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Extra-curricular activities

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March Music Thread

999 replies

Wafflenose · 01/03/2017 07:36

Here you are - a new thread for March! I can't believe we are now up to 700+ posts each month. Thank you all.

I am Waffle, Mum to two girls. I have Goo (11), short for Kajagoogoo, which is 'short' for Kaj, which means... well, that would be telling! Her younger sister is Rara (8) - Rara is what she used to call herself when she was learning to speak. Goo plays the flute, recorder and piano. Rara plays the cello, recorder and clarinet. We have Grade 7 Flute and Grade 1 Clarinet booked for the end of this month. I think we might have Grade 3 Cello and Grade 4 Piano coming up next term. Goo is off to secondary in a few months, and I really don't know if she will ever manage to fit in her last couple of recorder exams. I'm all for saving money though.

I will try my best to read everything and follow this month. Last month's thread moved so fast!!

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Drivingmadness · 11/03/2017 11:33

Well, then I won't be embarrassed to talk about dc2 13y has just passed with merit her grade 4 exam in instrument 2. Her dedication to this instrument???Well, she practices on a Sunday and a Monday about 10 min. From Tuesday till Friday her instrument stays at school (for 30 min orchestra and 30 min lesson in 4 days...). Her piano syllabus is expiring in March. Guess when she is doing her exam....end of March.How many different pieces has she played in the last year....4.

onlymusic · 11/03/2017 12:31

I am behind again.....
However....
callmeadoctor, welcome to the thread! Really sorry that you felt upset by some posts.... Some children are advanced in music because they start early, that is it. Dd started piano soon after 4, and yes, she had passes for her grades 1 and 2 :). Therefore ds will not start piano till much later if at all. Please don't be intimidated by the posts in here, sometimes it sounds better than it is in reality :)

onlymusic · 11/03/2017 12:33

I used to be very keen on grades with my dd (first child, vain mum, you know... :)) I cannot care less with my ds, his teacher said few months ago that he may do grade 1 soon.... I don't even bother to ask is he really going to? I just don't care!

namechangingagainagain · 11/03/2017 15:06

Hello all! I have a question for you that I'm hoping you may be able to answer ...
Ds is in year 8 and working towards grade 5 trombone. As someone who didn't make it past grade 3 piano i am incredibly proud of him.

I thought that from grade 6 he would need to learn some theory.....Which would be no bad thing as his marks for aurals are always crap despite him being a good singer. He still struggles to get his head around moving from bass to treble clef and key signature s and so on.
However he does trinity exams..... and he tells me he doesn't actually need to do any theory exams to do the next practical exams.

Is it still worth doing grade 5 theory? His teacher didn't seem keen about it. Or are there at least any apps/websites/books to explain theory concepts to him even if he doesn't do the exam.

Also what are these music festival s i keep seeing o here. Is this something I should be sorting or his teacher? Are they only for the grade 8 when 10 level of child? He has lessons in school time so i only ever communicate with his teacher when they want cash from me Thanks in advance

drummersmum · 11/03/2017 15:33

hello namechange! No, with Trinity he doesn't need to do the theory, however, some theory knowledge will help his understanding of the music he's playing and/or singing and I think it's a good complement in general. Also, please note that if he's planning to do GCSE music then I would strongly recommend at least learning Theory Grade 5 standard. DS is in Year 10 doing GCSE music and they're already doing some complex composition homework. In terms of festivals, they're basically competitions. You sign up for the group (called class) that fit age and/or ability, grade, etc. You get maybe a prize but always a written feedback from adjudicators. We have never done any, as we can hardly cope with the performances schedule at his current school. But they're a good opportunity for students with little chances to perform in public.

Fleurdelise · 11/03/2017 15:46

namechanging Trinity allows you to take grade 6/7/8 without grade 5 theory. As to doing it or not I think is a personal choice, if you have the money and the time you could enroll him in a private theory class to get some understanding of that side.

Festivals - these are music competitive or not classes where you have a good opportunity to perform. I don't think it matters who takes responsibility for them you or the teacher. In our case the teacher said it would be good for dd to do a festival and we should start looking into it, I found out what festivals are in our area, decided the classes with the teacher (dd did the under 10, grade 4 and the sonatina classes) and then sent the forms myself.

The classes are generally grouped by a variety of themes, you'll have all the grades classes, then classes by period, baroque, romantic etc, then sonatas, sonatinas, then certain composers, there is something for everyone.

Fleurdelise · 11/03/2017 15:50

We found out today that our clarinet teacher is married to a pretty well known trumpetists, apparently one of the best in the country. I have no knowledge of trumpet so I had to google him, he does sound really good.

callmeadoctor · 11/03/2017 17:28

Thankyou for links fleur Grin

callmeadoctor · 11/03/2017 17:33

And thank you all for being nice (was definitely on a downer the other night) All is fine now. Off to find a bit of Ed Wink

raspberryrippleicecream · 11/03/2017 17:48

This link gives a list of Festivals, you can find out what's local to you. Ours is arranged differently again to Fleur's.

www.federationoffestivals.org.uk

Patience what an inspiring story.

Call me glad you've stuck around!

Ealing and anyone else with a tough week, hope things are ok!

