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!!

drummers good description!

My mad DH is also scorpion...

Oh and, happy birthday day to your 16 + a day boy, Loose!

Omg ealing. Somehow one never forgets these moments. London traffic is so insane.
mending

waffle you are cool. Yes you are.

Waffle you are cool - we’ve seen the pic of your musical trainers! Coolest shoes, no contest!

Just got back from the NCO South Easterlies concert. Opened with The Big Country and closed with Star Wars: The Force Awakens; a very enjoyable end to the weekend and our NCO year. Did your DH enjoy it Kutik? I did see you briefly about to take a photo of minikutik and his desk partner, but had to go in search of a bassoonist.

Double, I looked out for you but couldn’t see you. I saw your mini though. The boys who we were taking photos together were not DS’s desk partner. There were friends before NCO. They are all different age so even if they manage to get in again they won’t be together (unless they choose to go to the same regional). So we were feeling a bit sentimental.

I also felt quite emotional by seeing DS playing in the concert. The NCO challenge really opened up doors to DS. Before then violin was something he was doing at school, nothing more. He took the challenge, and everything just happened after that. So the NCO challenge was the beginning of DS’s musical journey and I felt the first chapter of the journey came to the end.

I remember his very first rehearsal last January. He looked tiny surrounded by talented young musicians. He’s come very far since then. Can’t believe it’s less than a year ago.

My deprived 8 year old doesn't know what a hashtag is! She isn't in the realms of having a mobile phone yet and is genuinely the single only kid in her class who hasn't got their own iPad.

It’s odd reading this thread we are all leading parallel lives. My DD was at south easterlies today and had a desk partner who was a boy. I am now wondering if it could have been Kutik’s DS as there seemed to be very few boys playing the violin.

Great concert though. Would be lovely if she could do it again next year.

I think miniKutik was sitting with another boy almost in the viola section Charis. As always, sooo many violins, but I think the bassoons were holding their own with 6. Five of those have the same teacher and from talking to the mother of the other one at one of the rehearsals, the sixth one used to be taught by the same teacher until they moved a couple of years ago.

I was just really impressed by the quality of the music.

I have never stayed for a rehearsal due to my two younger ones. One of whom fell asleep in the concert. Quite how he managed to do that I don’t know!

Anyway it has been a lovely experience for her. If she doesn’t get back in then I will have to look for another good orchestra for her.

What I love about the regionals is that you only have to go once a month. Otherwise with three kids and a job it’s a big commitment to go to a weekly orchestra.

I also hope she can go to a secondary school next year where they have a decent orchestra. But who knows where she will end up.

Mini mine don't have tablets or i-anythings and we don't own a TV. Goo just got a smart phone aged 12, and I bitterly regret it. Rara doesn't have a phone because she is 9!

waffle we don't have tv either. We have dvds for occasional screen time but we don't have tv.

charis my ds used to regularly sleep through concerts, i think the most impressive was sleeping through a drum concert on the flagstone floor of a church.... to be fair the floor may have been more comfortable that the pews....

mini we didn't have tv (yes dvds) till DS was 13- . After we got the license he doesn't watch it anyway. But if there's something special (like bbc young musician ) we do. Also he doesn't have games consoles, and the only reason he has an ipad is because the school gave it to him. I feel about it the same as waffle feels about Rara's phone but in fact he's always listening to music and watching music with it! Only on this thread I have found people living like us...mmmm I guess I mean weird people

Not weird Drummers - enlightened!

It’s not weird at all but we’ve always watched TV! Mine were much more interested in dvds though. I think I had Nemo by heart at one stage! They don’t seem to watch TV at all now, certainly not with us!
I have far more regrets about the smart phones - yes, they mostly use them for music listening, which is great, but they don’t read nearly as much as they used to. It was an almost immediate change when they got the phones.

Phones and iPads are a constant battle in this house. Ds uses his a lot for music listening and his computer/ my iPad for composing but he also spends a lot of time wasting his time !! As does dd . I banned tv before school years ago ( both of mine used to get up at 5 so a bit of tv or a DVD in the morning helped me to survive their early years) but I am now having to get strict with phones and iPads before and after school otherwise nothing else gets done . Ds never watches tv dd would still watch far too much if we let her. Dd doesn't have a phone as she's only 10

Charis, I also liked the regional for the little commitment for the maximum result. DS goes to a youth orchestra with weekly rehearsals. It's just manageable but I'm afraid he probably has to stop once he moves to secondary. He loves it, so we'll have to have a long discussion to reach an agreement. Lots of secondary school DCs in the orchestra. In fact only two including DS are primary age. So it may be manageable. But DS will be too busy committing to school music I guess, and he will need to spare some time for doing sports also.

We are also non-tv watchers. We have TV now, but there were times when we didn't and life hasn't been changed much. We almost forget we have it. We have a family TV time at weekend sometimes, and it's usually recorded ones or DVDs. DS has Switch and Wii U. But they are totally abandoned during summer, and probably remembered a bit during winter, mostly when we have friends coming over, and it can be a great fun for old and young doing car races or some dance moves together. DH is anti-digital in general, but he doesn't mind Wii Sports.

Sometimes I hear other DCs talking about some TV series they are watching. I do wonder how they manage to find time for TV during weekdays. I only have one child, yet I feel I'm always fighting against time. Is it due to individual capacity??!! Then I must have a tiny one...

The secondary school DS may go specifies models of mobile phones. You are not allowed to bring any other model. So there will be no fiddling with a smart phone on a bus and so on. DS has to pack a book for bus/tube instead.

Dd has a phone but is completely uninterested in it - occasional messaging and then forgets to reply for weeks🙄 am not unhappy with her attitude to it all (her friends prob are though!)

kutik that sounds great. For me the ideal at secondary school is that they have a phone so they can call in emergencies but that it isn’t a smart phone so they don’t get addicted.

I actually suggested this policy to the head at WImbledon High School at an open morning. But she looked at me like I was bit mad and said she didn’t think that the parents or girls would put up with that type of restriction.

So it’s interesting to see that some schools do attempt a middle ground.

Charis, plenty of parents and kids seem to put up with that type of the restrictions at DS’s secondary school to be. Their policy is not just non-smart phone, but they specify two models only and other model is not allowed. The pupils have to put the name label on the phone as everybody have an identical phone so easy to mix up.

DS has a smart phone actually. He needed a phone once a week and I just handed down my old one so didn’t cost a penny. But it seems we need to spend money on the non-smart phone the school specifies after all. Ironic!

kutik that sounds great. The more I hear about this school the more I like it.
Just back from hospital for minor operation. I feel a bit groggy. But happy all went well and celebrating life with you lot ☺