(Mostly) August Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Here's a new thread for August, but we're starting it a few days early, because you lot have managed to be super chatty this month! I wonder if things will slow down in August due to people going away... maybe or maybe not?

I'm Waffle, a teacher of woodwind - mostly recorders and clarinet, but I have a couple of flutes currently, and teach saxophone, piano and theory when required. I am determined that the music threads should be open to ALL, including complete beginners and adult learners. It's a good place to discuss lessons, practice, concerts, exams and our generally hectic lives!

I have a DH who plays the guitar for pleasure (no lessons) and two girls. Goo is 11 and has her Grade 7 Flute (March 2017) and Grade 6 Recorder (December 2015 and now pretty much stopped ). She has been learning the piano for 15 months, is refusing to perform in any way, shape or form, but will probably take Grade 5 next year. Rara is 9 and has Grade 3 Cello (July 2017), Grade 3 Recorder (December 2016 and also ceased) and is working towards her Grade 3 Clarinet... probably next spring. Goo is off to NCO Under 12s on Sunday, and we need to pop out to get her some shoes and general supplies in a bit.

I have just realised that we will probably have Grade 8 Flute and Grade 3 Clarinet going on in the same session, Spring 2018. Oh dear! If Rara bothers with Grade 4 Cello, we'll probably have that at the same time as Grade 5 Piano, next summer. Double oh dear!

Have you tried an incentive scheme with Rara?

No, she practises just fine but has to reinvent the wheel at every turn, won't play things like This because she prefers them like That, doesn't like to be told anything, or for me to play along... ever!

14/18 is ok for aural, in practice it means that maybe one question was wrong (e.g. rhythm/time), and there were small errors in one of the other questions.

No, she practises just fine but has to reinvent the wheel at every turn, won't play things like This because she prefers them like That, doesn't like to be told anything, or for me to play along... ever!

Mine are both like this, which means that I rarely get involved in practice at all. You must have the patience of a saint!

DS is driving me mad at the moment with incessant questions about playing the guitar, to which he mostly doesn't like the answers. He has been playing a week and expects everything to be perfect. Yesterday we had lots of moaning about picks and how they slip in his fingers, he doesn't want to hear that much of this will be resolved with time.

OTOH he is very driven - a week and a bit in, and several hours of practice a day, and he has mastered all the usual open chords, pentatonic scales in several positions, strumming patterns, blues chord sequences and rhythms ... and can play without looking at the neck which is quite impressive at this stage IMO.

I had planned to sign him up for a beginners class in September, might have to rethink.

Fantastic marks niggle. What pieces did she choose?

Waffle that sounds like hard work and not dissimilar to dd who debates anything I say

waffle I admire that you've been able to teach her this far. They are fierce little beasties, these determined children of ours. TheGirl has just recently decided that I won't go into her music lessons (which is good because it won't be an option in sept anyway). That decision has in fact worked amazingly; her teacher has commented repeatedly on the increased concentration, ownership of the lessons, determination to try new things.... it's just "right" for us now. She's taking much more ownership of her practice too- she likes to try tackle it on her own more and more now.

After nearly 5 months wobbly, her only top tooth has come out (the other was knocked out 2.5 years ago), so this weekend has been about learning to play her clarinet with no top teeth.... it's going better than feared!

We got a cheapy copy of the Titanic score in the secondhand book shop the other day so she's on a bit of mission to learn most of that!

Those are fantastic marks Niggle. We were listening to a long interview with Stephen Cleobury recently: apparently he wasn't initially very good at sightreading (but does rather well these days as an organist and pianist).

DS likes the recorder so far! DH and I were playing what we could remember and DS was grinning away and was very happy to chew the mouthpiece and put his fingers in the holes

I usually phone up the airline to double check in advance as I don't want to find out at the counter that the violin has to be checked in (so too late to leave it at home). We have never had a problem before and I thought most of airlines were OK with violin as it'll fit in the overhead storage. But it seems BA has quite a strict attitude towards musical instruments, I'm afraid. I spoke to three people at BA and all of them said the same - either we would have to buy a seat or check it in.

