New Year Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

Morning all, and Happy New Year. I decided it was time for a new music thread too. I really enjoy hearing about what everyone (and their DCs) are up to each term, and it's great to hear from new posters too.

I have two DDs. Goo (10) - the child previously known as MiniWaffle. She's not very mini any more... she's 4'10" and catching up with me. Anyway, she plays the recorder, flute, piccolo and a bit of piano when it occurs to her. She is doing Grade 5 Theory and possibly Grade 5 Flute (if the new teacher deems her ready) this term. Next recorder exam will be Grade 7, but possibly not for about 18 months! Am hoping the new flute teacher will also do a bit of piano with her... we'll see.

And Rara (7) - previously known as BabyWaffle - plays the recorder and cello. I was thinking of putting her in for Grade 1 Theory, but she's not keen, so we'll wait. She is in the blissfully calm position of no exams this term - yay!

We all have the local music festival next month. I think Goo is doing 11 Classes, and Rara about 7 (plus possibly helping with some percussion parts). I have 27 groups, pairs and individuals entered, so am going to be busy for the next month or so.

Well done to Goo, that is amazing.

Well done Goo! Amazing result! She is so talented and I am amazed how well she is doing with all the festivals, theory and practice exams and her braces.

Well done to Goo and Five hours DD.

Two days in to our Festival.

DSs school brass ensemble won again, the school has won since 1993. There isn't always competition but there were 3 others this year.

DS1 played one of his best ever pieces and got a distinction but wasn't placed.

There were only 2 in DS2s brass class, he was 1 mark off the winner with a really good performance.

He had a similar result in the piano recital today but got a distinction.

He and a friend won piano duet, and then DS won u17 jazz piano and 13-14 woodwind. All with Distinctions.

Tonight he and DD came joint second in their respective woodwind ensembles.

That's wonderful! Well done to all the raspberries.

Well done, Goo, on a truly remarkable result! Also, it sounds like a triumph for the raspberries as well - lots of great results there, the DCs must be very pleased.
Great to hear about the double bass success as well - a lovely instrument and a triumph over nerves! I sympathise - my piano teacher recommends a large dish of pasta before a performance or exam but that does assume you don't have an exam in the morning...
Theory homework tonight and theory lesson tomorrow. Must admit I am looking forward to Easter holidays!

Well done raspberries! Great results!

I have to say I am sick of the exam prep and I am so ready to see DD move on. I don't even care about the result much now (well I do but I am not bothered of pass/merit/distinction) as I can't stand hearing the three pieces anymore. Beautiful pieces but I stopped hearing them musically, all I can hear is the little mistakes when made.

How do professional pianists (or any professional musicians) bear the length of time of perfecting a piece?

Raspberry: wonderful results!!!

Can I please ask how much practice do your children do each day on a normal day. Mine is doing 30 mins for piano and 15 mins for violin(however has stopped for couple of weeks as focusing on piano exam). Wondering is it enough for grade 3???

Fleur: i feel your pain, I am also so bored of the pieces. Have to find a way to cope/like them better in the next grade

Congratulations Goo! And thanks for info Waffle. It must've been fun being there.

This term, Goo has been doing 20-30 minutes of flute, about 4 times a week, and no recorder apart from a tiny bit for the festival. Theory kind of took over for a while. Based on her practice and her exam result, I now think Grade 5 flute was well overdue really!

Rara does about 20 minutes on each instrument 2-3 times a week. I'll try and concentrate on her a bit more now that Goo's crazy term is almost over - Rara is meant to be doing Grade 2 Cello next term, and we'll aim for Grade 3 Recorder in the autumn.

And Raspberry too. Congrats. Can't keep up.

For us I think we have to do more as my daughter loves music, love learning to play and does practise, doesnt moan however not so talented(terrible sense of pulse, no perfect pitch etc.) and we are not musical...The only thing is if then she will need to sacrify her time for readings and other stuffs. Last night I told her that we wont going anywhere for Easter and she said" I am glad mom, finally I will have time to read all my books-(she is a book worm) then I realised that the last 5-6 months her evening readings were cut into much less as we needed time to practise(still feel like not enough)...She goes to bed around 8.15 and during the day time there is always smth else: chess, play date, playground....

Practice varies here as it depends on what else is happening and fits round other groups. I really know what Fleur and Green mean about listening to the same tunes - they turn into earworms!
DS2 practises cello usually three times a week - we will ramp this up now as he has an exam in May. He plays piano every day but it's not always what's in his practice book! Close to an exam he would do scales before school and then focus on a piece/sight reading after school. He likes to play tennis and do tech or code club as well.
DS1 plays bass guitar every day and rehearses at school. Xylophone is probably 4 times a week for about half an hour. Drum kit has gone a bit quiet (!) although I know he plays at school and practises rhythms.
My own practice is really variable but I aim for four half-hour sessions a week at the moment, although I'm taking part in a concert in May so there may be a panicky increase nearer the time!

