May/ June Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

Welcome, everyone. I can't believe we need a new thread already, but I'm delighted that they now seem so popular!

I'm Waffle, I'm a music teacher and I have two daughters - Goo (10) who plays the recorder, flute, piccolo (a bit) and started the piano a month ago, and Rara (8) who isn't as musically inclined but plays the cello and recorder. She is plodding (very) slowly towards Grade 3 on both.

We're going on holiday this weekend, so will have to have a good read when I get back. For now, I'll wind the thread up and let it do its stuff.

Prada, amazing result, this is a big WOW from me for achieving from G1-G5 in violin at 9-10 in less than a year(because we find it very hard for us)!

Loose, everyone else, good luck!!!

Cote I see what you mean by Le Rappel des Oiseaux. I'm very tempted ... But I may try Les Sauvages and Les Cyclopes first. Les Sauvages sounds more manageable and Les Cyclopes looks really fun to play.

I'm off to see if I can find them on IMSLP!

I am that you can play Les Cyclopes. It does look like a lot of fun to play. I would love to be able to play it one day. Maybe not in the next couple of years, though.

Meanwhile, Les Sauvages and Les Cyclopes from ICouldBe's link above. Thank you, ICouldBe

Hah! Having looked at the score I don't think I can play Les Cyclopes. It will have to be Les Sauvages.

You know one of those youtube vids where they show you the score while the music plays? A great reality check, it is.

But it does look fun.

Great news Loose and Prada!
In terms of more or less difficult instruments, you do hear of children making big leaps and fast progress in grades on other instruments more often than you hear of it on piano, which usually (with exceptions) takes longer to master. DS needs to put much more practice time into piano to achieve the same result...
I watched BBCyoungmusician's final with a professional musician, and she said that what the cellist was doing was way harder than what the sax player was doing she ducks waiting for NewLife4Me 's answer

Hello. I have read most but not all of this thread and wanted to drop in . I have one son 6.5 yrs who is about to do his prep test on recorder then G1 in the autumn.

I am not musical. I learnt tenor sax for a few years as a teenager, but was taught in 'for fun' classes. I have rhythm and timing and an 'ear' for a bum note, but can't read music (can work it out) and most difficult cannot tell if he is actually playing an F (for example) when he is meant to be!

He has lessons at (private) school once a week, but I feel bad that I can't help him more at home.

The music teachers at school and his peri all tell me he is very talented(!) and are pushing for him to audition to be a Chorister. But the only thing he likes about Choristership is "they get to learn two instruments". He doesn't particularly like singing so we are.not going for it.

So, experienced and musical people, DS wants to learn another instrument as well as recorder next year (at the.moment flute but also like brass). I would like him to learn piano as it seems a lifelong skill. Any help and advice gratefully received

OMG that was an essay - sorry!

Well done Miniprada I am so impressed! Gosh I now feel DD need to raise to the high expectations of this thread on her second instrument! (just joking, she'll progress as fast as she will).

Welcome BeBesideTheSea! I am sure more experienced people will come along to advise you with regards to second instrument but at that age I would start with piano, we do loved piano in this house though.

DD decided that she'll practice ahead on clarinet as she really wants to play Ode to joy and jingle bells. She also spent 10 min doing her rythm composition homework on the piano so she played happy birthday by ear and "composed" that as her rythm.

She then went on to tell me she wants to concentrate on studying music and go to the music school. Yesterday it was ice skating...

Thanks Fleur. How old is your DD? (I am with you about no violin )

She's 8.

Violin is beautiful...after grade 5

Hi everyone .. Congratulations to the mini-peeps on exam results
Dd has been playing the piano for about a year and clarinet for 6 years. She says the piano is much easier ..."because all the notes are there for you to see and each note exists as a note.. And you don't have to hold the instrument and get your mouth right too"
However .. I think the clarinet has informed her piano playing hugely .. particularly in terms of finger strength and two handed agility ( as well as sight reading / music theory obvs)

BesideTheSea Piano!

besidethesea piano is probably my advice. Do you have one at home?

I am not musical. I learnt tenor sax for a few years as a teenager, but was taught in 'for fun' classes. I have rhythm and timing and an 'ear' for a bum note, but can't read music (can work it out) and most difficult cannot tell if he is actually playing an F (for example) when he is meant to be!

Welcome BeBesideTheSea this is me too, replacing tenor sax for violin! However, I've learnt not to make it an issue, they just end up being more independent with good teaching support and parents acting as time managers for practice

No real advice on best 2nd instrument other than the added value piano brings later in their music development...

bebesidethesea.. Welcome.
I am not musical at all either. I think this has been a good thing for our relationship as dd has got older.
I just make encouraging noises .
I can't help her... (which is a shame).. But I also can't be critical in a specific way about her playing because I have no idea whatsoever.. Dd is quite a fiesty character and a major head pecker .. It's a good thing there aren't any arguments about music

Morning all! Just back from G5 music practice (we are on hols in the Middle East) so finding a place to practice during ramadan has been a challenge. The price of music lessons here are frankly

Congrats to those with results so far. Definitely agree piano is a useful second study although piano was miniprada's first originally and now violin has taken over thanks to a beautiful antique instrument (much easier IMO to make a beautiful sound). Mini has finished all three pieces this week (4 x 90 min morning sessions) by herself so she thinks Her teacher will be very proud when we return (not to mention received as exam is on 01.07!!) it's lovely when they are doing well to make themeselves and the teacher proud not anyone else.

