Autumn Term Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello everyone!

I know not everyone is in the UK, but my children went back to school today, and I have found that having a new thread every few months works well. The school terms sort-of coincide with music exam sessions here - I will shortly start preparing the pupils that I plan to enter for November/ December.

As there are quite a few people reading/ posting on these threads, I would find it really helpful if people could remind us what children they have, how old they are, and what they play. If you don't mind, of course! Please feel free to ask questions and talk about your own learning too!

I'm Waffle and I'm a teacher of woodwind - mostly recorders these days. I have Mini who is 9 and plays the recorder and flute properly, and a bit of piano, trumpet and ukulele for fun. She is a member of South West Music School and NCO. I also have Baby who is 7 and plays the recorder and cello, and would like to play the piano.

For exams this term, Mini is doing Grade 6 Recorder with Trinity, and Baby is doing Grade 2. Next term, they are doing Theory exams - Grades 5 and 1 respectively. I know Grade 1 is utterly unnecessary, but Mini found it helpful to have a practice run by doing her Grade 3, and I can think of worse ideas than sending Baby in for the first time with her big sister. The next Flute and Cello exams will be Grades 5 and 2, but not yet.

I need to change their names at some point - Mini is not mini any more. She is 4'8" and up to my top lip. Baby is clearly 7, so I need to think again.

What a daft place to put something that is supposed to make a noise - in a library!

Yes that was my initial reaction but I think it is a question of space more than anything else - it is a town centre school in a historic building so space is an issue I guess! Music doesn't play a big role in post-15 education here (because most serious music students study at the conservatoire), there is no equivalent to A level music.

Mistigri think your DD has done amazingly well with combining the instruments so far, hope all is going well. DS2 has school music lessons in a music room right next to the school library - if they hold parent meetings in there you hear the lessons!
We're back into the swing of things now but I'm already feeling tired. DS2 is working on piano grade 3 (Stormy Coast, the Allegro and Moody Prawn Blues). I'm having a stab at grade 3 in December so might be able to help him a bit. He's also working on his cello grade 2 pieces. That might be for December, the piano exam will definitely be next Summer.
Have just ordered DS1's grade 5 tuned percussion and snare drum music and grade 5 theory papers - I am so glad the percussion teacher is doing the theory with him and he has plenty of time before he needs to take the exam.

One more huge moment for miss 8 - she found out that she scored 30/30 for her Rachmaninov. Lots of amazing positive comments. We are thrilled for her.

Shaky that is so fantastic! How amazing! Congratulations to DD, she must be walking on air at the moment!

Shakyisles what lovely news and it's not surprising that there are lots of positive comments.

Wow Shaky that really is a wonderful result - many congratulations to her!

Thanks everyone for the advice about where Grade 1 fits in after Fiddle Time Joggers. I don't think DD1 and DS will get through it til at least next Spring. They originally had joint lessons (with each other) on teacher's advice but I felt it was holding DD1 back so they now have separate - I think that slowed her progress in the first year.

DD1's first group (school) trumpet lesson was less productive than expected - they placed one note. Hmmm.

Wow, there are some very impressive exam results from some of your DCs - 30/30 is amazing you must be very proud! I imagine they must be passionate about their instruments to achieve so well, which is lovely to hear about.

I've only just realised that DH and DS will be taking exams in the same session. Will DS be reasonable and practise before DH comes in from work? No, he wants to practise when he wants to practise. Will DH wait for twenty minutes while DS does his practice? No, he wants to practise when he wants to practise. Part of me thinks that it will be better to just get the explosion over and done with early on rather than trying to keep the piece from now until December.

knitting is there any way you can provide for simultaneous practice (eg a second instrument in a bedroom?).

I have the opposite problem, which is that ideally I need my DD to be present when I practice (because I am useless at guitar), but she's not around during the week.

I had my first guitar lesson of the term last night and it's sod's law that the new teacher who is taking my group this year has a different way of working (no tab!) and I could really do with her help :-/ DD has the same teacher for her jazz workshop and says he is very good but very demanding.

She is loving piano this year. Her new teacher has started her on slightly easier repertoire than she is used to playing, but I am happy with this, as it will hopefully improve her sight-reading (her weak point on piano) and it means she should extend her repertoire quite quickly. She has a book of pieces that look to fall mostly in the grade 4-6 bracket, and she has been set what looks to be one of the harder pieces in the collection, which has taken her 2 weeks to master/ memorise (for a 2 page score). How long would a student usually work on a piece at this level?

It depends whether they are secure at that level, Mistigri but I would think a few weeks to a few months!

I have just paid for two recorder exams. 112 quid!!! Trying to space things out, but I think we'll have two theory exams next term (much cheaper of course) and a cello and flute exam in the summer - same sort of amount again! Eek!

DD has started the term well on her clarinet although as we are learning the higher notes my neighbours might not agree!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on a new ligature which would apparently benefit DD's playing.

It is "a leather something ligature which is not made of leather but made of plastic".

DD told me this today, her lesson was last Friday! I have googled and you can seemingly get both leather and plastic!

