(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!

4 violins
1 piano dating from 1920.

No interesting shoes.

List here:

3 X violins
1 X electric violin
1 X white baby grand piano
Several recorders (none any good!)
1 X ukulele

Re: shoes I could give imelda Marcos a run for her money - but you all knew that secretly, right? 😂

Well that completely wrong footed me!- I gave up trying to keep up with the July thread and thought " oh I'll start again in August".
No fair to start August early !!!

We have a fairly modest instrument list...
3 clarinets
1 piano
1 acoustic guitar
3 ukuleles
4 recorders
1 glockenspiel
1 Kazoo

Someone asked about clarinet servicing up thread ( see!- I can't even keep up with the fake August thread!)
Dd's main clarinet gets serviced once a year... but she is heavy on her instruments plus it's free servicing. We book it in for the day online and then visit the workshop with it.. drop it off and then pick it up later.

Wow page 6 and I'm only just getting round to joining this months thread!! I'm mum to ds 12 who plays trumpet and has recently taken his grade 7 and piano ( no exams yet he's been learning about a year and is about grade 4 ish but likes to tackle much harder pieces !!) I also have a dd 9 who plays a bit of piano and lives for singing. She has her first individual singing lesson next week she's very excited about that.
Waffle I did look out for you yesterday but sadly didn't see you( love the shoes) maybe see you at the concert I'll be the one in the very large group of 10 as my extended family have all decided going to see ds is a good excuse for a family get together which will be lovely. I am utterly exhausted after the drive yesterday and now have to drive back ( stayed with family yesterday) to finish packing so we can move house on Thursday ( easy!!) was very strange that ds and dd had to say goodbye to the house that they have always lived in at 7.30 in the morning yesterday hopefully we will have got some of the new house organised before the nco concert ( especially the piano for ds!!)

We definitely don't have enough instruments in our house ( yet!!)
We caurrently have
A piano
2 trumpets
2 cornets
A clarinet
2 guitars
Oh and this probably doesn't count but a mixing desk as my husband likes to dj in his spare time!!
Ds is getting a new trumpet soon ( in c I think ) and is hoping for a " real" rather than a digital piano in the new house dd says she likes the digital one ( and I like that they can use headphones ) so we'll keep both when we can afford to buy one- this is way down my list of spending for the new house ds thinks it's going to happen straight away!!
Dd has asked for a ukulele for her birthday I think I might get one too so we can learn together ( the guitar and clarinet are mine as I could play them both many moons ago when I actually had some spare time )

Thank you, Fleurdelise.
That's very reassuring. I am totally non musical, so I thought trying for grade 2 = can play grade 1 easily any time. Realising he can forget to play so easily was a massive shock. I think it was a shock for him too.

Thank you, green, haven't seen you a while on other board, but seems like your dd is doing amazingly! I just wish my ds had determination like your dd!

Niggle we're the one south of the Cardboard one, where there haven't been many Anglicans for about 140 years...

Eventually found some secondhand ABRSM books online with free postage. I so miss living in the UK where books were easily acquired!

Proud (bonkers) mummy moment today. Turned on the Kings/ Willcocks recording of Bob Chilcott singing Pie Jesu and DS grinned his little heart out. There are some things he just loves and others he really ignores. Rhythmic stuff is great, particularly baroque orchestral stuff and jazz; but he also really loves some classical era and c20th stuff that seems relatively inaccessible for a 9mo! He completely ignores all early music though, to my chagrin....

I think we're very short on the instrument front:

• New-to-us decent clarinet, DS's toy of the moment
• Alto saxophone
• Descant and treble recorders (the latter courtesy of DS's best giggling friend at county music - who decided that a recorder group was JUST what the older teen woodwind players should be starting up, with predictably hilarious results)
• Digital piano
• Harp (mine, neglected)

I think someone may have 'lost' our ukelele...

Oh no fleur no bank robbery needed! Apart from the big ones, most of it is quite worthless. My parents are keen travellers, my dad is a kind of explorer who has crossed a river full of leaches in Myanmar and has slept for two weeks in the Lybian desert. So everytime he went somewhere he would bring a rare wind or percussion instrument for DS. Hence the long list! To which i forgot to add the maracas he brought from Puerto Rico...

