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.

All gone amazingly well, she came out and said she found it easy. That's not always a good sign but for her confidence is fantastic news no matter the result.

Music on Tuesday now.

Thanks all for the good vibes, got them

YAY

Well done minifleur. Whatever the outcome, good job her for tackling it when she got so stressed.

Waffle rara's clarinet is lovely, I bet she is delighted xx

Anyone watching LNOP? TheGirl is in stitches at a flautist with the best moustache she's ever seen and absolutely loves the guy rocking the Union Jack turban and bow tie!

Well done MiniFleur.

It's squeak city here... since Rara moved beyond grade 2, she hasn't been squeaky at all, until about a week ago. We've tried different reeds, bluetak in one of the holes (thanks Mini), sling, no sling, and now the new clarinet and new thumb rest. She seems to be going backwards, so I'm a bit panicky at the moment. I've put her on to an easy stage of the next tutor boo, and we'll just have to go through a pain barrier with her new set-up for a while. I hope she improves soon!

I'm trying hard to keep Goo's practice going. So far, she has managed piano every day but one this week, which is brilliant under the circumstances. Since returning from NCO a month ago, she hasn't played the flute for more than 15 minutes straight, so is VERY out of practice. She had five Grade 8 pieces on the go, has picked up three of them again, and they're obviously not as good as they once were. She's now concluded that she's useless at the flute, won't have anything ready for her NCO audition, hates auditions anyway, and there's no point "because I won't be with my friends any more". She is seriously considering withdrawing, and I am secretly fearful that she will end up giving it all up. I wouldn't want her to do that just because of the shock of a new school though, so we'll jolly her along for a term or two and see what happens...

Waffle you know that transition times provide a natural break where interests get dropped, be it music, sport or whatever. The trigger could be anything from change of teacher/coach, change of school, crossing an age band, change of ensemble/team. If you can survive until half term then the school transition should shake down and just leave you with everything else. If she doesn't want to audition for NCO it wouldn't be the end of the world would it?

I know children who stopped playing at 11 because it was seen as uncool in the new school and they were so desperate to conform that they would not be seen with an instrument.

She's got a lot on her plate at the moment which means you do too. It will get better in that this difficult time will pass and be replaced with another difficult thing, you just have to ride it out and chose your battles.

Aw hope Goo will stick with it. Sounds like she sets herself very high standards. Even the odd 10 minutes makes the difference between keeping it ticking over and going backwards. Could picking one flute piece to focus on for now help? 5 sounds ambitious even with lots of practice!

I'm currently being blanked by DD's violin teacher, and by my likely viola teacher (she said she could, but cancelled the only lesson we've managed to arrange so far, so maybe she's too busy now). And haven't found DS a horn teacher within a feasible distance yet. And haven't had a response from DS's piano teacher about whether or not she can fit DD in despite her saying she was finalising timetable weeks ago. So not much success on the lessons front for any of us.

The last I'm least fussed with as DD is making great progress through a beginner piano book at home, and I'd almost rather leave her to get on with it now anyway. Sight reading is happening. I'm really chuffed!

Wise words Icould they definitely have to find their own way - even if we think they might regret it later . Goo is a really talented muscician so I'm sure that even if she feels that she needs a break now because of all of the charges at present she will pick it up again with ease when she's ready
hope you sort some teachers out soon catkind butbgr ais news about the sight reading

That was suposed to say good news

I can't imagine Goo without music, only the mention of her makes me think of music. I think she'll just take a bit of time to find her new routine now that she's in secondary school, settle her friendship, find her priorities but music will be on the cards I'm sure.

Dd woke up so happy this morning that her 11+ is done. She was grinning. Back to music lessons from Friday.

Trumpet thanks so much for your response (several pages back now!) about AYM. I'm so sorry, but back in term time and I spend a lot of time in the car. Have just downloaded the MN app so I can use the phone easier. I spend a lot of time parked outside schools (3)!

Maybe DD could audition as an apprentice, she is the right age group. If the tester days are in the Spring, that is after the applications go in around February. So maybe they are just for those who have applied?

Just bought some new strings for violin. We rent a lovely antique violin from DD's teacher, but have decided to go for the best strings so paid for that ourselves. Looking forward to see how it sounds, particularly with Romance of the Gadfly, which is a lovely piece (might use this for NCO if we get it to a good level.

