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.

I just had my final results in for the term - exams were taken on July 4th. 9 year old girl got a merit for Grade 3 clarinet, and 9 year old boy (who started in January) passed his Grade 1 clarinet, despite messing up on the day.

Waffle well done to your students! Are you looking forward to a break now? We're waiting for dS2's piano result, hopefully will be in next week.
Mistigri and howabout DS1 is interested in guitar but his great love is bass so he's very much a bass player who adapts! His teacher is a guitarist so at some point he may ask for guitar lessons as well.
He's come up with a very snazzy bass line for his EPQ composition but is now stumped about what to put on top of it! He has plenty of time though.

Great news on both students waffle! Hope you get to relax now...though I remember you were about to embark on some gentle theory work with Rara

howabout, is there much difference in learning violin and viola, do you know by any chance? Is there much difference in technique?

Well done to your students Wafflenose! Sometimes I feel so sorry for the teachers, they have to deal with all sorts of personalities and abilities and I imagine it is not the easiest job! I certainly would not fancy to teach my two but someone has to!

Well done to your students waffle.

I do love teaching! I also enjoy a bit of gentle performing, and (especially) composing. I'm embarking on a bit of orchestral writing over the summer.

And yes, Rara is going to start the Grade 1 book on Monday. She did some of the preliminary sticker books last year when Goo was doing hers, and at a push could have sat Grade 1 a term or two ago. But I'm going to start her off officially, because she struggles with cello note naming and time signatures - this might help.

Aaaah... this is good Wafflenose, you do sound like you are a good teacher and is very fond of your students
We had quite a few teachers for two children and three instruments (which are down to two now) and though I deliberately changed some of the teachers as I didn't feel their teaching style suited my children all of them have been good teachers. Apart from one, who was quite nasty, fortunately we found it out very quickly and dropped almost immediately, so no damage was done apart from me being very angry :).
However, the more we are into music lessons the more I realise the importance of a teacher-student match (as teachers may also dislike some of their students) and I am getting very frustrated when some of my music newbie friends think that the best teacher is a bargain teacher and any will do as soon as they don't charge much.

Well done Waffle! Fab news.

Waiting here for G5 piano in the next couple of weeks. New syllabus for G6 piano came through with the CD as I ordered through ABRSM rather than Amazon so we listened to them all in the car. She's decided on Cruella DeVil for her C list piece and is v excited about it! Let's hope she passed G 5!! We are mostly through the first two pieces for G 7 violin and starting the double stop scales when we return from hols after this week. Don't mind getting up early when there is a plane to catch!!

only I am in no way an expert, The main superficial differences are that music is on a different clef and as the instrument is bigger it suits people like DD2 with massive flexible hands and fingers.

However the whole feel of the voice of the instrument is different and that comes through in the differences in repertoire and what register of the instrument is used - tends to be more lower voice playing than the scaling of the heights violin register ventures into. Tends to be less in the way of intricate embellishment and more focus on melody.

The difference in feel also comes through in bowing weight and technique and the styles of playing.

There are loads of people who double up but someone like me will always be a violinist who doubles up while DD2 has just spent a week on a course fiddling with my violin and now cannot wait to get back to a "proper instrument". The viola played well is a much richer, fuller sound than a violin (well mine anyway) and I think that takes a bit of getting used to if you switch.

Would be interested in hearing what others think as this is all very much just my personal view?

Waffle, great result for end of this school year! And good luck on Rara's theory!
I am also having my ears open on violin vs viola

howabout I do love the sound of the viola and I think it's great that your DD specialises in it - as you say, it has a different role in the orchestra. I wonder if it's similar with cellists who can play double bass versus a double bassist who concentrates on it? (I don't think my little cellist is going for the double bass as well but his teacher teaches both, whereas I know another bass teacher who plays double bass and flute, but not cello.)

I've always adored the viola, when I was young I even preferred it to the violin. Of course the pity is there is very little solo repertoire for it compared to violin.
Waffle congratulations for your students results. I do wonder how you experience all this from a teacher point of view, as it's different from a student's and parent's pov. You must feel a little pride?
DS is working on Fly of the Bumblebee on the marimba and Mozart's Sonata in G on the piano. It's amazing what daily long dedicated practice can do during the holidays. You can see the improvement in gigantic, huge leaps, everyday. He starts some tricky difficult passages which seem impossible to play and in a few days, after hard work, they flow like butter and I marvel at the human mind and body and mostly at the effect of practice. Next week is a music course with he's attending together with his jazz trio from school, two adorable teens who are as crazy about music as DS and they have something really special going on. Lucky boy.

drummersmum that is fantastic! Well done to your DS and I am sure he is going to have the best time on his music course!
I'd like to think ds1 can consolidate what he's done on xylophone this year over the summer and work on the new piece (pieces?). That reminds me, I was meant to get him another snare drum book...
I did serious and committed practice on the piano yesterday for my pieces. Today I am going to start my scales pot!

