July Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

I was celebrating the end of a VERY busy week with a glass of and realised it's now just past midnight, and therefore July! Have a new thread!

The music threads are for ALL musicians, young and old, beginners and advanced, and every style of music!

I have two DDs, Goo (11) who is currently stropping and eye-rolling her way through her last few weeks at primary school, and Rara (9) who is funny and creative. Goo is working towards Grade 8 Flute, and has been playing the piano for just over a year. She is refusing to take any exams or perform on it though. Rara has her Grade 3 Cello exam coming up soon, and is just moving beyond Grade 2 Clarinet now. Both played the recorder from age 3/4 and got to a really good level, but other than helping out with my school groups, they don't really play any more - they are particularly obsessed with the flute and clarinet.

I am a teacher of woodwind - currently about 80 recorder pupils (many group taught) in two schools, plus two private flute pupils and six private clarinet pupils.

Niggle don't worry about the thread... we can always have a July/August one next. With people away for the summer, it usually slows down in August.

String I will investigate for you. I did write a set of grade 6-8ish pieces for bass clarinet years ago, and they've never been performed. You're welcome to photocopies of those if they might be of any use, and I'll have a further think.

Second ABRSM are making sure all scales are covered in Grades 6-8, but not all of them in every exam now. The new scales book is a great place to start. There will be some on the Grade 8 list which featured further down, and he will already know those.

Rara has done her clarinet practice and hadn't gone backwards at all! In fact, her tone was nicer now that she's not rushed or tired. She has made a start on the Grade 3 scales - we are going to learn one scale and arpeggio per month, for seven months (I bet she will go faster, but she really struggled with them on the cello recently, and hasn't done enough theory to get the connection), she has tried the beginning of one of the new pieces, but we'll save them until after Christmas. She could possibly do it next term, but we have settled on March, to give her the best possible chance. Goo did her flute earlier - purple patches - and I have no idea if they're up to speed... she never ever uses a metronome! They sounded assured though.

Right, both girls have been playing on the Wii far too much, so it's cello and piano now. Otherwise they won't be getting a video tonight.

Dd just did another MAT test tonight one that was meant to be harder as it has 1/4 tone differences and in it and got 51. Happy mummy here tonight.

Green the changes are only for the wind syllabus, the piano (unfortunately) remains the same with a huge amount of scales. The grade 6 ones are easier due to the fact that the majority are the same as grade 5 but played different ways (staccato, 4 octaves etc). But still all the scales from grade 5 onwards on piano.

Oh and mine doesn't do much scales practice in lessons either, when a new scale is introduced the teacher demonstrates if needed and then asks dd to prepare it at home.

Well done to Rara Waffle, I am sure she'll sail through the grade 3 clarinet.

We didn't have the last clarinet lesson last weekend as the teacher had something coming up so it will be this coming weekend. Which is working out fine, it means less of a break over the summer as we will then go on holiday the following week and then when we're back before we know it she's starting with the new teacher.

Fleurdelise 51 is really encouraging!

Thank you, TheSecond do you know if there are 1/4 tones differences in the actual test? She couldn't hear it the first time, thought the sound was the same, still got 51 with these mistakes but when I asked her to listen again she could hear them as she gave the right answer, she knew they were not the same sound but she didn't know if higher or lower.

Not sure if I should train her more on this area, are there really 1/4 differences I wonder?

Can I just say, going back to the discussion about bribing, Dd has a lego set promised if she gets to the audition stage. Not because I believe she can improve her musical ear much but because I want her to really concentrate. I know it is bad as this time we reward achievement rather than effort as we usually do but she is a dreamer and I need her to concentrate in the test. If she concentrates she scores in 48+ but if she has a dreamers day... the worse she got was 38. Not good.

Oh Fleur, so still many scales to learn, oh well! And when is the audition? All the best Fleur, you have a nerve of steel as I am very very nervous about our turn next year.