Have just started the last of the g5 theory - composition. Doing two hours this morning, before an Alice in Wonderland birthday party. Am I mean enough to say she can't go if the theory isn't done (DD currently watching TV) - hell, yes!

Green, are you back with a teacher yet? Which exam are you prepping for (the scales)?

Niggle I would absolutely say that. It will focus the mind.

Fleur: fingers crossed for the best result. Minifleur is cheeky :))!

Waffle: Goo has always been the same and then came out with the best possible outcome, you know her game:), she just has alot happening at the moment.

Niggle: its for G7 piano, we definitely dont find 3 scales a day is easy. Regarding to parking, we were in Saint Tropez for 2 weeks and I refused any driving, parking is terrible there that everyone was cramming for a parallel impossible plot( and we had a big car) it was the most stressful bit during our holiday, we eventually decided to walk down to the beach, it was nearly 1km each way with loads of buckets and toys to carry but it was still better. Violin, we hope a miracle to come so we know what to do next with our violin progress. The worst case is to plot along until secondary where schools lessons (hopefully) of better quality. Our problem is we are not flexible during week days this has been a problem regarding finding a good teacher. I have been busy yesterday and today with uniform/shoes/bits shopping for both the girls(the 3 yrs old goes to preschool) and mountainous labour works (laundries, gardening, cleaning the fish tanks etc. I realised that there hasnt been practice without me sitting next to her(in the same room doesnt count). Only 30 mins a day, why its so hard!!??
Reading Kutik post on lesson cost, you are so lucky Kutik. I was told to pay £45/hr even if I pick and drop from a teacher.
We found a tutor, there will be an ability test then if she passes she will be starting 1hr group lesson from beginning of November. Both of our English are terrible, a professional help in English is a must especially we dont have much time with her during week days. I start to wean her off from her crazy science books so she comes back to classic novels(it hasnt been easy). We have list of possible schools, there are 12 of them we could travel to with less than 45 mins each way, I will get some advice around March next year to narrow down on the best possibility, we might go for 4 schools eventually). We rely on her state school with her writing( she loves writing and could write straight 500 words in 1 go within couple of hours(however terrible hand writing). We need help mostly on VR, NVR and comprehension which we are pretty Zero. We could start working on maths, something simple over the weekend. I feel like I could breath (right now).

Way to go MiniFleur!
Waffle I'd put this down to being absolutely exhausted at the beginning of Y7. It's a very full-on time. Is the teacher good at talking to her about these things and reassuring her? And is there a good orchestra at school if needed to fill a gap? It's good she can vent at home but I think the risk is that she puts a lot of stress on you without realising. DS1 does this to me with art. He is really good at drawing but a perfectionist and destroys anything he perceives as not good enough, ignoring the fact that he does actually need to hand things in for GCSE!
I hope the squeaks soon sort out for Rara - DS2 had to completely readjust when he got a new cello, especially as we let him play it and then changed to a new brand of strings! He got there, it just took a few weeks. Sounds very mellow now! Mostly...
DS1 is getting a bit frustrated with xylophone and I've given him a get-out clause in terms of dropping it after Christmas and maybe picking up again in Y12 if he wants to. Or focusing on snare drum, which he loves, and doing an exam with Trinity instead of the ABRSM tuned percussion. Drum kit and bass are still very much in favour, though. He's planning to enter a band competition with some friends and doing some broader musicianship things with his bass teacher.

Green my goodness you have a lot going on! Your plan with English tuition sounds like the way to go, though. MiniGreen doesn't need to drop her beloved science books altogether as the vocabulary she learns there is just as valid as classic literature (and I'm a 19th century literature specialist!). Do you use Khan academy for some extra maths? They have science courses, too. I gather it's just been revamped to make it easier to find everything.

Thanks Loose, I havent had time to look for your recommended scale tool either, will do it this evening.

We have never done any online maths, the reason was we didnt have time at home(childcare issue) or I dont trust her during the day time using internet(time will mostly be on youtube eventually without our supervision). We havent been on any maths practice, I will need to buy books to start. We brought her to a tutor centre back in June for an assessment and she isnt behind. We just need to spend more time with her(however my husband is moving job and my management is changing so it doesnt seem easy at the moment). I will take 1 step at a time. She still could read her favorites although I asked for a compulsory read before she could move onto her favorite.