To be honest, DS often doesn't play much during home-away for the obvious reasons (too many fun things to do!), so it was not the end of the world. But usually-not-so-supportive-towards-music DH cancelled BA and re-book with another airline which has rather generous policy on musical instruments! I thought DH was quite happy that the violin would have stayed at home...

Anyway the problem solved and all we have to do this week is packing! We have a few London outing days this week and again lots of tennis. The packing has to be done in early mornings or late night!

Amazing results, MiniNiggle!

I'd echo Waffle with regard to easy marks from learning scales. After a series of merits, DD1 decided to put the work in on her Grade 6 scales and scraped a distinction for her oboe. And when I say scraped..... she got 130. Now having to learn them all over again for Grade 6 sax which is likely to be next term. Hasn't started her Grade 7 scales yet though.

There was something on here about scales changing. Would that apply if DD1was to do Grade 7 in the spring off the current syllabus, does anyone know?

Dropped DD2 off for NCO U11 yesterday. She met up with her two friends and was off. Nearly forgot to say goodbye to us! Then on the way home managed to get through before they shut the motorway. Apparently a coach had been leaking diesel for miles and there were a number of accidents; we saw the result of 3 of them. Combine diesel, rain and speed and it's an unpredictable cocktail!

Scales are changing from January, so everyone has to stop. They are (generally) slightly reduced, but there are now more 12ths in the early grades. I hate 12ths and would much rather teach 2 octaves. Rara has just started on hers.

Stop? I meant change!!

I have just been to the woodwind shop, because my flute was booked in for a service. I took Rara with me, to look at clarinets. Hers cost £109 and isn't great, but I thought it would have lasted her longer! She does need something better now. The clarinet guy brought out some entry-level wooden ones (around £800!) and her eyes lit up, but I told him to take them away again, because they are heavy and she is far too small. (She is growing though - my mum measured her the other day and she's 132 cm. Goo has shot right past me this month and is 160.3 cm, so they look funny together at the moment!) Rara ended up with three nice plastic ones to try, disliked the Jupiter, and the Yamaha just pipped the Buffet in her estimation. She sounded better on it too. Traitor! We are going to have to wait until we've both been paid and then take advantage of a current promotion and the Assisted Purchase Scheme, but she should have it in a few weeks.

Waffle there are good deals on gear4music at the moment. I was thinking of upgrading dd's clarinet as soon as a property sale goes through and I have spare cash ....Do you think it is better to take her to a shop? Sadly we aren't eligible for assisted purchase.

OK, life in the can't household took an interesting turn while we were away on holiday and actually had lots of time to talk to one another.

DS - just about to go into Y12 - announced he wanted to consider jazz music courses once he leaves school, as an alternative to university.

Despite my family containing those who work in the music profession, they've all gone into it post 'normal' university so this is untrodden for us. It's not 'urgent' - ie he's got a year to decide - but OTOH if it's a wholly unrealistic dream then it might be sensible to knock it on the head early as he's going to have to work like a Trojan to get the A-levels he needs for university, and that might conflict with sensible steps to take if he's going full-tilt for music ie Saturday conservatoires, holiday courses et al.

Anyone with experience of the UCAS Conservatoire system? Can he do both - ie normal UCAS AND Conservatoire, just with different timescales and different personal statements?

Also, is this route only viable for very, very, very able musicians - ie lots of Grade 8s at early ages and lots of national-level courses and experience by this point (so NYJO Academy Big Band, or similar)?

DS takes grades as and when needed, retrospectively rather than as a way of working towards the next level [ie he and his teacher will decide he's now easily Grade 6 standard, and he needs grade 6 for entry to senior county ensembles, so he does Grade 6. They've already planned for him to do his two Grade 8s over the coming terms]. He plays in the senior county jazz orchestra but hasn't auditioned e.g. for Saturday conservatoires.

So he loves Jazz, is good at it within the local / county context but has tested himself no wider, is taught by a jazz specialist [total accident, that one], is probably lagging in formal evidence of grades vs his current standard and is going to do Music A-level.

