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April Music Thread

999 replies

Wafflenose · 01/04/2018 11:13

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!

OP posts:
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se22mother · 03/04/2018 19:57

Japanese would you know if they need to be 11 to go on that Guildhall course as the website suggests?

Japanese · 03/04/2018 20:12

WindMum the Guildhall also run a Grade 6+ theory course over the summer but it says applicants need to be 16+. They may make allowances though on age?

se22 - their website says applicants should be aged 11 or over (DD will be 11). But again it may be worth contacting them to ask. I was also thinking about asking them as DS will hopefully be ready next year but he'll be 10 then. They also do a day's course in June and a week-long course over the summer but we are away then.

ILovePandas · 03/04/2018 20:32

Japanese - thanks for the Theory course idea. I’d not heard of those. Will look into it.

Japanese · 03/04/2018 20:39

Ooo, there might be a few of our thread minis ending up on the same theory course then! Smile We'll have to make them all wear the same badge or something!

Trumpetboysmum · 03/04/2018 20:52

I think they're a really good idea - I asked Ds he said no !! He's just getting on with it himself Hmm

se22mother · 03/04/2018 21:16

Dd hates theory with a passion. She's not an academic child. However she and her teacher are adamant she stick with Abrsm Confused.

Trumpetboysmum · 03/04/2018 22:45

That's a shame if she wants to do exams she could do Trinity Ds did Trinity for grade 7 he's just doing the theory to get it out of the way. He may yet do Trinity for grade 8 too

Curlyfrizzball · 04/04/2018 09:07

CruCru My teacher is encouraging me to do the exam. I'm still not totally decided but we are getting the pieces ready anyway. I think I probably will do it. It's been a few years for me since I took an exam so I feel more ready for it! I can't believe how hard the grade one pieces are though!...

In terms of practise I find piano easier than I would any other instrument. We only have a keyboard to practise on which means I can switch on, put headphones on and play any time of the day or night without disturbing anyone. Also, because it doesn't need putting together, warming up or tuning before you start, I really can make use of an odd 5 minutes here and there to do some scales or something. I manage to play most days despite working full time at the moment, though don't know if that will last! I think it's great for DD to see me learning something too.

Trumpetboysmum · 04/04/2018 09:33

Curly I'm impressed and I think you should go for it !! I'll second how hard the grade 1 piano pieces are. dd is preparing for it at the minute and I was a bit Shock when she showed me them . I think I should take piano lessons when I have finally finished the house and have some time . I've tried to teach myself in the past but never got very far and like you we only got a piano when I was about 14 and then it was a bit too late to start ( at the time) and schoolgot in the way

folkmamma · 04/04/2018 11:04

Another adult piano learner here!!! I did G1 with Noo in December 2017 and we are both prepping for G3 in the summer (although her preparations are currently going better than mine..). Self-teaching. The last exam was terrifying (even though I went through ABRSM G1-8 on 2 instruments as a child!!).

catkind · 04/04/2018 12:01

Was also really surprised how hard grade 1 piano pieces are! No wonder the Initial and prep tests are popular for piano.

CruCru · 04/04/2018 12:03

That sounds brilliant Curly, when is your exam?

SE13Mummy · 04/04/2018 15:07

It's great to see the Brass Academy courses mentioned as DD2 is off there next week - she's 8, learns tenor horn at school and is taking G3 next term.

DD1 is away this week on a brass band course. She's had to change instrument to do it as her usual one doesn't feature in brass bands. She heard about this course from another brass player at the JD she attends. Since taking G5 jazz last Easter, she's moved away from exams and has been working on repertoire and technique. Currently she's working on pieces ranging from G6-G8 as well as beginner double bass (second study instrument that she started under the endangered species scheme). She's off to Norway next month with one of the bands she plays in, and has a school orchestra tour in the summer.

hertsandessex · 04/04/2018 16:19

DS went on the Brass Academy Easter course two years and enjoyed it a lot. Have fun :)

Trumpetboysmum · 04/04/2018 16:45

SE double bass sounds fun . If Ds wasn't at NCO he would definitely go back to the brass academy and may well do in future years.

