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.

Yes, the Yamaha. Traitor.

Actually, I do have one of her playing Twinkle Twinkle on the clarinet without a mouthpiece. She was doing made up fingering to help with the pitching. It's very bizarre.

Wow! MiniRaspberry! That's all I need to say!

Waffle is it the one of FB? I'll go and watch it now, I think I was at work when it popped up and I could watch it.

Yes, trying to upload to Youtube, but phone is having difficulty. I'll persevere.

I hope to have time to watch tomorrow. goo great start! loose hooray guitar. fleur txas and good luck with 6th form...snif...I am already getting in the mood.

Would it be possible for someone to pm me the video channel url please? I'd love to see/hear all the performances.

Waffle, thank you for the advice on flute. I did a quick research after dropping the question here, and thought Yamaha 211 secondhand would be the one. You confirmed my guess.

Thanks all for sharing how your DCs are balancing academic and music at secondary school. Although it seems manageable, it's also confirmed that DCs does get fair amount of homework. Some of DCs I know who go to different primary school get 1 hour homework daily already, and when you think how academic side gets weigh more at secondary school, it's very natural that they get more work.

All in all I was happy to have chosen the school known for less homework. The other school is giving three solid hours by now. DS would have to give up any music dreams.
This is exactly what I'm worried about. When we visited School A I was shocked by the strictness and heavy workload and instantly deleted the school from my list. For some reasons, I re-visited again and looked around properly and quite liked it. As we don't have many good options, the school looked shiny and I probably tried to forget about the first impression and suitability to DS's needs. I must re-think the whole thing again...

Hello everyone! Settled miniprada into the new school so glad I am not the only one joining on page 7 having stupidly posted the last update on September 1st on the old thread 😂 Absolutely no time at the moment for practice and miniprada has a music scholars concert coming up so who knows what she'll play? 😱

Hope all the other year7 minis are doing well and also those ready for the madness of 11+!!!!!

Thank you for the many lovely comments about DS2. Sadly it is all in the past and he is a tenor now, and I can't quite believe he has decided to stop singing lessons. He is still singing in the Cathedral Choir though.

I've also enjoyed Minifleur and Drummers thank you !!!!

Glad most people have started/returned to school successfully. Sorry Rara is having a hard time Waffle.

My two returned yesterday and are ok. Music hasn't really got going again yet.

Love the new videos! to MiniFleur for her lovely playing and for sharing it with us!

Thank you Raspberry and loose. She had to dig it out for the potential secondary school audition if she goes past the "noise test" as a friend of mine calls the MAT.

Back to normal routine as of next Friday, both piano and clarinet lessons are back, exciting to see how the new teacher will teach, now hopefully there won't be any clashes. Band starts on Tuesday but dd can't go as she has the MAT exam. Oh well....

I need to go and watch some videos by the sound of it!

Both mine are back to school properly now - DS on Monday and DD yesterday. DD has the timetable from hell - she has 37 hours of timetabled classes a week , before allowing for homework. She already had a heavy timetable because of her bilingual option (three subjects taught entirely in Spanish), but this year she has also decided to take Latin as an extra.

Music starts next week - guitar classes for DD, DS and me, and piano (1.5hrs a week now) for DD. We have moved and now get a residents' discount at the conservatoire which means that I will be paying 200€ for piano lessons for the whole school year. Bargain!

waffle well done to Goo, that's amazing. My DS is starting German this year as a third foreign language (but English is his second MFL lol), I think he will enjoy it.

I keep looking at DD1's timetable too...4.5 timetabled hours for 3 different cello ensembles, plus 1hr lesson and only 2 hours scheduled practice. The only other time she has to practice is Saturday lunchtime because of all her chorister commitments....her sight reading will have to improve from good to outstanding I think!

52 timetabled hours of lessons, performance or tuition

Goo just asked to go to bed at 8.15 pm!

What an angel voice raspberry, my jaw dropped!

And I love dummers son every performance, I wish I have a son.

And I love watching minifleur playing too, so determined and focus. Fleur, Kutik, I am biting my nails reading your posts and could only say I wish I will be half as calm next year. You are doing great and I hope to copy you.

And to year 7 starter and home work, yekkk! My neighbor complained the same thing couple of years ago when her children started secondary, it was a massive shock for her state primary school children to start at super selective independent secondary. They are both doing well now.

We are currently paying £50/hr for piano and I was told today that my colleague pays £60/hr for his daughter violin lesson(he lives in Chelsea though), I was "what?!". They are hoping to start lessons at Saturday music school as they get better value(their local one does 4 hr/week and its £400/term or something). I was googling Wandsworth music centre which is nearest to us and thinking of that option.

I sat down with my daughter today and tried to figure out our plan for exam scales this term. There are in total "only" 108. If we take our exam by end of November we have 11 weeks and it might be do able. I told her, only 3 scales or something a day, it doesnt sound as bad. Anyway, we will learn our scales, whatever they are and how long will it take, that what we agreed together.

Green thank you for your kind words and good luck with the scales!

Oh my God, why didn't anybody tell me how expensive the A levels books are? DS just asked for a book that is £30. Just one! By the results on amazon I can see some stretch to £50 even. Tomorrow apparently I get a full list, it looks like I am saying goodbye to a few hundreds of £.

Green, do I sound calm? So glad we are not communicating on Skype otherwise you could see all my chaotic state... Ha...

You pay a lot for piano lesson Green. Or, is it a normal rate in London? I pay at around £25/45mins for piano and £15/45mins for violin! Both increased last year as DS's lesson got longer, but before then I only paid at around £15 for piano/30mins and £12/30mins for violin. Well, DS learnt violin at school and very often more like a group rather than private. But still, what's a bargain. I just realised now.

Oh dear Fleur, seriously...? I feel like I am talking about money a lot today (due to the time to pay for lots stuff). Oh dear, but, oh dear. A level...

Fleurdelise. I was also surprised that I had to buy books, paying enough for school fees as it is ...and that with dc not even sure about his choice of subjects.....I did buy some gcse revision books before but they were mainly cheap secondhand ones..
Other dc don't start music lessons till later this month

xennialish sight reading superpowers come with the territory for Choristers, I think. It's served DS well.

Thank you Green.

Fleur I'm shocked. I am on my second sixth former, DD just starting Y 13 and I haven't had to buy expensive books.

Lots of printing ink/paper for many past papers, especially Maths. DD is doing English Lit and I've bought lots of reading material and 2 study guides for History.

Wait til you find out how expensive trekking round uni open days is!

Looking on with a little envy at discussions of JDs vs music teachers, and searching for good schools.
We have an ok-ish primary close to us but secondary options for boys range from feeble-but-pretentious to frankly dire.
There is a JD for the NZSM but at about $500 per return flight it would be financially impossible, even though it could be done easily logistically and the JD itself is only $600 per year for as many classes as you can fit in. Saturday music school here is $100 for all you can fit in but it essentially only caters to early grades and primary age.

Pondering how we can return to Cambridge... or go to Wellington... where we are is utterly lovely but I wouldn't recommend any of the educational options here (understatement) and there's nothing within a few hundred kms worth commuting to.

Fleur academic text books are horrifically expensive but that does sound eye-watering!

fleur and waffle loved the vids. Determined minifleur (she will kill them dead) and cheeky rara ☺
fleur do you have to pay for the books? Is this normal? I'm a bit