April Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Happy Easter! The sun is shining here (at the moment) so I'm hoping spring has finally arrived.

Here's a new thread for anyone who wants to talk about music lessons, exams, practice, concerts, aural, scales, theory, ensembles or anything else music related. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to advanced and also adult learners. I started these threads 6.5 years ago when I had a beginner myself. Her nickname is Goo, she is 12 and taking Grade 8 Flute next term. I think she's finally going to do her Grade 5 Piano in the autumn. When those are out of the way, she's thinking of taking up the recorder again and doing Grade 8 on that, because flute sort of took over and she never got around to it. Her sister Rara is 9, and is currently around Grade 4 on both Cello and Clarinet. She doesn't want to do any more exams for ages, so will probably do her grade 5s in a couple of years or so. Rara is a lapsed recorder player who will be performing on it next month, and she dabbles with piano, glock and accordion. Both girls do South West Music School, although I regularly go back on forth over whether this is still the best setting for Goo. We are pretty rural and hours away from any big cities.

Please can we all be extra careful to make sure that everyone is acknowledged and assisted where appropriate... I include myself in needing to make an effort, but I'm not around all day, every day. This is a lovely, calm, supportive corner of Mumsnet but I do receive a handful of messages from people who don't feel welcome because they or their children are less advanced, or they're not in a position to consider JD/ private school/ expensive instruments and feel left out, or they wonder if it's OK to post about certain instruments/ families. I did say I would try. Thank you all so much!

And I think your piano teacher is a little jealous of your DS and controlling kutik. Even if she has done a fantastic job with him to date, she won't be able to take full credit for his development which will grow super quick with him being around the peer groups that he's exposed to, school and JD.

Of course, not talking from bitter experience with swim coaches here at all...

Musicdoc yes the grade 8 distinction. I put my foot down about him taking it this school year - he prepared for grade 7 in 2 months last summer on a whim ( which was quite stressful to say the least ) and I know his teacher is thinking the same thing about grade 8 but it can wait till our house renovations are finished I think . Then I can concentrate a bit more on music practice if I need to ( I always hope I won't ) . Sound advice about letting them enjoy the moment Ealing . Though I did totally miss the boat with ds considering applying to a local respected chamber set up this year so in the back of my mind I am always just trying to think what might be sensible things to explore next year - but that can make it all feel a bit relentless .
Music they can always have something from their teacher saying that they are at that level for NYO if they don't have the piece of paper . There must be some who don't do exams and some who took grade 8 when they were very young and didn't get a distinction, but are obviously by the time they are 14 etc very accomplished musicians

Everyone thinking about NYO in the future, can I remind you about NYO Inspire for 13+ year olds who are Grade 6 and higher (and at state school). Fabulous day workshops with NYO, totally free. Also a 3 day free residential in February.

We are starting to seriously think about specialist school for sixth form for DS2.

Raspberry thanks for that. We'll be signing up for the next round of Inspire days in May.

Trumpet apparently a lot of children in NYO take their G8 twice just so they can get their distinction... I'm not sure how I feel about that!! My boy moved to trinity after G5 abrsm because he didn't have the G5 theory and also his teacher prefers Trinity. However he now has the G5 theory and I think he wants to do G8 trinity followed by G8 abrsm....

Goo will probably do both. Currently teacher is Trinity crazy. Next teacher will insist she has ABRSM.

Been having the grade 8 discussion with my son. He stopped variously for different instruments at grade 5, 6 and 7 some time ago. He is now way beyond grade 8 in some and around grade 8 in others. Kind of want him to just do the exams and get the paper but he refuses. He thinks going to music college will trump grades and if needed teacher can write to prove his level. He is kind of right when it comes to being a performer if he ever gets to that stage but I think not for teaching. My daughter went for a part-time job teaching music to younger children and they care patiently about actual grades taken on different instruments. Wish I had forced my son to take when he was in the exam flow when he was a bit younger. He might yet come to his senses.

(Of course he is right about NYO or BBC Young Musican and other competitions as well where letter from a respected teacher is enough so hard to argue with him)

Thanks everyone. So glad I'm not alone! I love this thread

Folk - DS2 has come home buzzing from it. I'm amazed he wasn't crippled though, playing without a shoulder rest or his cushion, which really bulks up the chin rest. I will probably relent about summer Pro Corda once I have him straightened out. I have found some little folk songs (about grade 2!) to iron out the bad habits.

Good luck with the bow hold!!

Musicdoc I wish we were near enough London to be able to to do that one, we could have managed the Sunday day but not got back for the Friday morning. DS2 always has a great day and the sharing performance at the end is fab. We don't have access to this level playing on a regular basis (nothing at school or County) so they are amazing opportunities.

DS2 says he won't do Grade 8 on trombone, we'll see, he hasn't done any exams on trombone since Grade 3 a few years ago. He is doing piano Grade 8 in the autumn and possibly Grade 5 organ this term, I think that depends how easy it is to actually arrange!

Theory though, he chose to do Grade 6 and I think would like to keep going.

raspberryripple thanks for the mention of NYO Inspire. That would be ideal for DS2 next year, I think. Something to think about anyway.

Question for string parents with DC's playing violin & viola... any suggestions for repertoire to help Noo make the transition?? Technique shouldn't be a problem, in the first instance we just need practice reading alto clef (myself included!). I'm looking at the ABRSM 'Time Pieces' books....

folk I know several viola players who did Suzuki viola pieces for a few months to get them up to speed in a few months, eg they switched from Suzuki book 4 violin and were up to Viola book 4 within 2-3 months. Then they transition over to grades.

