September Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello to all musicians and parents of musicians, both old and new, beginners and advanced! Feel free to share whatever you like, and ask away about anything to do with music, exams, concerts, repertoire, practice, etc.

We are all heading back to school and work this coming Monday. My daughters Goo (10) and Rara (8) will be going into Year 6 and Year 4 respectively. Goo plays the recorder, flute and piano (just took up piano in April) and I have slapped a ban on exams for about a year - she has been doing too many. Rara plays the recorder and cello, and will be doing whole class brass lessons during Year 4. She's taking Grade 3 Recorder this term, and is about two-thirds of the way through the Grade 1 Theory book, doing it in her own sweet time and bloody annoying unique way. Goo's main project will be NCO and county auditions... not that she's busting a gut currently!

We're moving to a full hour piano as of next week rather than two 30 min session, DD's piano teacher said she wants her to do an hour regularly and get used to it as at grade 5 you need to learn to concentrate.

Apparently she wants her to do grade 5 next summer as she wants to ensure she gets a solid distinction before finishing year 5. Fair enough, to be fair I was dreading the stress of starting the pieces around November and rushing through them, like that at least she has lots of time to cover a lot of work including aural which I understand it is much harder at grade 5.

I've contacted him- he's full unfortunately 😔

The best-laid plans sigh! For long-winded reasons booked cab to and from piano lesson but cab was no- show and couldn't be contacted. Phoned piano teacher who was lovely and we ended up doing all the planning for this term on the phone instead of at her house! She is going to do some theory with ds2 (hitherto resistant to 'not fun' theory) and commented that he is a 'free spirit'. Rest of family call him 'stubborn'! She assured no rush to do grade 4 but there is a piece in grade 4 book he would love - Bow chicka wow wow. Told ds2 who looked hopeful so went out and bought it and he's already heard it on cd, watched it on YouTube and started playing it! (Next week we're going on the bus. Unfortunately, the bus stops outside Krispy Kreme...)

Loose sounds like a good plan. Including the Krispy Kreme.

We have done piano lesson and now at clarinet. Decided that DD will do a festival and maybe a competition next year, before doing grade 5.

Waiting now to hear what the clarinet teacher says regarding her plans.

Fleur I know, although I can put on weight just smelling Krispy Kremes
Festival and competition will be a great idea for Minifleur. Sounds like your Saturday mornings are quite busy! We are suddenly down to 1 hour of string orchestra on Saturdays as everything else is crammed into after-school lessons and groups during the week! I was actually sitting up in bed drinking a cup of coffee and reading at 8am this morning. Not rushing around finding two lots of music stands/music/instruments and shouting at DCs to get up, dress and eat.

My whole Saturday is busy as she does a sport also from 2-3pm. And then tomorrow DS has a football match 9 am.

So DD is being entered for grade 1 clarinet this term and then she'll skip grade 2 and do grade 3 either March or summer session. It will probably be the same session as piano in the end but DD's piano teacher said she had that quite often as a child with her two instruments so we'll see how it goes.

se22mother guess which piece DD chose for the B option. Yup, Moscow Nights, the one you told me to stay away from it. Well she'll give it a try...

Fleur I hope she is going to audition for NCO next year. I teach a girl the same age who is trying out this year as a warm-up, but it's possible they would end up together in Under 11s, 2018!

Goo's county auditions are on October 11th, and NCO a few days later. She has a brace appointment in the interim. If they decide blocks can come off and train tracks can go on, we are going to have to ask if it can wait until November.

Good luck to Goo and your pupil auditioning for NCO. I have to say I don't know much about it at all. I have been on he website but I don't understand how it works. Do you go for practice every weekend? Do you then pay for extra teaching? Do they want you to give up your teacher? Sorry, I know I am asking silly questions.

Alexandra ah, I don't think it's the same one! And after googling the title, I now know more than I used to about its meaning!
Waffle best of luck to Goo with the auditions - and with the brace appointment! Nothing is ever straightforward is it?!
Fleur ds2 did both his grade 3 exams last term. I honestly don't think it affected the outcome doing two in one term (and it may happen again) but doing them alongside year 6 SATS and CATS for secondary school might have led to him being a bit brain tired by the second one! Interestingly he did a bit better in the cello exam, which he took up after piano and for which he'd prepared in a far shorter time! I'd be ok with doing both the same term again if he had longer to prepare for the cello one but in some respects I am glad we got grade 3 out of the way.

Fleur no to all of those things. The child stays with your regular teacher, but goes on a residential course for their age group (e.g. Under 10s) for a week during the summer holidays. They are also invited to join a local orchestra spanning a wider age range, which meets about 7 times per year. There are two levels of membership - Full (as described above) and Associate (regionals only). Goo is trying out for the 3rd time soon, and although she is still 10, it goes by calendar year of birth, so she would have to be Under 12s next year. We know another flautist born in 2005 who's been bumped up a year, so was in Under 12s this year, but I think that's pretty rare.

