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!!

I don't think ds could or would want to stop sport as he doesn't fit any in out of school-his choice . I think when it comes to options I am going to find out how many and then ask if it's more than 10?!? that by year 10 if he's still doing lots of music he could quietly drop one ( or 2!!) I think it would be wise to see how it goes in year 9 . There might be other lessons that he could miss too that aren't GCSEs . He already rarely goes to registration because of various ensembles and working on his compositions ( which actually might be more like hanging out with his musically minded friends )

Oh and just a note of caution to anyone thinking about GCSE option choices - music gcse is great but has a comparatively high coursework component. This is all fine and good until your child chooses another high coursework subject like art and spends a considerable amount of time binning their work because they don’t like it! I think he’s on track with art now and will do well but the composition side of Music is raising my blood pressure a bit!

I can't say that I ever noticed DS doing any work for music GCSE, he'd play his compositions for us from time to time but that was all. The only thing I do remember is that very late in the year we had to scurry round for the sheet music for the piece he'd performed earlier in the year, if they'd asked for it at the time it would have been less of a panic.

Loose - music and art, yes two of DD1's choices for GCSE and it causing some issues already. Year 10 and she still struggles to be organised!

DD1 had her school concert last night performing in choir, orchestra, concert band and sax ensemble. She was the only one on first sax with the tune throughout the piece and I was amazed by the sound she was producing! it was lovely to see and hear the confidence she is developing. Tonight both DDs are performing as part of a stage band at the local theatre (DD2 did that last night too) and then DD2 is singing in the festival with the school choir rather than playing. Busy week!

Hi Drummersmum,
I’m afraid I know nothing about the joint uni course. I’ll email you x

Loose and double good luck with the coursework. We were advised not to take both Music and Art. Luckily DS was not considering Art. His free options ended up being Music, History, Latin and French. As it happens, History also has coursework and it's the free subject that's demanding more time and work. My experience so far with Music is similar to Icould's. He does a lot of the composing in school. BTW his ensemble performance graded assessment is in December already!!

double busy week and so nice that you felt that amazement.
string good of your girl to get that extra time for practice. The daughter of a friend of mine, a gifted musician, also gets games off. But this girl doesn't do any other sport, unlike your swimmer. Young people need sport - old people too! I have wondered about DS getting games off sometimes but I want him to have a purely physical time off every week. This term he is doing Golf as his games option and spending two hours a week in fresh air, surrounded by green meadows and not having to think of anything else beyond the next shot. He loves it. So I doubt he would like to substitute for practice...

Schwan thanks for adding your wise words and experience. Your contact in Manchester could be really helpful for more info. I'll pm you.

Ha! The stress bit with composition is that he has to do it at school - he tried to finish at half term and the last 2 Saturdays as offered and couldn’t because no one was there to supervise. But it will get done. And to be fair he is enjoying music and art.

I must say Art is destined to be a time consuming subject! Even more so if you are a creative type or/and a perfectionist. I found it so hard to work to the deadline whenever I did any art project at school. There seemed to be always something I wanted to add/develop/polish.

Leonardo Da Vinci has lots of unfinished works (like Mona Lisa). He had trouble stopping himself from making minute adjustments to his paintings.

I am happy to have something in common with him.

But it could apply to any subject, actually. Writing is another weakness of me - I was endlessly editing my essays...

I sent my teacher the recording we had last night as there might be no lesson till the exam next week, this is the first time we are told that we might fail the piano test. We probably deserve it anyway as most of the time we were working on scales the last 3 months, our teacher mentioned Trinity the other day to avoid scales for the future. Food for thoughts.

Is the exam ABRSM, Green?
Yes, subjective but examiners have very clear marking criteria. I think a piece would have to be pretty poorly played to fail, and even then, it's possible to pass the exam if other pieces and elements are passed safely.
I would never recommend a pupil to avoid scales; they are essential for good finger technique and a life-long part of playing an instrument, not just to pass exams.

Yes its Abrsm Floot, there are some scales with Trinity(I have used the wrong words, he didnt mean to avoid the scales rather than if she finds it overly tedious and hinder her enthusiasm in learning then Trinity might be an alternative.). The pieces are truly hit and miss, this is a 9 yrs old who could learn things fast (doesn't mean she have mastered it properly or even near the standard).

Normally you take an exam when your playing standard reached or in some cases well above the level, so you should be able to learn the pieces reasonably fast anyway. But I reckon playing note perfect is not enough for higher grades so you need more time for digesting and understanding the depth of a piece. I supposed it's a difficult bit for younger ones especially.

You have one more week or so to the exam? miniGreen still has time to polish up and may surprise you again like she did so with her violin exam! I remember someone (teacher?) said 'NO' to the exam but she did well in the end?

I'm with Kutik - there is still all to play for (excuse the pun!)
I know as a teacher, I usually have much higher standards for pieces than are expected in the exam. It's a peril of being a pro player - I have in mind how I'd play the piece, which is of course way beyond what an examiner is looking for. My pupils almost always get better marks for their pieces than I think they will, so hopefully it is the same for minigreen and her teacher.
Keep the faith!

green I know certainly that my DD has "performance mode" and "plodding along practise" mode and even if you say "pretend Im the examiner so I can video it", the exam or performance situation gives her that extra lift that makes the piece shine. Doing mock exams helps her focus on working her best, running it from start to finish, no second chances etc. I agree with the others that I think minigreen will pull it off xx

I'm sure she will be fine green. DS won't even let me video him as then he watches them and pulls his playing apart. he's fine performing live and goes into performance mode for this I'm sure mini will do this in her exam

green don't let the teacher's comment bring you down. One week left to go, treat it as a marathon, lots of playing the pieces, support, showing your faith in her and good spirits will do it.

If anyone's going to pull it off, it's minigreen! I know it's not much time, but unless she prefers long practises, then dot the available time with 20/30 mins focusing on different elements? Good luck!

GO MINI GREEN & WOOLLEY!!

I'll echo that! MiniGreen has a history of pulling it out of the bag on the day and I'm sure MiniWoolley will too!

Green never say never, your DD strikes me as the sort of kid who might pull it off. I sometimes think my DD plays better if slightly underprepared, as more nerves = better focus in her case! Good luck.

Drummers good luck with A level choice, it sounds like a real headache and it is really very very young to be narrowing down choices (at least for all-rounders). We are two years ahead of you and DD is now making her post-18 choices and it's really very difficult - and that is with a number of "liberal arts" type possibilities that let her delay narrowing her options for another two years!

On the subject of music, DS is now diligently applying himself to the piano and is halfway through the Scarlatti sonata that I have been struggling with for a few weeks. It's been set for ABRSM grade 6 in the past so is obviously a perfect choice for a beginner. I might have to chop his hands off before he's better than me on two instruments.

Only here we could receive such a huge support and love from all directions! Xx

She loves the pieces to be honest, she could play the notes, just not to the musical quality needed as you all have pointed out and unfortunately that bit needs time and loads of repertoire to build up, we might never have it.

Misti, don’t chop his fingers! I would kiss and stroke instead. Golden fingers!

mistigiri grade 6 is not perfect for a beginner. It's only perfect for a beginner as naturally gifted as your DS!

I’m not sure under preparation is a wise strategy for the king of careless mistake (DS...), but certainly the formula of more nerves = better focused has been in his case too!