Spring 22 music thread

I like the look of those silent pianos. Are they good? I thought it might be better to buy an acoustic piano and a separate decent keyboard for quiet practice.

@stuntnun I'd start with thinking about what your budget is (mine expanded rapidly when I started to look). We have a Yamaha with silent function too but they are reasonably pricey and then look at what the best option is for that. Locally we have some dealers who have new and restored second hand options so that could work.

Alternatively, we went to Yamaha music today and DD decided the best option she played there was the £100k Bosendorfer grand 😂

Sorry. Should have said it was secondhand. They're tall uprights, so the strings are the same length as a grand piano. And are popular in schools etc as so resilient and robust.

We bought a Yamaha U3, for £1,000 as it had some marks on the case. Fabulous piano!

Thanks for the advice. There's no hurry to buy as my piano is still tunable (just) so maybe I should keep my eye out for a good deal coming up.

We bought secondhand Yamaha via markgoodwinpianos. It’s actually worth more now because prices have gone up!

Hi @StuntNun, we bought a secondhand piano from gumtree about 5 years ago. The previous owner had bought it new for their son who gave up very quickly. We went to see the piano and liked it and then got a local piano tuner to check it over and report back. (Found the piano tuner via the piano tuner association website.) We then found a specialist piano mover to collect and deliver it. The piano was about 80 miles from home and it was all surprisingly easy. Plus we got a good piano at a great price.

Totally random question but does anyone have any tips on buying a piano? Mine is 37 years old and the piano tuner is struggling to get it in tune; he says it will need a complete restring in the next couple of years. It's not a particularly good piano though so I would rather put the money towards a replacement. Although my mum is going to be devastated as it was my father's piano. I would be happy to buy second hand but I wouldn't want to be in the same position of needing a restring ten years down the line. I have bought many musical instruments over the years but never a piano before!

@minisnowballs it's a hard choice to make but maybe she will decide where her passions lie and choose which to focus on. We had two grade sevens on consecutive days, it was actually fine, the aural is obviously all the same so that helps. I don't think we'd do it for grade 8, partly due to the sheer number of scales, so hopefully we can plan them to be in different sessions.

Hopefully you'll get more info soon @northerngoldilocks As you know it has been great for DD2's confidence, and your daughter would probably have violin opportunities too. If I'd had a crystal ball I'm not sure I would have understood the opportunities CYM has given DD2 (they certainly weren't the ones I would have predicted) but I don't think I'd now swap them for anything else - she certainly wouldn't.

We are on holiday, trying to get DD2's cello scales up to G5 standard without a cello (air cello definitely not usually her thing but needs must) I think she's realising that she is going to have to give up cello at some point as three instruments, when none is piano, plus voice, is too much. Taking two grade 5s in one day is going to be a stretch too.

Meanwhile DD1 is so enthused by the CYM/LSSO barbican concert she just played in that she's determined to get herself into the LSSO - which is going to take a lot of work. Good to see her excited by it - music does NOT come easy to her.

Thanks @horseymum and @thirdfiddle.

CYM should give her opps to perform, they have informal lunchtime concerts once a term or so where they can perform pieces they've been working on so that would be good for her, I'm just not clear yet what ensemble options she would have as a pianist. I've asked for more details though on that and who would be teaching her.

Her current local sat option has ensemble and she does a piano trio there so want to make sure I'm not reducing options like that whilst also being mindful that as she gets older the standard for getting a place at CYM will increase so it's a tricky balancing act in terms of what's best for her.

I think either will work well for her though- just need somewhere that will keep her interested and playing lots of different styles / repertoire! Also conscious that she's still really young so her interests could change. Basically I'd like a crystal ball please!

@northerngoldilocks that's brilliant progress. It's great when they discover practice works for them. Progress often isn't linear though so the older brother may ' overtake' again in different ways. My eldest doesn't really practice in the standard sense, just plays away but is very musical, so once he can play something it's really good!

She was 9 in Feb, so yes, she's doing really well. Basically she practises loads, suspect that's the difference between her and her older brother who is a perfectly reasonable grade 5 standard, whereas she's just flying at the moment.

She's not very confident though so it's working out where would be best to build on that. 2 more years of primary school so maybe it will just improve anyway

Have just found out that DD has been offered a piano department place at CYM for September. DS is already there but not on piano, so wondered if anyone had any experience of the piano teaching there please?

