February Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Have a new thread for February!

This is a place for our ongoing conversation about music, instruments, lessons, ensembles, scales, practice, exams, aural, theory and whatever else you'd like to talk about. Everyone is welcome - new and older members, beginners and advanced.

I have two daughters - Goo (12) flute and piano, in a bit of a slump at the moment, and Rara (9) cello, clarinet and recorder (yes, she's picked it up again) on a roll at the moment. I teach woodwind and have my own little clarinet group called the B Flat Blues, who don't rehearse together regularly, but played in a festival this week.

I also have quite a bit of news, mostly good, but am so tired that it will have to wait until tomorrow now. Hopefully it's worth waiting for (and before anyone asks, no, Goo didn't get the desire of her heart).

DS2 is still playing a music service trombone, advice was to wait to get a really nice one until he is fully grown. May well be the only one at NYO Inspire on a hired instrument. We are starting to look for an instrument for him now though.

We also didn't buy his clarinet but were lucky enough to borrow a very nice one from a friend. As he has now stopped playing completely we are handing it back.

I'm glad it's not just me raspberry. For brass players ds's teacher is of the opinion that custom made instruments at a young age when they still have so much growing to do are a waste . One of ds's fellow trumpet players has recently got a new very nice trumpet but he's a good few years older than ds and knows that he is going to pursue music as a career . This makes much more sense to me than spending thousands when they are 12 !! I totally get that this might not be the same for string instruments though .

No music here for the last few days as we are on our holibobs in France. I've occasionally managed to sneak recordings of Noo's G6 pieces on the car stereo, in between belting out the sound track to 'The Greatest Showman', and the girls have been getting some good rhythm on the ski slopes 😜 all my good intentions about doing theory in the evenings went out the window! Back to it next week...

Dd1 played a battered stentor 2 that was older than me that I bought for £80 from a retiring cello teacher. It had good vibes though and is being played by another enthusiastic youngster now. She won the only thing she entered on it and played in plenty of concerts. I am now wondering whether school took pity on her when they lent her a 3/4 size or whether they just couldn’t bear to listen to her 1/2 size anymore .

We just came back from a dance show and dd1 loved a piece of music which turned out to be a string trio by Ezio Bosso called Thunders and Lightenings. Doesn’t seem to be sheet music available which is a surprise to me but I suppose living composers don’t want any old versions of their music knocking about YouTube!

Our violin hunting is still to be continued. Along the way what I've really learnt and can agree 100% is the price tag doesn't always reflect the quality of sound.

We tried 3 violins in a large recital hall today. The most expensive one was the least attractive in sound and projection! It's in great condition and has great antique value so it'll be easier to sell though. We put it back to the case pretty quickly.

Completely agree with you there kutik. We didn't like the £3000(!) German half size violin DS2 tried at all (his violin was less than a third that price) Unfortunately, the same was not true for the bow, and we ended up spending £500! It was so much better though than any of the others though.

Folkmama - snork on the theory intentions. I dragged our aural materials to the slopes. Got two good sessions in, but had definitely intended to do much more. Am currently crossing my fingers for questions on texture and style and period on a baroque piece - always the wishes for option!

Hi everyone, haven't been on MN much as bit busy at work. Not much music going on in our household over the last few weeks as DD was on her Year 6 residential and then both the DCs went to my parents for most of the half-term.

Just before half-term I purchased recorders for both the DCs and have started teaching them. They took the recorders with them to my parents' house but apparently didn't do much practice as 'Nana had a headache' .

But we're back on it with a vengeance now as they both have piano exams and theory exams in about 10 days .

I wish I'd been able to keep dd's 1/10 violin - it was teeny ! But also rented as was only on it for 5 months. Ds has started on a 1/8 which is also rented. We've bought Dds 1/4 student violin though as hopefully ds can have it after (although if he doesnt lose the attitude over practice that won't be happening !! )

Taggie, your DS is such a lucky boy! My DS's 1/2 was roughly £1/4 of your DS's! It was handmade and lovely though, and after we traded it in for 3/4, I spotted his 1/2 was given a price similar to your DS's 1/2 (4 times more than our bought price)! So there was no way we could buy it back to comfort crying DS who really really wanted to keep it Also DS's 3/4 bow cost less than £100. And I didn't give him any option other than carbon ones as I thought wooden bows would be too delicate in our wild DS's hand...

I am going to be a little bit more generous this time though, as it's 4/4!

DS experimented jazz piano at jd today (or actually yesterday already).

Most participants were 15-16 yo so DS was the youngest in the class. DS said he was pretty bad and was the most terrible one there and gushed about how amazing some of the older ones were. He loved the experience and thought it was super cool. He decided to take up jazz piano from 2020 - meaning very soon but not so soon. He thinks he needs to grow a bit.

