September Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello, and welcome to a new thread for September. This is a lovely, calm and supportive corner of Mumsnet where we can talk about everything to do with music lessons, exams, practice, auditions, and whatever else you like. Contributors of ALL standards and ages welcome. There are lots of experienced music parents on here, but we also have a steady stream of beginners, and the collective knowledge on here is impressive.

I'm Waffle, teacher of woodwind - mainly clarinet and recorder these days. My DH plays the guitar for fun. We have two DDs - sensitive, highly strung and accident-prone Goo (11) who plays the flute and piano, and starts secondary school next week, and laid back, funny Rara (9) who plays the cello and clarinet, and is also a reading machine.

There's not too much going on for us musically this term, apart from auditioning for NCO in October. My main priority will be getting Goo settled in a much bigger school, with a longer day, and she's getting there under her own steam, eek! Luckily for us, we don't have any music exams or secondary school entrance stuff going on, but I know that lots of you do. I am anticipating Grade 8 Flute and Grade 3 Clarinet next term, and Grade 5 Piano in the summer term. I've no idea if Rara will do any more cello exams after the drama of the last one! At the moment, she says she's sticking to the odd numbers. Nutcase.

Aw bless her nigglenotes, it's a hard instrument to start isn't it.

Im feeling rather gratefull for the lack of school choice here! Dd1 would have left primary school in the uk but she's in her final year here at her tichy tiny school (30 primary pupils) next year she will transfer to the 6-16 school in the nearest 'large village' to do her lower secondary years. No tests, no exams , no choice, no nothing 😁.

Music wise, we're back in full swing. Dd1 has started piano in addition to violin and is steaming ahead. Her teacher knows her from before and her violin playing and appears to be throwing stuff at her to see when she hits a wall. Anyway she's loving the challenge. Dd2 joined dd1 on the talent development program and is loving that til. Ds also had 2 very happy teachers after the summer break so all is good.

Hi all! DS(7) was picked for violin at school last week, so we are right at the start of our journey! We are really happy he’s taking music lessons - he’s a creative and artistic kid, and I can see him doing quite well (no pressure though!)

He came home last Tues with a shopping list for a music book, a particular shoulder rest (that is proving difficult to source - but I think I have found in a music shop in nearest city!) and a couple of other sundries, and also some posture/arm exercises to be practiced for 5-10 mins a day. I think the violin is coming home next Tues.

A couple of questions: as non (orchestral) musical people, how do we support him? Do we just let him get on with the practicing? We would have no clue if he was holding his arms/fingers wrong! Is there something we should be doing? Instructions from the violin tutor, but we are relying on DS to interpret them (happy pinky, chicken arms etc).

Also, would DH (informally) teaching DS the guitar interfere with his violin practice? We are thinking of holding off on that until he’s established his violin practice.

Thanks all, sorry for the long post!

Hello Fedup this sounds like an exciting time!
With a 7 year old the practice sessions are likely to be pretty short so I would say the most important thing is to get into a routine with it. if the teacher writes things in the practice book just remind him of those when he starts the practice and see how he gets on at the next lesson. If you can talk to the teacher every so often that really helps.
Ha! To the guitar! At his age I don't think it would interfere at all - mine used to pick up a little guitar occasionally at that age and put it down again pretty fast. It's the teenage years that seem to produce obsessive guitar playing!

Hi Fedup I think just encouraging him to practice ( a bit) and getting him to tell you what he should be doing with bow hold etc will be fine . Ds ( as my name suggests) plays trumpet I have no clue about brass instruments but getting him to tell me what he should be doing is usually enough of a reminder for him . Dd just likes me to listen to her playing- my input for her is mostly nagging her to practice!!

Guys, thanks for the responses - music to my ears!

Out of curiosity, do schools in Eng/Sco/Wal charge for music lessons?

Hello, FedUp! Mine goes to a state primary, and children there receive free clarinet lesson for a year, but for the rest (piano, violin, clarinet after a year) are all arranged privately so will be charged by the teachers accordingly.

DS really enjoyed the free clarinet lessons and wanted to continue after the programme finished. But he never practised at home and anyway was a way too busy already, so I didn't let me! Now he is saying he likes to try flute, trombone and guitar. I told him if his interest hasn't been faded when he starts secondary school, then he can pick one (but not all!).

I didn't let me = I didn't let him

Hi fedup! Welcome! I have a 7year old wee musician and we have always found the benefits of stickers and a practice chart wth happy pictures on it disproportionately helpful!

I'm sat in the city centre macdonalds with a cuppa having dropped her off for her first day of CATs. She looked very small and quite nervous but trotted off before long for her first ensemble class. I'll be antsy til she's out grinning I think. Irritatingly, her first clarinet lesson is with a substitute teacher so we will have to go through the whole first lesson shenanigans again next week. But she's there, she's ok (if slightly weighed down with having to tow all her stuff around all day!)

