Spring 22 music thread

@minisnowballs that’s not good that they won’t run it. DD is 1 of 2 pupils doing A level at her state school. The music GCSE was beneficial to the A level in terms of building on the composition done at GCSE as well as the wider understanding of music. DD’s off to study at a conservatoire in September so perhaps I’m biased but if music is what she wants to do further it might be good to look at other options.

@minisnowballs That's awful a school can't even offer gcse music. How have they put so many kids off it. From a low base our school is gradually building up thankfully. Hopefully the variety of music in the rest of the school means this is just a blip. Can she do a level without gcse?
We don't have as many events this term as last term but still got a few things. DD finally getting to perform with JD orchestra for first time this year, will be good to be allowed in the building and see what they have been up to.

That sounds good QueenMabby. We have had the very depressing news that DD2's school will no longer offer inschool GCSE music (a covid casualty) for her year, because no-one wants to do it.

She is really cross, and wants to consider lots of other education options. We are not so sure. We have always liked the school very much - and the rest of the music is actually very good, so she has just been unlucky in her year group.

Given she'll probably have two grade 8s at least by the time she actually takes any GCSEs and already has the theory, we're wondering what to do as it may be she doesn't really need it.

On the plus side, it has concentrated her mind. She's much more passionate about music now she can't do it!

Lots of music happening for dd at the moment - concerts and recitals galore!

I wanted to come on to say best of luck to any dcs sitting gcse or a-level music exams. Hope they go well.

This is also true! DD definitely not fluent on her piece yet so falling into that trap- I think that it's helpful for part of most practice.

Well done herbaceous

Today we have heard a flute practice involving
a) scales - shocker... I bought the book so she knows what to work through - she likes a structure so that's good.
b)Playing through pieces but then picking a two-line difficult bit to work on - which improved! and then isolating trills and working on them
c) shrieky piccolo (you can't have everything and she does seem to really love the piccolo).

Will try to remember this one when we inevitably have a stressful one again soon.

Debussy and metronomes really aren't a good pairing- the music actually had directions that it should be fluid re timing! DD is currently working on finishing off learning Debussy's Fille aux cheveux de lin and it's more about keeping the flow of the piece moving whereas for things like Bach for example though it's more helpful.

I think this whole metronome conversation started really as a discussion about how to help practice sessions, and it's clear that they have their place. I'd argue that place isn't in another room, but equally not for every piece or every part of a practice. It's really just one thing that they can do, along with working on short sections, playing them very slowly and focussing on fingering / breath patterns for wind etc. I also think that scales are pretty helpful and doing a couple each time is probably better than a last minute pre exam cram!

Those agog will be thrilled to know that at the weekend DS did 30 mins concentrated practice, hands apart, then slowly, of the tricky bits of the Debussy. Played it through again tonight, and loads better. He plays it so rubato, metronome would not be helpful!

You can get metronome watches that vibrate if your child is struggling with a metronome. I have an old-fashioned clockwork metronome and it can be difficult to hear the ticks when you're playing the piano loudly, especially when it's set to a slow speed.

I think that trying to get the metronome to be part of practice is really important if you can manage it.

My piano teacher used to keep hers in another room and when you screwed up the timing badly enough would say 'I'm going to go and get the metronome' and then bring it through like a symbol of your failure! God knows why it didn't live in the room she taught in. Anyway, the reason for telling you about my weird piano teacher is that the metronome was always a punishment and I didn't see it as helpful. Incidentally my counting was awful!

Anyway- with my kids I try to use it more frequently - once they're reasonably fluent in a piece we play along for the first few bars to check the tempo or working through any tricky bits we do it with the metronome and maybe just slow it down.

Anyway, the upshot is, try to avoid keeping it in another room and then processing through holding it aloft with a look of disappointment!

He will stop being a chorister at the end of this term (😭), so I'm fretting about that too! Amazing voice (has already done loads of professional recordings etc), but will have no formal outlet for it. And, of course, it will break within the next year or two.

@herbaceous it sounds like he's amazing anyway- is singing his first love though - two hours of piano on top of all that singing sounds like loads to me, but I'm aware there are children who would want to do that much. Mine sure isn't one of them!

Great he knows he wants a choral scholarship - sounds like he's working towards that fantastically!

@minisnowballs I was meaning us, and me, in general I guess. I worry about him not reaching his potential, and I guess learning to apply oneself for discernible reward is an end in itself, but I'm not sure how much to push it. If he did nothing but hardcore practice two hours a day he could be amazing, but if he doesn't want to be a professional pianist, is it worth it?

