March Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

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!!

Kutik, was it you who had the whole 'well he was a late starter' thing? Seems like your ds is doing really rather well regardless

Well done, MiniKutik! I can't say I'm remotely surprised then... in fact, I think it was obvious that he was going to do amazingly!!

It's Rara's third Celloversary today. She is also on her third cello! The 1/8 lasted her about a year, she had the 1/4 for two years, and now has a new 1/2 and various tuning issues, because it's a bit too big. We're getting there though!

*though!

Congrats LittleKutik- excellent.

Dd took an exam yesterday. Anyone know how soon Trinity issue results?

Happy Celloversary Waffle!

No music news here, piano lesson cancelled this week due to teacher sickness, clarinet lesson went ahead as usual. I am exhausted and I can't wait for the Easter holidays.

Congratulations to Rara on her celloversary! I'm sure it won't be long before she grows into her new cello. DS2 is a beanpole - I can't believe how fast he has grown this year. Definitely no problems with the full-size cello apart from carrying it!

Kutik - will pm you but there is no dramatic reason; just potential logistics/house move/teacher moving on. DD loves JD with a passion 😀

It has come to my attention that Goo really isn't enjoying her Centre of Advanced Training, much as she has tried to. I was hoping she was just going through a shy, self-conscious phase (and puberty) and would eventually blossom there, but she is terrified of improvising, and doesn't enjoy the strong jazz/ song writing bent of the whole thing. It's a bit of a dilemma, because she has a DFES grant to attend, which pays for her flute lessons and NCO. We'll stick it out for another year, but (perhaps crazily) I am now looking at Cardiff, and it seems like a much better fit. I hadn't done it before, because I didn't think she would be good enough (she will), it's miles and miles away, I have a younger DD and a husband who has to work every other weekend, so it would really affect the whole family and impinge on time together UNLESS we could get Rara into the younger programme. It's all ifs and buts though - Rara is car phobic, neither would yet be prepared to give up things like birthday parties, swimming lessons, time with friends etc. It would also have to be free, not to put too fine a point on it... does anyone know if they have DFES funding? If so, Goo could probably transfer her government scholarship there.

I cannot believe I am even contemplating this.

Hi Waffle - logistics aside (!) yes all the JDs have the same funding; is there a train option...?

There is... but aargh the cost! £61 for one adult and one child, compared to £25 driving! We might wait a few years though, and then she can get herself there on the train!

I cannot believe I am even contemplating this.
waffle I knew you would at a certain point! There should definitely be a means-tested DFES bursary. I understand logistics and price of petrol, car usage, etc though. Good luck with your decision!

LIZS this is the first year we're doing Trinity, so I have no experience. I have been told though that sometimes they actually give you the result right after the exam. Guessing it wasn't like that for you, obviously.

LIZS The Trinity examiner leaves the results with the centre organiser as they depart. It is the done thing to at least wait for them to get out of the car park before distributing results but we've had same-day results before now. We've also had times where it's taken ten days so I'd settle on a generalization of "pretty quick".

Oh wasn't expecting it to be so quick! Apparently she wrote down loads. We were last of the day so the organiser was tidying up as we left. Guess we may hear the result this week then.

Waffle there's a list of centres that you can use the music and dance scheme funding on their website ( I had checked for AYM) I'm thinking that if DS doesn't get an AYM place ( highly likely as most students are post grade 8) that we will also try and hold off on jds for a few more years so that way he can get the train there himself. Whatever you decide will have pros and cons but will be the right decision I'm sure.

It's not on the list :( but I have emailed them.

Oh no is that because it's in wales? Would seem a bit silly I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Waffle - they have 100% bursaries plus various scholarships

Good to know. If we can wait until 14ish, we will. She doesn't have to go at 11, does she? I am trying to talk her into going to the Open Day next month though.

People join jds at all ages I promise; def worth a visit

Waffle think of school work and GCSEs etc. Personally I think the earlier the better. But I understand the logistics problem.

Waffle re. train tickets, have you looked to see if there are split ticket options on the route? That can save loads.

Waffle - advanced tickets plus railcard will halve that price at least( just had quick google for you 😊). Or you could travel a little more and come to ours - dd would be thrilled 😁

Marvellous, that's good to know! We will go and have a look around, and try out in a few years if she is keen. She won't leave her beloved teacher at the moment, and that's a 2.5 hour round trip... I'm not doing both! However, I think the teacher might want to retire in a few years, and might also only want to go up to first diploma level with her, so perhaps we'll be looking to move on after that. If we wait until 14, she definitely won't have NCO any more, we would also drop SWMS, and get two evenings per week back (piano and flute lessons) so I don't think it would be THAT much more of a time commitment. She could do her homework during her 3 hours on the train. All purely hypothetical at the moment, as we can't manage it as a family right now.

Rara scored 129 in her mock exam for Grade 1 Clarinet today! She has a few bits of rhythm to work on. We also did some Theory, and she got 87% in Grade 1, having not done any for a year. I'll fill in the gaps at Easter, and hopefully cover Grade 2 with her during the summer holidays (one page per day). She doesn't have Goo's quick, mathematical brain at all... she's slow and creative, and information tends to take the circuitous route through her brain!

I am probably going to pull my Grade 3 Flute pupil out this week. It's a shame, but she's not ready, and I managed to make her cry today. Oh dear.