Highly pleased this morning to get a text from school to say Y9 exam week has been moved from the week after next until June. DS2 has our festival all next week, and NYO Inspire on Sunday. Revision wasn't featuring too highly!

raspberryrippleicecream · 11/03/2017 17:54

namechange I would agree some theory is helpful for GCSE. DS1 didn't do the exam but did most of the theory.

violinandpiano · 11/03/2017 18:27

May I ask if you find a theory teacher or just follow your music teacher? I are planning to do theory grade 5 this year. Thanks.

Fleurdelise · 11/03/2017 18:34

violinandpiano dd does theory with her piano teacher. Some prefer hiring a different teacher or doing it at the local music school, this I believe is because there isn't much time to cover it in the instrumental lesson. But if your teacher is happy to teach it then she knows what she's doing.

raspberryrippleicecream · 11/03/2017 19:27

DS2, who actually did the exam, did it with his piano teacher. DS1 (and DD) did some self teaching and a bit at a school club too.

LooseAtTheSeams · 11/03/2017 20:36

Just popping in to say I actually made it to DS1's festival after all! I'm glad I did because the marching band were awesome and the feedback unequivocally positive! Mind you, the chamber trio from our borough were sublime. Nice experience for DS1 who was amused that the adjudicator confessed to giving up reading the score because it was too difficult! Winners announced later but DS1 is rooting for the chamber trio!

drummersmum · 11/03/2017 21:01

loose I picture you running across town, dropping car keys, handbag, knocking an old lady, jumping a red light... and MAKING IT!!

SE13Mummy · 11/03/2017 21:57

Trumpetboysmum it sounds as though the Alison Balsom workshop was enjoyed by you and your DS as it was by my DD. DD loved the experience of playing with so many other brass players and, interestingly for a 12-yr-old who has been all about jazz for the past couple of years, was quite taken by Pachelbel’s Canon. The input about improvisation has had a real impact on DD too and I've enjoyed listening to the transformation in the improv sections of her exam pieces.

School concert was this week too; the first one she's performed at since starting Y7. She did well but the accompanist clearly isn't a jazz pianist and played incredibly slowly. To her credit, DD tried to pick up the pace but the pianist didn't budge. It was an eye-opener as she's been lucky enough to perform with/be accompanied by professional jazz musicians up to now so hasn't had to adjust her playing to them!

Her jazz exam was yesterday and although she was really pleased with how she performed her pieces, she said she felt extremely nervous for the rest of the exam. It's unlike her to feel stressed out by nerves so I hope, for her sake, that the not very friendly examiner felt more positive about what he heard than DD did. She's already convinced herself that she's failed. I'm crossing my fingers for at least a pass!

onlymusic · 11/03/2017 23:37

Just when I said I don't plan to teach my ds piano-he asked me about it.
Is 6-6.5yo good starting age for piano?

gillybeanz · 11/03/2017 23:48

I have just been to the opera yeyyyyyyy!
It was fantastic, just thought I'd let you all know.
Would have liked to have seen Snow Maiden last night but was working.
So went to see Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel.
Met dd for tonights performance, she loved it so much and gave me such a big cuddle for taking her.

So glad you got to go Loose

raspberryrippleicecream · 12/03/2017 00:59

only DS2 started at 6.5 at his request. He used to sit in on his older brother's piano lessons and cry when I tried to get him to leave!

Yay gillybeanz, sounds fab.

onlymusic · 12/03/2017 01:22

Thank you raspberry. Perhaps I should try then... I am really not keen on starting him that early, but it just occurred to me that if I manage to get him to the best local teacher, dd may have a chance to get there too (this particular teacher prefers to teach her students from scratch)

gillybeanz sounds very exciting!

Mendingfences · 12/03/2017 07:13

Only, ds started piano in january and he'll be seven in the summer. It's been a real success so far

LooseAtTheSeams · 12/03/2017 07:30

drummers Grin not as exciting as that! I was just lucky I managed to be first to finish on the training course and realised there was just enough time! No old ladies had anything to fear! Ds1 saw me coming down the street just as they were about to get in the car, luckily!
Gilly so glad you had a lovely time and I'm sure the cuddles from DD made it extra special!

EnormousTiger · 12/03/2017 07:35

I did theory with my piano teacher. My 5 children did it at home and most of the fee paying schools have grade 5 theory classes for no charge when children are about the age to do it.
Trinty - yees no theory required for that. In fact my children's father had a lovely and very good at playing pupil who was... let us say he found school work very very hard indeed = it was just not his thing and no way could he ever have done grade 5 theory so he was switched to Trinty board deliberately and did very well at his music. In fact the fact he was good at music was the one thing he was good at and it made a massive difference to his life. For some children who seem not to be very good at anything if music (or whatever else we find) is something they feel good about it can make a huge difference to them.

On ages I started the piano when I was 7 and my sister started at the same time aged 6 - we went together. I did do grade 1 the year before her so by all means start at 6 if people want. My children's father who teaches the piano says he does not really find much difference if someone starts at 5, 6 or 7 really overall so I think it's up to the parents and the child.

Kutik73 · 12/03/2017 07:36

My ds started violin in the middle of Year 1. All his friends had been already playing more than a year at the time. I have been constantly reminded by keen parents that ds is a late starter. There is no 'too late' for pleasure but apparently it's quite important to start violin at a very tender age if you want to be 'good'. I don't believe it 100% but violin becomes ds's main interest (totally unexpectedly as it was the bottom of our priority for the first few years) and when he says he wishes he started earlier (like his friends), I feel a teensy bit guilty that I didn't let him start when he asked (I made him wait for a while).

I think it's best to let a child start something when he/she asks if it's possible financially and time-wise.