Ah for feck’s sake, thought I had the music book and very specific shoulder rest pegged, but the music shop is closed today! Bloody Belfast

Interesting about the free clarinet lessons for a year. In DS’ school it’s straight off c. £100 a term for music lessons which I thought was super expensive and unfair on low income families. I know school budgets are pressured, but you would think kids on FSM would be subsidised, even. To be fair, I don’t know if paying for music lessons in schools is policy across NI or just happens to be in DS’ school though...

Mini good luck to your one today! I’m not sure what CATs are, going to have educate myself in the ways of the music parent!

I don't know either! And a quick Google came up with the musical..

Centre for Advanced Training. One of the music & drama scheme funded centres, but not one of the London colleges. All day music school, JD basically but this one isn't attached to a conservatory. Young musicians is their sole "business"

Oh wow mini very impressive! 👍

Hi Greenleave, 10 minute tests are your friend for the 11 plus not taking over your life. Scholfield and Sims do good ones for non verbal reasoning. If you start with the Year 5 ones they will build confidence.

Yes Charis, that's what I keep suggesting, we had the Bond ones. You could quickly see how the scores increased as dc came familiar with them, without having to spent loads of time.

Hi all, don't think I've been on this thread. DS has cheerfully announced that he and his teacher have decided that next term would be ideal for Grade 8 Jazz clarinet...

He doesn't do every grade in his instruments, so his last clarinet grade was Grade 6, with Grade 6 Alto Sax a couple of terms ago. Ho hum. If it's anything like the others, he'll play a lot of pieces, I'll realise which his exam ones are when I start hearing a small number of them really regularly surprisingly close to the exam, then he'll take it.

Will reserve my stress and nagging for AS levels (his school still does 4 full AS levels in Y12, then on to A-levels in year 13) if I can....

The free clarinet lesson may sound fab, but the truth is the ratio of teacher/students per session is 1:30, and it's of course designed to cater for those with little or zero musical background and also those who has not so keen, so it's painfully slow and basic. DS was deeply bored when the teacher endlessly talked about things he already knew and the same exercises were repeated over a long period. But DS loved the instrument, and entertained himself by playing something he knew by ear (music given was all very very simple).

Kutik I agree whole class free lessons are very basic- however without them trumpetboy may not have ever discovered the trumpet- his teachers quickly recognised his potential and moved him on ( to lessons that I paid for !!)

Clarinet and trumpet - you were both lucky. DS got free group lessons on the fife! By the end of the year there were about two children who were able to produce any sound out of it. As you can imagine, it was the first and last year for the fife at the school. Unfortunately it happened to be DS' year.

green when we were preparing the 11 plus I found this book immensely useful. It's VR, explained very well, and it helped a lot with technique: www.amazon.co.uk/Verbal-Reasoning-Technique-Parents-Secondary/dp/0954285328?tag=mumsnetforum-21 It made it so much easier!
On the other hand, all the "how to" NVR books I looked at were quite rubbish. When it comes to NVR, I think you just have to learn by doing it. The more you do, the better you get at it - pattern recognition, similarities, mirror images, etc. That's why the concept of a fixed IQ that can be tested is - also - rubbish.

This weekend we have been finally able to see how much jd will change our lives. Friday evening used to be "relaxing" time. DS comes home at 7:45pm after piano and badminton. Normally we would have dinner and watch a movie or a documentary together. Now it's quick dinner, prepare bag and mallets for jd, go to bed. Then Saturday morning, early wake-up like for school, another packed lunch (I used to have to prepare five a week, now it's six ) and off he went. I was ready to pick up the pieces when he came home but instead he called at 5pm to ask if he could stay one hour more to practice the technique he had learnt in the lesson! So he was back at 6:45pm... Sunday comes. No sleeping in like he used to if he could, because of the accumulated homework. Alarm clock again. Seven homeworks to catch up averaging 60 to 90 minutes each. Rest? A walk? Music practice? When?
But...........the boy loved it. So what oh what can I do but to obey?

Trumpet, I totally agree with you. Although DS didn't get excited with the quality of the lessons, it was as still such an opportunity for him as otherwise he wouldn't have had a chance to play clarinet. Children were also encouraged to take it home, so if anyone was keen they could have done extra practice at home. So I do think it's a good system no matter if you are already an experienced musician or not.

What DS didn't enjoy most was being made to listen to the same thing again and again. But DS missed a chink of the sessions as it often clashed with DS's (paid) violin lessons which was good in a way (so he could escape from 'the listening')!

Goo and Rara both did a year of trumpet in Year 4. Goo practised at home too; Rara hated it and didn't!

drummers that's a busy schedule but how wonderful that he loves it! Although boo to the hours of Sunday homework. That's mean.
The house is echoing to the sound of DS1's sniffles - and we're going to a concert tonight so I keep playing him with lemsip.
DS1 is making progress with 'Cool' and his theory homework but no cello practice apart from the ensemble and I'm too tired to argue. Will nag him tomorrow!

Thanks loose - and hope for a quick recovery for your DS1.
The Sunday homework is accumulated from afternoons of orchestra, big band, lessons, etc plus jd. But I must say he's diligently flying through it. After all, it's his call.
What are the extra music gcse lessons you mentioned in the other thread for, loose? Are they for composing?