Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

Thank you, I measured it (admittedly using a phone meter) was up to 104dB at times…
Apparently (according to the internet) you can’t use normal earplugs when singing as the occlusion possibly causes tinnitus. Have contacted the musician hearing people to see what they suggest.
Will look at pacato too. Loop engage 2 works really well for orchestra concerts when they have to wear them.

They are pacato, I was close!

I am very sensitive to noise and play in an orchestra, I rarely need my ear plugs, unless an augmented brass section is in full flood ( we try to have good positioning to avoid the worst affects), or I'm at a school concert with multiple pipes and drums. I don't think a piano would usually adversely affect hearing but obviously everyone's tolerance and sensitivity is different. I think the earplugs we have are paciti but I'll check.

Hearing protection for singers….our choir is in an echoing room with the piano back facing the choir. Nothing can be done about either but the noise level is too high for (particularly) a child’s hearing. Has anyone found any good in ear protection for singers? The loop ear plugs seem to move….
Don’t want to take her out but will have to if we can’t find a solution, just don’t think it is worth the risk.

Thank you for your thoughts! It's mainly clashes I'm thinking about and the time/effort required. We have one group I really like as it's mixed age and the conductor likes to challenge them, DD plays third or second at best and says it's not easy. I tend to go for harder stuff but this one is a very long commute so I was just thinking whether it's worth it if she plays in lots of other weekly groups.

Being leader of orchestra or just principal in any section is really good experience, as they need to develop the confidence not just to follow someone else. However, playing with other players who are better than you also brings you on so definitely recommend a mixture over as said before. My younger one is in one orchestra where most are probably above her, one where she is mid pack, and one where she's near the top in terms of ability/ experience. All different things gained from each. In terms of music difficulty, I prefer playing stuff which stretches me as it makes me practice! Although this term's is easy and my note accuracy rate has shot up dramatically but my practice has gone down!

I'd aim for balance of experience over time. You want some of each.

And it depends what the orchestras are, what they're playing, who they're working with. Some things I know DD would never say no to. But if it's for example lead the junior orchestra vs move up to the senior orchestra a year earlier, and they have plenty of years to go with the organisation - leading something is really good experience and the opportunity doesn't come up all the time.

A bit of a random question: if you had to choose between an orchestra/ensemble where you would sit at the third desk and work really hard due to the advanced rep and an orchestra where you would play first/leader as the pieces are easier, what would you prefer? Assuming both are enjoyable, but what do you think would be better from an educational point of view?

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest- good luck with the scales! I had my first ever piano lesson last week and I can’t get my left hand and right hand doing different things at the same time! It was both hilarious and VERY frustrating.

In dd music news we’ve had an exam switch around with g8 cello now happening this summer and g8 piano happening at Christmas. She has an opportunity to rehearse with a professional orchestra in a couple of weeks which she’s excited about and there’s a small sixth form musical happening in July for which she has a good part. Keeping busy!

@Compsearch this is good to know. I did English Lit (joint with another subject) at the 'other place' and I don't read lit crit for fun either. I am in awe that you also had time to rehearse though.

I think if DD didn't do music she might be sad because she also likes the lessons and contact time for music - and she can read Jude the Obscure for fun in her spare time - she has a very odd idea of fun though. We will see - she's got an Oxford trip with school coming up and will see what that yields in terms of her interest.

She's got a busy term, again, with her mocks clashing with her bassoon diploma. She's also switched singing teacher post Grade 8, which was awkward but necessary and the new one seems a much better fit for what she wants.

Meanwhile in Grade 3 euphonium land I have just created a 'scales cup' and am wondering why my brain doesn't work as fast as it did when I was a teen - I swear I forget them as often as I learn them, but I am determined to do this!

Thank you all. Lots of very useful perspectives and info!

I did English lit and certainly did not read lit crit for fun! A big bonus from my perspective was no compulsory lectures, so I could read eg all night long and spend all day in rehearsals. No idea how I did it tbh, especially as I didn’t like coffee at the time! Music has more contact time, at least in first year.

It is definitely possible in theory to swap, but it’s at the discretion of the DoS at the relevant college and I don’t think they look kindly on eg people getting in to do Anglo Saxon Norse and Celtic and wanting to swap to eg English or Law or something adjacent but obviously more competitive.

But I know people who swapped from law to Natsci, Natsci to music, languages to theology, English to History of Art - it’s fairly common as (contrary to what they say about needing to be passionate about your subject) in reality most undergrads have lots of interests and talents.

I also know several people who did a masters in a different discipline to undergrad - a handful who did English with me did HoA masters and one did a PhD in HoA, and a friend did History undergrad and an Mphil in history of Russian music that was taught in music faculty. There is a lot of scope for breadth.

