January Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Happy New Year!

Sorry I'm a bit late starting this thread - I've been away for a few days without internet access. Anyway, this is our monthly thread for musicians and parents of musicians of all ages and all abilities. It's a great place to chat, or to ask questions about lessons, practice, exams, auditions or anything music-related.

I have two DDs: Goo (11 and in Year 6) who plays the flute, recorder and piano, and Rara (8 and in Year 4) who plays the cello, recorder and clarinet. I think we have Grade 7 Flute and Grade 1 Clarinet coming up this term, and also the local music festival and Junior Young Musician competition for Goo. Grade 7 Recorder and Grade 3 Cello are tentatively pencilled in for the summer, but we'll think about those nearer the time. Goo is also in NCO, and lives for it... it's all she talks about, she loves writing to and texting all the friends she's made there, and she is in Under 12s this year. I am a teacher of woodwind and have a little clarinetist who's just got into Under 10s. I hope to have a few more trying out next time.

He had been learning for 2.5 years when we upgraded the mouth piece. It has a lovely sound.

I'm here! (Waves) Thanks for your concern, Fleur - we are all fine, just busy. It was my first proper week back at work last week (as in, the private school where I work went back) then we have had NCO and SWMS this weekend. My little pupil got on great, but will need an A clarinet for rehearsals. There's no way her parents need to buy her one (she's only 9, of small build, and not strong enough/ ready to be playing wooden clarinets all the time yet) but I think we might be able to borrow one from school, for one weekend a month. I'll ask tomorrow.

We've been doing scholarship auditions where I work, and I'm quite shocked at the standard. Goo would have been in a class of her own. The ones who will succeed at 11+ will be Grade 4+ this year, and I'm hoping my little pupil will get a 10+ one this week. She is working towards Grade 5, 4, 3 and 2 on her four instruments at the moment.

Rara and her BFF are entered for Grade 1 Clarinet this term. It's a bit easy for her, but that's no bad thing. I enjoy hearing about Fleur's DD's clarinet progress, because she and Rara seem to be progressing at a similar pace - at the moment, anyway. I think Rara started three months later, and is doing Grade 1 three months later. She's also doing a few high notes.

We have the festival coming up soon, and I'm involved in 32 classes. So it will be busy here for some time.

Good to hear you're all ok Waffle! Love to hear about Rara's and her BFF progress.

Fleur - we spent a happy few hours in Howarths trying out mouthpieces a while back; we talked to the teacher first obviously. Am sure most shops will let you try them (can i state the obvious and say to tack your clarinet/reed with you? sorry, but these things were never obvious to non-musical me!)

Thank you Alexandra and stringchild! I have messaged our teacher and she did say she recommends her students to move to a Vandoren B40 or B45 when they are financially ready but if they can listen to a variety of them from a specialist music shop then DD can chose whichever she likes. I may go to Howarths, I love that shop anyway.

Well that was a bit like catching up with a box set, the thread has moved on so quickly!
Well done to those dc with exam results coming in. Still waiting for DD1's G5 sax result as the school music dept was unmanned when she had her lesson last week :(. Maybe this week. Just entered her for G6 oboe this term: time to knuckle down to scales, which she hates.
Took DD2 and her bassoon to NCO regional orchestra today. Didn't do them last year, so was new to us. Pretty impressed by the level of sight reading!

Alexandra he was tucked up high in the organ loft so I think he was pretty oblivious. After next Saturday he is having Friday evening lessons after Evensong so will be more private.

He has had a pretty exciting few days. Manchester Camerata were at the DCs music service Concert Band for a workshop on Thursday and today he was at a day workshop with NYJO (concert with them next week).

Ha at wafflenose's comment aoput shocking standards. In dc previous primary school (last 10 years we are talking about) no more than a handful got to grade 3 (in 10 years, not per year) , so let's not talk about grade 4.

Raspberry the organ lessons sound very exciting! What a lovely opportunity.
Good luck to Rara with her clarinet exam and it sounds as though the lessons are going really well.
DS2 really enjoyed music service concert orchestra, once he'd sorted out which two hours he was meant to be there! A lot of them are quite a bit older - but he doesn't seem intimidated!

Yes, two grade 3s at the end of primary was as good as DS2 could get with peri lessons given the age he started. He was unusual at his school - there were a couple of grade 5s but they did one instrument and had private lessons. The borough music service offers no theory or aural lessons, by the way.
However, I must admit if we were going for music scholarships he would have had very different lessons from much earlier and I would have expected more from him! His attitude is a lot better now that he's moved to secondary. Thanks entirely to what I have learned from these threads I pushed him on a performance piece I thought was grade 4 (just) only to discover it was grade 5 and the teacher said as he could sight read grade 4 pieces without problems they should push on with grade 5. That wouldn't have happened without all you lovely experts! His elder brother is already advising him to get stuck into theory!

We went to NCO regional orchestra yesterday. My DS had ZERO orchestral experience so it was rather a huge jump for him (and me). The conductor asked about their orchestral experience and it seemed most had done - even as little as a 6 years old who were sitting behind DS! So my DS was one of the very very beginners there. As Doubleup said the level of the sight-reading was totally out of his comfort zone. He was very happy and didn't seem to be overwhelmed - so, all is positive though. Phew!

