October Music and Musicians Thread

[Wafflenose]

I thought I would start a new thread, as September's is looking unlikely to last for another month.

The music threads are open to all musicians and parents of musicians, no matter what their age or level might be. We have quite a few kids on here who are very serious about music, and plenty who do it as one of many hobbies.

For anyone who's new, I am a teacher of woodwind, and mum to two girls. Goo (10) plays the flute and recorder to a similar level (Grade 7 on both), and started the piano in April - she won't be doing exams on that. She is hardworking, committed, highly strung, and a stubborn little madam. Rara is 8 and far more laid back. She is taking Grade 3 Recorder this term, is a little behind that on the cello, and just this week started learning the clarinet. I don't suppose she will carry on with three instruments in the long term, but we'll wait and see which she loves!

Wafflenose to she can tell that Goo's ego constantly needs massaging

disorganisedmummy your ds's teacher could be my dd's teacher except that dd's teacher is "he" and not "she" .

disorganisedmummy, dd's teacher says that all good musicians are autistic to a certain degree :) To be honest I can see his point.
Could you tell please, what is it exactly that your ds's teacher says about his musical abilities? (I am not doubting her words, just interested in the subject of twice exceptional children but hardly know any musical ones unfortunately)

Only,ds's teacher says that he has perfect pitch so he can hear a note and tell you what it is and also if you ask him to sing a note he will be able to do it. He can also recognise intervals for example his teacher played lots of intervals on the piano like a third,fifth and so on and he got them right and also got a diminished and augmented right.
She says he has an exceptional musical ear,so he can listen to a piece of music and then be able to play it back without any sheet music. For example he can play Meditation by Thais even though he has never seen any music.

I was told that he could potentially take GCSE music early but that was his music teacher at school and I'm not sure at all about that.
I have no idea if any of this means he's talented/gifted/twice exceptional or even if it's unusual in a child his age?. All we care about is that ds can pursue a career in music.

Dd1 says her teacher is 'Just the right level of strict ' and makes her work hard. There is praise but its not over the top. Dd2s teacher is perfect for her, inspirational but also very tolerant of her independent streak and works with her rather than being authoritarian but he gets serious dedication from her this way. Ds1 is younger and things are fairly relaxed but his teacher certainly challenges him.

disorganisedmummy you DS sounds impressive! I hope he succeeds at his musical career.

Hmm...good though they are, I am not sure our teachers are scaring the DCs enough to make them work hard!
These threads have made me more questioning about what's being taught, though. My aim is for my children to know enough for music and music-making to be a lifelong pleasure, not a rusty skill like it was for me, though I have gained a lot by trying a completely new instrument as an adult, I think! I am now a complete convert to the circle of fifths and will be practising that for when I eventually take grade 5 theory!
Taking GCSE music early is an interesting idea - with arts and humanities early entry is generally discouraged as greater maturity tends to help get the very top grades. However, that said, if there's likely to be little genuine choice of options in year 9 - and once you've got the three sciences etc this tends to be the case - it could be tempting just to ensure you can do it! dS1 insisted on doing both art and music GCSEs, which means he is doing his language GCSE outside school. He really wanted to do Japanese, which school doesn't offer. He claims that in one half term of lessons he has covered more than a year's work at school for French and looking at what he can do, I think he's right. Languages, like music, though, need regular practice, which makes yet another thing I need to be on his case about!! Aargh!

DD tends to prefer the clarinet teacher as she is easy on the praise. Because while the piano teacher praises her skills she also expects a lot from her which needs to translate in a lot of work, our evening practice is taking over an hour now just for piano. So she knows all this praise is asking for a lot in return. And the standards are higher every day.

With clarinet being just the beginning she seems to think it is all fun fun fun. Which is fine, I think she needs that. After the exam her teacher said she'll start her on some Disney and musicals music which DD loves so clarinet is slowly becoming a favourite as it is more fun.

Loose wow he does Japaneese? I do believe him that he did more in one term that in a whole year at school.

With regards to exams early (incl GCSEs) I think I will slow DD down after grade 5, it depends what her teacher will suggest of course but personally I want her to have the maturity to understands what she plays and she already plays stuff that is beyond her age. While she can understand the technique to play something sad for example, I want her to feel the music, to understand why a composer was sad and so on.

