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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

February Music Thread

746 replies

Wafflenose · 02/02/2017 21:51

Overdue again, this time due to our local music festival. I put in 32 entries, and am now finished for this year, but haven't had a lot of sleep recently!

I am a teacher of woodwind - mostly recorder and clarinet at the moment - and have two DDs. Goo (short for Kajagoogoo in case anyone was wondering - and no, that isn't her actual name!!) is 11 and plays the flute, recorder and piano. Rara is 8 and plays the cello, recorder and clarinet. We are heading towards a half size cello soon, and I think we might have found a suitable one. We're going to try it out this weekend.

The girls have been entered for Grade 7 Flute and Grade 1 Clarinet this term, and I am really regretting it, as they are so under-prepared. But hopefully after a slightly quieter weekend, we can all get back on track.

Please jump right in, ask questions, moan about practice/ scales/ attitude, tell us about your DCs or your own learning... and new members/ beginners are always welcome!

OP posts:
Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 11:45

onlychild - yes, there are 10 books in Suzuki. The last book has only one piece - Mozart's Concerto in D Major, K. 218 (Allegro, Andante cantabile, Rondeau). I'm just so surprised a 8 years old could play the piece. As long as I know, it's a serious piece which needs certainly amount of maturity.

LooseAtTheSeams · 15/02/2017 12:02

stringchild I am afraid to look now!

NeverEverAnythingEver · 15/02/2017 12:07

I just shout "bow" periodically without looking. Grin

NeverEverAnythingEver · 15/02/2017 12:08

I would love to be able to play a Mozart concerto. (Though I would probably kill to be able to play a Beethoven concerto...)

Original poster
Wafflenose · 15/02/2017 12:19

stringchild Rara's bow hold is dodgy too, and so is her tuning now she has moved to a half size cello. Oh dear! I have just asked her to practise one, and she said, "OK, I'll do clarinet then!"

No point asking Goo to do anything at all at the moment... unless you want a long argument ended in screaming. Sad

OP posts:
NeverEverAnythingEver · 15/02/2017 13:46

Waffle Sad but it's strangely comforting (to me, probably not to you) to know that this happens with children other than mine ...

LooseAtTheSeams · 15/02/2017 14:05

I nearly screamed at myself this morning when I was doing my piano practice! (Not joking, either, I was so bad!)
Rather selective practice going on here otherwise - I have heard some but I don't think it's actually what they are meant to be practising.

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 14:08

I don't get a long argument/screaming simply because I am banned to make any suggestion in the first place... I heard 9-12 years are tricky ages. DS used to like me getting involved in his music making and I miss the innocent time!

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 14:12

LooseAtTheSeams - I truly admire your effort. I was telling people here that I started learning piano and had just learnt first two lines of G1 piece (ds's old book) when i joined this forum. I haven't progressed since...

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 14:19

violinandpiano, sorry ,I probably missed it, is your dd at primary department too?

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 14:25

Kutik, none of my dd teachers covered sight reading and aural, well, almost didn't -they just assumed she would be fine. Till she lost so many marks on gr2 piano that I realised that it is just simpler to deal with it myself than trying to convince the teachers that they have to ensure that everything is perfect. Therefore we do aural with auralbooks app, sight reading- I cannot really help her a lot with this but I make her to play the whole sight reading book at home-just to make sure she gets into habit of looking at details

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 14:29

Talking about Suzuki... Bach double violin concerto is end of book 1 second violin (I think) and book 5 first violin Shock
Which makes me scared when I think about 8 yo who finished all 10 books.....
I am thinking now - what was the point??

LooseAtTheSeams · 15/02/2017 14:45

I do know there are aural lessons at the music school I go to and I am thinking I'll try to get the dcs to do them next time they have an exam approaching - but DS2 even gets stroppy at the mention of the app!
Sight reading is ok but they are both very lax about scales, so that will have to be where I focus my energies!

NeverEverAnythingEver · 15/02/2017 15:04

Loose at our music school they have free aural lessons for those taking exams. Apparently the teacher is very good, and DC were very happy to attend.

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:13

only, Bach double violin concerto appears in book 4 & 5. I think the most advanced piece in book 1 is Gavotte by Gossec.

It's actually quite common for Japanese kids to finish all or most of books by the end of primary school (12 yo). However as I mentioned earlier it doesn't mean they thoroughly covered necessary techniques just because they can play book 10 piece.

I personally much prefer listening to a 10 years old playing twinkle twinkle musically steadily and solidly, than the same age playing Mozart concerto very much struggling....

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:15

Still, 8 yo finishing all 10 books are very much impressive. I hope he is not just after reading notes and actually enjoy the music he plays.

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:21

I can tell you kids who learn music in Japan are much more serious than kids here (obviously I am generalising here so of course this doesn't apply to all). I'm not saying one is better or worse. It's just a different attitude towards life in general.

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:23

The 8 yo who finished all 10 books is not Japanese nor Chinese by the way. So I was even more surprised!

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 15:23

Kutik73, yes book 4, not 1 of course, hate typing from my telephone as always hit the wrong symbol!
But basically what I was trying to say-this is quite advanced and only in the middle of the course, and the child is only 8 but finished all the books??? What is the point?

Talking about techniques, I think the idea behind Suzuki is that the pieces they have chosen for the books incorporate necessary technique... Whether it works I don't know, but I think this is a rationale behind it....

EnormousTiger · 15/02/2017 15:23

(This is not good practice, but mine have passed some exams even up to grade 8 and failed the scales - not a wise practice but you can scrape through even if you hate scales......Do not mention this to children....)

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 15:26

I think it does not matter too much that kid was Japanese - it is all part of Asian and Eastern European culture I guess.... Did you read "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother "? Love this book in spite of its controversy :)

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:32

EnormousTiger, exactly! So the advanced Suzuki child onlymusic mentioned above could actually pass the exams as her/his mother believes even though he/she hasn't covered other areas. If you manage to get full or nearly full score for each piece, then you get 90 already just for pieces alone. You can gain 10 easily from aural/scales/sightreading even if you are quite bad in those. You won't get 0 for attempting! Hence, you could easily pass if you could play three pieces very well!

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:37

only, I haven't read the book but I understand the book is hugely misunderstood or taken the Mickey out of it by people who are not open to different views/attitudes. I understand you don't need to copy what she did but you can learn what you could do from her philosophy. 100 methods for 100 people.

Kutik73 · 15/02/2017 15:41

only, you are right. Suzuki is supposed to be designed to cover essential techniques as you go up. I think it's well designed. But surely one book won't be able to cover everything. So it will go back to 'who teaches and how'. If the teacher is good, she/he would know how to cover them by using lots other materials. However there are those kids who rigidly followed the method and rush to the higher books.

onlymusic · 15/02/2017 15:56

Re exams.... I think it is a minimum you have to get for each sub test , not mere few marks.... I have heard people passing exams without those minimums but I always thought it was rather an exception or perhaps overlooking on examiner's behalf? I mean even if Suzuki child gets 90 marks for pieces and few marks for other categories he/she still fail....
Agreed about teachers, book and the rest, Kutik Grin