January Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Happy New Year!

This is the new thread for our continuing (6 year old) conversation about all things to do with music - lessons, exams, auditions, theory, scales, practice and whatever else you want to talk about.

I am Waffle, teacher of woodwind, amateur composer, and unpaid consultant watching and commenting on all sorts of woodwind videos that people send my way! I am mum to Goo 12, and Rara 9, who both play instruments, do South West Music School and NCO. Goo plays flute and piano, and has Grade 8 and Grade 5 pending for some time this year. Rara plays cello and clarinet - working within Grade 4 for both, but hasn't taken a clarinet exam since Grade 1, and wants to do Grade 3 this coming term. She's way behind with Theory, so it's theory boot camp again this week. We start back to school late (Jan 8th) so that's good.

Congratulations to miniqieen

Hi Taggie - she got a distinction in her Grade 2 cello last term so that's going OK and we should probably start piano soon too!

Congrats Queen - you are starting on a great family journey. We've just come to the "end" of being chorister parents (hi Taggie); but don't regret any of it for a moment. DD finished 2 years ago, DS has just stepped down. He is struggling with how to use all his time this week already and it has only been 2 days so far! (a lot of organ practice has been done! scholarship auditions this week and next)

However, what is clear is that having been a chorister will never ever leave you. They will have an identity and a community for the rest of their lives, any time they want it. My uncle was a chorister, and didn't sing much for years - but much later when his daughter got into singing at school, he went back to it and I think his timetable is often "if it's Day X then I'm at Y rehearsal".

I think Python's experience sums up the chorister experience very well. It is a terrific training in efficiency. After all, not many children would feel themselves slightly at a loose end in the last weeks before scholarship exams . Hope mini-Python is having plenty of fun with his organ practice.

Queen - looking forward to hearing more about your DD's musical adventures.

Congrats miniQueen!

DS has been unwell with high temperatures this week (and I feel he is gradually passing that on to me...). He missed his beloved after school clubs - football on Monday, swimming on Tuesday. It seems I have to inform the orchestra that he cannot attend today's rehearsal now.

Congrats on the chorister place and i hope the sickness is short lived kutik.

No music news here, although fitting all the practice in is a bit tricky 3x2 is 6 sessions a day so some of them are errr 'effective' (a eufemism for short 😁) dd2 has named her bass boris and was thrilled to find out her teachers bass also has a name, he's horace

Get well minikutik

kutik forget the sashimi today and give him some chicken soup

Get well soon kutik and minikutik - lots of nasty bugs going round atm

No sashimi tonight, in deed!

Hope the poor little chap feels better Kutik!
Not much to report here. dS1 has a concert on Saturday. DS2 slowly getting there with his cello scales!

Hope miniKutik feels better soon and that he doesn't share his lurgy.

Bassoon lesson went well this evening with DD2's teacher saying it was sounding good. She just needs to remember to keep blowing in her last scholarship audition on Monday. We will all be happy when it's over - although she will have to keep playing one of her pieces in full for a local festival in March. Never done a festival before and I don't even know what class her teacher entered her for!

Congratulations queen! My DS has a lovely voice which took a long time to become in tune ( lots of work with piano teacher) but now is lovely, can hit all the high notes perfectly. I am enjoying it while it lasts as his friends are all breaking now . I tell him I would have sent him to a choir school if we had one near. I loved singing in my traditional church choir growing up, it taught me much of my musical knowledge and live of music. The words also stay with you. However, sorely tempted to engrave SLOWLY on the piano for practising, drives me mad. Sometimes at the start of it I just say shall I shout slow five times now and get it over with!

Lurgy has taken hold here too 😔 Noo's asthma has kicked off big time (I knew it was coming yesterday, but it seems I am the only person in this house capable of making sure she does her inhalers.... grrrr!!) Might do a spot if theory later to keep her mind busy. We are all off to look at JD in Cardiff on Saturday- very excited! Noo's initial sad face about potentially losing theatre school has now been replaced with an excited one, so I'm hoping it lives up to all our expectations now!! And then we will move on to worrying about her getting in...

Hi everyone. Many congrats to Miniqueen. I would have loved to have been a chorister in another life! I sing in a church choir and I love it! A very long way from being a chorister plus I'm about 30 years too late!!

