November Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

New month, new thread! This is a place for musicians and parents of musicians, from complete beginners to experienced and everything in between, to talk about everything to do with music! Previous threads have covered exams, practice, scales, instrument hire and purchase, theory, composition, aural woes, auditions, scholarship preparation and much more.

I started these threads when my 12 year old daughter Goo was 6 and preparing for Grade 1. I never thought we'd still be going, 6 years later! I appreciated all the advice I was given back then, and try to repay that when I can.

Goo plays the flute and piano (she has been learning the piano for 18 months but has yet to perform - ever) and has no exams lined up at the moment. I also have Rara who is 9, and working towards her third Grade 3, on the clarinet. The other two were on the cello and recorder. She's more interested in art and reading, and currently swims five times a week.

I am a teacher of woodwind, and Wednesday is my day from you-know-where... full-on from 6.30 am until 10 pm, and about to get worse!!

Hmm... I hadn’t thought about it but since we got it and replaced the strings, DS2’s cello has only needed some rosin and that’s it - definitely less maintenance than a reed instrument! On the other hand it is more demanding to carry!
Technically, his first instrument was piano and he’d probably be a grade higher if he hadn’t taken up cello - but the benefits of the cello to his musical understanding and enjoyment are huge and he always refuses point blank to pick a favourite!

I didn't think of what his 1st study was this time last year. It only occurred to me to think when we applied for jd. I had to state his 1st and 2nd on the application form.

DS always seemed to favour violin, but as his violin learning was part of school activities whereas piano was a proper 1-1 lesson from the beginning, and also he started piano a year or so earlier than violin, I sort of regarded piano as his main instrument. Violin only became to appear important when he applied for NCO. And since then, piano kind of disappeared from his daily routine.

Trumpet has always been ds's focus , piano was taken up really to help with his study of music ( as was singing) though he likes them both. Because trumpet is so noisy he can't really practice that before school so puts in piano or singing then so they don't interfere with trumpet practice at all . Apparently he's going to do a singing exam at some point but he will just have to do less piano and more singing for a bit when that's on the horizon . There's been no mention of piano exams I think his teacher knows where his priorities lie. Luckily for ds he will never have to choose between school and outside of school music activities as school ones always happen during the school day. Though for round here school finishes late at 3.45 to fit in a long lunch which allows for orchestra and sports practices etc.
Brass instruments I'm sure we're supposed to have it serviced but we haven't yet. You need to keep them cleaned polished and the valves oiled and slides greased and that's pretty much it. Having said that ds plays so much that we end up deep cleaning his almost every month , apart from serious musicians they usually only need fully cleaning once or twice a year.

DS didn't choose percussion over piano till he was year 10 although it had become clear that in order to have a shot at a piano soloist career he had to be putting in 3 hours practice a day which required specialist school. So not a real possibility and he said so himself. He also loves playing with other people and percussion fills that desire much more.
Yesterday he was returning with 11 friends from cinema to celebrate his birthday at home. On bus they were harassed by group of trouble making teens. DS was punched in the head and another friend on the face, they broke this boy's glasses. Driver didn't react when two boys asked him to call the police. Police came home, they took report etc. All very upsetting. This is the nicest group of young men you can imagine, they even ended up the evening discussing at home the police budget cuts and what to do about it. They were pray to brainless thugs. DS is fine now, bruise in his head but working on History Gcse essay!

Oh my goodness drummers! Just why...it's all so senseless! I hope he and his friends are ok. And you must be beside yourself

Oh no drummers how awful .Glad they are all ok - it makes you want to wrap them up in cotton wool which of course you can't do I can't believe that the bus driver didn't do anything I hope you've reported him to his company

Drummers I am sorry. I am well aware that as a 50 something woman I am safer walking at night than my son would be. I am invisible to the trouble making youth, my son would be a magnet to them.

How horrible, drummers! That's really awful... to you, your DS and his friends...

I think whether how important to focus on a fewer instrument depends on the choice of the instrument. Unfortunately piano and violin both requires a lot of effort and commitments, not that I am saying other instruments don't. It's just the nature of the instrument - they are physically forgiven compared with other instruments which are a lot more demanding physically, hence the competition of how long to practise increases dangerously for pianists and violinists as you get serious.