I've also asked for what ensembles might be possible at her age / level (currently playing grade 6/7 repertoire) so will need to understand that a bit more clearly but obviously pleased to find that she got offered, especially as the audition process ended up being via sending a video but only for some of the applicants which was a little strange!

Thanks @Musictimesthree that's really helpful. I think in many ways it will suit her better than the previous exams as it seems to be completely about the pieces. Nice lot of material to choose from and I see that she could add her own as long as it's at the right level. I hope it goes well for your DC in a couple of weeks time.

@bostik one of my DCs is taking an ARSM diploma in a couple of weeks. They are y10 and we thought it would be a useful stepping stone post grade 8 and pre DipABRSM. DC took grade 8 in 2020.

In terms of timeframe, we have found that it wasn’t a straightforward progression and DC worked on lots of pieces before settling on the final programme. Unlike the graded exams the choice of repertoire is vast and DC has had fun and gained from playing a vast range of pieces in the process. Every piece has had its own challenges and required a different amount of practice and input from teacher to get to performance standard.

Hi music parents, I'm after some diploma advice. Dd has been talking about doing a diploma next (did g8 last summer) and knowing nothing, I was wondering which is the logical diploma to take? (Looks like there are a few.) And how long would it take to prepare, very roughly, before she is ready? I haven't spoken to the teacher yet, who will have probably make the decion but I thought I'd find out a bit more information first and whether it is likely to clash with GCSEs. (She's currently in year 9.)

@queenmabby the school has very enthusiastic peri teachers who run all of that. I think the GCSE situation just shows that you need an in-house teacher to hold it all together though!

@minisnowballs - if it's just for the music then I don't think an indie would be worth it. It sounds like the music scene at your school is fantastic!
Dd is at an indie. She has her music lessons in school and she is in an orchestra for years 7-9 and a string orchestra which is by invitation. There's also a concert band, big band, jazz groups and chamber groups. She's in two choirs. We're not in London though where I think there would be even more going on!

It is sad. What is weird is, if she moves, she won't necessarily have access to as much good 'other' music as she does now. At her current school she has excellent cello and singing teachers in school (far better than you might expect in a state comprehensive, and very encouraging), and a chamber choir as well as a really good afterschool senior choir option. She can take aural classes at lunchtimes if she wants, and theory. She also has Lamda (loves musical theatre), all of which make her happy.

The alternative is that could move to local state school with music 'scholarships' which grant school places- but may well find that she only has one orchestra (as opposed to a post-grade five instrumental group, flute group and concert band as well as two choirs). The average standard, while higher than the GCSE group mentioned, would still be grade 3-4 at her age, even among the 'scholars' - though there are some outliers.

But she would be able to take the GCSE. It's a tough one. Of course we could send her to an independent school but I'm not really sure of the value there.

@minisnowballs - that's such a shame for your dd. And in such a big school too. Music is really suffering.

There's about 150 in DD's year. She's in year 8 and they take some options for next year (not gcse ones) and she reckons there will only be one class of pupils taking music in year 9. Fortunately there's quite a few post grade 5 students so hopefully there'll be a decent number taking gcse in due course. Dd will definitely take it but probably not to A-level.

This is a big school (eight form entry, all girls!) - they had a missing teacher after Covid and allocated all the music teacher time to the older years. DD2s year therefore had supply teachers who just showed them power points. Unsurprisingly no-one picked it.

They may be able to offer it after school, which is something - but it looks like they'll have several children who are sub grade 1, and DD2 (who has taken grade 7 on her first instrument and obviously has the theory). That's a tricky gap to bridge.

I suspect there won't be a cohort for A-Level with no GCSE, but other local sixth forms may accept her without the GCSE. She's 12, so this just feels like a ridiculous thing to even be thinking about.

I think we will have at least one higher music class and usually around 6-8 take advanced higher. Plus music tech classes. It's a large school so that is one benefit, most subjects are able to run. Although the standards are not yet that high, they are getting better. It's partly because you only have to be about grade 5 for higher now, instead of grade 6/7 in previous years. This was a deliberate move to increase participation, which it has done. Now, hopefully they can lift aspirations as well.