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!!

Drummers you have a lovely and dedicated boy! Mine is lovely but off in all directions. I think he spends loads of time in his room playing bass when he has exams to revise for. As for organising a group, well I live in hope that he'd read his school planner the night before! However, he did promise me that if the international rock star thing happens ("when" in DS1-speak) he is going to credit his supportive mum in interviews. Not holding my breath! By the way, I'm going to ask him about Mr Weckl - he was telling me about an amazing drum book as well but didn't say who it was by!

Loose he's right, it's "when" not "if"!!!

Can you all explain to me the Ed Sheeran phenomenon? I heard him this morning and he's just whining. That voice. And the songs are not memorable. I mean, compared to Dylan, Cohen, Diamond, Nilsson .. Am I just old and out of it?

Sorry I mean can someone explain, not the whole thread obviously. Oh God my English is failing me.

I haven't heard any Ed Sheeran. >

i have no explanation for Ed Sheehan. All the songs sound the same to me!

Or even Ed Sheeran - autocorrect failure!

Nope. Can't explain it either. I reckon some McDonald's recipe/voodoo has been cast over this generation, brain-washing them to loving the likes of Ed. Those with more sophisticated palette will rise above it all and still favour the great lyricists with uniquely identifiable voices.

Guess which camp mine falls into

Then again, I cannot really point the finger as she must get it from someone who mindlessly watches some real car crash tv at times to switch off her head

I like Ed.

drummers more flowers from me also.

Omg ealing do you? That's seriously cool an hardcore

Thanks fleur. There's no shame in being young...

Haha drummers. I wish my husband would believe that.

Though I'm sure I read somewhere that often the most intelligent people watch trash. I've hung onto this claim for a long time

I am with Fleur, I like Ed too

you know I'm only teasing right

Now if it were Mr Bowie, that would be different altogether...

I'm going to Absolute Bowie in April.

It's a tribute band so not sure if any good but it's just for fun. The last time when I saw Bowie was when he had a concert at Hammersmith Apollo.

I actually..., like, John Mayer.... I think I'm an odd one here (none of my friends like him)....

I have never heard anything by Ed Sheeran, and neither have the kids, as far as I'm aware. We have no TV, and they have no awareness of pop music, or popular culture generally, whoops!

My favourite band is dear old Fairport Convention. I've been to see them 11 times, and spoken to them a few times.

Love fairport convention. Happy childhood memories

Late to the thread as ever!

Little aww for enormous tigers new bass singer. That's fab! Hope he keeps singing. Remember if he's off to uni at some point keeping his singing up means he could try for choral scholarships - and I don't just mean Oxbridge colleges. For men there are opportunities all over the place and standards vary. My dd1 and ds hold choral scholarships in Nottingham and it's been bril - bit of money, singing and a " choir family" to keep an eye / do grown up rather than student stuff with at times too. They aren't reading music.

Actually , just to put it out there , if anyone wants info about where to look re scholarships pm me as we are looking for the 3rd time now ! ( Leeds dd2 - has a place at the minster if she goes there but we are also thinking of the Catholic cathedral. ) there are many opportunities for sopranos now too.

How are the waffle noses ?

We are all fine, thanks. Goo has her Grade 7 Flute exam next week, Rara has Grade 1 Clarinet, but is on a mission to learn all the Grade 2 notes and rhythms too. I've bought her a couple of fun books for after the exam. Goo got into the local comprehensive, which is one of the best non-selective state schools in the country. We're very lucky. She isn't enjoying her advanced music provision, so we're looking into alternatives. I just have three exam candidates this term - Rara and her BFF, and a dodgy Grade 3 Flute. I tried to get her to withdraw, but she's not having anyof it. Ho hum! Is your DD2 going to study music?

Wow good luck to the waffles next week 😄

Glad goo got her choice of school too. Am just so glad all that is behind us, especially as we are a grammar area.

Dd2 has applied for liberal arts, majoring in English . Leeds 1st choice , royal Holloway 2nd ( nice reserve offer, would have been 1st but the choral director was very clear when we met him, they want developed adult female voices not choristers , however able , as they are training career singers really). She will do plenty if music I'm sure. We chatted to a chap at leads who runs one of the music modules and he was very supportive of early music (yay!) .

Helen, I hope my son (and indeed his twin who also has a music scholarship at school but isn't able to play his french horn this year due to his braces although actually in addition he just wants co concentrate on A levels) does at least some music at university. He is visiting Bristol tomorrow for an offer holder's day and he and his twin are currently having to choose between Bristol or Durham as first choice. I did look across at him singing bass a few times last night and he seemed to be doing fine. My school didn't have a choir except at carol service time so although I did loads of singing accompanying myself at the piano at home as child it was only at university I joined choirs and it was wonderful. However none of my older 3 children did music at university which was pity - but you can't force hobbies on children and they tend to come back to things later in life. My older son was playing the piano at home yesterday. It's like riding a bike or learning poetry as a child - that can never really be robbed from you. It is etched into just like your upbringing always is in more general terms (you can tell I am from a family of psychiatrists).

I don't think he would be a choral scholar. He just has not done enough singing since his voice broke. He's left it too late and his trumpet (and electric guitar to which he does sing actually quite a bit) are his thing whch is a pity for me as I like all the children singing with me. His cousin was a choral scholar fairly recently at a Durham college and enjoyed it but he was in the church choir from age 6, plays the organ etc and more importantly wanted to be. I suspect if my son takes part in any music at univeristy later this year it will be on his trumpet and he was pretty good last night in the jazz items. In fact he managed to be in every musical item in the concert (joint concert with the girls' school) - only person who managed that including he somehow managed to play the trumpet in the girls' school jazz band which I was not expecting (he must have been a nominal girl for the night). It was probably his last concert of school days. There might be one in May at school, but that would be virtually mid A levels so I am not sure he'd be in it.

It is my last school parents' evening ever tonight for my twins, almost 30 years on from attending their oldest sister's. For some reason this is coming to mind - the "40 years On" song [E]]

Good luck to those with music exams coming up. My grand daughter is two later this year and I have already bought her that rather nice King's Singers nursery rhyme Kids' Stuff we used to sing along to in the car [[www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0000630Y0/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1490082473&sr=8-1&keywords=king%27s+singers+kid%27s+stuf&tag=mumsnetforum-21f]]

I went to Royal Holloway! Music and Psychology, 1998.

Hi everyone
Was wondering if anyone's dcs are doing gcse music this year and how they have found it?
Dd is in year 9 and their gcse options are condensed into a year at her state school (2 in yr9, 2 in yr10, 2 + core in year 11)
She's really enjoyed doing music this year but it's been pretty full on!
The composition element has been a real learning curve and it's been great seeing that confidence come.
She's practically lived in the music department at school.
How are other peoples dc managing it?

What a beautiful journey Enormous!

Trout: Best of luck with gcse! I dont know anything about gcse though, is it practical and theory, what's the requirement? Grade 8 in an instrument and grade 8 theory? Or its a completely different type of test.