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!

I think it's quite tricky when you have more than one child whose abilities/personalities/motivations are totally different. One could have a private education while another may not. I personally think we shouldn't feel guilty by that as each child is different hence requires different support and challenges. But I do understand the dilemma (talking about my friend's recent experience - one going to a private with generous scholarship and another staying in a state sector).

Loose, very impressed with your amazing breakthrough!

Waffle, you are doing all the right things for Goo. She has wonderful support at home and you are always re-evaluating to make sure you are doing the very best by her. She is a very talented young lady and will rise to the top, whatever path she ultimately chooses...

Waffle DS has had a state education in a school with less than spectacular facilities, he had to leave to be able to do A level music because there are few schools offering it. We looked at JD but didn't want to commit to the time. At 18 he has still got to where he wanted to be. There are many paths that all end up at the same place.

Nice to have some fellow beginners on the thread crucru! I think sensible to give it a year or two of piano first, see how that and school settled down. DD started piano as her second instrument in year 1, she's loving it (was doing violin from preschool).

Long story but we did have a spare 3/4 bow which she preferred in some ways (slightly heavier). The bow that came with her instrument sort of whistles and even her teacher says it's not great.

That's weird, DD has cheapo £30 bows, I wouldn't want to try to do sautille with them but they don't whistle! (Not when I use them anyway, all sorts of odd sounds when she does.) Was it new when you got it? Wondering if it could be the hair is worn out. That could be whistly?

ICouldBe I really admire your DS for doing the travel for 2 years - I think the school bus got cut as well? We don’t have the A level either but at least there are schools in the neighboring boroughs that DS could go to if he wanted to do it.
There is now next to no extra-curricular music at dcs’ school. When there has been a school band it’s been run by a volunteer. All the support goes into the GCSE classes. To be fair, that has produced some great little groups - I’m biased because DS1 is in some of them - but it doesn’t seem to extend to classical players lower down in the school like DS2.
If the unthinkable happens and they cut GCSE music I’ll have to move DS2 to another school - it’s the only option he’s really bothered about!

I think you are right waffle out kids are lucky to have music in their lives, and i have been bowled over by the sheer generosity of so many people involved in music who have bent over backwards to help/support my kids not to mention people on this thread who always have a supportive word and knowledge to share.

As for whether i'm making the right decisions for my kids, i suppose i am lucky in a way that we live in a place where choices are thin on the ground so we muddle along doing the best we can

Thanks for all the school specific info, very reassuring, I should go to an open day . gilly, I’m a serial name changer, same school . If we just stuck to the basic offering covered by the MDS/CSA school would be a bargain but she wants to do an hour a week on cello (eye watering through school) and piano too so all in all it’s astronomical!

Waffle, I have said before on threads asking for advice on specialist school that dd1 wouldn’t have fulfilled her potential at mainstream music wise for lots of reasons but it’s much more impressive and educational for a future career to reach a high level while juggling everything else I think. Too late for me to feel guilty about not starting her early enough on an instrument full stop, anyway, tried with the others and they weren’t bothered so she’s lucky she’s the oldest or I may have been put off encouraging music at all!

Financially, we will need dd1 back in mainstream for sixth form even if she gets a place for years 9-11, hoping she’ll want to go somewhere cooler/ bigger off her own back and I won’t have to be evil life ruining mum!

Waffle you are definitely doing the right thing by Goo as others have said you are constantly evaluating what she's doing and thinking about if it's the right thing and right now she is having the opportunity to do all the different things that she enjoys and is good at. Also like others have said there's definitely more than one path to get where they want to be ( if they have the drive and determination which Goo does )
when I have panics I'm not doing the right thing I tell myself that Ds needs to look to the long term and find in a way his own path ( which is obviously also influenced by what we can manage to support in terms of time and finance ) . All will become clear I'm sure .
Icould your ds has done so well - and shows that there's lots of different ways of going about things
Hope they don't cut music loose - but we too would move schools if that ever happened

Random Interlude...Tchaik 1812 at the top of the Classic FM Hall of Fame... controversial 😂

We are in one of the most deprived areas of the UK (indices of multiple deprivation top 10, not a top 10 to celebrate) and so schools are struggling to attain GCSE levels in English Bacc so music is not a priority in mainstream, which are all academies. Grateful for the generous scholarship to independent school so DD can play with others and share music.

Xennialish

I don't understand the financial reason for 6th form and now you have me worried.
I'm sorry I didn't recognise you, I'm not very good at subtle, or even stating the bloomin obvious.
As for starting early, well my dh started seriously at 16 but owned one under his bed before this.
By 18 he'd done his grade 5 theory and grade 6 clarinet, with no sax exams at all. This was the bare min to gain a place.
He graduated with a first, won the memorial prize and was a leading name at a young age.
He has no money though, sorry.
But he's doing what he loves, it's his life.
It's not where you start, it's where you finish.

Have just remembered that I ignored a poster a few weeks back, but couldn't help and posted something irrelevant and and went to work, thinking I'd be back later. When I came back the thread was about 6 pages longer.
Sorry to have ignored you, if you are here/ come back

Xennialish- if it helps, my dd didn’t even play piano for her main audition - she conveniently forgot her piano book (probably rather lucky as she was pretty diabolical on piano!). So in short- I don’t think they care that much about the second study.

On violin bows I would recommend Coda Bows- carbon fibre and dd likes them- although she’s 10- so not exactly an expert on bows .

It's like the school gates here.

Something else crossed my mind when posters are talking about not knowing much about music.
This is not such a bad thing. It's lovely to learn alongside your child and share the journey whatever that may be. Hoever, understand a bit about the subject and....

