Autumn / Winter 24 - music thread

I will have to tell DS1 that! DS1 is in Y10 and is also doing GCSE Music. He started on his composition this evening and decided to compose something for a full orchestra! 😅

I studied art but it was impossible to make a living so I switched to a STEM-related job. I still feel sad sometimes as art and music are very addictive, but it is what it is. There was a poster on that thread who described how their nephew and his wife had to re-train after covid. Our violin teacher was also hit hard during lockdowns as gigs dried up etc. They are planning to emigrate now as the situation has never fully improved. And our teacher is a musician in ten or more generations so there is no question of re-training for them.

LOL can't argue with this, but not everyone is lucky 😂

I almost sympathised with the OP in the other thread, as she was saying "by all means do music for fun, but don't expect it to turn into a career." Unfortunately she put it the other way around. All (or 95%?) of those who end up as professional musicians started out as music-students at some level, right? Just not the other way around.

DS has never wanted to be a pro musician, but loves his music. DD is in art school and is increasingly feeling that trying to make a living from it would be too precarious so she's considering a sideways shift to something which might even be salaried (museum conservation). I certainly couldn't live with the uncertainty in many creative/performance fields!

They just need to find a partner with a traditional stable income - that’s what my DH did 🤣

Agree. But this lifestyle becomes harder when you get older. And doing multiple jobs as self employed is not considered a stable income for mortgages etc.
It is all very enjoyable of course when you're young and have no family, it's great your DS is having lots of opportunities to enjoy it.

@Comefromaway I love hearing how your DS is doing - it is always great to hear about so many different facets to a musical career. We had to go to a 'specialist musician parent' talk when we dropped DD2 off this time - mostly about portfolio careers and how to prepare the children for them. Very sensible, I thought...

I think to be able to make a living as a musician today you have to be versatile. And being a soloist is not what everyone wants anyway. Ds worked with some classical musicians from RNCM last weekend. I bet they never thought they wold be playing with a rock band but if it pays a bill then so be it. Today he is accompanying for some auditions at a theatre, well paid and needs good sight reading. Versatility.

I kind of agree with that topic's OP in that it's very difficult to make a living as a musician/dancer/artist - maybe abroad it is slightly better as the CoL is lower, but not in the UK. Teaching is OK but the market is also shrinking as people have less disposable income. Arts are becoming more the pastimes of the elites (and the tech elite is not that interested - just look at SanFran classical music scene).

OP is a cellist and yes, for cellists grade 7 at 14 is not promising for a solo career. But a real soloist talent is a rarity anyway as it's not about technique.

Thanks @minisnowballs think I’ll get one of the courses for her. We can work on it together perhaps, if she has time!

@Compsearch yes, I loved watching the young musician auditions - lots of kids DD2 has played with - all of them amazingly talented and great to hear their stories too. Don't envy the judges!

Thanks so much for that dd doesn’t tell me anything either- perhaps for different reasons- she is attending a different school for music from her secondary school so difficult to get info from the teacher. Keep it simple sounds great. Thanks for the composition app, I’ll have a look before she comes home!

DS said his teacher said you don't get marks for complexity, so to keep it simple!

@Alakazam8 Dd is doing it - she tells me very little except that she's doing a theme and variations and has completed some sheet that was required of her...

She showed me her other one, which is a bassoon duet - but her teacher told her to 'stop putting bassoons in everything' so she's gone for something different for the second piece.

That's all I know - but I didn't get involved with DD1 either - I don't think it needs to be wildly complex but i might be wrong.

I interviewed the person who set this up once (for work) though and it looks like it might be helpful https://www.icancompose.com

It’s actually pretty heartening to see the unanimous disagreement!

I think it’s true that there is an unfair gulf between the levels of talent and dedication needed to become a pro musician and the financial rewards that come with it. But there are so many other reasons to learn an instrument (obviously!).

Has anyone been watching BBC young musician?

DS is doing GCSE music, and has just started the composition bit.

But as my tentative forays into 'so, what sort of thing are you composing' were shot down with a 'just a simple piano piece mum FGS, not a four-part fugue' and some eye rolling I could feel even when side on (car chat) I'm not sure I'll be much use!

Is anyone’s dc on this thread doing gcse music this year. My dd is and trying to help as much as possible but don’t know how much or little to help. Just started to look at the composition element that was published this week. Would anyone like to discuss?

The OP gets fairly firmly taken down! Methinks a bitter professional musician....

have you all seen this slightly depressing thread?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5167770-music-lessons-are-a-waste-of-time-for-most-kids?page=1

That's great to know @herbaceous thank you very much. My DS has two singing lessons a week and does choir, LAMDA and musical theatre so hopefully he'll be similarly able to compensate.

The first school production in year 9 he was Gavroche in Les Mis; the second, in year 10, he was Mr Bumble!

Sorry, meant to also say that I think he had it quite easy as his voice was very 'trained' from being a chorister. So he knew what to do to correct any tuning stuff that happened as he went along.

He just gradually slid from treble, via alto for a term, to tenor/baritone!

About halfway through his 13th year he was singing a treble solo, a top F cracked, for the first time in his life, and he declared that was the end of his treble career. I was heartbroken for a bit, as his voice was so extraordinary!

He had no 'yodelling' phase, just couldn't get the top notes. His range got smaller, but lower, and is now expanding again.

I believe current advice is to keep singing, particularly in ensembles. It helps the ear tune the emerging voice, and keeps the confidence up. I think it's why so many boys stop singing - they give up when their voice is changing, then when they start again it's like having to learn a new instrument.

I notice Ring of Keys has the marking. The song was written for and is performed by a 10 year old. (who shock horror just happens to be gay).

The maturity indications are to flag up content that might not be suitable for children or could be considered offensive. It's just a warning for teachers and parents and won't affect the marking in any way.