Howabout, I agree on the deeper tone of the viola too. DD switched from violin to viola and it really suits her. I enjoy the sound a lot more as well. She's tall and has long fingers so the viola fits her better. It did mean learning a different clef but it's probably useful to have two clefs under your belt. She did try to continue playing violin with her school orchestra but found it too tricky to switch back and forth. It wasn't helped by the fact that she then no longer liked the sound of the violin anymore.

Also, I am very pleased with the change from ABRSM to Trinity. I have noticed Trinity puts more emphasis on expression - don't know if it's the same for the lower grades, but it's definitely a difference for the upper grades. For example, the scales, arpeggios etc - there are less to learn for Trinity, but they have to be learned Forte, Piano, MF and Piano-Forte-Piano and the examiner chooses to ask the student to play one way or another. There are also what they call "exercises" which are excerpts from famous pieces which have to be learned like the pieces but they are designed and chosen to tackle three different aspects of technique and expression (tone, balance and voicing - co-ordination - and finger & wrist strength and flexibility). I like the approach very much.

That's really interesting about Trinity, drummersmum. I like that you can do separate exams in each of xylophone, timpani and snare drum or play all three. Got DS1's report today with lots of lovely comments but also a very astute one about the need for detailed technical practice! Sounds like his teacher is going to help him build good practice habits next term, which he does need - he plays quite a bit at home and it sounds very nice, but he tends to focus on what's going well!

Yes Loose, I was talking about piano in terms of scales with dynamics, but like you say their approach to percussion is also better. In a recent discussion with DS' teacher, he said Trinity percussion was slightly better regarded.

I just started browsing through the tiger mum book which I never read - morbid curiosity. But I think I'm going to abandon it because I've just come across this:
"I wanted her to be well rounded and to have hobbies and activities. Not just any activity, like “crafts,” which can lead nowhere—or even worse, playing the drums, which leads to drugs —"

I don't know, but it has really pissed me off. What a narrow minded, ignorant woman. And I guess I'm a really bad mother.

Oh, drummersmum, the book is big fun actually, something to think about but you have to take it with a pinch of salt. However the end result is quite interesting... basically proves that there is no right or wrong method in bringing up a child but very much depends on a child too.

howabout thank you for your answer-it is pretty much in line with what I have heard before (don't agree about sound though, but I am sure you will understand ). I am interested in violin vs viola because

1. some teachers reckon that if you learn violin it is a good idea to learn viola as well as violas are more in demand(?) 2)music newbie df found a viola teacher to teach her dc violin - I wonder whether it is a wise step? I already discovered that even violin teachers teach very differently (have quite a few friends with dc violinists) and not equally .... in-depth? and this is not even violin teacher?

Thanks only, I will keep reading.

Loose you are keeping me motivated with my practice.

I like the exercises and later on orchestral excerpts in the Trinity syllabus too. They also have a new separate Scottish fiddle syllabus all the way up to grade 8. Mine haven't done any exams with them but we use them often for resource ideas.

drummers my favourite part of the Scottish music concert I went to yesterday was the percussion section. 20 kids all showing us what they had learnt in a week and showing off so much rhythm and co-ordination and team work and fun.

I was out sticking and gluing at the museum with DD3 today. We went past the pipes and drums band off on the way. Not sure what Tiger Mum would say to all this

I thought it was the crafts and drums that keep DS1 out of mischief! Tiger Mum wouldn't approve of him being in the marching band, then! And clearly she has no idea just how much concentration it takes!
I love the idea of a Scottish fiddle syllabus, such lovely music!
I've just ordered Cello sprinters for DS2. He's a bit bored with the same tunes from the Suzuki book and I thought he could pick out a couple of things for himself and see how he gets on.

We almost didn't practice for the last two week as there were no lessons-was trying to make dd playing violin yesterday - it was.... hard! But we have lesson on Monday, so hopefully once music routine is back it will be easier....Piano... is a bit behind, I find it too difficult to keep up with two instruments....