You can't tell them anything, they know more than you and you don't know what you're talking about, honestly.

Oh the battles, I just keep out of it all now.
She was like this with dh way before she started the school, and I had to sit behind a pillar if I ever went to a concert. She really hated me being there. I used to feel in the way and she always asked if I had to come.
It's a lovely balance now, not perfect, but suitable and a good fit.

I know that dd would have failed miserably in a state school, because of the hours of additional study. There's plenty of time for this during study leave. Obviously I believe there needs to be homework, that goes without saying.

I don't understand the financial reason for 6th form and now you have me worried.

Don’t worry! I just mean that even though it’s good value, it’s not free and I don’t think at this stage it’s going to be justifiable for sixth form when there’s so many other ways to study music and we have 3 other children to consider. But it may come down to such a small difference between the cost of music in and out of school that it’s not an issue.

Thanks PW too, further reassurance! I’d been looking at coda bows too.

folkmamma

I love that music, I have no idea why it might be controversial.
I feel bad for liking it now, is it relating to something bad?

Not at all Gilly it's a great piece! Just unexpected. Knocked some really big pieces off the top spot... personally I prefer other Tchaik works (4th symphony is a particular fave!) and I believe the composer himself didn't rate it. Lark Ascending has been No. 1 for years... prob time for a change 😘

It just sort of came out of nowhere! But I am pleased that the Lark is descending... really not keen!

I know about scholarships and bursaries because I work at one of the three private schools in our town. A friend of Goo's got a whacking great discount plus a bursary, and they still have to pay a substantial amount. One of the other schools awards a 100% scholarship each year for someone who will bring something exceptional to the school in academics, music or performing arts, and sport. Goo's flute teacher thought we were crazy not to go for that. It would be nice to think she could have got some sort of scholarship, but the environment in all three would have been wrong. There are more (and better) music ensembles at her current school, and 100 clubs altogether. She also wouldn't have studied four foreign languages in Year 7 at private, would have a smaller peer group and less chance of finding people like her. Certainly at my school. We also couldn't do the same for Rara. I don't particularly want them to go to different schools, but if I have one child who would benefit from smaller classes, more help, more attention and the calmer environment of private school... it's Rara. Goo is definitely twiddling her thumbs academically, but she's enjoying her life at the moment so we will leave well alone. For now.

You are lucky to have such great state schools in you are Waffle. Not the case where we are, what you describe for Goo is what we will have in the independent school DD will start in September for year 7.

And also what I had at my state schools in the 70s/80s, my primary school in a small village had a full orchestra, no instruments missing except trombone, a recorder ensemble with all recorders from descant (and sop. when needed) to bass, a mandolin group (all violinists also played mandolin) and 2 choirs. Free music lessons and instruments from county and most of us went to Saturday music centre in the nearest town. There were only 250 kids in the school (years 3-6), many of my classmates had such a good music education at primary they went onto be pro musicians. Why can’t things be like this now for all children? It’s wrong it depends on your postcode or which Academy company is running schools in the area. I didn’t realise how amazing my primary education was until trying to find the same for DD.

It did cost us a lot of money - we moved for this secondary school, before we had children. The downside is that she entered Year 7 further along musically than anyone else in the school. Had she gone last year or the year before, there would have been a whole bunch of them, but the amazing ones are now in years 12 and 13, and her school only goes up to year 11.

folk

ha Ha, I thought you meant controversial in a political way

Instrument lessons have always been really patchy at school, though. I went to school in the 1970s and 1980s and the only free lessons were the whole class ones on recorder, although shared or individual instrument lessons were subsidised. I think exams were free as well. I was amazed later on to hear about free instrument lessons in other areas! I went to two grammar schools - one had amazing music provision and the other one was pretty dire for much of the time.
Whether free or subsidised, I think those instrument lessons came out of local government budgets, not central government, so LEAs made their own decisions. Now they don’t have the money and don’t have any control of academies and that era is sadly long gone.

2nd Sopranos I agree . The other year ds's trumpet teacher arranged for a class at the primary school to play at a famous concert venue in the area- a local schools event that runs for a week each year . Ds plays there every year its great . Hardly any pupils from the primary school turned up even though it was all sorted through school because the parents didn't see the value in it and needed to collect their children at the end of the evening ( they could even have gone to see them perform if they had wanted) it made me so cross that the parents couldn't be bothered I know they would have turned up for sport . Having said that it's not the same at all schools - just our primary school, lots performed this year to a very supportive audience of parents ( like us !!) and they were great . They also got to hear ds's fab high school so the primary pupils could see where their music making could take them .
Waffle I could say the same about ds's school. his has a 6th form so lots of very talented muscicians in years 12 and 13 about to leave . I'm not sure what will happen to some of the ensembles next year but I think Ds will now definitely be one of the more able musicians. I think we will just look to extra playing opportunities outside of school . I know he's hoping to do more jazz in London next year if it doesn't clash too much with AYM, no doubt I will be negotiating and organising this- it's starting to make specialist school seem like an easier option ( for me!!) BUT out of the very talented cohort at Ds's school I only know of 2 pupils ( in the last 2 years) who have gone onto study music performance at undergrad level - which is why I am keen to keep his options open , he could still change his mind as some who were showing similar promise at his age have done

2nd totally agree with you - I've encountered similar attitudes towards music. To be fair, not from the school even though it has a big emphasis on sport. Our local music hub has some fantastic teachers and I'm very grateful to them.
My dcs sadly aren't very interested in sport anyway, so this really is their main interest and I'm happy to pay for it. At least this way I get to sit in the warm listening to them play rather than standing on a muddy field in the rain!
If they had enjoyed sport I would have put up with the muddy fields, though!