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!

musicathome I enjoyed the videos The Scherzo's very good, he's so young.
missy congratulations on drums !! When you mention other percussion stuff, do you mean classical orchestral percussion? The issue of course is the instruments. Either you invest in a tuned perc instrument like a xylophone or a marimba, or even timpani (we don't have timpani at home) or your DD will have to find a suitable place to learn. This could be a music service, or a private teacher with the gear at home. DS was lucky his secondary school had everything necessary (except a vibraphone which he misses very much but he will have one at jd from September). Then further down the road he got an award to buy a marimba and he was also given a xylophone on loan... But the instruments are the issue here and they're not cheap. When it comes to orchestral percussion, the sooner they're exposed to orchestral and ensemble experiences the better, because of access and use of things like tubular bells, bongos, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum, etc, etc. When younger, DS attended lots of one day workshops at places like RCM to gain that experience.
One thing he was given for his birthday years ago was a cajón. One of the best things ever! He plays along to flamenco, rumba, salsa, anything, and is very portable. It can substitute a drum kit in an improvised gig because it has snare wiring inside and they sell pedals to hit it like the bass drum.
In terms of skipping a grade at drums, good idea but I wouldn't skip the technical exercises though, as they give her a solid base to build on. Does she have a practice pad like this one? www.gear4music.com/Drums-and-Percussion/RealFeel-by-Evans-Practice-Pad-12/RPX This is very good to do daily exercises, paradiddles, double strokes, etc, without bothering anyone. DS packs it in his suitcase on holidays. The better her technique at the snare, the better a drummer she will be. It will also help with orchestral snare work. I knew a drummer who did two hours everyday only on the practice pad.

I knew drummers would have the best advice on orchestral percussion. I couldn't agree more about the importance of ensembles. Sadly, DS1 isn't in the orchestral ensembles at music hub any more but he does love marching band so I guess it's where we are. He practises xylophone quite happily but he's a lot more advanced on snare drum and kit. I think if he played more xylophone in a group he'd be as confident with that but it's hard when it's one lesson a week.

Musicathone very nice videos. The etude???? Brought back memories of dd learning that

Could I request access to YouTube clips too???

Hope to post clip of DD2 in August, once we return from holidays and after she polishes off solo for Suzuki summer camp. Camp not until mid August which keeps practice going all summer, other than 2 weeks away.

DD2 is back to Suzuki method for probably next two years, after getting great result in Grade 5. Then jump to Grade 7 after finishing book 6. At least, that's the plan as it stands right now.

Meanwhile, we take it day by day with DD1, who has lost motivation for anything extracurricular other than her phone/laptop. She needs violin for her State music exam next Jun. I'd be sorry but not surprised if that marks the end of her violin journey. (But she has opted to do week violin camp in Bryanston, and as a result continues to practice review over summer, so there is still a glimmer of hope😊)

Just watched musica' videos now and what a treat! Thank you for posting!

se22 yes the Etude :) still polishing it. Mumoftwogirls we'll also be at Suzuki summer camp with all three of mine, also mid August might see you there :)
drummers reading very much what you share as one of mine has repeatedly said he wants to play them, but I'm holding off at the moment.

Suzuki camp beginning with C....?

I've just seen the videos thank you musicathome really enjoyed them!

Another great practice session, I can't wait till dd is finishing these pieces, it sounds weird but probably because the stress is gone I can see the enjoyment on her face and body when she plays them. I'll of course share when ready it will be a few months I'm sure as there are four pieces at the same time. It also takes less time to practice as her teacher said she's allowing her a bit of a break from scales I assume another couple of weeks and then we'll start again.

I am loving all the videos! Keep them coming!

Goo's piano teacher has given up on trying to persuade her to do Grade 4 (she had learned two pieces to distinction level, wasn't interested in learning a third, knew all the scales, and is STILL yet to perform - ever!) and today she has given her Le Onde! Lucky girl. We've also just got 'Improve Your Sight Reading, Grade 3' so that is lagging behind, but not too badly.

Rara is still struggling with the scales, but has officially covered 14/15 now. They are hit and miss. She can't match up the title of the scale/ arpeggio/ dom. 7th with what her fingers are meant to do. There's a language difficulty in there somewhere. She reads a novel a day and her vocabulary is 'superior', but her processing speed and word finding speed are very slow, and she is verging on selective mutism.

Thank you all for your kind welcome and advice. It's reassuring to know that this pre-exam wobble isn't too unusual and I think you are right that it is just nerves. I hope she has a good experience tomorrow, that will encourage her to keep going with it in future. She had a lesson today and her teacher was very encouraging and dd feels much more positive this evening. I decided to take the lead from dd, she hasn't suggested practising this evening so neither have I, we've just had a quiet evening eating ice cream and playing with the guinea pigs (good for de-stressing) and she's now in bed. I hope dd is able to do her best despite her nerves, and we will look forward to a treat afterwards whatever happens!

I've watched the videos ... very impressed! Haven't managed to upload anything yet ... I have loads of DD singing but she is very reluctant to let me film her playing piano. I will keep trying ...

Final concert of the term on Wednesday, she is playing a Fauré duet and the Arabesque gets wheeled out for a final time (she's sick of it).

She has been given her summer homework, a Chopin étude , op 25 no 1 so one of the "easier" ones. That'll keep her busy ....

She got stopped in the street today by someone who recognised her (from her singing gigs), so I guess she can now claim to have minor local notority lol.

waffle my girl heard Le Onde when she was 6 and adored it immediately- its on her list of "I can't wait to learn that" pieces.

dappledsky belated welcome!

fleur so lovely to hear the exam drama hasn't had lasting effects, really am xxx

musicathome and stringchild, we are doing Dublin Mid August followed by Bryanston the next week. Dd2 doing both, Dd2 just the latter.

MomofTwo - i saw that and it looks good but we are on hols; we have done cellofest a couple of times in august; really really good and they take sibling violins

DS2 played Le Onde in Y7, it was lovely.

He was given it in curriculum music lessons at school to keep him busy!

Yay, I can see the videos now.
Look forward to putting faces and sounds to the names I read about on this thread 😊

Minimama thank you, great to hear also your little one found the exam ok and did well!

Waffle Le Onde is beautiful, I hope we'll get a recording of it when ready.

Can I please ask what make of clarinet your children have? Dd has an Artemis that we inherited from a friend who'd had it in storage for 20 years. It was serviced last year. Dd has played on it for 18 months or so. Is this "fit for purpose "?
Maybe I'm looking at this as the mother of a violin playing child too much. Her main violin has an amazing tone compared to the stentor she takes for school groups but the price difference is huge

stringchild, MomofTwo yes Cellofest :).

se22 - DD now has an rZ which has an amazing tone; took her hours to choose it but will last her 'forever'; but she only moved to this level of cost in the last few months (is taking g7 shortly). On her cello she uses a much lower cost instrument at school than she does at home/jd but i don't see the need for two instruments for clarinet (esp since she also has an A and borrows a bass).

musicathome - oh so jealous; the start clashes with nco this year so we can't do it, but we will def return

se22 dd has the Buffet B12. We've been told on here and by her teacher it is a very good beginners instrument (plastic) and we'll upgrade to wooden instrument when she's ready (higher grade and older as I understand they are really heavy).

Dd owns a Hanson T5 (Bb) . .its lovely with a beautiful tone. She also has an A clarinet on loan from the music service.. which is a Buffet E11