October Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello, I just fell asleep in front of a very long film that DH wanted to watch, and woke up in October! I couldn't resist starting the new thread before going to sleep properly.

The monthly music threads are welcome to ALL, and we really like hearing from new contributors and beginner musicians. We have all levels on here. It's a good place to discuss instruments, lessons, practice, exams, auditions and anything else that you want to.

I am a teacher of recorder, clarinet, saxophone and flute, and have two daughters. Goo is 11 and plays the flute and piano. She is planning to do exams on both next year, but none just now because she's just started at the secondary school 2 miles down the road, which has a great reputation for music and sport, and is extremely academic. They study four languages in Year 7 - Goo has just finished her unit on German (by the end of three weeks, they could write three substantial paragraphs - I couldn't believe it!) and is now embarking on Mandarin.
She's thrown herself into choir, orchestra, steel band, flute group and the gym. Rara is 9 and has been playing the cello since the age of 5, and clarinet for a year. She enjoys both, but is happiest when she's reading or cutting up paper/ making things out of paper! Rara has plenty of free time because she attends the village school five minutes away, and hardly gets any homework.

Goo attends South West Music School, which is the nearest thing we have to a JD in the south west. Rara is just about to join! Not too much on musically this term (and not a lot of practice taking place, quite honestly) apart from auditioning for the NCO. Goo has been in it for the past three years, and is hoping for Under 12s. After a wobble about even auditioning, she seems quietly confident now.

Ohhh Se22 niceeeeee!!!!!!

That's photoshop se22

Shiny!

Wowee to the new clarinets - I approve! I desperately wanted Rara to have the Prodige (new B12) but she was having none of it. I have a Buffet clarinet, Azumi flute and Yamaha saxophones. Goo and Rara have Yamaha flute/ clarinet!

She's very pleased so I think a worthwhile investment

green I loved yours too

Hello everyone, I have occasionally read bit of this thread, and been in awe of the level of playing all your children are achieving at such a young age!
My own children are doing well on their journeys, and both hoping to achieve grade 8 by the time they leave school. I have one recorderist and a violinist.

I am posting because I feel you have some collective wisdom we could benefit, and to ask waffle for some specific recorder advice.

1. Listening to classical music. One of my children has yet to sit a practical music exam. She has now decided that she would like to, but when looking at clips from the abrsm syllabus, she announced that they all suck. Except the gypsy one. I think it would help them if we listened to more classical music in general. We are more of a folk/ world music household. They do already listen to Grieg, Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet, swan lake and sleeping beauty, and I am looking for suggestions for other classical music they might enjoy which might 'broaden their horizons' any suggestions?

2. waffle, and any other recorderists... My child is struggling to transition from descant to treble. Our teacher's approach is to carry on playing both simultaneously, and to avoid transposing in head, but to learn the new fingerings as a new instrument. This all makes sense, but she is getting a bit upset at how hard it is. She is also sad that she will not be playing her descant so much any more. Have you any words of wisdom to help her feel better about the transition, and any practical tips for making it easier?

Thanks so much you amazing lot.

Thistly I’m pleased you asked! First of all, please tell her that ALL good recorder players have to do both – they’re just so special and clever. :) So much beautiful recorder music is written for the treble, and I’m sure she’ll grow to love its gorgeous sound over time too.

Please can you tell me how old she is, and what sort of descant level? I can then tailor my advice more specifically, but I would maybe do a few things differently with my pupils. I don’t think of it as a transition, because they have to play both equally well eventually. I treat treble like a completely new instrument and ease it in slowly. I tend to start treble with them around Grade 3. They carry on spending around 2/3 of their lesson time on their hard descant music, to keep their hand in, continue progressing, and reinforcing note reading on that while learning the new one. I then get ‘Treble Recorder From the Beginning’ (green book by John Pitts, which assumes they are already decent descant players, starts gently, and takes them all the way to Grade 3 treble). We spend a few minutes of each lesson, and a bit of their practice time at home, doing these extra easy treble pieces. I wonder if your DD has been told to try and play things on the treble which are at or close to her current descant level? Maybe I’m wrong though. I don’t think that would work in any case. The green book is great – It introduces 2-3 notes at a time, and provides lots of pieces at each point. They generally manage a couple of pages per week, finishing the book and reaching Grade 3 level within a few months, although I had one determined and gifted student who mastered the whole thing over the Christmas holidays – I think that’s all she did for a few weeks!! Concert Repertoire for Recorder gives even more early pieces for treble, if needed.
So, very generally, I would do a tiny bit of treble and plenty of descant each day, and increase the proportion as treble starts to catch up with the descant, then maybe in 6-12 months she’ll be able to do 50/50.
If she is using the green book and finding it far too hard, I will send you some easier starting pieces if you’d like that. It might take me some time though. In rare cases where a student really hasn’t managed well, we’ve alternated lessons/ practice times between recorders – one week treble, one week descant. I do find it better to start like I mean to continue though.

Thistly - I don't play the recorder since primary school, but did tack viola on to violin which is a similar thing. My tip is find a piece you more or less know on instrument A, and play it on instrument B. Then you're not having to read the music completely cold but start to pick up the new notation by following the score and working out notes you're not sure about.

On what music to listen to - maybe chamber music or concertos for their respective instruments? How about Brandenburg concertos for some of both? Or just stick radio 3 on as background occasionally and see if they click with anything.

