June Music Thread

[Fleurdelise]

Hello all and welcome to the June thread! Waffle did me the honours of asking me to initiate this thread as she has no access to Internet while on holiday.

This thread was first initiated by Waffle when Goo was 6 and now she's 11. It is a thread for all the musicians, big and small, to share their love (and frustrations ) during the long path of learning an instrument. I first joined when dd was 7 and in the process of preparing for grade 1 piano for moral support. If you read the ending of the May thread you'll realise I am still a nervous reck here we are now, two years later, Dd is 9 and preparing for grade 5 piano and grade 3 clarinet, the exams are in exactly 13 days. I also have DS 15 who is in the middle of his GCSEs at the moment, he has no musical interest.

As I couldn't leave Waffle without an introduction, below is a quote from the May thread. The only correction is that I believe Rara has now turned 9.

I have two daughters. Goo is 11 and in her last term at primary school. She's working towards her Grade 8 Flute (some time next year) and playing from the Grade 4 Piano book (currently refusing to take any exams, and putting off the first proper performance!). Rara is 8, may or may not be doing Grade 3 Cello this term, and is approaching Grade 2 Clarinet.

Both of them played the recorder for years, starting as preschoolers. They reached Grades 7 and 3 respectively, but sadly neither has really played since the music festival a few months ago. They are obsessed with their Flute and Clarinet, and really enjoy Piano and Cello. There won't be many opportunities to play the recorder at the secondary school they will attend, so much as I love it, it's probably a good time to quietly drop it. Recorder has given them both lots of opportunities, confidence, reading skills... and festival prizes!

Great news minimissy!!

Good luck all who are taking exams this week!!

Well done minimissy! Great result
Love the vids of talented youngsters on YT.
I tried to put on vid of Dd but it said 2 hours loading time for a 2 min video.. is that normal? (Have never uploaded something onto YT before)
I aborted attempt
Dd off on assault course / mud pool school trip today . She had fear of heights so it could be quite a stressful one for her. She's googled images extensively and hoping she can get around without going up !

Do any of your kids busk? Dd and friend thinking about doing it. Any advice? I think they would need a permit maybe

Well done minimissy. Drummers hope the hand is better today worrying about the dcs staying injury free is a new one for me ds went to a trampoline party just before his grade 5 last year luckily he remained injury free for that ! Gilly ( sorry just catching up here) great news about the music report hope her leg is feeling better

Well done, Minimissy!

Lol drummers @ Goo being the winner in the clumsiness stakes. That's probably about right. She's not as bad as me, but I have Ehlers Danlos, the ligaments in my feet and ankles are completely shot, and I fall over all the time! I've learned to laugh about it. Rara seems unusually coordinated, compared to the rest of the family.

I will make and upload some videos to the new channel soon!

Yes, Goo has done busking. Here she is, aged 8. I don't think she'd dream of doing it now though!

Aww Waffle
That brought a tear to my eye! How lovely 😊
I don't think Dd would have done it a year ago but at 14 1/2 she seems to have suddenly become a lot more comfortable in her own skin. Her friend is a year older.. that helps too.
Yes.. she would have been happy to stand and play when younger ... the early teenage years are a bit pants really

good luck to those taking exams in the heat (not hot here...) and well done minimissy.

Icould - yes we do have cruise ships sailing by, I pass them every morning on my boat trip to work.

Well done minimissy and good luck for the drum exam.

My little miss did busking at school in their charity fundraising week this year, in front of parents and the kids, but wouldn't do it in "public"!

Well done minimissy!

trout no, it doesn't take that long, it goes from 2 hours to 50 min to then 10 min, it does take longer than a Facebook upload but the time specified isn't accurate.

Good luck to exam takers, no fun in this heat.

DD plays the Debussy arabesque at a music festival tomorrow, it's due to be 36C, I've suggested she slow it down to avoid fingers slipping. I think she plays it too fast anyway esp the stringendo section.

missy yay

Hand was less swallowed this morning and he said he was going to practice piano at school... so I'm guessing it didn't hurt any more.
trout it takes me about 1 hour to upload a 3 min - 4 min HD video.
Waffle I loved the busking video

My busking story: DS did it at school. It went phenomenal and he made lots of cash for the school and for himself (they get to keep some). Then he heard of someone making pocket money busking in the street, so he decided to give it a go. It was a disaster. Two youths tried to steal the bluetooth speaker he was using for the accompaniment and the little cash we had put so as not to start with an empty hat. A woman - probably slightly deranged - came up to me (I was seated at few feet away) and started insulting me, calling me names and accusing me of exploiting my child like a circus monkey. She said I should be reported to the authorities . It's difficult to explain how upset I was. DS started packing away and declared he was never ever going to try again. This is London today

Misti good luck to your DD tomorrow!