I have promised if there is 30mins violin and 30mins piano then there will be a sticker. There wasnt any violin however 1hr piano lesson so we agreed the first day, it counts.(Each sticker=£1)

Waffle - wow that would be brilliant and v generous thank you! Dd's purple patches sounding ok, most up to speed - which I didn't think they would be yet so that is good in a busy week.

Fleur - that rounds a really good level of security already.

Any playing can count as practice? Or it has to be in a proper way? No lessons during any holiday and no homework nor exam to prepare, so we never had a plan for a holiday. DS would play his stuff for fun but it's far from 'practice'. Is it ok? Or should he have some forms of discipline? Maybe his teachers are quite softy so he has never been in a trouble this way. But that's before I joined this thread and I feel I have to have a plan for this summer!

I have just threatened to give notice for piano lessons. Goo's heart isn't in it, even though she knows she should be doing it, and I think she is good at it. Every week, she begs me to cancel the lesson because she is unprepared. I think we will give her an incentive to practise every day she's home over the summer holidays, and see if she can find some motivation. If not, she will be finishing at Christmas. At least for now.

Kutik personally I only count the task of memorising the scales for G4 violin for example (she already knows her dominant and chromatic) her teacher told her she must do this. And the focussing on tricky bits for both instruments . This is the only way dd can practice or she will make the same mistake all summer

I think we have to start small. I am not home so I have no idea if it was practised, I will have to trust her. Summer evening will be a complete rest, everyone is free to do anything in the evening( I have 3 scheduled sleep over this week anyway). We have the young violinist's Repertoire Book 4 so I am asking her to sight read anything she likes in there as we havent got lessons set up, no homework nor plan. I am now even thinking if we should hire a practised room during our holiday. My husband will be very against it, we have never done it, he doesnt even know what grade she is. He thinks music has been a complete fun!!!

DS2 and DD both came out saying that some of the questions had intervals of smaller than a semitone.

String I have found the pieces. All look hard-ish (rhythm) and 3-4 minutes each. No idea if they're any good or not! I dated them Nov. 1998 - Feb. 1999, with my maiden name. I can photocopy them next time we go to the library (Rara likes to go lots) and give them to you on Sunday.

Green the practice sticker chart sounds promising. Well done for implementing it! Dd's music test is 12th September, if she goes past it to the audition stage the auditions are week commencing the 25th September. I am taking it one at a time though. First DS's GCSEs results on the 24th August, then the academic test (dd) on the 9th Sept then first music test and fingers crossed the audition also.

string she isn't constant, the majority of her results have been 46-52 but we did have a 38, a 44 and a 45 also. I'll give her a couple of days and do another one. I think I'll feel better when she gets 47+ in three or more tests in a row. Currently she is like a yo-yo a couple of high ones then a bad one. I can see it is lack of concentration so hopefully the practice will increase the focus.

TheSecond yes that's what I heard, I wasn't sure if it was 1/4 tone or semitones only. She got 51 tonight with the three mistakes in the 1/4 so I am not very worried. Quick question, if I send you two sample tests by email will your dcs be able to tell me which one is the closer one to the actual exam? I have two different samples, not hugely different but I would love to know which one is closer. No worries if it is too much trouble.

Kutik for us piano has to be proper practice as she continues her lessons but it is more relaxed. Skipping the odd day, not doing all the pieces. Clarinet is really a bit of homework, she's been given 4 studies to learn over the summer, 3 scales and s Disney song but she's only doing it 2-3 times a week as she's changing teachers.

Dd is a routine person, if I take music practice out of her routine we'll start a proper battle in September.

Waffle maybe is just because of the summer holidays? Maybe she will pull her weight in September.

Loose brilliant news. Well done mini Loose.

DS2 hasn't had a chance to do holiday practice yet, he finished on Friday, we were away for music days at the weekend and got back this evening!

I've booked 3 90 minute practice slots at the Cathedral for the end of the week . 8.30 starts - before the tourists arrive!

