July Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

Welcome to wet July (well it's wet here) and a new thread. This is the place where we can talk about all things musical, like music lessons, exams, practice and new instruments. I am a music teacher (woodwind) and have two daughters. Goo is 10 and her first instrument is recorder, although on paper, flute has now caught up. She plays flute in NCO Under 11s, has just received the difficult bits she's meant to work on, so is finally cracking on with sorting out her piccolo. She started piano lessons at Easter and is going fast, currently playing Grade 3 pieces, and working through the Grade 2 sight reading and Dozen a Day books. Rara is 8 and far less keen - we are still currently trying to figure out what she really enjoys so that we can encourage her. But for now, she's learning the recorder and cello, and is between Grade 2 and 3 on both.

Goo did her flute exam on June 23rd, and now won't have any until at least March, or next June if I can push for that. Rara will probably do Grade 3 Recorder at Christmas. I have had a quiet exam term for my pupils - 7 altogether. 4 are already safely through (3 merits and a distinction), we are awaiting results for a Grade 6 Theory, and I have a couple of clarinettists still to go on Monday.

BTW, I have nothing against studying law or medicine - I just seem to have met recently a bunch of disillusioned people from both fields that admit they were forced into their careers by their parents, for monetary purposes, but are at cross roads now as to what to do because they are deeply unfulfilled...

(my last point, I promise)!

Ealing: absolutely not, you only stated the fact. I havent even thought of year 4 not mentioning a career choice. Music is wonderful, it trains her on attention to detail, being perfectionist, improving resilience and enriching our family life so much more. Music lesson and instruments costs, music entertainment are the most expensive items in our household apart from our mortgage and we are so happy to invest in it.

I think the problem with the OP was starting with how much money one is going to earn.

Who knows who is going to earn what and be successful at what career... A crystal ball would be nice! But music makes you happy.

ealing thank you so much, you always make me feel better about things (ever thought of becoming a psychotherapist?
After struggling for more than 20 years in an arts related freelance career, sometimes fantasizing with having a "normal" life with a salary at the end of the month, an office to go to, a pension plan, etc, I'm just probably "transferring". Not fair, I know. He still has all our support though!

I don't think I get out enough so you guys get it here

Rue, thanks I will ask in our local music shop tomorrow if they can do it, if not I will pm you. You are correct we are based in se22

I have quite a proper job unrelated to music but lots of my colleagues are musicians and I join an amateur music group and I play for myself and I am happy. Don't have to make a living from it.

This is it - you can do music as a major hobby and it will bring a lot of joy - and I speak as someone who has/had relatives who basically worked to pay for their music listening, they weren't even performers.
If a child has a gift for something and wants to pursue it I think they should - although there is also no shame in trying and then switching if it doesn't work out!

But when do you have time for a hobby?
Between making a living, doing house work, keeping garden decent, life sorting stuff (shopping, house maintenance, emailing, insurances, bills), cooking, caring for elderly parents and mothering, frankly I'm out of time. And I'm not even mentioning the exercise which I am suppose to do if I want to live to 80!
I know many people who entered good paying careers thinking they would keep play music/paint/write/dance etc as a hobby, then 25 years later they went - wait, what happened to all the stuff I was supposed to do? Never happened.

I had a gap of about 20 years where I don't play. But now the kids are a bit bigger I get about 15-20 minutes a day maybe about 3-4 days a week. Not going to get me to the Royal Albert Hall but good enough to keep me sane.

But I don't work long hours and I don't have caring duties apart from DC. The garden is sporting a natural look. Exercise - I don't do much, swim once a week when DC have lessons, that's about it... But I do pick very hard pieces to play on the piano - does that count?

As you get older and have kids and work then any hobby is difficult, let's face it! Hours are often very long if a job pays even OK, let alone well. BIL played in a very good amateur orchestra in London and in a string quartet pre-children and he still manages to do the string quartet, just not so often. He has way more energy than I do, though! I think if you reach a good standard when you're young and you want to continue to play, it is possible as an amateur but maybe less so when you're the main carer.
I only started piano after some major changes in life - I don't practise enough when things are busy with work and kids, as they have been recently, but I'm not a natural musician, I just get an awful lot out of it.
(My garden also sports the natural look! But it's very good for wildlife!)

Lots of people play a lot more when they retire. But I know a few people who picked up an instrument in their 40s-50s.