DS is also performing tomorrow, a piano solo and on drums with his jazz group. It will be the last concert before the summer, although he has been asked to provide jazz for an outdoor sports event in a couple of weeks...I am hoping it will be cooler by then!

Oh my Drummers, that's certainly an hideous experience to scar for life!

Oh drummers!

I am thinking of selling lemonade and home made ice cream and selling some old books(mostly baby books) just infront of our house. I told my husband the other day that if mine plays in front of public, I might have to pay them to stop by.

That's so not true green!!

Definitely not true green your ds's great. on no what a horrible busking experience drummers. Ds is keen to start busking but I think they do need to have a license and he's not old enough yet ( think he has to be 13 or 14) and he just needs to be slightly less early teenagerish and get over his crisis of confidence first as well

Drummers what a horrible experience.

I need your advice if possible: for the lessons at the music service what happens if you can't make it to the lesson and you give enough notice, would they reschedule or is that it, money lost with no lesson?

I can now move dd to to music service for September but I'm not sure what to do. I wish somebody would make the decision for me. For the people that had both private (teacher's house) and music service lessons, which did you like more and why?

Our music service lessons were in school. If we could give enough notice (I can't now remember what that was but it was written in the back of the practise book) then it would be rescheduled. In reality she would just knock it off the next bill because there was no chance of making the lesson up as she was only in school at that one time. We have more flexibility in the private lesson, it's usually an hour every two weeks but it could be every week if there's something big on the horizon and it could also be a 90 minute lesson.

Lessons in school were a pain because it seemed as if there was always something going off at a week's notice which meant that DS missed a music lesson that I still had to pay for. The summer term was the worst for that. At least Saturdays are more under your own control than school hours are.

So much depends on how they get on with the teacher and that's the big unknown before you actually start.

Green, it is always a human factor of course, but if abrsm web site no vibrato, then I sould not worry about it too much

Kutik, having two children playing two instruments does not leave too much time 😂 Thank you for your kind words.

Looks like drummers boy has fan club on MN!

Talking about clumsy children-ours had private OT assessment recently and was diagnosed with dyspraxia-beat that! 😂 (We went to OT to check other things). Interestingly she rides a scooter very well and just learnt to ride a bike... but she is VERY clumsy.

Icouldbe thank you for your opinion. We've said she'll only move if one particular teacher is available, she's the wind band conductor and she's about 26/28, young but strict and dd likes her a lot. Apparently she does have a slot for dd starting September on a Saturday and while we don't tend to cancel or reschedule lessons I do like having the option to with enough notice.

Hopefully we're making the right decision moving to them. I feel she'd be more exposed to orchestra and events

Talking about busking.... mine are in Catholic school and it often organises funds collecting events.... I think it would be a good idea to help to collect some money... but how do I approach this issue? We have summer fair for example, shall I offer my dd's services to school?

I am forever in debt with Alex so that we got to know our current Orchestra, its lovely Fleur, it has made our musical life so much better. I think you will love yours too.

Only, I have given up with her violin, I dont know where we are, what we need to do if my teacher doesnt tell me.

Busking: why dont you try to ask Only. As Mrs Rabbit (in peppa pig) said: all goes to a good cause.

You do need busking licences in most places, and it's age 14... HOWEVER they can be any age if the parents stay with them at all times (I used to play along) and Goo was awarded one when she was 8. It's all changed here now... you have to sign up to this organisation and be allocated events to busk at, and as she's a classical musician and not overly keen, we knocked it on the head.

Green are you not too happy with the current teacher? I always liked the sound of her, but probably only because she agreed with whatever I said!

Hi DD busks (with a friend) - our City has pioneered a no licence approach and no age limit; apparently other cities are now adopting this as it has been very successful (it was a scheme piloted with support of music unions, police, etc etc); its on the basis that music adds to the ambience of the city, supports musicians, and also brings a calming influence etc. You just turn up at your chosen spot without any registering - the only rules are you can't block a highway, and you have to move if the police feel there are crowd control issues. However If you are busking for a charity here you do need a licence still. So worth checking on line for what your local area wants. I have to say i am amazed at how generous people are; dd and her friend were offered a sunday afternoon slot in a pub after there last session (we haven't taken this up yet !) and lots of lovely people talk to us about their musical histories etc.

Am so sorry you had such a horrible experience Drummers!

Thanks for busking info everyone
Drummers I'm so sorry to hear about your horrible experience
That's certainly something to think about!

She is great in all lessons that I could attend, she leaves detailed note to my daughter. I just havent got her to communicate to me, basically tell me what we need to do, if I should relax, if I should supervise better.

We didnt have any practice today as someone has a tired eye and a tired hot day. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are usually days that we are free and can do some practise. I am hoping for Thursday.

String: surely we dont have to tell people what we are gonna do with the busking money? We are in South France this August, the beach will be busy, I might get some of my holiday money back , and might be a good reason to bring the violin along.