Spring Term Music, Musicians and Music Exams Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hi all, my children go back to school tomorrow, so I thought it was time for a new one. Who's doing what this term, and how is practice going?

Our main focus is the local festival next month - we're all doing loads, as are my pupils! My girls have just started practising for that.

MiniWaffle (9) is doing her well-overdue Grade 4 Flute this term, and hopefully Grade 3 Theory (to keep her on track) in the summer, and Grade 6 Recorder in the autumn. She also has some SWMS and NCO commitments, although not too onerous yet! She plays the trumpet for fun, and dabbles with piano, ukulele and singing.

BabyWaffle (6) will concentrate on repertoire and technique for a while. I think Grade 1 Cello is supposed to be in the summer. She can play a coupe of the pieces and some of the scales. She plays the recorder too, but won't be doing another exam on that for at least a year.

It looks lovely! Only one slight problem for us, it is in Manchester. Anything similar around London area? Dd would love something like that, she would absolutely love it!

Our Festival gets going tomorrow, at least for us. Brass tomorrow, DS 1 and 2 both in solo classes, and then both in the school group. Both won their solo classes last year, but for various reasons I think its an unrealistic expectation for tomorrow. They have competition in the school group, which is unusual so we will have to see!

I wasn't prepared for how much the theory exam took out of DS2, however its done and we will just enjoy the week. I can't go tomorrow, DH has lists with piles of music and instruments!

Fleur

There was a family from London last year.
No idea how they managed the commitment for as long as they did tbh, but they left before the weekends of filming.
It is a big commitment even for local people, but such an experience.
Do The London Phil not do anything similar, or any other large orchestras.
Your dd would have loved the play and working with the celebs.

Lovely video - dd auditioning for our city's equivalent this year. Fleur - I would imagine there are lots of opps for similar in London?

Glad the theory and practicals going well; two weeks to G3 on dd's second instrument. Our festival has started and dd won three gold medals and the woodwind cup so very happy as its her first time on clarinet. Strings classes next, plus NCO rehearsals plus playing in a mini opera and then concert and then school hols!

Phew!

(Ps I have name changed)

Shedding am wondering if its the same festival as D2 is singing on Saturday as well. Good luck.

Musicmom, definitely different as classes different order. Good luck also

Thank you, I will google it and find out if anything similar around our area.

Good luck with the festivals Shedding and Raspberry.

Musicmom good luck to your dd also!

Good luck to all of you with festivals this weekend, I'm looking forward to a weekend off. "Off" means a double music centre session and two band practices but it feels like a holiday after what has been a full-on couple of weeks.

Good luck with the festivals everybody, they sound really good fun.
We don't have them round here, you lucky people

Lovely film of the Halle choir!

I have a quick question around the local festivals that many of your children are entered into. I've tried googling for opportunities here (we're in Glos and relatively close to the Wiltshire border) but the only thing I've come up with is the Cheltenham Festival (where entries are already closed, and in any case there doesn't appear to be separate brass categories) and Young Musician of the Year (for very experienced young people). Can anyone give me some pointers as to what to google even? When I pop in Glos + music festival + children I get directed to Glastonbury-style events (which wasn't quite what I had in mind!). Many thanks for any light that can be shed - surely the West Country isn't bereft of such great opportunities! Incidentally, I will also contact GAM and see if they have suggestions as DS is going to their Easter course.

Suspended have a look here

www.federationoffestivals.org.uk/festivalsmap/

Ishouldbeweaving thank you - that's very helpful!

Suspended - we 'do' Cheltenham and its really excellant. Last yr DD did a weekend f rehearsls and oncert, all led by nicola Beneddetti as part of the festival. Amazing experience for hundreds of youngsters up to agre 21 I think. They do woodwind and Jazz - surprised they don't have brass? Worcester is smaller but def has brass - shouldnt be too far away fom you but again you have missed entries for this year.

Thank you all for your good wishes. I have been signed off work so have a lot more time/patience for practice and so have persuaded dd back into it. She had to leave her lesson early last week as so upset at school but her teacher out a little note to say if she practiced hard she may be able to perform at the school "Soirée", so this has inspired her too.

Two questions, her piece that she would be performing, and is doing at school open day is quite a simple piece but have makes more mistakes than in harder pieces, any advice?

The other is that she has had her 3 grade 1 pieces picked for about two months now, two are sounding lovely (to my untrained ear) and the other she is struggling with. How long do we persevere with this one, or is it time to try another one from the same section?

She is absolutely loving wind band at the moment, they are doing "uptown funk" as one of their pieces and she is loving it!

Woolley - am glad the teacher is being so helpful at a tough time. Re pieces - it amazes me how dd is persistently not 'perfecting' one of her pieces but yesterday sight read convincingly half of the grade book ahead! Sometimes it seems that they just don't enjoy a piece and her lack of interest shows. On her cello she chooses her own exam pieces; the clarinet piece she is regressing on was chosen for her and it really does show! I would happily swap to another piece with two weeks to go and so would she - but her teacher swooned in shock at the suggestion :) so if you have time swop now - or tell her part of the package is to play a wide variety of stuff not just what she likes - doesn't work with my dd though.

MusicMom1 I think we might head over to Cheltenham if we can get some festival tickets so DS (and I) can see what happens - he certainly seems to enjoy an audience (!) so I hope the idea of possibly taking part next year fires his imagination. I've gone back and checked the syllabus, and yes, you're right of course, there is a class he can do under jazz and improvisation - not that he has done any jazz pieces as yet (he's only just done G1). However, although the schedule certainly refers to "Woodwind and Brass" the classes underneath all seemed to be for woodwind instruments alone. Having the opportunity to work with Nicola Bennedetti - amazing! Worcester is about an hour from us as well, so not so bad, and I love the look of this year's schedule of play - it's more how I imagined a festival to be I guess. I will try and be organised about entries for next year.

Woolleybear, I hope you are doing okay, and I'm very pleased that your daughter is having some fun with her music.

Can someone let me know how high the standard tends to be in festival beginner classes - the one we are doing is for those who have been playing for under 18 months, but will it be full of children who have gone straight to grade 2/3 and are super-gifted. Will a grade 1 child look stupid?!

A good adjudicator won't let anyone look stupid. There was a Grade 1 child playing in one of DS2s classes today, piano under 12 open. (There are set pieces for the other classes so nothing else to give him a chance to play). DS2 played a Grade 6 piece, the winner a Grade 7. The Grade 1 child received nothing but positive comments.

Sorry, posted too soon

We don't have 'beginner classes' so I don't know, but wouldn't think they would all be 'supertalented' like that

We have had two nice days. Yesterday DS1 was second in one class, second (with two in the class) of another but played really well. DS2 wasn't placed in his solo brass class but he and DS1 both played and won in their school ensemble.

Today DS1 won 1 piano classes, was the only entrant but played really well in another, and was second in his woodwind class. And tonight DD's ensemble won and her instrument got a special mention!

We have a really lovely adjudicator this year. He says Festivals are one of the world's best kept secrets and people need to know about them, and come and listen to them.

Lots of praise also for our piano teacher and the school woodwind and brass teachers, and the standard of music from school so all lovely!

In 'Beginner' classes (which at our local means 18 months tuition or less) we always get a mixture, ranging from 3 note tunes (woodwind) or open strings, to around Grade 3 standard. And it's not uncommon for someone playing an easier piece to beat someone who pushed themselves. Festivals are marked on musical merit, ie how well they play their piece. The standard of piece is irrelevant, as long as age categories are noted.

Some festivals organise their classes by grade, however.

Ooh sorry, I missed your post Raspberry. What an amazing week for all of your DCs and teachers!