Waffle and catkind, thanks for your replies!

Waffle, she did grade 3 a few months ago, and is 12, and the approach her teacher is taking seems to be exactly what you have outlined!

I will let her know what you said about being special! She will like that, and also it is really helpful to think of it as easing into the new instrument.

I think the idea that it doesn't take, over, at least not to start off with is really helpful. We will carry on with John Pitts, and I think the idea of getting to grade 3 by the end of the book might help her feel like it's not going to feel hard forever.

I will have a look at Brandenburg concertos.... Perhaps I should just get concertos from the upper end of the abrsm syllabus and they can get familiar with those ahead of time!

I could also look at some of the things they have done in orchestra, and get the whole symphony....

thistly my girls love of classical music stemmed originally from the great ballet masters and has widened with a wide range of experiences of classical music being performed. We love the proms, the BBC get involved workshops, the LSO family concerts and workshops, the ballet, the RCM ignite and explore workshops and concert experiences. The classical spectacular at the RAH blew her mind. She loves to listen to music she's heard performed. And listens to music she knows she's going to hear. She is currently loving L'enfant et les sortileges - she's going to an opera north workshop and performance as a birthday present.

A slight sideways suggestion, have you looked at the Trinity syllabus? There might be pieces there she prefers.

Yes I'll second the trinity idea. Ds did trinity for his last exam and played a jazz piece ( for the study - he had done this for previous exams too ) a modern piece composed for brass band with a trumpet solo and then a more traditional classical trumpet piece so definitely worth a look if your dd is inspired by different musical styles. Ds loves playing in orchestras but I think his heart really lies with big band and jazz

DS has a school trip today. He also has his second audition at a secondary school. So I end up accompanying the trip and take him out to the audition after lunch!

He’s been having cough, sour throat and runny nose for two weeks and this morning he didn’t have voice! The audition is aural and at some points he’s got to sing. It’s not a singing test so I hope he can still survive...

Oh no good luck mini kutik ( it's the season for colds though so I reckon lots will be in the same boat)

Oh bad timing kutik
Good luck to your ds

Half term here so fairly quiet although dd1 has a violin lesson tomorrow and both dd's have talentlab all weekend. Ds's hands seem to have suddenly grown and we're doing chords on the piano now, apparently his teacher is over the moon with him but i have a very strong suspicion that he is one of very very few practisers..... other parents seem to look at me like i've got two heads when i mention the kids practising 😂

Lots of children don't do much music practice at all ( don't think ds's friends ever did any trumpet practice even though they had lessons for 3 years at primary school mostly encouraged to continue playing by ds I think) ds always has so having to encourage/ nag dd about it took me a bit by surprise at first. I think most of the children mentioned here are quite unusual in the sense that they do practice ( though they are also the ones getting the most out of music as well I think)

When he was at primary one of DS's friends took cornet lessons. He came for tea once on a day where they'd both had a lesson and I suggested that they both get their instruments out and play something together. I said that I knew that he had a little book from his teacher with the days marked in and I'd sign it to say that he'd practised on that day. He explained to me that he'd just had his lesson and so didn't need to play again until school next week and his mum would just sign to say that he'd done some practise. He literally only took it out of the case during the lesson.

I have to admit i often don't get my horn out between band rehersals..... mind you i am not trying to improve my playing im just bobbing along and enjoying it. I also suspect our band only has 1 dedicated practiser and be is a)retired and b)a new beginner so he's got some catching up to do 🤣

I'm a beginner at piano so I do practise- madam likes us to play together so I have to attempt to keep up with her (I'll stop managing that very soon, she's going to fly past me!) but yeah, people look at me like I'm nuts/evil when they realise she practises two, sometimes three now, instruments a day (she'd ditched recorder when clarinet came along, but now school lessons have begun she's playing again)

Thanks for the suggestions, mini, that sounds about right. I will find out when the BRB are next coming and see if I get tickets. They absolutely loved Romeo and Juliet.

And I will definitely look at the trinity syllabus.... Really good idea.

I think the wind syllabus on abrsm has become more diverse with the latest update, but not so much the bowed strings one..

Really appreciate all the suggestions, so thanks all.

I truly respect all those adult learners. I am a serial failure of leaning instruments. My current excuse is I'm saving up the pleasure for my retirement...

DS finished the second round of the audition at School No. 2 today. He still had a sour throat but didn't seem to be bothered nor worried, and really enjoyed it. We'll know the results tomorrow. I said it's No. 2, but secretly it's my No. 1 (within our state secondary selections), so a bit anxious if I'm honest. But seeing how happy and positive DS is feeling, there is no regret whatever the outcome. I think he did what he could.

Just after posting about School No.2 above, I opened a letter from School No.3 (it was left on the doorstep). DS had the audition for a music place given to 7 children about two weeks ago.

There were two parts - a short performance (20 marks) and aural tests (20 marks) which makes the total of both assessments 40 marks. It stated that pupils who have received a grading of 30 and above will be considered for a music place. DS has received 39/40! Unless there are 7 children who scored the same or above who live closer to school than us, DS will be offered a place.

So one firm offer and another sort of an offer so far. Two more to go!

Well done mini kutik he's really flying at the moment great news and a huge relief for you kutik I'm sure

Brilliant, well done your DS kutik!