Nicola Benedetti advised young violinists to stick with only one instrument and practise hard to make most of it.

Prior to joining jd, I heard about teachers at jd being very demanding so I was a bit concerned if it would kill his enthusiasm. But DS's violin teacher doesn't ask him hours of practice. She even doesn't mind children having a week or two off during school holidays. She just say, 'have fun!'. She says no more than an hour is needed and 30 mins is totally acceptable. Then adds 'yet'.Of course the demand will increase as he gets older, then 3 hours practice would be expected by the time DS is 13 or so.

I truly have no idea how those children attending normal school can achieve that amount of practice daily. Realistically there will be very little time for 2nd study unless they are at a specialist school. But then by the time DS is 13, hopefully he (and we) knows what's best for him so easier to make a decision or priority than now.

I'll let you know how increased practice time goes kutik - not 3 hours that would be too demanding but I'm sure his teacher was talking about 2 hours the other day ( I know he will need to do at least that later on if he's serious but I hadn't thought we needed to squeeze that in yet) then at his masterclass last week it was suggested that ds could try and practice for 1 and a half to 2 hours a day as that's what he did at ds's age so that's what ds now has in his head !! Help

Oh Drummers ☹️

I think it is v hard to match the practice and support network a specialist school gives -wehave friends at all of them and it’s just a different way of life because everything is built to support music rather than an add on.inadmire those who make it professionally without but I imagine it would be that little bit easier to reach the dram with specialist schol

I must add DS's violin teacher is expecting quality than quantity, so if you turn up under-prepared and make the same mistakes as before due to obvious lack of practice, then she may display an ice cold look (fortunately haven't seen the look yet!).

In our case, it's the result of DS doing too many activities that contributes the difficulty of making enough time for practice. If we drop some, he can easily achieve an hour a day. However it will be a totally different story once he starts secondary. The journey itself add extra 1 hour and half (if we don't move in time) daily. The school finishes later, more homework, and need more rest to cope with the changes.

Just thought.... When DS was quite serious about football, a whole evening after school was taken for training & journey x 2-3 days a week plus a match. It's for primary school age. The commitments will also increase as they get older. So those who are into sport must spend tremendous amount of hours on training and journey, almost daily. Perhaps 2-3 hours practice at home is not so demanding!!

String ds goes on and in about going to a specialist school - so that music is the focus we are resisting for now ....

Thanks for guitar advice Paulweller11. That's pretty much what I figured. I will try to take him to the guitar shop some time this week and hope that the decent second-hand one hasn't sold!

String ds goes on and in about going to a specialist school - so that music is the focus we are resisting for now ....

kutik, DD does between 2 - 4 hours on one sport 6 x wk, excluding travelling. Some of her peers do this on music, that's why they are chosen for the virtuoso/principle player parts...rightly so. She forfeited the right to be considered when choosing her one sport over this level of music, and is now content with the contributory roles ensembles presents (has the occasional pang of 'that could have been me'). This year was particularly tough with her choice to walk away from rowing - a sport her school excels in from novice to GB level.

She's currently sleeping in bed with the flu, I've NEVER seen her sleep during the day. She's been fortunate to coincide her illnesses with weekends, having never had a day off from school in 10 years. I probably don't say this enough to her, but I am very proud of her juggling. I hope she makes it to her G7 piano on Tues, as with 30 mins a week term times only from age 7 (2nd instrument), this has been perfect progression, for her. Whilst it is by no means meteoric, her piano teacher has the patience of a saint, never missing a grade but ensures they are slotted in between stuff she loves to learn, and never judges her for being so busy. He respects the fact that she tries to put the practise in when she can, and that in this instance, quality vs quantity is key, he knows she tries. I hope, for both their sakes she gets to sit.

Oh no Ealing hope she recovers in time and yes I think you are right it is possible with the right amount of juggling and commitment and your dd is a really good example of this

to miniearling.

She is not only juggling sports and music, but also she is at a very academic school. Could I ask you what time she wakes up and goes to bed?

No doubt she is extremely hard-working, but hard-working alone cannot handle all she does. Very often people who can juggle so many things at such a high standard, they have incredible processing ability, capable to recognise important information very quickly and absorb and apply efficiently. Some become lazy because of this and some make most of it like miniearling. You have every right to be very proud of your DD. She is amazing.