Hello all. Not been around much due to work and other commitments, including packing DD off for her two week music camp that started on Sunday. I spoke to her tonight and she is enjoying herself playing her third and fourth instruments LOL. There is already a guitarist and pianist in her group, but no bassist, so she is playing bass and also some sax. It's the first time the sax has come out for a while.

She's done the same camp several times and the organisers tend to use her to fill in the gaps as she's versatile - they generally have plenty of guitarists and drummers but good bass players are thin on the ground. Although it's common on this thread, in RL I've met very few adolescents who are competent on more than one instrument.

On the subject of careers DD is adamant that she won't study music. She doesn't want to teach, she isn't good enough for an orchestral career, and contemporary music is too much of a lottery, there is no money in it except for a lucky few. She is considering medicine - personally I don't think it's a good choice for her but she's at that age where if I express a negative opinion it'll make her more determined to do it...

Ladies, what AIBU discussion you were talking about? cannot find....

Mistigri, reminds me of a French surgeon who came over to the UK for a few !onths. Her mother was a piano teacher and I think she said she was quite into violin. Although med school not too bad, once she started her surgical training, music went out of the window.

Here you go onlymusic

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2687914-To-not-understand-why-parents-encourage-music

Thank you ealingwestmum

Interesting conversations on music careers. I am very much of the opinion that Gove and co are making a mistake focusing on STEM rather than STEAM. Without the creativity Arts based education adds to STEM I think the UK risks losing its competitive edge.

Scotland has gone in the opposite direction. I did 3 sciences, Latin etc at school with no Arts O grades. My own DC have compulsory Arts subject to GCSE equivalent and I can see how much richer their education is. I say that with DD1 who is talking about following me into finance and DD2 who is considering Maths / Physics / engineering. DH is an IT professional and considers creativity (as well as methodical attention to detail) to be absolutely key to his sector.

howabout we also have compulsory art and music to GCSE equivalent - the music tuition is poor quality though, and was a waste of time for DD except for the 20/20 she got towards her school leaving diploma. They also have two compulsory foreign languages right up to A-level equivalent. DD is specialising in science but she still gets bilingual teaching (history and geography taught in spanish) and does literature and philosophy. She is an all rounder and the UK system would be very inappropriate for her.

Only downside for her is that sport is compulsory and counts towards your final mark

howabout agree with every word!
Mistigri hope your DD has a lovely time at camp - glad she gets to play bass! DS1 has spotted an opportunity for bass playing in a jazz group but it's by invitation only so I fear he will be disappointed this time round.
Well, ds1 hasn't contacted us but I hear the music groups arrived at their hostel in Germany around midnight on Monday. Coaches meant to leave at 5.45am didn't show up, by the time that was sorted they'd missed their scheduled crossing! However, the clip on Twitter shows sunshine and activity yesterday so I think they are having a good time!

Wednesday, not Monday! Finishing the school term on Thursday was obviously too much for my brain!
Have spotted ds1 online playing bass drum, possibly standing behind a pillar, rehearsing with the marching band and loitering under a tree eating ice cream while one of the other bands played! Not a bad life!

When and where I was growing up people draw quite a line at "Arts" and "Science". It is utterly ridiculous. People are simply not that simple. At least most people are not... You wonder about some politicians ...

The arts/science split in UK education is very damaging, I think. I know so many arts graduates without even basic functional everyday maths, and many science graduates who can't communicate in writing, don't have languages etc.

Depending on what course she chooses DD may well be required to continue a broad based education even after leaving school - one possibility is a "prepa" which would involve continuing with most of her academic subjects for a further two years before specialising (personally I think this would be better for her than going straight to med school, as she will only be 17).

loose DD is a big fan of the bass - she's never done formal lessons but she's a natural (plays like a bassist, not like a guitarist moonlighting on bass). Might have something to do with her first guitar teacher being a bassist. The bassist in my guitar class is leaving, so if we are short of a bassist in September she is going to fill in.

Misti your comments on bassists made me smile. My DD2 is a "natural" Viola player partly because she started with it rather than transferring from violin.

DD1 was giving me a lecture this morning on how the bass line is the key to the structure of composition - Keith Richards is interesting on this. I get all this while trying to ease myself into the day with my morning coffee - my fault for encouraging her to go beyond grade 5 theory.