Looking forward to a bit of a break from music exams whilst we do secondary school applications from September - including auditions for music scholarships - (well this was the master plan but as we all know, best laid plans....!)

Hope everyone is getting on well this week. Looking forward to hearing Goo when I get better wifi

Prada well done to mini one!!!
I also agree that piano is good to have. Building up now to exams (4 this session) ...

Prada good luck with secondary school applications! I had one go through last year, it was hard lots of wine (for me). He applied for music scholarship (at 11+) with two instruments at Gr5 but did not even make it to auditions, there were much more advanced candidates.
Now for the middle one I know that to stand realistic chance to audition, really he needs to be around grade 7-8. This is London/South East, but maybe different for where you are applying to...

Loose and prada what fabulous results, well done to your DC :)

bebesidethesea piano is a good choice, but tbh I think 6 is very young for a second instrument especially for a child who is still in the very early stages with his first instrument. My experience (having briefly experimented with this when DD was about 7) is that being a beginner on two instruments leads to not terribly good results on either, though of course it depends hugely on your child's motivation levels! As you'll see from the discussion above, it's often possible to make rapid progress on piano as a second instrument as a slightly older starter - there are at least three examples on this thread including my DD (although I wouldn't recommend leaving it as late as she did).

DH has taken DD to the conservatoire this morning for a practice session on the grand piano she will be playing next week at the audition. She is used to playing this piano as she often uses it in lessons, but apparently our digital piano is wholly unsuitable for fine tuning.

This leaves us in a difficult position as we can't reasonably buy an acoustic piano at the moment since we will have moved by this time next year. But if we wait another year it will hardly be worth getting one, since by that point dd will only have another year left before she leaves for higher education. So we may need to look seriously at the better digital pianos, or maybe consider renting an acoustic.

Wow at Prada's DD. What an achievement! Congrats.

My older DC got into a specialist music school within a Scottish state school on G5 piano and G4 violin. Come to Scotland! Seriously though - very good luck. So nervewracking.

I can't help DS much with his instrument either but in some ways that's not a bad thing as it gives him 'ownership' of his playing/practice/progress IYSWIM. He enjoys explaining how difficult certain technical things are.

He laughed because a music teacher at his new school who had overheard him practising double bass - he's the only db in the whole school - came in to take a class he was in and remarked, "I hear we have a whale now". I assume he was practising long tones.

I ask DS2 occasionally if he has a favourite instrument but he insists he loves them both the same and it would be wrong to choose between them! I think cello really has its own challenges compared with piano and he's never claimed one is easier overall apart from sight reading - he is relieved cello has one line of music!
As a little girl I wanted to play clarinet, having learned recorder in one of those all-class groups notorious at the time! My mum was a huge jazz fan so I'd heard a fair amount of clarinet music! Unfortunately my top two front teeth hadn't come through completely and the clarinet teacher talked me into flute. I did very well for a while with a private teacher who helped me get a great sound out of it but hated the exams. Aged 14 I abandoned the flute forever. Decades later, I got brave enough to try a free introductory piano lesson and was instantly hooked. It is easier for me than the flute because the requirements suit me better - the flute is actually physically very demanding in a way that for me outweighed having to read two lines of music. I suppose the other thing I like about piano is the sense of 'I'll never be able to play THAT hands together' followed a few weeks later by 'oh hang on, yes I can!😀

Bebeside re helping your son - you should take some recorder lessons too! When dd was learning recorder, I also took some lessons - having played clarinet as a child it came very easily, and with the clarinet experience to draw upon, I was able to play descant, alto and tenor recorders - handy for accompanying DD and other students in duets and ensembles! Coming from tenor sax I would guess that it would be very easy for you to pick up recorder fingerings.

BeBesideTheSea Flute! It has to be something the child REALLY wants, and it is easy (therefore faster and cheaper) to pick up piano at 9 or 10. Or even at 15, like I was - although it was a bit of a scramble to get to where I needed to be for university, so 15 is a bit late in some ways. My DD (10) started recorder at 3 and flute at 6, and still loves both. She added piano this term.

Congratulations on all the fab exam results coming in. I have 4 Trinity candidates and an ABRSM Grade 6 Theory next week, then 2 ABRSM practicals on July 4th. Also about halfway through this term's 16 or 17 Music Medals - I am losing track.