My dream is her playing all her life. I don't even want her to have a musical career, just to be able to sit at the piano when she feels like and play.

Fleur - yes, and he loves it despite having to travel for the lessons! I think you're right about post-grade 5 depth - and the other benefit is that MiniFleur now plays clarinet so she'll have lots of ensemble opportunities to reinforce her musical knowledge. DS2 is very much at the early grade 4 stage in both his instruments but after an early surge in cello, I can see that it'll be worth taking time on technical aspects before worrying about exams. If we can defer the next ones to a year from now I would be very happy because in the meantime he really enjoys playing with the string orchestra.

I would like to add that even though it has been mentioned that ds could take GCSE music early,considering he is only in year 6 it is far too early to make that decision and as you've all pointed out that is so much more to music that simply playing notes on a page. Due to his Aspergers ds is not especially good at understanding the feel of a piece but could tell you how it's constructed. We have a very long way to go yet. I just love hearing about everyone's brilliant children.

Disorganised - my dc are suzuki trained and can do all the things you described. I think they are talented, but there are still many, many things to learn.

well, fleurdelise, thinking about what you said about aiming just playing for enjoyment for your whole life. It depends on so many factors.
In my previous life I played piano, incl pieces that I have now seen in the grade 8 syllabus. However I now never get around to sit down and play .
But what I do do now, is playing recorder duets with dd, and the descant I only played in primary school, with a year of treble in secondary.
But dc and I do live in a different world than the rest of the people on this thread, so definitions various amongst people.

Thank you for your reply disorganisedmummy, this is very interesting. And this is in line with what I know about twice exceptional children. How long does your ds doing music?

BrollySmolly, I guess they all should do it at some point of their musical study, classical or not. But when teacher comments on a student's ability he/she probably refers to the ability showing really early and without rigorous training. But I guess most of dc in this thread are above average in music...

Thinking about teacher's praise...Mentioned this subject to dh, and really liked his response He said - any teacher compares more able child with the rest of his/her students. But it does not mean that all of them are able. Therefore, it is really difficult to judge if a child stands out from musical point of view-as comparison is not done with the most able cohort but with the ordinary cohort

Yes I agree. We have found that our dc stand out from normal cohort and are regarded as amazing etc. However, in the real musical world, although talented, they aren't really exceptional!

Only,ds has been playing violin for around 5 years.

disorganisedmummy, thank you. How did he choose violin? (I am interested because mine is playing violin too :))

It was through his school. He was in year 1 and they're allowed to take up an instrument and he chose violin. It took him. A while to really get going on it because of his Aspergers he does tend to have problems with his co ordination.

I've discovered what my dcs are talented in - leaving all the half term homework until the last minute!
I think DS1 is convinced now he can do his solo GCSE performance from his grade 6 bass book with the backing track and I reassured him it will sound great. If he waves the book at the teacher she should allow it the top band for difficulty! It sounds a better plan than learning guitar pieces off YouTube!

Loose My DS1 is similarly talented ... >

My two have been doing homework today as well! It was all quite easy really - book reviews, times tables practice and checking some spellings - but they didn't fancy it! Goo has played the piano loads, and the flute twice, over the past 9 days, so we are about to remedy that situation. Guess which of Rara's three instruments has been played every day without fail?

Waffle the bit that made me laugh was the apparent discovery of 'surprise' maths homework! DS1 has finally finished. DS2 is still constructing a pop- up book!

Ahh yes Ladies. Mine too 'remembered' a piece of HW not done. I have as a result put Daddy in charge and opened the . This means I will not care what noises come from the study. It is fair to say Daddy does not have the patience of mummy....

We have quite frankly been murdering Gershwin's prelude number 2 today. This prompted Daddy to ask why we had taken a step back to 'strangling cats'. However he also described the Picasso exhibition we went to yesterday as 'all boobs on head' so I guess I didn't select him for his cultural leanings!! It is fair to say the Gershwin does not sound as if it will be ready for the music festival in under two weeks...., I have naturally pointed out that I have been asking her to practice this piece all week. We'll see.

Back to school tomorrow. Lunch boxes here I come!!

Hey at least your DS is not getting a detention for forgetting to submit his homework on the first day of term after the bloody summer holiday! 6 weeks he had to do his homework, 6 WEEKS, and he goes back to school, on his GCSEs year and I get an email to confirm the detention!

And breathe....