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!

Here is Goo with her new flute! It sounds much better than the old one.

Wow Waffle, her fingers must be moving so fast! It's all about the thumbs with the bassoon. You'd have to see a bassoon player side on to appreciate how agile they have to be. I guess it's a skill that's transferable to a mobile phone?

LOL Doubleup I'm sure that makes for fast texting! Very useful.

I've just remembered, you wanted the make and model too! Yamaha 372, solid silver head joint and open holes. She tried five in the shop, and gradually eliminated them until she was left with this one. It probably felt familiar, because her last flute was a Yamaha too. This is flute number 4!!!

Beautiful waffle

waffle that's beautiful, it sounds gorgeous. Great job Goo. Also, thanks so much for ringing NCO - xxxx

Waffle, thank you for sharing. I love the sound of flute. So beautiful!

Lots of great advice/thoughts sharing - deeply appreciated.

I'm not sure if DS felt any pressure. He is far too optimistic/confident/careless. Though as Loose pointed, boys can get a lot more stress than we realise. I suppose, he may have felt his path was set. He swapped cubs with the youth orchestra this term, and is swapping his beloved Saturday school with JD next term. Suddenly he may have felt everything become music. He still does lots of sports though. DH won't let him live without them.

He loves music, it's no doubt (he listed 'using his brain' as his most favourite pastime, doing nothing as the second , music as the third, then sports as the forth, and the list continued...). But as many say, he is still so young to know his thing, and there is no need for him to know yet. We may rule out music scholarship, but we will go ahead with JD. He is actually counting his fingers.

What's happening with his sport commitments: He plays several sports. All other than football are carefree weekly activities so fine. He is a U10 player at a very intensive, demanding team. He is expected to come for training at least 3 times a week (an hour journey one way) and weekly matches anywhere in the UK (but mostly London). But he goes only one evening. It's been like that since last September. We wrote a letter to explain why and asked to move him down to the less competitive group where they train only once a week without matches in December. However, they said DS was still one of the strongest players and progressing well so would like to keep him in the top group for now. It was very flattering, but it didn't improve the situation. We feel guilty not to commit properly, and I don't really think it's good for DS to hang there like this. I feel like we are just waiting to be kicked out. It's much healthier mentally if he moves to where he can commit fully (which means just once a week locally).

DS still loves playing football. But it's not his most favourite sport. Yet DH didn't realise it and pushed him too much just because he was good at it, which only accelerated his loss of passion. DS didn't enjoy the long journey involved too. I don't want the same thing happens to his music. So I am quite careful not to make him feel he OUGHT TO do it. When DS said he was having second thoughts, I tried not to show my shock and just said, 'p, pardon..?'.

Lovely flute Waffle! Thanks for sharing the clip. Well done Goo!

Lovely playing goo glad the new flute was a success waffle

Waffle I'm glad the flute is a success, the hard choice is good preparation for all those other areas of life where you can't have it all.

Kutik My husband is very proud and did start off very pushy. It reached the stage where I told him that he (DH) would be the reason that DS gave up because he was making it into hard work and taking all the joy out of it. You can't approach it with the maturity of a forty year old when you are only ten. DH thought about it for a while and he backed right off. He needs a reminder every now and again but not much of one because we now move in the same circles as a dad who is the poster child for over invested parenting.

Question for you ladies..... Munchkin does private lessons, clarinet and piano. We've had "The Letter" from school about music service lessons. Would I be nuts to allow her to audition for the cello?

I don't think it's nuts - especially if you can hire the cello by the term.
At one stage DS1 did flute, drums and tuned percussion but after taking up bass guitar decided to stop flute. It's a way of finding out what they really like - as long as you can afford the lessons and agree on a practice schedule.
DS2 has stuck with piano and cello, and says 2 is enough!

Icouldbe, DH has no idea how pushy he can be with sports especially, but he seems to have high expectation in general. We had a lot of discussion and at some points he seemed to accept DS was a different person from DH and that DS could make his own choice. But he quickly forgets and let him be the old pushy dad. I constantly remind him where DS's heart lies.

I must say DH becomes more supportive and at a time even excited about DS's musical journey recently (although we can also call is 'a phase'). We are all trying to be a better parent, a better person, each day!

string may be able to give some advice as ministring plays both cello and clarinet?