We've had a disaster in that minidisorganised has fractured his left wrist falling over his friend in the playground 😩. He's in a lightweight cast for 3 weeks but he has audition for JD (Guildhall) in 6 weeks. He seems quite confident that he can be ready in 3 weeks. He knows his pieces well,they just need polishing. His scales sound a bit ropey tbh though. I'm not sure what scales they're going to ask for. He's learning grade 7 (violin). We're going to use the other time to look over aural and practice answering questions on musicianship as he is autistic and struggles a bit with reciprocal conversations. I am wondering whether to push the audition back but ds just wants to do it then.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If so,what did you do?

Oh no! So sorry to hear that disorganised . Perhaps see how he goes? Children do heal really fast. You can always postpone closer to the time if need be. I'm sure the jd would understand.

Sorry to hear that disorganised. Wish him a speedy recovery.

If he is confident you may keep the date for now. As Taggie said, you can always postpone closer to the time when you feel he is not ready. Don't worry about scales. There is no need for him to master all grade 7 scales for the audition. They usually let you choose which one to play, so miniorganised can pick and practise a few to a good standard, then he can focus on polishing the pieces for the rest of the preparation.

Anyway that was our experience with Guildhall. DS had been practising only ONE scale at the time of the audition and they were fine with it. DS's scale exercises were so different from the normal exam scales, but the Head said he liked DS's version and was very complimentary. I don't think you should worry about scales really. I think they only use it to check where a child is technically.

So the 3 weeks can be used for polishing the pieces mainly, then it may be doable?

Hope minifolk feels better soon. disorganised i would wait see progress of injury. You can move it later then? And I was complaining that DS came home with a huge blister in his thumb from golf! He had an audition today and managed to hold the mallets in spite of it apparently. A fractured wrist, that's more serious.

Thanks for all your wishes. So do you all think we're best off waiting until after the cast has come off to see if,once he starts playing properly,that he will be ready? Or should I email Guildhall and explain the situation and say we may need an alternative date? I just don't know what to do for the best. Ds is determined to keep the date. 😩😱😬

Thought you'd all like to know that this week's #1 hit with DS, when i turn on Youtube so I can wash up the lunch dishes without a meltdown, is NCO 2016 with Marsalis & Benedetti, playing Marquez' Danzon #2. Probably includes several of the minis on this thread.

DS was drumming with his spoons, doing the baby embouchure "whooo" singing when Marsalis was playing, and generally dancing so hard the highchair nearly fell over

drummers, good luck with the audition result! The combo of the blister and the audition reminded me minidrummers's blood running grade 8 piano exam. He did so well nevertheless!

disorganised, I think you could wait till the cast has come off as minidisorganised sounds like confident and determined. Sometimes a bit of break does a wonder and 3 weeks is plenty for the final polishing and also for requesting the date change?

Ooh! Good luck with audition Drummers! And sending very positive thoughts to minidisorganized!
DS1 is at school on an Inset day finishing GCSE composition 1. At least that's what's meant to happen. GCSE music teacher can't praise his playing enough but just wants him to finish the drafted compositions! As do we all! (Comp 2 is pretty much there!)
By the way, if anyone's child tells them in Y9 they want to do art and music for GCSE, just don't. The workload is insane. Additional maths is actually almost a doddle in comparison! Music is fascinating, though!

good luck drummers!! Your DC's all have so many interests: golf and percussion. Wonderful

Loose hope the composition day goes well. Very heroic of your DS1 to go in on an inset day! I am hoping that neither of my DS's do anything with a major coursework component for GCSE, but it is some way in the future yet.

Nothing new here. DS2 has been working hard for the festival this weekend. If he remembers the repeats, vibrato and to start with his bow pointing in the right direction (rather than over his left shoulder!!) then he will be okay. I have warned him that the standard will be very high and so he should not expect a massively high mark. As long as he plays well for his own standard, he should be happy!

Thank you for the advice, Loose. I will probably be DS's PA for the next good few years so I appreciate any word given by experienced parents! Luckily (?) DS hasn't shown any talent in art so I assume we wouldn't have the dilemma between art and music, though you never know how a child turns out in a couple of years!