She was a nightmare during the second half of this term, Fleur, and with so many school trips and disruptions, I cut her some slack. I think that was the mistake!

Fleur: not long now then all will be over for you, one by one, hang on there!!! On Sunday we had few friends with children came over for lunch/dinner. There was a girl who is doing 11+ this Sept and I can see the stress in the whole family. They also excused themself soonest. I told myself we will be the same even worse next year as my friends' daughter is more academic than mine, I have no doubt they will have multiple offers.

I have the same thing with mine on violin similar to Goo on piano now. I am working from home today and I thought I could make her to touch the violin however she refused flat. I think we could do easy, fun, small, inspiration during this difficult time. I am betting everything on our new violin teacher. In my note tonight I left the sticker there and say I reward her the sticker early because I believe she will definitely earn it tomorrow. I feel like I have to do something during this difficult time otherwise she will drop. Dropping violin for us means she will loose her chances and interest in her Orchestras which are very important for her musicianship and we only just begin.

Green, I would start small. 5 stickers equals small surprise gift. Immediately redeemable. If necessary, get an Argos catalogue and cut out a picture. I really do think this type of bribery is fair, as children don't see the bigger picture. I did this, until grade 4, when three months work got her a pair of roller skates. She got a distinction and I haven't bought the skates yet due to temporary cash flow issues. And guess what? She doesn't care. Hasn't mentioned it since her result. They will appear, but violin has a separate life now.

I'm not naive enough to believe DD won't bring this up as an issue when she is 35 though...

Fleurdelise I've sent you a PM.

Loose well done to your DS on the piano result!

Ooh, well done MiniLoose, and Loose for your help/ nagging. Sorry I missed the result before - I hadn't read all of the previous page.

For my little miss, she shows how little she is that the stickers themselves are reward enough haha. She gets stickers each lesson for her teacher based on how well prepared she was and how well she does in her lesson, so her practice efforts are important for contributing to that. She also still has a daily practice chart she fills in which she hates to have gaps in. Simply the possibility of a gap will make her practice on the odd day she might consider slacking off.

Practice is carrying on at a similar pace to term time here as she starts with new teachers in September so her teacher wants her really well prepared. Also, easing off isn't a concept she fully understands! She's learnt most of the grade 4 clarinet and some of the grade 5. Her lessons continue in the holidays as her teacher travels quite often during term time. In fact holiday lessons are often longer and are wonderful as they have the time to explore and just enjoy more together. She loves holiday lessons.

We are staying with my cousins this week. My girl is loving it. Saturday night her and my cousins son (21, recent music degree graduate) spent ages doing jazz piano improv and composing a clarinet piece. I had to drag her away at 10 for bed. Sunday night Ithey were back at it again! Last night my cousin and my girl had a wonderful time both playing clarinet together as my cousin had brought hers home from the school she teaches in. She loves these times of just exploring. Happy girl!

Waffle that would be very kind thank you; have to say the bass has grown on me - notbsurebthe dog feels the same.

Fleur - my dd fluctauated widely ahead of the 11+; we then focused together in the last month on consistency. Does dd self-mark? Is that possible? We found that really helpful.

Well done Loose!

Great news Loose !! I've finally managed to catch up ( again)
We try and keep practice routines going during the summer with the odd lesson ( to motivate them) otherwise Ds especially would need convincing to restart properly in September but he's enjoying trumpet practice at the moment as he's getting to learn lots of new pieces. He's also away on 2 music courses during the holidays which helps to break things up. Ds is also struggling to motivate himself with piano a bit at the moment he just wants to play around and learn new stuff whereas his teacher ( and rightly so) wants him to polish some pieces he learnt earlier in the year. I've told him he has to do as he's asked ( but can play piano whenever he wants to learn his own stuff which he often does) and I will talk to her about having new pieces after the nco course - it would be a shame if he lost his motivation especially as he sees piano as a fun option !!