Thoughts? A clear 'no way' would be really useful at this stage! He's talking Birmingham, Leeds, maybe Glasgow, Manchester as they offer the clearest 'Jazz' routes. Open to the idea of a Foundation year if someone can reassure me that it's funded!

se22 I would get her to a shop and see which ones work for her, then order them online if that's cheaper! We're not spending megabucks - with the VAT taken off and a further discount due to a flash promotion, we're looking at £330.

can't I don't think that's a clear "no way" - he sounds like a good candidate to me. Does he have much gigging experience? I'm no expert in jazz, so hopefully someone else will be along later. I will say, though, that I think getting a university degree is rarely a waste of time, and jazz will always be there.

We're back from holiday and I am already back at work. I need to catch up with the thread but just wanted so say hello.

can't - I'm unable to give you any advice, but DD is moving to a Sixth Form where she'll get far more music experience. One thing they want her to have is a distinction at Grade 8 as that'll be the last music qualification she has on paper, even tough she'll then be working on a diploma.

can't there is someone on this board whose husband is a pro jazz musician who will be able to help, she has changed her username though and I cant remember who it is .

It is hard to make a living in jazz. I know a few pro jazz musicians via our guitar school and they all have day jobs or teach (or both).

can't PM me if you want details as DS is doing conservatoire applications this year (not jazz though). He can do that together with UCAS, the offers for conservatoire come out before the deadline for submitting the UCAS form. He doesn't have a year to decide, this time next year he will be six weeks away from having to submit the application. Conservatoire applications are very early (end of September), he could start planning open days now because if he waits until June he will have missed them. You can book an advice audition if you need an idea of whether he's of the right standard, I think some places will knock the cost of that off the audition fee if you do then apply.

Thanks for the welcomes. Amazing marks Nigglsnotes :-)

I am starting to think about DS2's NCO audition. He is 9 (not 10 until May), so I assume he is aiming at U10s or training orchestra(?). I'm not sure how it works with violinists.

How hard is the sight reading? I think his pieces will be okay, but he can be quite random with sightreading. Some days he does really well. And other days he makes loads of weird mistakes, or simply stops counting.

Also with the short study piece, how long do they get to 'learn' it. He is much much better given 10 minutes or so.

And - does anyone have tips for making him more consistent with sight reading? Thanks so much in advance!

Fab results indeed mininiggles!!

We are now 1 day into second Suzuki camp. DD2 had a fabulous masterclass, topic was playing with expression (Vivaldi A minor 2nd mo). She also had great Group class. DD1 had a very good masterclass, and a not so great group class. Lovely music at orchestra. Libertango, I love that melody!!

And I walked 16.5k steps!! Going between dorms and main building many times during the day. Food quite nice, so I'm hoping I'll get at least 10k steps every day!!

can't my other thought was that the conservatoires DS is looking at are less hung up on G8 than some of the universities are. Conservatoires select on audition rather than exams passed so it matters little whether he's got the piece of paper with the assessment on. One of the uni music performance degrees DS looked at would only accept you onto the course with G8, if you didn't have it when you applied you would be transferred to the non-performance course and then moved back if you took the exam before the course started.

If he's interested in music at uni, look closely at how much performance there is in a degree with "performance" in the title because in some places it is very little. At one open day they had the timetables for the performance and non-performance courses and I was struggling to find much difference between them in either timetable or assessment. "No student shall book rehearsal rooms for more than three hours a week" on the corridor wall near the practice area was also telling.

I'm sorry if I was a bit abrupt yesterday - it was one of those days where there was a choice between five hours driving or wandering around a small market town for six hours while DS did something musical. I took the walking around option and I'm not sure it was the right choice for me. I get to do it again today, I'm taking a book and my knitting as my feet are protesting before I get my boots on.

I can tell you how many applicants there were for how many places but not right now as it's day two of rehearsals for the european tour. DS baked cookies last night for the section.

19,000 steps here yesterday *Momoftwogirls2", many hills too.