DD practises anything around 20 min and 45 min a day depending on her assignments and if exams are coming up. Her bed time is 8,30 and she can read for 10-15 min lights off at 9 the latest.

She does practise every day. Some days she does skip a piece or scales when we are in a rush but other than that she has her routine of 7,30 PM practice session and then getting ready for bed. All her activities are at the weekend and don't need practising at home (as I don't have an ice skating rink in the back garden) and she doesn't do any dancing practice which probably annoys her dancing teacher but she knows dancing is just for fun.

green well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating ;) but that sounds fairly good to me tbh.

DD plays guitar most days, anything between 10 mins on the days she gets home late, up to several hours a day at the weekend if she's in the mood. Whether you'd call it "practice" is another question - I don't think she ever works on the pieces she plays in her jazz guitar class, except to learn a vocal. Occasionally she will steal a chord sequence for one of her own songs (that's practice, right? ).

Piano practice is 30-45 mins whenever she can, which is realistically only 3-4 days a week (on a good week she might do between 2 and 3 hours in total, as she sometimes does two sessions a day at weekends - but she doesn't always do that much). It seems to be enough, but at some point I think she will hit a ceiling. She is in her second year of piano and I think in another year she will have reached the stage where further progress is difficult without more work.

Just checking in for moral support.

Dd1 has Grade 1 violin next week (did Grade 1 theory last week). I've completely messed up because she hadn't realised (how? How??) that it's when it is and suddenly looks worried.

Some virtual luck wishes would be appreciated!

DS(9.5 yrs old) does 30 mins to 45 mins Piano practice everyday except some days when we are out or really very busy with other things( then 10-15 mins) He also plays Tennis 3-4 days/week and 2 days basketball. He also plays Guitar 10 mins/2-3 times/week only. Once a week drawing for 1.5 hrs. He will be appearing for Grade-1 theory this summer and Grade-2 Piano in Autumn if everything goes ok. As such he is able to play grade 3 pieces on his own but teacher is moving pretty slow so can't progress more. We have lots of academic pressure here because of monthly exams.

Oh all the best of luck 2ndsopranosrule Dd1. Sometimes better if you don't have too much time to worry about the date.

2nd: best of luck, we did grade 1 violin last Nov when my daughter was nearly 8 after only 4 months of practising(1 year at school group lesson however so slow and didnt progress much). I could never say she is talented although she loves learning(anything). Before the exam I thought she might not pass, she had a merit for it. I'd say try not to be panic(I know its hard especially when they are so young and its the first one) and arrive early. Best of luck!

All, thank you for sharing, so we are not very far off comparing to everone else.

To be honest to us academic is still number 1, I am worried she focuses too much more on her extra curri these days and might have her academic learning slipped. A year ago I had her read to me everynight, we have maths quizzes, she writes diary, short stories etc. These days it has all been on music(and we are not even doing it properly or good enough) I have the feeling if we invest more on all extra curri then her academic might suffer(there are also (although much less time consuming)French lesson, drawing, swimming. I have a rule of trying not to study/learn at weekends however it seems like to keep up with the quality for everything she needs to do some practice on weekends too. Tough decision!

Good luck 2nd I am sure your DD will be fine!

Green this is the reason we are not able do introduce a second instrument, I don't see where the time to practice it will come from without taking away from piano or academic work. We live in an area of 11+ also so we need to start thinking about secondary school admission soon as DD is year 4 (summer born- August). Still in two minds about a musical route or academic route. Currently piano and academic seem to be keeping up but without a second instrument I can't hope too much on the musical route.

Wow there are some amazing results! well done all :)

Impressed with the daily 30-45 mins practice mom17. We get that maybe 3x week or so even now, I keep telling dd2 ( tongue in cheek) she could be good if she'd only practice!

green children are at school a minimum of 6 hours a day, if that's not enough there is something wrong ...

I think extracurricular activities teach a whole range of skills that bright kids don't necessarily learn at school, like focus and persistence and the idea that practice really does make perfect.

Anyway, funny DD anecdote. She was in BIG trouble yesterday and her phone has been confiscated. She got home from school late tonight, and she's just gone and fetched her guitar and she is now serenading me with an improvised song describing how much she regrets being naughty and asking if I will give her her phone back. I have no idea how she can improvise like that - the "song" is complete with verse, chorus, middle eight and coda, and the lyrics even rhyme. Yet she assures me she is making it all up as she goes along!

No idea how she does it but she is still not getting her phone back yet .

Misti she is in emotional pain and therefore more creative

LOL ... Just had the improvised jazz vocal solo version ... Think young Amy Winehouse

Mistiri: ha ha ha, she is so funny!!! She could def get away with anything if I was her mom hahaha

Fleur, I am thinking of 11+ too and similar to you london sw is a heavily 11+ focused area. I think around Spring year 5, 11+ should be prioritised, you still have 1 year for music. Then after that she will be less worrying about any big exam for at least Gcse(or thats what I am trying to tell myself).