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!!

EnormousTiger totally agreed about teachers, I don't think famous teacher is necessary unless dc is aiming for a soloist career.
Same thoughts about perfect pitch. Dh and dd have it, not sure about ds-this is to be seen, but I started to suspect he may have it too. I don't.

Fleurdelise, it is appalling! I am so glad that our teacher is a musician rather than a full time teacher, he is very flexible in terms of lessons. I find childless teachers are easier to deal with too (which is understandable, they have less stress in their lives :))

Greenleave, sorry, didn't get how being with a famous teacher saves time? If teacher is a musician he/she may be touring a lot and miss lessons as a result. Fingering-this comes with musical practical experience this is why I am adamant (in our case) that we have pro musician teachers rather than just teachers as fingering is very important in both-violin and piano. We had both types by now and I know the difference now. Our violin teacher always corrects abrsm books for fingering-when I asked how does he know-he said he learned from the conductors he played with (he is not famous too, just pro orchestra musician, though he played in major London shows and he teachers in a local private school)

drummersmum, yep!

Cost of going to work and especially work in London is huge, not mentioning housing cost and others. We dont have (much) disposable income, the out going is huge, if I say we feel poor, you might laugh. Being able to pay doesnt mean the quality of life is better, some of you might have much (nicer/relaxed) better life than us when you have so much more time for yourself and your family. Having time to teach your child is another thing I am struggle with, I think I could help her better at maths, I just dont have enough time with her. Our 1 hour in the evening is for me to chat to her to know her friends, things at school, how her day been, sitting down with her for a (very) quick meal or dessert.
Mom17: you have asked and followed my posts, I havent read your sharings. This is a musical thread, do you play or has a child playing?
Drummers: do you mind if I can show my daughter what you wrote earlier about the benefit of playing without a music book. Thanks so much. Almost none of the children in the classes we went last weekend had music book with them when they played. (I am still amazed how talented and musical some children are).

My piano teacher always says: please 45 mins everyday, video recording twice a week, none is happening, he still cant tell us off because we are his employer. Thats the mainnthing that stop me thinking of ever tryibg for music scholarship is we will be in an opposite possition. What happened if we want to drop, if we want to spend more time on academic, arts, science etc. We are no where near the level of many of you here in term of practice, still now music is the only thing that we have to work on almost daily and hardest. We will need to focus on academic from next year I think.

Btw, Nicola Benedetti's father is a millionaire businessman according to google

Wafflenose, why do you think you will never be able afford JD, etc? Aren't there bursaries? They are very generous from what I have seen...

Dd plays perfectly ok without music but prefers to play with music in front of her. So she plays with music :)

I have heard various comments about playing with/without music during festivals, I think it all depends on individual adjudicator view. But as far as I know it should not be taken into account when judged.

yep good at maths in general, even did some at univesity level. but mental maths, no. "I need to see it..."

btw, dc music scholarship covers music fees for 1 term.... I have stopped calculating outgoings for extracurricular stuff (just ordered 2 recorder books, even though teacher only asked for 1 but liked other for dc and me together)

I think there is some danger with famous teachers.... They will inevitably have stars and runner ups.... And not all parents will like that. I know dd has a potential to be a star of a "normal" teacher, but with famous teacher - I don't think so. Normal teachers (not all, but quite a few) are prepared to put up with her quirkiness because of her musicality, famous - no - they have the cream of musical children and have a choice

Both of ds's music teachers (piano and violin) are 'a teacher' not 'a performer/musician'. Wait, his piano teacher is also an accompanist - does it count as a musician? Anyway ds is not a star pupil even under those unknown 'normal' teachers. So being nobody under a famous teacher's wing won't be any problem with us (though not sure if he will ever have such a teacher). Ha ha ha.

Well, completely off topic - only found out yesterday DS1's marching band have a concert on Saturday when I am on a training course. Only found out today it's actually a competition! Sadly I won't see it as I'm on a training course but DS2 and DH have been told to cheer loudly!

"his piano teacher is also an accompanist - does it count as a musician?"

Yes! Of course!

only I'm not sure that she's good enough, but we're not going to try, in case she actually is, and we can't manage it. We can't afford it mostly because we never seem to have quite enough to live on as it is, without factoring in a 160-mile round trip to Cardiff every week! We've cut down the weekly food shop, started cycling everywhere, changed energy and internet providers, taken out a loan, taken the DDs off their (occasional) school dinners and stopped going out to coffee shops/ lunch in town. We're also in the process of re-mortgaging, but it's taking for ever. This is just what we'll have to do for the foreseeable future!

Aw sorry you will miss the competition Loose
Did ds1 know it was a competition or was it a pleasant surprise to him as well

I think with teachers it's just somebody who fits. He's sent many to other teachers when people have enquired.
My dh has very few students and they vary so much in age and ability.
He is very good at teaching disabled, older, beginners/ intermediate to one off lessons for other famous, professional, semi professional and amateur
performers. Some lessons are in his teaching room, others could be in South Africa, France, on skype.

Some invite our family over but the timing never seems to be right atm He's sent many to other teachers when people have enquired. Some try a lesson and you never hear from them again. He puts a lot off tbh.
He also has one off lessons with colleagues as many musicians do. I'm told it's good for influence and just putting things right yourself.

The playing without music is brilliant imo.
I'm presently listing the areas in which dd has struggled over the years and a major one was not reading music.
She completed grade 3 and completely pulled the wool over our eyes and her teacher. The teachers in her little ensemble didn't cotton on.
Obviously as she started heading towards grade 4 it was obvious.
She reads well now, sightreading is really good

Sorry above reads wrong.
I swopped stuff about because it didn't read right and ended up with it all wrong.

wafflenose, we luckely don't struggle that much, but I think music is an expensive "hobby" compared to several other things my dc do. In my dc primary school, weekly class lessons is all what many children could afford, but quality was dubious. I am not talking about famous or not famous music teachers but class teachers or sports teachers doubling up and teaching music.

Kutik73, you sure he is not a star student? He is not taking part in festivals? Does not get top places? Does not get distinctions for exams? I had impression he does all of that, am I wrong?

Accompanists..... Depends I would say.... Again, I am only talking about our experience, we had far too many teachers not to get that point where I finally understood what exactly I am looking for in a teacher. I also believe that good teaching can make it up if experience is missing, but this is rare.

Waffle, this is sad and puts thing into perspective :( Hope this will change eventually

I think a good accompanist is as good a musician as a good soloist. Sometimes better. But perhaps it's a question of cooperative music making as opposed to individual... (Have been indulging in Schubert's Lieders and completely impressed by the working together of singer and accompanist.)