I like that he didn't mind being the most terrible one!

Sorry for machine gunning. I seem to have been having a lonely Saturday night!

Just a quick question on violin cases. Most of the violin shops we visited seemed to be keen to recommend a oblong case. But as we travel by air quite a few I would like to consider more compact types for easy storage in the overhead compartment. I did a bit of research and a shaped one like BAM seems to be a sensible choice. Though I like the extra space for bits and bobs in a oblong one. It also looks easier to rest on the floor when you are standing (on a bus and so on) as it's flat whereas it may be a bit awkward for a shaped one as it's curved.

Any opinion on this would be greatly appreciated!

BAM fan here Kutik! We bought one 4 years ago due to its shape and colour differentiation. Admittedly the back strap catch broke, but they sent replacement ones quickly...no issues since. You can't get loads in it, have to position the chin rest carefully but for weight, space saving and carrying (in addition to the zillion other bags she has), it's great.

Reading all news but unable to contribute much of late!

Purchase made at same time as the replacement violin and bow so I feel for your quest. My budget was not as high as yours, but then my DD did not show as much potential or enthusiasm as your DS, though she is VERY attached to it now

This has just reminded me I need to renew the cello insurance!
We rented music service ones until DS2 (just turned 13 yesterday!) got to the 4/4 size and were lucky enough to buy one off his piano teacher. He is ridiculously tall for his age and I would have carried on renting the 3/4 Stentor 2 if he hadn’t grown so fast.
I haven’t got the date for the grade 5 exam yet - March now seems horribly close, though!

2ndsopranos Lovely that your DD wants to take her violin away with her.... my DD often does although it doesn't usually get played much, my DS finds it more difficult to fit his cello in with the luggage!
Five days isn't that long and her teacher has also said she'll be fine - maybe you could reach a compromise by suggesting she focuses on the Aural tests (have you got the CD, or an iPad with you?) and/or listens to her pieces whilst she's away?

Hello to Feb thread by the way, never quite got round to joining this month, sorry - will be more on the ball next month!

Se22 My DD has got a beautiful 3/4 violin that she is sadly growing out of. She is 10. It has taken her through her G7 exam and she would love to keep it forever but that isn't possible so we need to sell it in order to get her 4/4. We've tried a few 4/4 but none of them have matched it (yet)! If you are interested I could post a video of her playing it so you have an idea of sound? Kutik I have been following your search for a 4/4 with interest

earling, which model do you have? I am aware there are three models - Cabin, Slim and Contoured and am leaning towards Contoured due to the slightly larger space inside (Cabin had to be crossed out for this reason). My only concern with BAM is its response to extreme temperatures. We travel to a highly humid country in summer every year. DS will never go there without his violin as we stay there for good 6 weeks usually. I hear it gets really hot inside in the environment like that which causes unpleasant damp on the instrument. Not sure how much it's true... Use in London would be perfectly fine though.

Musicdoc, are you on the search for 4/4 too? How long have you been doing? I am not sure whether we should just go for the one DS seems to be happy with (but not perfectly sure as it seems like he likes it among the selection rather than he loves it). Or rent one from jd which is decent enough and just keep looking until we find 'the one'. We don't know which route DS will end up taking (as he is only 10!). But if he decides to do music more seriously, another update will be a must before reaching college age, whereas if he decides to keep it for fun the 4/4 we are buying now will most likely be a life long companion for him.

Musicdoc that is amazing, dd and I would love to hear it please

2nd, DS always insists taking his violin for a holiday too, though his reason is not like your diligent DD... So we usually take it but most often it's totally forgotten until we pick it up again to go back home. When we took it on a skiing holiday, DS was too busy having fun with snow that he probably even forgot he ever played any instrument in his life. To be honest, it was expected so no problem, but we were left with wonky strings due to the cold/warm temperatures! No more violin for skiing.

We also own a roll-up piano - portable so great for holidays. But again, if only you can remember you have it during the holiday...

www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/BAM-5003-Classic-III-Shaped-Violin-Case-Black/1V84?origin=product-ads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1LPfhLCv2QIVir3tCh0X8AS3EAQYESABEgIFWvD_BwE

Ooh, I don't know technically how it behaves in extreme temps kutik but it's a classic shape, not the hard case ones.

Happy belated birthday to your DS 2 loose!

Thanks ealing he spent rather a lot of it on the computer but seems very cheerful!

I didn't know BAM has so many products. I just visited their website....

I don't buy expensive designers bag any more (since all our money goes to DS and family). But this process of searching a violin case kind of woke up a girl wanting to have a special handbag in me!

Happy belated birthday to Loose's boy and Trumpet's boy!