Music acceptance is about 50% so it is one of the easier ones (relatively speaking) and you certainly don’t have to ace every aspect of the entrance tests (a friend is Director of Music at one of the colleges mentioned recently).

I suspect people who do English Lit at Cambridge probably read lit crit for fun! Or at least pretend they do...

DS doesn't really read voraciously. Or indeed not much extra at all, which is why I don't think he'd get in. He's generally too busy doing music stuff!

I'm sure he'll come round - he's going to a music open day at Cambridge in July - but at the moment if I try and discuss it I get The Face of Doom.

@herbaceous - yes, she's similar, but I think the harmony entrance test is compulsory at most colleges! Not really sure what english lit extra curricular looks like - I mean DD reads voraciously but doesn't really read lit crit for fun or anything. Who does?!

He seems less keen on the technical aspects - decoding harmony etc - and more keen on the historical context stuff, and performance. He also loves English Lit!

So perhaps in an ideal world would go to Cambs to do English, but as a choral scholar. However, I don't think he'd get in with English, as it's uber-competitive and while he's good, he's not THAT good, and doesn't have all the super-curricular stuff.

@herbaceous it's tricky isn't it - DD still vacillating over Music/Eng Lit (and I should stress she is good at Eng Lit, and keen). Loves music too. Suspect your DS will absolutely walk the entrance tests for music, but DD is worried her chorale harmonies won't be up to scratch !

Hi there. I've checked, and it is marginally more competitive. Tho not as much as English or the PPE equivalent!

I'm even more convinced that if he wants to go to Cambridge he should do music after a UCAS evening last night, which stressed the weight given in personal statements to both academic prowess and extra-curricular activities, both of which he has in spades for music but less for HoA.

One option would be to get in for music, and swap courses after a year or two, which I believe is possible under the right circs. But I think he'd enjoy music anyway...

Or to apply to a college with a less onerous choral scholar regime, such as Clare or Trinity, so it's not 24hr music!

@herbaceous im sure you’ve checked but is it actually the case that history of art is more competitive? I’d have thought it was similar to music in the sense that it’s not an option for the vast majority of state school students and so generally a much smaller pool of applicants?

In any case though I think the Cambridge music degree is incredibly broad and flexible unless it has changed dramatically since DH did it. He focused on composition and performance but wrote a dissertation about music in a specific director’s films. I had a couple of friends who were really into music history and attended history faculty lectures and another (now an academic in a university science faculty) whose dissertation was more of an aural science experiment (lsomething to do with whether musicians’ sound perception was different from non-musicians’). I think it’s a really great programme personally. Though there are a lot of compulsory modules in first year, which some find tough.

Prompted by his comments I looked up what the modules actually were - something he hadn’t managed to find - and the Cambridge course at least has loads of history, anthropology, philosophy etc attached. The examples of students research project were really broad, too.

I will keep at it!

Of course he could do dual honours somewhere, but he’s worried that it would be seen as a ‘lesser’ degree.

I only did academic music for two years as part of my undergraduate but there was certainly a lot of history involved. Can he look at the course modules and the interests of the professors to get an idea of what he would be doing. I wonder if school pupils can't imagine doing one subject as they think it would be like school, but the subjects at uni are much wider.

Hello all

Just a bit of musing here...

DS is in y12, so deciding on universities and degree subjects. He'd really love to be a choral scholar at Oxbridge, and after a day at St Johns became convinced that's what he wants to do. At that point he decided to study music, partly as it's easier to get in to study music than other humanities subjects.

I was pleased by this outcome, as music has been his constant interest over the years, he's very good at it, predicted A* at A level, and you can 'hang' a lot of other subjects from it - politics, philosophy, history etc. He'd stand a good chance of getting into Cambridge I reckon, with his aptitude and all his extra curricular stuff he does.

The other day he came home from school, saying he's no longer sure, as if he studied music and was a music scholar there'd be no room for thinking of anything else, and perhaps he'll do history of art instead. A subject he's shown no real interest in until now. And a subject that's harder to get into, and he has no extra-curricular experience in.

Hoping he'll change his mind back again, but wondered if anyone had any thoughts...

Just want to wave at the lurker on this thread whose DD was also on tour in Bolivia......

Yes @herbaceous this is Southwark Cathedral in London and DS is at a normal state school 45 mins away, so 3 x a week is more than enough (indeed, may be too much for him - will have to see!).

They have increased the number of services the girls are doing so in fact won’t be every Sunday - probably 3/4 - which Im
pleased about. He does enjoy it but definitely prefers violin and football!

Of course. DS’s cathedral has half the services done by girls, and the grown ups did Mondays. They didn’t get paid either, other than in the form of reduced school fees!

I guess when there’s a school attached to the cathedral morning rehearsals etc are logistically easier.