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Extra-curricular activities

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March Music Thread

626 replies

Wafflenose · 01/03/2018 10:56

Welcome to the new thread for March! I am typing this from home rather than having to go to work - snow days all round. We currently have 1cm, but there are red warnings for wind and for snow later today, so it's going to be horrendous.

This is a place to talk about all things musical, whether you or your DCs are learning. We have lots of followers, from beginners to advanced, and everyone is welcome!

I am a teacher of recorder, clarinet, flute and saxophone, and have two DDs. Goo is 12 and having a fabulous time at secondary. She is Grade 8+ on the flute but not taking the exam until braces are off (and I think her teacher is holding out until she thinks Goo can get full marks or something) and around Grade 5 piano - no performances or exams yet and terrified of anyone hearing her, so that's getting to be a slight problem. Rara is 9 and between Grades 3 and 4 on both cello and clarinet. She's taking Grade 3 Clarinet this term so that when she goes off to the NCO in the summer, she doesn't have to tell other children that's she's only done Grade 1!

OP posts:
Kutik73 · 28/03/2018 19:27

I lost track. Has she done her jd audition already?

Doubleup · 28/03/2018 19:39

Glad to hear it folk. What did she do?

folkmamma · 28/03/2018 20:19

She hit her hand on the oven door and caught the knuckle of her little finger (right hand). It's bruised and a bit swollen but should be ok soon enough.

She hasn't had her JD audition yet Kutik, hence I was in a panic! We've lost 2 days of practice but she will manage from tomorrow I think (although I'm sure she will moan all the way through her violin lesson....) it's her bow hand, which we are working on quite a lot at the moment but we'll just have to switch focus for a bit.

TaggieOHara · 28/03/2018 21:29

Poor old Noo. Fingers have a surprising number of nerves in them Sad. It’s a relief it won’t affect her audition! While she recovers, there are plenty of twiddly Mozart passages to keep everyone busy, I’m sure!

On a happier note - congrats to mini-wind. Amazing festival results!

Trumpetboysmum · 28/03/2018 21:48

Wishing mini folk a speedy recovery Flowers great news on the results mini wind Smile

Kutik73 · 28/03/2018 22:06

Fab news, miniWind! Star

Glad to know it wouldn't have a huge impact on her audition preparation, folk. Wish Noo a speedy recovery. Flowers

I still remember when DS broke his collar bone just before his dream concert. DS was still a little monkey just making some noise out of a tiny violin so nothing fancy about the concert itself but we were all excited about it because it was taken place at a fabulous conservatoire (no connection to the conservatoire though, just the venue was hired for the event). He was so looking forward to it. I thought, what's a shame he missed an once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to play at such a wonderful place!

Little I knew back then what would happen in a couple of years time - he is a pupil of the junior department at the conservatoire now! Wink

LooseAtTheSeams · 29/03/2018 08:41

Oh poor minifolk! Injured fingers are painful. Hoping for a swift recovery.Cake
Well done to mini-Wind!Star
That reminds me - we're still waiting for G5 cello results...

drummersmum · 29/03/2018 10:22

Ouch folk - I wish her a speedy recovery. She will do fab at jd audition, don't worry x

miniwind impressive sweep. Really well done to her.

loose that's good he will transcribe the chords otherwise it can't be used. We've had a whole drama concerning that, as the drums of the jazz pieces DS currently plays with his buddies are all improvised and not annotated hence not usable. We were told it had to be a written part just a month ago and it came as a bit of a shock to my ignorant ears! Fortunately the final decision is they will do a big band piece that has the drums part written down. He could've done a piano duet but has little time to prepare it, so we're hoping this will work out OK. How nice of your teacher to send it to you.

LooseAtTheSeams · 29/03/2018 10:55

drummers yes, I think it all hinges on his ability to write it down - however they do have a backup recording if not!
This is where it gets a bit stressful with creative subjects as there's a lot of art prep as well as revision for the other subjects. On the plus side, they get the art exam out of the way straight after Easter and there is only one music exam to revise for.

