Autumn 23 Music chat

Asking to perform at the beginning of the summer concert is a great idea. My daughter did this for a sports award evening. It was much nicer to have a pupil playing live music than playing random music over the speakers.

Background music is a great opportunity @QueenMabby - performance but without the whole thing needing to feel super performance-y. I think on piano you take every performance opportunity you can get.

DD played the public piano again at Battersea today though only a bit as her coat sleeves kept going over her hands (and it was cold even inside). I was suggesting to her that she asked if she could play the piano whilst the audience comes in for their end of term summer concert too - imagine there might be some rule about it but will see...

Everyone sounds very busy and all the new instruments sound very exciting!

Dd played fantastically at her concert last week. She's being "background music" for a school event this week - playing the piano.

Just trying to sort out timings for her g4 voice. The dates clash partially with a school trip abroad so it looks like she'll be coming home then straight to her exam the next day which is not ideal. I've told her she'll have to sing on the plane home for some practice!

@minisnowballs glad she's coming home for break hopefully she feels much better soon!

@northerngoldilocks Supposedly the delivery is on Tuesday! Can't wait!!

DS has a super busy March coming up. He's playing a violin piece and two piano pieces at the local music festival. "Accidentally" almost all the pieces are very challenging for him. He's doing really well and it's all his choice but we just think he could have a much easier time if he had chosen some lower grade pieces. However he's really stubborn on what he wants to play. He also has violin exam at the end of March as well! So 4 violin pieces and two piano pieces to practice!

Fingers crossed a quick trip home is what she needs @minisnowballs!

New piano buying is exciting @chickentikkasalad - when does it arrive? I'm still waiting for Trust finance to process the money side on the new flute, hoping it isn't long as DS keen to have it now he's realised how much better it sounds.

DS's music school have managed to enter him for his piano exam despite the lack of a form, so that's good news, now just need to supervise practice for a few weeks. Need to focus as think there is a tendency from my kids to think if they're doing a lower grade than the level they play at on their first instrument that it will be easy, but not sure that really is the case.

@se22mother @chickentikkasalad thank you! I think it is sortable. Part of the problem is that her school isn't weekly boarding, she's there for three weeks at a time so there's no escape if it's tough. But we've broken her out for the weekend (!)- she's sacking off a practice period and Sunday cathedral and coming home on the bus and train this pm.

At least that way we can talk to her without the ever-present roommates, matron and houseparent (who are all nice people but mean that it's very difficult to actually speak to DD on her own).

@minisnowballs sorry to hear she was upset. You feel so helpless when they are so far away and unhappy.
Dd has had moments when she has wanted to come back home to a local school . However she's made her own conclusion that she wants to stay there for sixth form. I guess I'm saying they have good and bad times but the bad moments seem worse when they aren't with you

Oh @minisnowballs and your poor DD. I hope it's nothing major. You must have felt awful when you can't be there for her. On the positive side it's good to know you're still the first person she would call in a difficult situation. She'll always have you wherever she is!

@chickentikkasalad that's so cute. I really could have done with that yesterday with dd2 - who had a REALLY bad day and called me in tears when she was supposed to be doing her prep... A hundred miles have never felt so far!

Enjoy that while you can- and certainly don't rush anything else!

on empty nests, one day my 7 year old DS said in only 4 years time he'd be going to his dream violin school and he won't see me everyday. That made us both so sad we decided to co sleep again while we can, for good or bad...

@herbaceous 14 year old DD2 is my baby, so when DD1 goes off to uni in a year and a half, and our Ukrainian ward as well, I will be bereft (unless DD2 comes home for sixth form). It's all the wrong way round!

We are in London so RAM or RCM would be perfect for DD2 as she could live at home. So obviously she'll want somewhere else even if she were fortunate enough to get in (though I know she's cherishing the very kind email we had from the RCM bassoon professor after her recent course).

DD1 thinking about Glasgow - for nursing - so they really would be at opposite ends of the country. Not ready for an empty nest quite yet!

I have 2 dc but only dd does music. We have a concert tonight. She's playing Mozart something I think. I really need to keep better track of her pieces! I know much less about them now she's older and the pieces are longer and more time-consuming.

I really miss the concerts now he's away. He is allowing me to attend his end of year recital this year (he banned me last year) so that'll be great.

I only have DS, so try not to build my life around him, but it's hard! Once he's gone, life will change a lot - better or worse...

I'd find that so hard too, minisnowballs. I'm already dreading him going away to university, or whatever, and he's only 14! At the moment I can see his school from our study window!

Re pianos, we have a Bechstein boudoir grand being held 'in trust' at my sister's house. Her house is huge detached, whereas ours is a townhouse, with no rooms big enough for it. Well, with any other furniture! We bagged a secondhand Yamaha 3 during lockdown, which has been fab. Plus we have a Korg digital piano, and a Bontempi organ!

DS has started being tempted by Royal Academy or Royal College as post-school options...

@QueenMabby glad the Ella app is working well for her - I think it's quite clever...

Exciting to hear about new instruments too. We have the family piano that I learned on - it's fine but certainly wouldn't be if anyone was a serious pianist, but I'm sentimental so I'd struggle to let it go.

Missing the next two of DD2's concerts, sadly, as we are fast finding that we can't get to them all. This is a flute solo in one and lots of ensembles in another on both her instruments...her friends have promised to record them for us.

I always feel quite sad when she goes back after a school holiday - the fact I won't see her for three weeks is still so hard, and she's bringing a friend home for exeat this time so I won't even get her to myself!

Thanks @horseymum for the wise words! Funnily after writing that massage I managed to find a deal on a brand new that matches the 2nd hand one. So just placed the order and waiting for the delivery! We'r very excited!!
It's a good brand so does last long and hold its value. I can play it even if DS stops playing. Now I have our very old Bluthner (~about 150 years old I think) to deal with. It's a lovely piano with a magnificent sound. It just needs restoration. Unfortunately nobody will give us any money for part exchange and I don't want to throw it away because I love it. Might keep it as a restoration project for DH or wait and see whether we can sell it to a new home if we can't be bothered with the restoration. But for now we'll have two pianos in the room. Mad we are...

On the topic of new instruments, we're on the hunt of a new piano for DS (and myself possibly). Trying to decide between a new one and second hand ones. The model we decided is quite expensive and there's not much difference (10%) in price between new and second hand.

@northerngoldilocks - I also think the new flute sounds v exciting. Dd will be getting a new cello this half term. Her cello teacher is going to come with us to guide our choice so we just need to fix a day. We'll take him (and his wife) out for a pub lunch to say thank you I think.

Dd loving the Ella app so thank you to the PPs who recommended it. She'll be doing her g4 voice exam two days after she gets back from a school trip overseas so needs to have it all pretty much there before she goes. The intervals on the sight singing are sounding better already. In this exam she's going to be singing in Italian and in Norwegian. It's fascinating.

Talking about hammering away at pieces I am FED UP of both DC's exam pieces and reminded why we don't do exams often. It's not super hard or anything, they've both played harder things, but it's a lot of music to apply polish to in limited (in DS's case absolutely minimal) practice time.

Yay to new flute northern, enjoy!

On exams have realised DS hasn't got his form signed by his HoD and the deadline for submission was last Sat, so that's not ideal. Have emailed over to her in the hope that 'no late entries will be accepted under any circumstances' might mean- we will take it the day after 😬😬

In less admin-y news we went new flute shopping today and DS has chosen a new flute. The sound difference compared to his old flute was amazing. Just need to sort out the school admin and can buy it as hopefully getting via the Assisted Purchase Scheme 🤞🏻