Autumn / Winter 2025 Music

Phew! That's a relief.

I can stand you all down from the hunt! After all that (turning our music room upside down, lecturing my 8 year old about taking better care of things etc 😂) it turns out we never had it. When it says it is for “flute and piano” what it actually means is that it’s one of those annoying editions where you have to go to the Faber website and download the piano part and print it… Problem solved

It used to be that the piano part was the part with the cover and the instrument part was the sheet music making the piano part less likely to go walk about. The trend seems to have reversed and the kids seem to find it much harder to hang onto the piano part inserts. It drives me bananas that they all seem to be incapable of keeping their music together...

That is the most commonly asked question on the local music instructors Facebook page! There's obviously a black hole somewhere where all the piano accompaniment books go. Sorry can't help but you are guaranteed to find it after you buy the new book!

This is a niche one, but I am hoping this group might be the one to help me! My son has this Play Hollywood flute book and has mislaid the piano part. He is meant to be playing Hedwig's Theme in a concert in about ten days and needs to start practising with the accompaniment. Does anyone have the piano part and, if so, could they DM photos of the Hedwig's Theme accompaniment?

If I need to I will buy a new copy but we have only just discovered that it is missing. I have a horrible feeling that it will turn up just as the new one arrives so want to give is a week or so of further hunting / checking with his teacher etc. But in the meantime he needs to practice.

Thanks!

Hi does anyone know whether people have started to hear back about national children's choir auditions. I think there is a low chance my son will get in but I'm not very good at waiting . Thank you;)

I'm not a cellist but a bass player and I don't really do scales or arpeggios but harmonics are great because they are always in tune ( physics!) but have a very different quality to normal notes, more floaty so she might be doing them right. Also being cross probably won't help as you need light pressure to get them to sound. Probably not what she wants to hear! No other tips for arpeggios though. I expect others more expert can comment.

Glad it’s not just our choir director being a bit flakey then! Dd is normally Sop2 but has been moved (much to her chagrin!) to Sop1 - she’s hoping it’s temporary.

Rehearsals have now started for Legally Blonde and again dd is singing everything from the top to the bottom female lines in the ensemble numbers. It’s presumably because she’s comfortable switching between them and the director can be sure that she’ll stick to her notes whatever’s going on around her but her script is starting to look very colourful with all the mark ups.

Cello is going less well. She’s having real difficulty with arpeggios at the moment. She seems to have one (not musical myself so I’m not totally sure) that is all harmonics and it sounds awful! In tune but thin and scratchy. “Rage playing” them when she keeps getting them wrong isn’t helping either! 🤣

I think flexibility is the name of the game and definitely stands them in good stead for a future career or just life in general. DD is playing in a student concert with one rehearsal this weekend. Thankfully she knows the main piece already.

Not that I'm saying I'm a 'proper singer', but I think changing parts when singing is easier than an instrument that might take more practice.

Think once you get to a certain level, ad-hockery is part of the deal! Especially with singing, you are expected to be able to pretty much sightread anything on the hoof.

With my church choir, which is a pretty high standard, we turn up at 9.30, rehearse an introit, a mass, an anthem and a psalm, at least one of which will be new to some/most. Service is at 10.30, and we sightread the hymns!

@QueenMabby - pretty normal tbh. I've done a bit of "bumping" over the years and as a mezzo I can turn up expecting to be Sop 2 and then get asked to sing alto 1 instead. I've got some scores in the cupboard where all 4 upper parts have been marked.........

Well done mini-muggle!

Something that’s struck me this week is how ad-hoc music can be. Not sure if it’s generally like this or just us. Dd was singing in a remembrance service yesterday. On the Tuesday she was asked to do a solo. Fine. She had one rehearsal on the Friday when she was also told she’d be swapping to the other side of the choir which meant a different part to the ones she’d been doing in rehearsal. As of the Sunday morning, apart from the piece in which she had her solo she still wasn’t entirely sure which of the choir’s repertoire they’d be singing - she said that was fine and she’d find out when she got to the church for rehearsal! It all seemed very uncertain to some but dd was unfazed and said that was pretty normal! Is it?

She has a vocal concert this week - she’s singing “Think of me” from phantom so fingers crossed for the unaccompanied top C!

Brilliant news @Siriusmuggle - sounds like a fab stepping stone!

That’s great @Siriusmuggle - congrats to him!

Sounds like a good job.

ds is learning the life of a freelance means he sometimes has to turn down prestigious work because he’s already contracted to something else!

It would be really great if it led to anything at all. Even just carrying on the Saturdays after graduation would be helpful.

Great news @Siriusmuggle , congrats to your DS!

@lovinglife2025 sounds like a good decision for just now, and things don't have to stay the same throughout school. I think sports is important as well where possible.

@Siriusmuggle that's great news. At our JD, I think being a program assistant might lead on to musicianship teacher etc once graduated, and potentially stepping into other roles on an as needed basis if a teacher is off, so a great foot in the door.

Thank you so much for the comments on my questions above and also for all of the congratulations. It is so nice to be so open about his achievements which I would not express in person. I have been thinking a lot about the comments over the last week or so. We are very flattered that we can even think about applying to a JD, and astonished by such music schools - they are so impressive. Both parents, in particular grandparents have come from humble backgrounds that this is really outside our comfort zones.

I have taken on board all the views and the day school has a very impressive music department, he is part of the wind and symphony orchestra. He took the bold step of putting himself forward for chamber choir this week which he was successful at achieving - He will practise 3 times a week. So we think he has many musical opportunities to explore at school and stick with school sports matches on Saturdays.

The school would financially contribute to the JD and take lessons there rather than at school, but it is such a time commitment. We may change our view over time, or even by the deadline next year, and his love for music may surpass sports. We will see how it all unfolds and he is loving school so much. He still has the NCO outside of school.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, it has really made us take the bold step of auditioning for chamber choir this week.

Evening all. Bit of nice news here- my kid (final year conservatoire) has picked up a regular Saturday job assisting at a JD. As well as a bit of money it’s good CV wise and I think he’ll enjoy it too.

@lovinglife2025 welcome and congratulations to your DS on the music scholarship. My DD is also a music scholar at a boarding school where she has normal lessons on Saturday mornings and matches in the afternoons - everyone is in teams or practise. There are some people at JDs but not that many, so they are allowed. However, her school is lucky to have some amazing teachers - so ones that also play/ sing in LSO/ BBC orchestra/ ROH etc, so less need to go externally. There is also a huge focus on chamber music as well as a variety of orchestras/ ensembles/ choirs aimed at all levels. They have children in NCO, NYC, NYJO, NYO etc so the school is definitely able to provide stretch. DD has ummed and ahhed about JD but can’t bear the thought of missing out on summer matches! So it very much depends on what the school can provide and what gap you are looking for a JD to fill.