Minimusic - it's a lovely combination; dd gets to play in wind and jazz bands as well as string. Jazz work def has made her much readier to experiment and improvise on cello too. Also she plays sax (but no lessons). So no reason not to except more practice time

DS wants to play guitar. It seems very popular among teens so I expected he would ask one day, but thought it would be when he started secondary (where he would meet lots other guitarists).

We have one as DH plays (badly). You know, as soon as he starts playing, we move out of the room. So what he sometimes does is he comes in with his guitar when me or DS is having a bath, and gives us a short recital while we are trapped in the bath tub.

Anyway, back to DS's guitar story. So I said to DS he could play DH's guitar whenever he feels like it, but he said it's too big for him. When can they start playing the full sized guitar? I assume secondary school children would be fine? If so, I rather like DS to wait for another couple of years so he can use DH's guitar than getting a child sized one now.

nothing as the second

Love this one - this is so under-valued, and one I wish we could give more to, as nothing thinking time is also crutial to a child. He is mature beyond his years Kutik, and both parents sound like they are a doing a great job! .

Please don't worry too much about the scholarships for now. He'll know come new term with starting JD on whether he wants to apply...the summer break post Y5 also brings a lot of reflection time. You seem to have a great option of a preferred local school (but limited music?), or indies where he thinks he'll thrive; most certainly will with his range of skills. As Drummers said, depending on the school culture, it is ok to have other interests, and whilst there may be the odd clash, you tend to get good at prioritising events. As a school gets to know the personalities and commitment levels, they become more accommodating. And non-scholars also are able to lead a very healthy music life if they so wish.

When can they start playing the full sized guitar? I assume secondary school children would be fine? If so, I rather like DS to wait for another couple of years so he can use DH's guitar than getting a child sized one now.

Depends on the sort of guitar and the size of the child! And hand size too. Nothing puts you off playing guitar quicker than playing an inappropriate instrument.

If it's a classical guitar then depending on growth I would say full size from age 12/13. DD started guitar at 12, she is 5'3 (1m60) with small hands and she started on an old 3/4 classical which was the right size for her.

If it's a steel stringed acoustic, then it depends on the shape. A "dreadnaught" (the most common acoustic shape, with a wide body and neck) will be uncomfortable to play for a small person. A "concert" shape with a smaller body and a more pronounced neck might be OK - may depend on the size of the body and the neck (sizing differs between manufacturers). DD started on a scaled down acoustic (Taylor GS mini) and now plays a Taylor Grand Auditorium which looks too big for her but is very comfortable to play. The main thing is that the neck isn't too big and that you can get your arm round the body comfortably.

If it's electric then he may be OK with an adult size guitar - again, depends on the type. A Strat-type guitar may be playable for a child, though the distance between the frets and the length of the neck may be an issue. A semi-hollow "Beatles" type guitar may be too big - I play one of these (Epiphone Casino) but had to opt for the scaled down version because the original is too big for me at 5'3.

Sorry for essay! Simplest solution if your DH's guitar isn't suitable is probably a Yamaha 3/4 which you can get for under 100 quid.

Wow, thank you so much for the informative post, Mistigri! I didn't know choosing guitar is so complex! Thank you so so much for the suggestion of the model. I have already sorted his birthday presents so may consider it for Christmas if he still wants to play guitar.

Thank you for the kind words and flowers, earling. You are right, the summer break and starting JD will help DS know what he wants to do. School visits are arranged in June/July and September also. So we will know our options better in the new term.

So far, DS's first choice is the local indy. It's very academic, so not sure how much chance my unprepared DS has got. I booked a mock test this week, so hopefully it will tell us whether it's worth trying. However, if he goes to the indy, we need to be very very careful with money. No more skiing for instance... I'm still debating over private with tight budget vs state with colourful experience....

minimusician DS2 has different instruments, ( piano, clarinet and trombone from age 6,7 and 8) and enjoyed them all differently. He was also a busy Chorister.

waffle I just watched it. It was terrific, I like the new flute and she's so good, her playing is amazing and no wonder they need her every year at NCO. Wonderful thanks so much for posting it