I think if i was planning a musical heist I would definitely choose alexandra 's place

PS And the xylophone is on loan, not ours!

I wish everyone at NCO and any other residentials a great time. We're dropping DS at his next Sunday for a jazz week. We're taking the train to save on 8 hours of driving then we'll collect by car spending one night in a b&b so we can attend the last night gig.

Trumpet are you sure we didn't meet up for a chat yesterday? If so, I have approached (and struck up quite a conversation with) the wrong Trumped mum!! LMAO!!!

That is so funny Waffle.

I am awaiting the return of DH, DS2 and DD from a bike ride. I've had a phonecall to say DS2 has fallen off and has hurt his wrist, and A&E beckons ........

Waffle, maybe there should be a thread facial tick in RL, so you know who you are talking to!

Raspberry, sorry to hear that.

I have a question about violin strings. How often do you change them? It's been 18 months with daily use and the little furry string holders are the bridge have fallen off.

Sorry, on the bridge.

I was talking about the board/thread and this person gave me no indication that she didn't have a clue what I was talking about! At least I didn't say, "Hello I'm Wafflenose"!!

Raspberry I hope it's not as bad as you think it will be.

We have;
Full size fender telecaster guitar,
One acoustic guitar full size,
One baby Martin acoustic,
1 squire strat guitar kid size,
1 electric violin 3/4,
2 x 3/4 violins,
1 x 1/2 violin,
1 full size violin (never used)
Drum kit,
3 x timpani,
1 full size Xylophone,
1 small xylophone,
1 tiny glock in a case,
1 proper piano,
1 digital piano,
1 Tin whistle,
2 x recorders

I think that's it....... 😀

We have just moved house so I know exactly how many bloody instruments we have (not that many by the standards of this thread but enough to have required a separate instrument removal - I had the piano moved by our tuner and he took the guitars too).

We have: 2 electric guitars
2 acoustic guitars
1 classical guitar
1 sax
2 pianos (acoustic and digital)
1 synthesizer
2 recorders (one very nice Mollenhauer rosewood descant and a cheaper alto)
1 cajon

Not a huge amount of music stuff going on here. DD played at a local concert last night, that's it now for the summer - she is off on holiday on Sunday with her boyfriend's family. Now we have moved I need to start practising the piano in case there is a place free at the local music school.

Hi everyone, have been busy with so much lately that I have only lurked over the last few threads. Haven't posted here in ages.

A bit more time over the summer holidays so here goes. I have DS1 who has just left school, he is an organist, pianist, choir master etc. Has Grade 8 distinctions in both organ and piano. He has today gone on a five day tour in the Netherlands with a couple of other people. This came out of an organ competition he took part in last year. He also had a recital in a big church in London last week as part of the follow up and there is talk of some sort of tour to Australia in 2019. He works really hard to source opportunities to further himself in his chosen career as an organist.

DS2 plays clarinet and sax. Started sax proper lessons much later but prefers it now over the clarinet. Has done Grade 8 clarinet and the sax one will be soon. No ambitions to follow as a career but thoroughly enjoys his music.

DS3 is musical but lazy! Has dabbled in clarinet and sax, took Grade 5 but no interest beyond that. A very soulful piano player but hates supporting tests so no more exams or lessons even for him, his choice. Still dabble occasionally on the piano and twiddles away at the guitar when the mood takes him.

DD plays clarinet at Grade 8 level and piano Grade 6. She borrows an A clarinet at school when she needs it but we are hoping to buy one soon. She is petite and hypermobile and she did have problems caused by playing the bass. Took several months to recover and gave her thumb problems even when playing the Bb so no more bass for the time being. It has recovered now after physio and rest. We think it was because there was some sort of problem with the support for the bass so that DD was having to grip too much. If the thumb issue recurs we are going to try the Ton Kooiman thumb rest but we are definitely banning the bass for the foreseeable future.

I hope everyone enjoys their summer courses. DD isn't doing one this year but is doing masses of playing of a huge variety of stuff. I love the big holidays as I get to hear more of it.

paulweller !!!!
waffle I could end up doing that myself.

raspberry, hope your DS2 is alright. Cycling is my DS's another passion (Influenced by his fairly serious cyclist dad). They are going on a ride later today....

raspberry hope it's not too serious ...