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).

Good luck second!

Yes, Second, best of luck!

The words I have been dreading were finally forthcoming yesterday. "Mummy, next year instead of skiing can I snowboard?" 🙈

Apparently mesh heads on electric kits are the way to go- more responsive. I think the Roland kit that Drummersmum mentioned has mesh heads.
Also looking for an electric kit here too, we are looking at the kit Drummersmum mentioned.

Hope challenging times with RL gets totally offset with music victories like The Boy's concert Alexandra.

Reading all news but not much to add here, hello also to the new (and returning) folk. At my usual hangout...it's been 2 gala weekends running with a new, now 11 week pup joining our household. Omg did I under estimate the change in house dynamics!

But she loves the piano

Morning everyone. I hope you all don't mind but I feel like I need to off load a horrible few weeks and try and get some perspective. Some of you may remember that mini disorganised fractured his wrist about a month ago (he plays violin). It was his left wrist so arguably the more important one. So we had that to contend with plus having to look for a new violin teacher. We found a new teacher who felt that ds wasn't ready to audition for JD even though we had put it back to April. Ds was so upset but in the end agreed that it was for the best as he needed to work on some of his technical skills. The difference in his sound/tone/bowing has been tremendous so it's been worth it. However,new teacher has put ds grade back. Ds's prev teacher as well as the tutor that runs the 2 string ensembles that he leads agreed that he is grade 6 standard but new teacher has put him at grade 5. Ds is distraught. I think mainly because he 2 very close Orchestra friends are doing their grade 6 this term and he now feels behind compared to them. I've tried to tell him that sometimes you have to go back in order to go forward and he will come out a better violinist but he's having a bad time accepting it.

All in all it's been a very trying month. 😩

Audition done. I was v.nervous, which affected my voice, but it could have gone worse.

Well done second - I admire you hugely for being brace enough to audition. Doing it vicariously through DS2 is enough a challenge for me

Disorganised my heart goes out to you and DS. It sounds like you have had an awful few weeks. Having a 12yo son with Aspergers, I understand, perhaps more than most how difficult the situation must be. It is good that you are now with a teacher who will really help your DS develop a good foundation. In a few years, once DS is at JD and is achieving his ambitions, I hope you will look back on this period as blip.

One thought... Is it really necessary for your DS to be working towards any exam at the moment? Couldn't he just focus on technique and non-exam pieces? Many keen violinists on here, including my DS2 and mini-kutik don't do exams. He wouldn't have to feel so behind then. Perhaps he could work towards a different aim, like a residential course (pro corda? Nco?) - although with his Asd I realise this might be challenging.

Take care and feel free to pm me if you want a proper chat

Oh that sounds tough for your ds disorganised. I think there is a certain subjectivness about the whole thing even in terms of examiners but i suppose when you have a certificate in hand theres not much to argue about. My kids have never taken an exam and i really dont know where they would sit on the scale, but they are moving forwards and progressing. And that is undoubtedly true for you ds too, regardless of where someone placed him on a grade scale.

Thank you for your kind words Taggie and Mending. Just to clarify,ds has only don't grade 1 which was a little over 3 years ago. He hated the experience so much he said he never wanted to repeat it but that may change as he gets older and becomes more resilient. His prev teacher simply put him at a grade 6 standard which was backed up by another tutor who teaches ds theory and runs 2 of the string ensembles that ds leads. New violin teacher has put him at a grade 5 standard and has given him pieces (not from the grade books) that are that standard. I'm not fussed whether he takes the exams or not but it's just useful to know what standard he is. His sight reading is said to be very good when he's playing with orchestras as he has a v good musical ear and picks it up straight away but he isn't as confident when he's playing solo.

We've decided that his plan to he rest of this year is to work on solo performing. He's doing a solo in he middle of his school production in a few weeks which sounds great already. He's doing some of the music festivals with his new string quartet which he is leader of. Plus he'd like to do a duet with one of his friends who is a violinist. He may audition for JD this time next year or leave it until Spring 2020 when he will be approaching his 14th birthday.

One lovely thing to look forward to is that new teacher said ds will need a full size soon so we're thinking for his 12th birthday in June and teacher will come and help us look for one so I'm enjoying following Kutik's 4/4 Violin journey and am taking notes!!

disorganised I know it must seem disappointing, but really, nothing major has changed, has it? He is still the musician he was last week/ last month. There's no need to take any exams, although Grade 5 might be a good starting point if he's planning to do Grade 8 eventually. He could just do those to... or one of them, or none! Lovely to hear about the exciting birthday present.

Disorganised it may just be that your son has some skills at "only" grade 5 level even if most of his skills are still a higher level than this. It can be very difficult to assess grade level (and, tbh, pretty pointless!) for young musicians who are not preparing exams.

My DD has done hardly any formal exams - no UK style exams, just one externally-assessed (by a jury) performance at the conservatoire she attends. She is playing diploma-standard repertoire but I couldn't honestly tell you what grade she is - she would certainly fail ABRSM grade 5 sight reading and scales ....

disorganised if he's not taking exams, then whatever "standard" a teacher says is meaningless, as there are plenty of g5 pieces your DS will enjoy and learn from. The focus should not be what grade the pieces are, but whether they expand his repertoire in an interesting way and make him progress (progress can be made not only through difficulty but through musicality in an easier piece). In our case, the fact that DS has done his g8s doesn't mean he won't touch a g5 piece at all. After all, music is music and it's only in this country that we get obsessed with what grade it is at. If he wants more challenging things, maybe you/him can source some songs or studies which are a little bit more complex that the ones being provided by teacher? None of DS teachers have ever said he was not allowed to play something else besides their set work. So my advice is that grades and numbers are truly unimportant in the long run (I know this may be difficult for your DS ). The new teacher sounds like he wants your DS to build a strong technical foundation which is not bad at all. It may have happened anyway had he gone to jd. Lots of children, particularly with strings, receive a shock when they enter jd. Their bowing is wrong, their wrists wrong, etc and they are forced to retrain. I do hope he auditions for jd next year. I remember he had a good positive pre-assessment a while ago...