The teacher also suggested it might be something to ask Father Christmas for as it is a bit expensive!

Can't help you Woolley. Hope someone else can.

We are settling into new term. DS2s clarinet teacher decided he can go Grade 6 jazz clarinet next term, as he is at 5 standard now. (School has a special visit once a year in March). DD should be doing Grade 8 sax and DS1 Grade 8 tuba in the same session, am trying not to think of the fees. They do the entries before Christmas so will be to pay for this term.

It'll be last music Exam I'm responsible for for DS1 as he will hopefully be off to Uni next year.

Ouch at two G8's in the same session. We've just paid for G8 and a diploma in the same session, the saving grace is that one is on piano so there will only be a single set of accompanist fees. I'd not thought about it but I'm pretty sure that this will be my child's last exam as a child unless he suddenly shows more interest in the second instrument that's gathering dust (or fails...)

I am sorting out December fixture clashes on a weekly basis now. There are not enough weekends in December. No DS, you can't help out FriendA at her concert that Saturday because you have a concert with GroupB. No, beloved husband, DS cannot do the concert with BandC on that date because he's playing with GroupF. It seems that no-one other than me looks on the calendar before agreeing to more things that clash with things they've already agreed to. DH keep trying to convince me to go digital but with a paper calendar I can see whose writing it is and what's been crossed out. He's more than welcome to copy it but the kitchen calendar is the one that counts.

Icouldbeknitting, so good to hear family diary management and its where it lives logistics are not exclusive to me!

Same here! It's in the kitchen, handwritten and it is the final word!
A friend tried to sync family on some I calendar thing. Ended badly. She was the only one who bothered to look at it.

Nobody looks at anything in my house. But the saving grace is that they wouldn't commit to anything without asking first!

We have the big handwritten family organiser too!

I feel vindicated by this. DH and DS do so much that there's no way to keep tabs on it all without proper planning. DS has started recently with the line "but we spoke about this". Unless we spoke about it while I was holding the pen in my hand writing on the calendar then you're not doing it. End of discussion.

Last year they had more than 30 band jobs in the six weeks up to Christmas. There wasn't much space left on the calendar to write on in December.

We have NO fixtures this term. It's too much with the hours DD has at her new senior high school (8am to 6pm some days). I have turned down a (paying) gig for her in November.

I wanted to ask the pianists here about pianos. DD's conservatoire teacher is very, very hot on dynamics and tone. DD does her lessons on a grand piano - either an "ordinary" one in the classroom, or a concert-standard grand in the auditorium. Her teacher encourages her to really listen to the sound she is making.

Of course this is rather difficult to put into practice at home on a basic digital piano, so we may have to consider upgrading. I am keen to avoid buying an acoustic piano because we will be moving in 18 months and we have limited space. Would buying a decent digital piano make any significant difference in this respect? (She can practice once, or at most twice, on an ordinary upright piano at school in the week).

Mistigri We had/ have a reasonably decent digital piano, weighted keys and pedal until after grade 5. The main difference after the new piano was more practice. Also very loud, as we were used to turning down the volume on the digital! If your digital doesnt have pedals and weighted keys it might be worth upgrading

raspberryripple what did you do post grade 5, get an acoustic? (DD is working on pieces around grade 6-7 standard). At what point does a good digital piano become insufficient?

Current piano is a basic Yamaha digital piano with a plug in pedal ie no damper pedal. But the issue for her teacher seems to be more about how she listens to the sound (which obviously comes from a different place on an acoustic piano!), and the dynamics and "tone".

We got an acoustic. Upright but a good one, we wouldn't have spent that kind of money when the Dc started out!

I can't really answer your question about how necessary it was. DC didn't do any practice on acoustics, and near exams and festival time would go to the teachers house for lessons, (she usually comes to us) to be used to the feel and sound of the acoustic.

It sounds like your DD is able to do some practice anyway on an acoustic.

DS2 did do better at Grade 6 than Grade 5, but not convinced the acoustic is why!

DH plays on an upright piano once a week at his lesson and then on whatever it turns out to be at the exam centre. All his practice is digital. I'm not sure that he'd be any better on a different piano, I don't think he's a natural pianist and he'll get through G8 on hard work rather than innate ability. A lot of his practice is after 10pm, that wouldn't be happening at all without volume control.

Thank you knitting and raspberryripple for the piano advice. I think DD will have to discuss it with her teacher. If she needs to she can use a grand piano at the conservatoire one day a week. Unlike a lot of teenage pianists I would say that musicality is by far DD's strongest point, she is not a very good pianist from the purely technical point of view (she has only been playing for a relatively short time).

I have another question, about theory/ aural this time (sorry).

DD does obligatory theory classes, prob around grade 5 level. She is "behind" the others due to having only 1 year of theory (versus between 4 and 7 years for the other students in her class). She does fine in some things - v strong in rhythm and transposition especially - but struggles with an exercise where the teacher plays a three-note chord, tells them the name of one of the three notes, and then they have to write down the chord.

Can anyone suggest any exercises that would help her with this?