AlexandraLeaving · 29/03/2018 10:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hapsburg · 29/03/2018 17:43

Hope minfolk's fingers are OK in time for audition - sure all will be fine.
Having put in an unexpected and very last minute application, DD did an extremely under-prepared JD audition this week and was offered a place during the audition. So now to decide what to do.

Trumpetboysmum · 29/03/2018 17:57

Great news Hapsburg !! How old is your dd? Is it a difficult decision?

TaggieOHara · 29/03/2018 18:03

I am not surprised. Mini-Hapsberg plays beautifully Smile. Would it be a lot of travelling, Hapsburg?

Gosh - what a run of successes for team-Mn! Star

folkmamma · 29/03/2018 18:29

Fab news Hapsburg!!! Also not surprised, she plays so well!!

We are still waiting for audition date, it will be late May/Early June. Let's hope we don't let Team MN down when the time comes 🤞🏻

Unsurprisingly, Noo's finger made a miraculous recovery once the x-ray was clear and she had half a day of walking around with it in a sling! 😂 Back to playing violin today - full lesson with no moaning (although she was warned not to try it on after I caught her swinging on a tree branch...).

drummersmum · 29/03/2018 19:15

Yay hapsburg happy news Star

hapsburg · 29/03/2018 21:03

Thanks for all the very kind comments about DD's playing. Trumpet she is 13. Travelling is not hard, just over an hour drive or about the same on train/tube. Very very difficult decision to change teachers on one of her instruments; DD has written a list of pros and cons and this is the only con. It is a big one though - she has a fantastic teacher!

Trumpetboysmum · 29/03/2018 21:57

Tricky Hapsburg I know not wanting to change teacher was one reason why Ds went to AYM instead could she continue with lessons with them in the holidays ?

hapsburg · 29/03/2018 22:10

In theory, yes she could trumpet, but we only want to make this change if we are sure it is going to be the right teacher - I would want DD to have absolute confidence in the new teacher. I don't think chopping and changing would be the right thing. Occasional consultation lessons elsewhere work well, but to have two teachers would inevitably lead to conflicting advice on technique etc.

drummersmum · 29/03/2018 22:23

Jd won't allow two teachers for same instrument.

drummersmum · 29/03/2018 22:24

Do one instrument at jd, the other one outside....? DS does one instrument at jd and two outside.

Kutik73 · 29/03/2018 23:21

Congratulations to Hapsburg's DD!

I also believe it's so important to have absolute faith in the main teacher and stick to her/him. We faced to the dilemma before joining JD, but now I am so glad we jumped in and decided to stick to the new teacher, meaning stopped receiving any lesson from the previous teacher completely from day one. We are still in touch with the previous teacher, but he is like a friend to me and we often chat things other than music.

The new teacher has totally different methods from the previous teacher, and it seems working well with DS. He adores her 100%, and she seems to get him perfectly. I think the change came at a right time so no regret.

DS does his second study outside but we are moving it to jd so he will have both first and second under one roof from September. His current piano teacher has been wonderful and again she gets him so well. I am sad we are leaving really, but it's just difficult to carry on with her once DS starts secondary school. Hopefully we will be as happy with the new piano teacher as we are with the violin teacher.

AlexandraLeaving · 30/03/2018 08:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LooseAtTheSeams · 30/03/2018 08:54

Well done miniHapsburg! Fantastic news. I'm sure there will be a good solution to the teaching dilemma!

hapsburg · 30/03/2018 09:28

drummers time, logistics and school commitments (not to mention the work commitments of mum's taxi service) mean that if she does JD both instruments will have to be there. With the exception of piano which happens at school for 30mins a week - this is fine just to keep up some sort of keyboard skills, she is not going to be a concert pianist!!

Trumpetboysmum · 30/03/2018 10:05

Hapsburg I agree about 2 teachers ds's teacher has said that won't work - though Ds may have extra jazz lessons with another teacher that his teacher knows . Ds I think hopes that they can find the time to just play together when it comes to the point that Ds has to move on . In fact they do an awful lot of that in lessons anyway !! It's hard when their teacher is right they get your child and have been a big part of their lives often from quite a young age . Finding ds's teacher was a happy accident - I reckon Ds would already be at a jd if we hadn't happened to meet him at an exam !!

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