Waffle No you're right in that nothing has really changed but ds has really struggled to cope with the things that have changed like his teacher because he has Aspergers and change is very difficult for him.

I'm trying to look on it all as positively as possible. Ultimately, going over these technical skills will make him a better player.

Also Waffle, wonderful video of your dd. What a talent and beautiful sound she has. 😊

Help! DS2 had a catch-up lesson today on cello and teacher is very happy with him but I’m in the doghouse because his rosin is basically cheap and nasty. Can’t even remember when I got it. Can anyone please tell me what I should get? He used the teacher’s today and there was a miraculous improvement in sound! Poor neglected child...
Disorganised I bet he sounds totally awesome compared to the notional grade 6 children and will have the best technique! Also I reckon he will be totally distracted by his new violin!

loose I'm afraid I'm going to have to report this to SS...

Bless you Loose for saying that! I was also ripped apart for not supplying ds with suitable rosin! We were recommended Laubach Gold rosin. It's pricy-£20 but it lasts ages and I have to say, I was blown away by the difference it made to ds's playing. They do a cello one.

Drummers DS2 would probably thank you! (I suspect he has a list of maternal transgressions...)
Disorganised ooh! Thank you for the recommendation!

emerence how on earth did you find Yiddish drama classes in Australia

I feel for you and for DS Disorganised. Grades are subjective though, and some teachers will inevitably have different views than others. Noo's teacher has very high standards, he won't let her tackle certain pieces / grades until she is more than ready and focusses heavily on technique. This is actually paying dividends! However I totally see how hard it is for your DS - they do measure themselves against one another, don't they?

Your DS is playing at an advanced level, and one day when he is at music college (if he so decides...) this will all be a distant memory xx

I had literally no idea there were different grades of rosin and no one has ever mentioned it to dd1 or me! Current one doesn’t even have a box

Disorganised, Dd1 sometimes complains that her grade progress is painfully slow but her teacher seems ambitious for her playing in general so there must be a reason. She is only just about to start her first official grade 6 piece after auditioning Autumn 2015 with grade 3 pieces. So less than a grade a year at music school, second study admittedly but still! She also doesn’t take exams due to finding them hideous but I do wish she would just take grade 5 as it’s free (paid for as an extra after that). Can’t be fun somewhere that dd tells me ‘what grade are you?’ is a routine conversation opener though!

Good luck with the audition second, Bach’s St Johns Passion in German was dd’s first big choral piece and got her completely hooked.

The Yamaha opportunity sounds exciting, good luck to thread entrants.

Disorganised - I would try not to take the grade To heart. As others have said, there are many 'grade 6' and 'grade 7' players who play at a much lower level than your DS, musically. Have a look on YouTube! I know it is difficult when it is all 'what grade are you?' Or, in DS2's case boys at school telling him he is 'grade zero' because he hasn't done an exam. In the end, after weeks of this, DS2 retorted that 'by that definition Jascha Heifetz would be grade zero'. They moved on after that...

Anyway, it sounds like you have an awesome plan of action! I'm sure that the time invested in technique now will pay off later and there is still plenty of fun ahead for your DS.

Disorganised - are there any local festivals he can play at? That might be a confidence booster? I agree that at that age Grades are important to kids but I'm sure the Teacher has his best interest at heart and he"ll end up a better player.

Ealing - what puppy have you got? Mine is now 10 months old and 60kgs 😱 About another 25kgs before he is fully grown 😂

Loose - Also guilty of sub-standard rosin 😂

We have a nasty roisin too, it was broken in half and we still be able to do it, admittedly practice hasnt been much lately, will go with disorganised recommendation. And sympathy to Ds1, Loose, the next few months will be hard(and drummers’ son is on it this summer too I remember, best of luck to both boys!)
And great to hear the Boy did well in his concert and I am sorry for any difficulty he was facing Alex, hope its all over now.
And love to hear about Ealing and Prada puppy’s news. We (typical Asian) dont wear shoes indoor and quite obsessed with living in a house spotlessly clean so I have been thinking about a puppy the last 10 years as I know the benefits to our family.
Disorganised: we changed many violin teachers, every single time the new teacher criticised the old teachers’ way of teaching her on bowl holding, positioning etc and set her back at least a grade less. We had a trial lesson with a man and he said my daughter is at grade 2 standard regarding to bowl holding. With my current teacher now who has been with us for 3 months or so(however less than 10 lessons due to her playing abroad alot), still we are working on correcting position, bowl holdings mostly(my daughter must be worst at coordination skills...did I tell you she throw the balls back to her feet every single sport day until year 4 even she is a very active boyish girl). I dont even think about grade now, we are learning around grade 6 pieces standard however wont take exam. She will be busy with late 11+ preparation this year so she wont take any grades exam (which in her mind means spending all the times learning scales) and save them all for summer term next year or she might just do grade 8 to finish(and anything after that is out of my thought as by then I think she has learn the basic and can decide to do what ever she wants whenever she likes after.)