportive but not high achieving music department. The advantage we have is the short school day which finishes before 3pm, so she can fit in two practices per day - a sizeable one in the afternoon. It also means we can afford a great teacher and have time to supplement with chamber music, regional orchestra and NCO. At the moment it is working for us. Independent schools in the area don't offer dramatically better music provision and have a longer school day making it harder to carve out enough practice time... Probably the biggest weakness is no high-level weekly orchestra but I think we would need to go to specialist school for that.

To add our experience to the state/indy debate.

We originally sent DD1 to a local-ish state school which was renowned for excellent music provision and she was at a JD on Saturdays. to cut a long story short, it was an unmitigated disaster. She still didn't 'fit in' at the very musical state school and was very unhappy there. We spent our life on the road, as it was a longer journey than our catchment school where all her friends went, so she had a 20min car journey to the furthest bus stop, then another 40 mins on the bus each way. Plus JD in London on Saturday was a 2.5 hour round trip. She was exhausted and had no time for anything. She is now at a specialist school where she is much happier as everything happens in one place, she gets time to hang out with her mates and doesn't spend her life in the car. Plus there are lots of like minded people.

With DD2, we decided to send her to the catchment school with her friends which is a short bus ride away. She does all her music outside school at JD. We have no expectations of the music department - who are kind and inclusive, but not high achieving. However they have been way more supportive of DD2 and her achievements than the other school were of DD1.

In all honesty, I think if we'd sent DD1 to the catchment school with her primary school friends she'd still be there now and happy with JD on Saturdays.

I'm not sure what the moral of all this is - maybe it's that you can offer your child high level music outside of school and not to worry too much about what happens in school. Because if they are very very musical, it's hard to find the right place (state or independent) outside of the specialist system if you want it in school.

@huy456 I can understand the dilemma.

Dd2 (Year 8) is definitely two to a keyboard (though not three) but I don't think it's actually doing her any harm for the one lesson a week that is the norm in most secondaries before they take GCSE options (she's not a pianist anyway, but plays three other instruments, so it's actually quite good for her to sit with someone else!).

If they take music for GCSE in a state school the classes are often very small as it's largely self selecting. DD1 is in a class of 15 for GCSE - plenty of keyboards (and all the other tech) to go round. It's worth asking about class sizes, and the levels of the children who actually take the exam - as that will affect the overall experience.

I would say that the musical performance standard is lower in my DDs' london comp than in the local independent schools (though this is London which skews everything). On the flip side, though, DD2 has a lot of love and attention poured into her because she is a bit unusual - that can be very good for a child's confidence. She gets the push and competition from her Saturday school (and I assume will from the london and national stuff this year), so I'm not worried too much that she's missing it!

There are plenty of extra curriculars at some state schools. My children could do a different ensemble every day if they wanted, despite it not being a school with music places. The issue is often that they don't want to, because it clashes with other things and there are only so many hours in the day.