Autumn 23 Music chat

Hello!
I used to post regularly on this thread a few years ago, but life got in the way and I dropped off for a while.

DS is going into year 13. He’s a cellist and has been at a specialist music school since year 12.
He was a relatively late learner, at nearly 9, so missed NCO but seems to have caught up over the last couple of years and is planning to apply to conservatoire this autumn.

DH and I both professional musicians, but not string players, so we’ve loved watching his journey.

@thirdfiddle I think I read that there's a way of publishing it on musescore so it's not publicly available but you can send links to it, which is what I'm going to attempt - I asked DS if he wanted to do it this evening but he kept saying "later", and next thing it was bedtime!

I didn't tell him that the reason I want to do it soon is that our laptop had a tizzy yesterday, claimed it couldn't sign into the desktop and then vanished everything on it until I'd rebooted it twice... I don't want to think how upset he'd have been if he lost everything he's been working on!

I can’t ask him now because he’s on a deadline with some paid work putting something into Sibelius but I’ll ask Ds about Musescore as he’s used it in the past.

On small violins, i had a few points going through where i thought ugh, this violin or bow just isn't up to what we're asking DD to do with it. Then teacher would pick it up and make it sound brilliant... So if in doubt, ask teacher to play it to show what it can do! Strings might well be worth upgrading if he's doing a lot of playing, depending on what is on it and how old they are.

Teapotkitten, please let us know if you find out re MuseScore. DD was trying a bit of arranging, i think she video-ed the laptop with her phone to show her friends but there must be a better way!

Hi all, thanks for the new thread horseymum :)
I always enjoy reading these little updates of where everyone is up to.
For our intro:
DS is 14 and the less keen of the two, wombles along with piano - mostly video game music; and brass - mostly ensembles, but in theory possibly working towards grade 6.
DD is 11 and more into music, piano/violin and sometimes viola in ensembles, and sings in a casual sort of choir. G7ish violin, piano I think a little less grade-wise but it's her favourite.
They both play in the local youth orchestra, DD has been doing NCO Projects for the last couple of years and auditioned for u12 this year fingers crossed.

Thanks for the new thread. I have one child working towards grade 4 piano and grade 2 singing, one child working towards grade 1 drums (who knew there was such a thing as drum exams?!) and one child just about to start cornet lessons at school. It will be a very musical household this autumn!

My son didn't even start piano lessons until he was almost 14. As long as she is enjoying her music and it sounds like she is doing really well with the singing.

And at the other end of the spectrum from the seriously talented and accomplished kids, my DD is 13, this year she got G2 viola and G4 singing. She's an enthusiastic and competent singer and a very much less enthusiastic and competent violist! Goals are G8 singing and G5 viola before she leaves school and i read the discussions on JDs and Conservatoires with a sense of "it's another world..."

Also sorry- forgot intros.

DS is 12 and plays flute working towards grade 7 and piano around grade 6 level. He had 2 new piano teachers last year so hoping this year is more consistent on that front.

DD is 10 and plays piano (working towards grade 8 at some point but not in any rush for her to sit it this year). She also has another new piano teacher this year. She also plays violin probably finally sitting grade 5 in December. She is also self teaching herself guitar though seemingly only Taylor Swift songs but has managed a reasonable version of 'love story' from a you tube tutorial. She sings in a couple of choirs and would probably like singing lessons too though I'm holding off for now as it's all super expensive - might look into school lessons at secondary when she gets there next September.

Thank you @northerngoldilocks, new bridge has already made a difference so hopefully it's good enough for his teacher. She says she was struggling to tell if it was the violin or his techniques so we needed to eliminate the violin part but she's realistic and knows how bad small violins sound .

Hello all. I’ve just got the one child. Just finished first year at conservatoire and anxiously awaiting the result of a resat module.

Others may have different views but I think that all 1/8 violins sound pretty ropey so it's not really worth spending on them. They're just too small to resonate much. Also he will grow out of it super quickly. Getting it set up well with the bridge and some ok strings is probably the best you can do. Think by 3/4 it's sometimes worth spending more though DD has one I bought on a local forum for £70 and it 'does the job' but my violinist friend is scathing about both it and my plans for her to take grade 5 on it. Her violin teacher says it's fine though and think my friend is just less exposed to awful violins.

Pressed button too early:
A lot is going on here. Searching for a better quality high end violin in 1/8th size isn't easy. So we just upgraded his current one with a new bridge and maybe new strings and new bow. We'll see what the violin teacher says at next lesson.
Possibly some 121 singing lesson as he might be doing a violin exam either grade 3 or 4 in the not too far way future. Violin teacher not decided yet. But the piano teacher heard the possibility and started testing his aural skills and said he'd be okay for grade 3. His listening is quite good but may just need some training in sight singing for grade 4.

Hello everyone!

I'm pretty new to all this, I have 2 children but only my eldest (9) is into music at the moment, but he's into it in a big way! He plays piano and we're hoping to get him started with another instrument soon as well.

He's spent his summer composing pieces on musescore, so I've now got to figure out how to upload them to the cloud so his teacher can see/hear them (it's all his teacher's fault this time!). I only did trumpet to Grade 1 as a child so I usually haven't got a clue what he's on about! DH plays guitar but can't read music, so he's not much help either.

Thanks for starting the new thread @horseymum. I have a DD(12) who plays piano, cello and clarinet. She also sings and has been relishing getting stuck into MT this year as she’s been a classical singer so far.

Thank you @horseymum for the new thread.
DS is looking forward to string orchestra starting again soon. He's also taking piano Initial grade in Sep! Piano teacher says his singing is always in tune too

Thank you for the new thread.

I have a piano/keyboard playing ds who is currently at conservatoire but for pop music. He hates classical but absolutely loves musical theatre and playing in theatre pits.

Hi <waves>.

Thanks for the new thread @horseymum. I have 2 dcs. Eldest isn't musical st all. Dd(14) plays the piano, cello and sings. Knows she doesn't want to do music as a career but loves performing and learning.

She's set herself a goal to progress faster with her cello this academic year. Her teacher is lovely but not at all pushy and I think it's the only thing she'd change about him. I've told her she'd make double the progress if she practised a bit more!

well done @horseymum - just place marking here. I love these threads - they teach me so much.

I have two girls, one far more into music than the other. The older one plays viola to about grade 6 and does woefully little practice (but has a fabulous social life). She is about to start Sixth Form and will NOT be choosing A Level music.

The younger one is 14. She is joining at specialist music school for Year 10 as a boarder which is a big change for us all. She plays bassoon and flute, and sings (the cello is staying at home so that is the end of that).

I scraped grade five piano when I was sixteen and haven't really played a note since, so nowadays I'm no help at all, and nor is their dad. But I do love to listen.