Green, I have mentioned this before, but we didn't use a tutor, but I got the 10 min bond books. Started with a level below her age so to get used to it, and ended up with book beyond her age. Didn't need to do whole books (in fact 3 children have been able to make use of 1 book). Then just before the exam I downloaded some longer tests from different companies.

The 10 min rather than 1/2 or 1 hour could much better fit in with all other activities. They wouldn't be interested to sit down for very long anyway, but 10 min could be just before going to school/away activity/ after supper before brushing teas (I always tell them to wait 10 min after eating before brushing teeth, and it's a good time to get them to do practice/packing school bags etc).

I agree with ICould - it's really not the end of there world to audition for NCO for one year; lots skip the year 7 period in all sorts of orchestras - if it's better to take that pressure away and just have fun, then possibly they have more chance of not dropping music altogether (which many seem to at this point)?

waffle Year 7 comes as a hard one for lots of children. The Head of Music at DS school makes a point of not asking too much from the music scholars that year, he wants them to take it easy and get used to the big changes in their lives (he told me so during a chat in which I was asking him whether DS could be more involved in more school ensembles - ha ha).
green you seem in control of the situation. In terms of vocabulary, I created little cards with new words - every day a new card would go on the fridge. Before he could grab the milk for breakfast, he had to learn it...
loose they're at an age in which they start narrowing re instruments. I think it's normal...

Music clubs start at school this week - she is planning to go to Junior Girls' Choir, Orchestra and Big Band, which are all during lunch break. She's going to the gym on Thursday lunchtimes, so her school days are very full! She told the previous Head of Music she'd be happy to come along to assist at Junior Windband (for Grades 1-4) but the lady has now left, and Goo isn't keen to do that group any more, because it's after school. So she should be home by 4 every day, until netball season starts.

We had grudging flute practice last night and joyful piano just now. I have figured out that I can probably discount most of what she says after 8pm, as she's utterly irrational every evening and doesn't mean most of it. She's having to get up three hours earlier than she did in the holidays, and an hour earlier than she did at primary. She's conscientious, organised and such a trouper. I imagine that by half term she'll be fine in every way.

Rara was slightly less squeaky today. She's hitting the nasty B key in the wrong place and making work for herself, but won't listen. Hopefully she'll be used to the new set-up in a week or two. Her latest cello took MONTHS but it was slightly too big when we got it. She's actually playing really well in tune for the first time in her life! On the cello, she has the Earnshaw Tarantella (learning it much more seriously than when she attempted it last year) and a pretty new piece called Changing Tides. On the clarinet she's playing from a more advanced tutor book now, plus Prelude from the Grade 2 book (an absolute favourite, and rather easy for the grade), Sicilienne by von Paradis, Daydream Believer (too many Bs!) and a few of the Grade 3 scales.

Green, actually we pay a bit more for piano lessons. I forgot we still pay for August even though no lesson happens. We pay a fixed rate monthly regardless of the number of lessons (so sometimes two lessons, sometimes five lessons, or zero like in August). So it's a bit complex to work out the hourly rate. Anyway, it's still a bargain price!

foundout, although our first choice is a lovely state secondary (I hope it's lovely, we will find out later this month..), we decided to let DS sits a couple of 11+ exams as a backup. So some practice is 'must' this term. We won't hire a tutor (no time and no money!), so I'll get the bond books you mentioned. DS has a crazy schedule so 10 mins here and there appeals a lot! Thank you for the great DIY tip.

Waffle, to Goo and Rara.

Loose, you are a 19th century literature specialist..., wow. I love Romain Rolland. He may be more of 20th century, though I just wonder if you studied his work, or knows anything about him. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature, yet I haven't met many people in London who knew about him well. Perhaps it's due to my pronunciation of 'R' and 'L' (don't have these sounds in my native language and I seem to have an eternal problem with them!), but wonder if he really is not so known in UK...? Jean-Christophe was my favourite in my youth.

Fleur it's been my turn to be shocked over school books. DS2 has been asked to buy the GCSE music anthology, it's either £23 or £33 depending on whether you have the CD or not, I've asked him to check what's required.

Also just written cheques for £33 for DD to have some AS papers back to see how they were marked.

This has made buying 3 organ books for DS2 at £26 total seem a bargain. Incidentally Ackerman music has 10 percent off sheet music for September (free delivery).

Waffle I'm sure Goo will settle down too.

Back in my country parents have to buy ALL the text books every year. It's scandalous. But when I was a child I loved having new books and smelling them and wrapping them in protective covers. Girls...