Hello. Slightly off the usual gist of this thread and can start a new one if needed but I'm looking for some advice. My DS is 6 and has very high functioning ASD (you probably would never know he has it in school etc ) he was adamant he wanted to play violin as his sister does and is pretty musical but he and I are struggling with practice - after a day keeping it together at school he tends to blow spectacularly over trivia and is quite demand avoidant and he has to be made to practice which never goes well, we moved practice to the morning which was a bit better but still not great. He will literally play something once and refuse to do anything else and god help me if I suggest something was wrong. he's clearly not ready to learn an instrument yet but if I suggest stopping he gets desperately upset. Everything is made so much harder by his ASD. We've backed right off on practice and let him lead it but he's done none all Easter holiday so far. It's time to just stop isn't it ? I've said he can take it up again later or choose a different instrument when he feels ready but he is so distressed by the idea of stopping I don't know what to do !

Agree with MomofTwoGirls, the viola version of something they already know is very helpful for bootstrapping alto clef. Or whizz through something like viola time joggers (that's what a couple of violin teacher friends used to learn alto clef themselves!). And just slow scales to tune in to finger positions and bow positioning to get the best sound.

Mom thanks - I will look at that. we did Suzuki book 1 on violin but then switched to ABRSM. I worry that the tunes will be so ingrained that she won't actually read the notes...

Didi - This is pretty much my life with DD2. I will PM you later when I am home from work with wine in hand....

Didiplanthis, I'd let him play if the cost isn't too painful. Actually getting the violin out every day is a great start, more than many do! What's his teacher like? I'm wondering if either teacher explaining in more detail what to do each day, or a practice chart with boxes to tick for each thing he should do each day could help. Even if you changed it to just a couple of games/exercises plus play through piece it would be a step in the right direction. Baby steps though. Just getting in the habit of getting it out and playing really is a good start.

folk there is a book which has the same tunes written for violin and viola called “quick change”...dd (g5 violin) worked through it in about a day and 4 weeks later is working on g5 pieces...

Thanks Petra, sounds perfect!

Also, this might be a stupid question, but should she use her violin bow or will she need something with a bit more weight?????

trumpet the length of the individual lesson at jd varies depending on the jd. Any extension from their basic norm, you pay extra.

didi I have experience of this with my DS1, now 12. I would aim for 5 minutes or less in a fixed routine eg play twinkle through once for notes, ones for tuning and once for sound, then stop. To make the most of the time and to avoid faff and consequent anxiety, Make sure everything is ready before the session (violin out and tuned, music on stand, bow tightened)

Ideally your DS should want more at the end of his practice.

A few minutes of carefully supervised daily practice will pay dividends.

Don’t discount the advantages of high functioning asd for music. He may well turn out to be great at theory and note learning, and very determined and passionate, as you have already found!

Please do keep in touch and do pm me if you’d like a proper chat. I’d love to hear how he gets on

Didiplanthis I think Taggie's advice is spot on - I work in asd support. Keep it short, simple , motivating ( and probably easy and well within his capabilities at first ) and maybe some sort of visual / tick list to keep him on track . It's great that he wants to learn . I think he probably is v tired after school , he's still young and also in the holidays in his mind that might be seen as home time/ holiday time to him so the thought of independent music practice probably hasn't occurred to him.

Also whoever mentioned it earlier - the thread moved fast while I was out enjoying the Dorset rain I think I will definitely look into NYO inspire with ds for year 9 ( though he may be discounted because of his involvement with AYM which is fair enough but I think it's a great program wish nco did something similar)

For those talking about the standard required for JD, DD1 got in when she had ABRSM G4 (straight) and G3 jazz in her instrument. She didn't offer a second study although she used to play recorder at about G4 standard. She's a brass player so it may be that the required standard is lower than for some other instruments but they were quick to offer her a place.

Her instrumental lesson is 40/45 minutes long (which is longer than the 30 minutes she used to have at primary school) and she seems to be making pretty good progress. I'm amazed at the suggestion that lessons need to be more than once a week or an hour+ to be of use!

It's interesting to hear of other 12/13-yr-olds who are having a crisis of confidence/ similar. DD1 has been the same since this time last year. I think some of it is because she's felt really exposed at JD being the only player of her instrument which has meant any mistakes are heard by everyone in the ensemble she's in. She has also experienced a much higher degree of performance anxiety than ever before and no longer wants to perform solo at school. Her school and the JD have both been really supportive and things have improved but she teeters between loving her instrument and wanting to get working on G8 to declaring that she's rubbish. We're in London so she's lucky in that she has easy access to some amazing opportunities (that don't require auditions) and give her experience of different genres, including some unusual ones. She missed the Bernstein mass at the RFH last week (the JD choir she's in were singing) as she was on a brass band residential... which she loved even though she's never played that instrument or been in a brass band. Ensembles are definitely saving the day for her at the mo. Ensembles and the occasional jazz solo which she's happy to do.

folk dd got a bow with her viola - think it is a bit longer than the violin bow

Interestingly Ds is always happy to do a jazz solo too SE . Does your dd get to study jazz as well as classical at her jd . I know some have specialist pathways where you do one or the other ( but can maybe play in a jazz ensemble) if Ds ever does go to a jd I suspect he would want to study both for a bit ( though I know ultimately they specialise) I'm hoping that he can go back to NYJC next year that was fab (and no audition and a very supportive atmosphere - just what our tricky early teens seem to need )