Ealing, I hope your DD makes a swift recovery and can sit (and pass!) her exam.

DD is having a frustrating term musically what with lack of time and injury (though wrist seems better now). She is under a lot of pressure and I think it would be good for her mental health to have more time to play recreationally, especially guitar, but the days are only 24 hours long.

DS's guitar playing goes from strength to strength ... he showed me yesterday how he can now solo in all five positions with lots of bends and other clever stuff ... hard to believe he has only been playing for 3 months, or that there was a time in the recent past that he didn't know how to play a single chord.

He is showing a lot of interest in theory too ... he lost me yesterday at the Phrygian mode ...

Oh and DS can apparently read music now?! Not sure how that happened. As I write he is sight reading Bach's prelude no. 2 in c minor on the piano. He doesn't play piano ...

Lovely comments, thank you all. Something's just surfaced and asked for a bowl of super noodles. I know, yuck, but each to their own, and there is a glimmer of recovery

Misti, it's like getting to the next milestone (or school holiday) to re-assess, recover and start again afresh for next term after a tough past one. I think no matter how robust our DC appear to be, young mental health with its many facets must be at the forefront of our consciousness, especially with driven/busy DC lives. Your DS sounds like he's flying right now!

Kutik, almost as embarrassing as admitting to DD's love of super noodles - she wakes at 6am and out by 06.45 (in pool at 05.30 2 x), and comes home at circa 9pm. One of those days her piano lesson is at home at 5pm, and then she's turned around to return to her evening swim session. It's crazy, written down, but for now, that's the schedule. We all look forward to end of terms...

I appear to have offended you, Woolly.
I can only speak as a professional orchestral flautist and teacher. The issue isn't with a child playing 2 or 3 instruments - which is common, as you correctly point out, but the choice of those instruments. A clarinetist may play flute and saxophone, because they are typical requirements for doubling in shows etc. A flautist that also learns trombone, for example, isn't a good choice. It sounds like your child's teacher has concerns about how the bassoon is affecting her clarinet technique, and in turn, her likelihood of doing well in the exam.

Later on, music colleges will offer lessons in 2 instruments only, second study being piano for non-pianists, and mostly for students on the graduate course; not all students on the performers course will study 2 instruments, precisely because they need the time to concentrate on their first study. Pianists almost certainly will not study a second instrument, and a few people will have joint first studies but these would never be conflicting wind instruments.

Of course, a peri teacher in a prep school should be aware of the particular demands and pressures of this term, but at the same time, your child's teacher clearly feels a responsibility to make sure you child does as well as possible in her clarinet exam.

Thank you all.
miniealing's schedule is

Re discussion going on, if you envisage a career in music, be it performing teaching arranging producing composing etc etc, keyboard skills are very important. So piano second study leaves doors open. DS is keeping up piano both classical and jazz out of love luckily, but even if that love wasn't there I would insist he doesn't abandon it.

earling, can I ask you more question (I'm holding a pen and paper...)? When does she do homework when she leaves so early and comes back so late? Does she do it after 9pm? Or she does it at school? Also, does she has time for a proper dinner during weekday? Or is it more like a grab and swallow?

DS has two evenings when he cannot have proper dinner. He has light snack at 3.30 pm, then toasts with banana milk or honey lemon at 8.15pm. Everything has to be done in a military manner to make sure he is in time for an activity, then once he is back he does homework while munching the toasts. Then have a quick shower and bedtime.

It's only two evenings and he can have a proper meal at a normal dinner time for the rest and have a bit of winding down time before sleep, so not too bad. But still I don't really like that. It may be my background. I come from where quality dinner time is valued - it plays an important role socially, nutritiously, and mentally. But I may have to let go the sentimentalism and accept the lifestyle of the children in our generation. I think it gets only worse as they grow?

It depends, Kutik. Sitting down dinner in our house all together still takes place on most days, usually sandwiched between homework and sometimes rushed, but it´s the only time we can discuss certain things with DS. Concert nights being the exception of course. On those, he grabs something after rehearsals from the coffee shop or we meet him for a quick grab in a nearby eatery. After the concert he tops up with a hot milk before bed.