Fleur DS2 did Grade 4 piano and Grade 3 trombone on consecutive days (Merit/Distinction). It was fine but it was tiring. It was in Y5, first exam day after his birthday. He also did a singing exam in the same session as Grade 6 piano. I wouldn't like him to do it with higher grades as there is so much extra practice round exam times and more homework these days!

He is skipping so many exams on clarinet and trombone now it isnt a problem, and he won't do a singing grade until his voice has changed.

Thank you Waffle for the NCO info. We'll have a look when the time comes.

Thank you all for your experience with exams for two instruments in the same session. We'll play it by ear when it comes to it but I do agree that is must be harder at higher grades and to be fair once clarinet exams bring the pressure that piano ones do, with extra practice and so on I am not sure I want to have it at the same time.

I know I will out myself but I have nothing to hide so there is DD playing her clarinet grade 1 piece

Well done minii Fleur. She's lovely, clarinet looks nearly as big as her!

Aw, that's lovely! Thanks so much for posting! Plenty of people on here know exactly who I am, but I don't have a problem with that - I try not to say anything private, controversial or unkind!

That's a great start with one of the pieces. She plays in tune better than some of my beginners. There's occasional flatness, but that's normal. I'd get her to look at tonguing/ slurring and where to breathe next, and hopefully the teacher can write in some interesting dynamics. Bearing in mind her rate of progress so far, and the fact there are still a few things to work on, I think this session is the right one for her.

Both my girls have done two exams in the same session before. Rara had Initial Cello and Grade 1 Recorder, one after the other on the same day, when she was 6. Goo did Grade 5 Theory and Flute together in March. We are going to space her two Grade 7s out next year, so they don't clash though.

I'd forgotten about Grade 4 clarinet and Grade 5 theory within a couple of weeks of each other, plus local Festival with around 10 classes on 4 instruments. Do not do this!

DS1 did Grade 8 then too, that was straightforward.

Thank you Raspberry and Waffle! Raspberry you made me laugh with the comment about the clarinet size, indeed she is petite (so am I) so she is on the smaller scale for a 9 yo I would say, the clarinet does look massive in her hands.

Waffle thank you for your expert comments I really appreciate it. I did hear her teacher talking about slurs/tongueing and teaching her how to breathe, when she counts with her she calls the rests "breathe". She asked DD to choose the third piece today after assigning the second, told her that hopefully in the next two weeks pieces are all learnt and in rythm and then they will add "sparkles" to them until the exam deadline so I presume that includes dynamics.

I don't know why but I feel like the teacher is similar to you Waffle everything you told us before starting and in the first two weeks the teacher followed with the same comments/advice. And she teaches clarinet/flute/sax in a private school just like you. DD loves her and she said today she is her favourite teacher. Shhhh don't tell the piano teacher.

What is good is that DD's piano teacher does the piano accompaniment of the clarinet teacher so DD will be able to practice with accompaniment in her piano lesson and have somebody familiar in the room with her during the exam, rather than two strangers.,

Raspberry that sounds impressive but scary. No, let's not do that!

Piano teacher is planning a festival beginning of next year and a competition for which I don't think she is ready and at the right level next summer. The competition is quite highly regarded I think, as an example one of the bbc young musicians participants this year won it a couple of years ago. I'll wait and see what happens.

Both teachers sound fab, but I am so jealous because I want to teach her myself! She is the right size for the clarinet, although low notes might take a little longer to sound 'clean' - I teach an 8 year old, who I suspect is substantially smaller! We ordered a new C clarinet from ebay for her - no returns - and when it arrived, it was a Bb! Aargh! I banned her from playing low Gs for months, and made her start off sitting down, just using left hand. Now (a few months off her 9th birthday, and I suspect just over 125cm) she is hitting 50% of her low Fs. But not all of them, so we have delayed Grade 1 until next term, and might even miss it out.

Fleur thanks for posting the video of Minifleur, that was lovely! And she is cuter than cute!
Alexandra - that tune is dangerously catchy! Slightly wish that was the grade 4 one except for the fact I'm going to be hearing ds2 playing his tune for weeks on end!

Sorry Fleur I didn't mean to suggest it was too big for her. Just that they look so sweet starting out with bigger instruments. DS2 started trombone at 8 and couldn't play it fully for a while.

OMG, Fleur, she is so sweet, I could eat her up!

Raspberry nothing to apologise for, honestly I know what you mean, I think the same when I look at her. Also we haven't got height issues as such so it isn't a sensitive subject, in fact she is taller than about 3 girls in her class. Her best friend however is a head taller than her and 3 months older she is at the other end being taller than normal for her age. I had to explain to DD that growth is not a personal achievement when the other one was proud to be taller.

Waffle you sound like a great teacher. DD sounds similar to your little pupil, I think she is around 128-130 cm I didn't measure her in a while, and you are right, the lower notes don't sound clean yet. I wish you lived closer to us to teach DD too, it would have been so nice.

Loose thank you!