ThreeAndUs · 04/04/2018 17:55

Hello all,

Late to the April thread (and only joined in March!). DS9 plays trumpet and piano. Waiting on grade 4 trumpet and grade 5 piano results, any day now we hope! It's first week of Easter holiday here for us.

Summer term goals are grade 4 theory and grade 5 trumpet. DS gained a place in the NCO U10s orchestra this year so is enjoying regional rehearsals a lot and is excited to be off to Dorset in August.

I teach piano and trumpet myself (but not to my DS!) and hubbie is musical, and, apart from the reminder to practise, we try to encourage him to practise without our help as we're confident he has a great teacher and he should try to be responsible for knowing what and how to practise. We do discuss practise with him though and give help and advice if he needs it.

Helpful to read everyone's musical journeys as although I teach myself, it's a whole new world having children that play! DD6 dabbles in piano and trumpet but mostly enjoys playing with DS2!

folkmamma · 04/04/2018 18:16

Hello Three, what a lovely musical family!

News here is that there is no news. Literally nothing. Noo has gone totally incommunicado on Pro Corda, I had two very brief texts yesterday morning and nowt since. I know I should be happy as this means she is far too busy having fun and is clearly not homesick. But it is driving me a little bit nuts tbh!! ConfusedHaving to mine Taggie and Mini-Taggie for any little snippets of info!!! Do anyone else's DC's do this when they are on residentials?

Mini-folk the second is also away with her grandparents in Wales, so it is über quiet. Although at least she talks on the phone and does FaceTime each day...

Amazing how much time I have to myself when not trying to fit in two hours worth of supervised practice each day! We have been for evening walks with the woofer, I have tidied Noo's room (no mean feat) and caught up with a mountain of washing. DH and I might even go out.. there's a treat! Grin

Curlyfrizzball · 04/04/2018 20:24

It makes me feel better to have a few of you agreeing that the grade 1 pieces are hard! I haven't got a date yet, but have had a lesson today and agreed that I will definitely take the plunge and do it! Just waiting for my candidate number to come through in the Abrsm website and then I can apply. Does anyone know if you can request a Saturday? I'm self-employed so would rather not take time off work for it if there is an alternative.

folk very impressed at you doing it self-teaching. I tried that to begin with but it's made a real difference actually having lessons - I can sometimes hear where I'm going wrong but not always.

folkmamma · 04/04/2018 21:26

Well, I say 'self-teaching', but I do sit in on the girls' lessons (although we do different pieces).

Feels like much more of an achievement sitting the exams as an adult - perhaps we are more appreciative of how much work goes in to these things than our DC's... and also not so fearless!

TaggieOHara · 04/04/2018 22:08

three DS2 is off to Nco U10s this summer too. What regionals are you doing? We haven’t made it to any regional rehearsals yet because of choir and illness, and the violin part looks seriously hard!

folk I wouldn’t say DS2 is brimming with information! But I think he is enjoying himself. It is quite intense though!

Mendingfences · 05/04/2018 06:36

Ooo Norway SE3mummy where abouts?

Kutik73 · 05/04/2018 08:25

Enjoying reading everyone's news. Unfortunately I have nothing to share as no music is happening at our home right now. DS is still enjoying being a fitness crazy. Grin

LooseAtTheSeams · 05/04/2018 09:03

Curly good luck with the exam! You will feel very proud of yourself afterwards and rightly so!Smile

ThreeAndUs · 05/04/2018 09:57

Hi TaggieOHara, DS is in South Easterlies. Which regional are you? Hopefully they will give us the dates for the rehearsals after April soon as we only have the April one in the diary (unless I've missed an email?!). 🤔

Trumpetboysmum · 05/04/2018 10:15

Three we are going to easterlies nco and don't have dates beyond April yet - something to do with the school they use booking system might be worth a check on the nco website diary ?
good luck with the upcoming music exams for your ds he's doing very well Smile I like your approach I try and stay out of all music practice as much as possible - it only causes arguments!! Ds is older now anyway and really needs to manage it himself .
Hope those with dcs at pro corda get to hear all about it ( tomorrow?) when you pick them up !! Even if Ds is silent while he's away he is usually keen to tell me everything about what he's been doing when he gets back ( I really hope that doesn't change now he's a grumpy teenager !!)

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