@comefromaway I have mentioned NYMT - she does play bassoon, but not well enough yet - she hasn't got time this summer anyway but she'll probably try out next year - think she'd love it!

I don't have any idea what she's aiming for - she likes to get into orchestras and choirs that make her happy and she wants to make her teacher happy by getting decent marks. Beyond that, I have no idea! But I wonder whether being a 'jack of all trades and master of none' means she won't be able to do any of the things she thinks about doing.

Also, what are we aiming for here? A career as a professional musician, or just enjoying playing at a good enough standard to enjoy it?

DS wants to use his singing prowess to get a choral scholarship to Oxbridge. We shall see!

and you've not got a recipe for excellence on one instrument.

I've got a friend who is a talented flautist and teacher. But she makes much of her living not from playing flute but from the plethora of other wind instruments she learned, some formally (2nd study picc etc) and some self taught. She plays for a very prestigious theatre company and also in lots of musical theatre pit bands.

So the excellence in one instrument needed to say be a player with a classical orchestra isn't always as useful as the versatility of being able to play reeds/sax for a musical theatre show.

And your dd is really young so has lots of time to mature.

Yes, you may be right

I think she is very good at getting things to a pass standard (and usually a merit standard too - she was unlucky with this one I think) very fast, and very bad at then polishing them to the point at which she would get a distinction.

Some of this is probably age and maturity, and some not-very-musical parenting (I don't know when and how to help her to make things better). Add to that lockdown - where she didn't see her flute teacher in person for a very long time as she was learning at a Saturday Centre that wasn't open even when in-person lessons were allowed, and a tendency to massively overcommit herself because she loves to do EVERYTHING, and you've not got a recipe for excellence on one instrument.

Lots to think about, anyhow!

Has she ever tried out for NYMT? It's too late for this year (unless you play horn or bassoon) but I highly reccommend.

I'd agree that by Grade 7 she probably does need a longer lesson, either 45 mins or an hour. Ds has an hour. I think 45 mins would be ample but he spends a lot of time also chatting to his teacher about all sort s of other musical related things such as conducting (his piano teacher is an experienced choral conductor and has been helping ds with technique, and playing around with ideas for composition etc. I don't mind this as it adds to ds's all round musical education and he is older (18).

Grade 7 at 12 is fantastic though. Perhaps she just need sto slow down a little, do you think she maybe took the exam slightly too early?

So DS will never use a metronome, he plays piano for fun and I can't really get him to change the way he practices but the other two have been drilled into using it by their woodwind teacher right from the start. I think you have to play things strictly before you start adding your own interpretation. At grade 7 dd has 45 minutes oboe which helps as the pieces get longer. Long notes with a tuner, breathing exercises, scales are all part of her practice, not just for exams, her teachers are quite strict but fun. She has also always done a lot of repertoire which helps, it's not just exam pieces. She got 137 in grade 7 and I think being really confident in the supporting tests helped to as these had previously been a weak point. I think getting a grade 7 pass at 12 is fab, and there is no rush to do another exam, maybe consolidate, improve tone, expression, sight-reading etc. Do some festivals or chamber music.

Ds uses a digital one on his phone although we do also have a traditional wooden one. He has some MT pit musicians he watches videos of, they are all on click. I'll find out some names.

Perhaps I can rebrand a metronome as a click track, and tell her it's a musical theatre thing (musical theatre being the highest goal in this house apparently), @Comefromaway !

@thirdfiddle

He's working on Debussy's Arabesque no 1 for a school concert - he needs an aim! Four of the five pages are almost perfect, but the second page is tricky. So he's just been stumbling through it until he gets back to familiar ground. I think it's the accidentals in the left hand...

He too is a multi-instrumentalist. His first, I guess, is voice - as a chorister he sings for about 18 hours a week, plus a lesson. He's just got 143 for his grade 6. He also plays French Horn, which has suddenly got loads better with lots of ensemble playing. (Prob about grade 5).

His constant immersion in music seems to have embedded itself in his neural pathways - he can just sit at the piano and compose something amazing off the cuff, or play whatever he's just heard on the radio, by ear, in correct four-part harmony.

So - in common with lots on this thread - the concept of having to actually work at something that he's accustomed to coming so easy to him is alien. He will only do scales, under duress, in the weeks before the exam, and gets a bit arsey with his teacher when he points out the fact he's making loads of errors!

I've never had to make him practise, and don't want it to become a chore, but will suggest the ideas upthread to him to make him feel they were his all along!