The conductor mentioned that she would like children to practice the music at home, even suggested that they could take the music to their lesson so that they could go through some difficult passages with their teacher. However all the music was collected at the end of the session. How it works usually? Are we supposed to get the music from somewhere? Or will they give you the music at some point...? All we were thinking of at the end of the rehearsal was lunch (so hungry...) I forgot to ask about this before leaving.

Talking about theory, my DS didn't prepare well so I cannot give you any wise advice on the preparation. However, I would like to tell you the positiveness came from the challenge.

He hadn't done any theory before, so I thought there was no way he could tackle G5 materials. But he knew quite a few already from playing instruments, so although he didn't do fantastically he did alright in the end. He did it with 'let's try and see' attitude so 'alright' result was a little bonus. But the real big bonus for us is that DS can write his music without hesitation now. He always loved making up melody and I sometimes recorded whatever he made up as it was only way to keep his music. He was (and still is) a messy writer so there was no chance he would write them down. But after practising writing music for G5, it seems the barrier was taken and now he writes them down instead of recording. I would have preferred he studied G5 materials thoroughly of course, but I am quite happy with the outcome on the whole. He is saying he will study G6 theory, not for exam but for him to understand the logic side more properly. So he may do well the next round!

I am sure there are lots of different kind of bonus coming from taking theory exams, so I would hugely recommend to go with it if anyone is toying with the idea of challenging them.

I agree - I definitely think it's worth it. DS1 scraped through on minimal preparation. DS2 is plodding along with 5 minutes at the beginning of every piano lesson. I think it goes nicely with piano and I'm hoping if he can get through the first 2 grade books this year, he'll start to find it more interesting and we can spend more time on it!
He did tag along to DS1's lessons for a little bit with his grade 3 book but he hated it as he wasn't the prime focus and I think he had a few gaps so we're going for slow and steady!
But I'm doing theory, too, and I find it challenging but fun! I'm not sure DS2 would agree with fun...
Kutik Your DS has a great attitude and it's lovely to hear about NCO and that he was happy despite the sight-reading challenge! I am positive he will soon adapt to that.

LooseAtTheSeams - Which grade are you doing for yourself? I thought I would try G5 theory together with DS at first but found it quite hard so made a quick exit from the challenge (very inspiring for my DS, I know...). And, thank you for your encouraging words. I often hear people talking about their DC's sight-reading skills improved massively through orchestra. I understand why now...

By the way, DS used 'All In One To Grade 5' by Rachel Billings. I bought this simply because I didn't want to buy lots of books and also it came with the answers! It' a thick book but you can skip the sections you already know.

Kutik - I am trying to do grade 4. I can manage a grade 3 practice paper but I do need to spend more time on it. Thanks for the book recommendation - that could be just what I need!

Hi everyone I'm new!

Been a lurking non member for a little while but thought that was a bit rude so I've jumped in.

My DD is 12 (YR 8) playing clarinet and we're still waiting for the ABRSM results from Grade 4. She took it on the very last Saturday of the exam period. She gets her lessons at the CAT at Sage Gateshead on a Sunday. She also plays in the County Music Service orchestra.

We've been told she needs a new instrument this year so I'm having a look at grants - my word these things are expensive! It's like buying her a car! Interested to see the mouthpiece discussions. I think we probably neeed to do that first? She has a second hand Buffet B10 at the moment which has got her this far but needs upgrading now. Anyone know of good woodwind suppliers in the north? I have no idea.

Kutik73 NCO usually email a link to all music for regionals so you can print the relevant parts - if you haven't got it drop them an email or give them a call and ask. Maybe they haven't got round to it yet. Glad your DS enjoyed the rehearsal and welcome to NCO family!

Welcome ACM! DD has just started clarinet last year so no advice on advanced instruments, I assume you are looking for a wooden one, somebody more experienced will come with some advice I am sure.

Hello ACMEinc, I am also very new to this forum so very pleased to have a fellow newcomer. My DS played clarinet a bit at school and loved it, but his main instruments are piano and violin so I'm afraid I cannot give you any useful information (but just wanted to say 'hi').

Just a quick (and again very ignorant) question... What is 'the country music service' or 'the country orchestra'? I often hear those words but no clue what they are. For instance, my council runs a music service and they have an orchestra aiming for young talented musicians (G5 + and Y5+). There are also those reputable youth orchestras such as Stoneleigh and Thames. Are they a country orchestra? If not, what's the difference? Wherever it says 'country' or 'national' it sounds as if they are more selective or better standard (for me).

Kutik73 Do you mean county rather than country? That final R makes all the difference. If you live in a single tier local authority rather than a two tier district and county set up then you won't have something with that name. I live in a county that ends in a --shire, here the local education authority (through the music partnership) runs several area-based Saturday music schools each with a wind band, chamber orchestra or whatever else they have players for. In addition to those are the county wide orchestras and the county wind band. The playing standard for those is higher because they have a wider base to audition from, it's like a pyramid with six or seven groups at the bottom feeding into the county ensembles at the top. National groups will have a higher standard still, because they have an even bigger pool of players to draw from.

Icouldbeknitting - Yes sorry I meant 'county' without R. Thank you for the explanation. It's all clear.

kutik I've also started self-taught piano after years of putting it off. I want to get a good base this time (tried to rush it a few years back) learning and understanding the different keys so I have gone back to DS' s first books before grade 1!

Kutik I've just been sent an nco email they said that they will send out the music for our regional orchestra in Feb after the first rehearsal ( ours isn't until the weekend).