July Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello, I have just realised it's time for a new thread! Feel free to discuss anything musical here - any level at all, from total beginners to advanced, and adult learners are welcome too!

I am a teacher of woodwind, currently limping towards the end of term (July 24th... can't wait!) and have two DDs. Goo is 12 and plays the flute and piano. At the moment, she's doing the bare minimum, but she has won the Y7 music attainment award at her enormous comprehensive secondary school, so we get to go to an awards ceremony next week. Her piano teacher is about to retire, so we're looking for a new one. Rara is 10 and I would say is now a joint first study cellist and clarinettist - it doesn't come easily and she's progressing at an average rate, but a good Grade 4 on both. She spends most of her time reading, drawing, doing origami and swimming for a club.

I have so far managed to get through 27 music medals this term (6 still to go) and 4 Trinity exams (1 ABRSM still to go) and about half of the concerts!

Hello everyone, just checking in for July. Thank you waffle for the new thread.

I have:

DD about to finish year 6 - plays piano (just sat Grade 3), cello (Grade 2-3ish I think but hasn't done any exams yet) and recorder - about to sit Grade 2 in 2 weeks - our first Trinity exam experience.

DS aged 9 just finishing Year 4 - just sat Grade 2 piano and is a beginner on viola.

TheThird - hope your DD is feeling better. Every accompanist I know downplays exam performances - I think they like to manage expectations or something!

I love these threads but don't often have much to contribute ! From the rather more basic end of learning I have dd 8 who I thought was taking a long time to get to grade 1 but was recently introduced at a little concert as playing at grade 2 standard so I guess we are not doing exams (fine by me) and shes doing better than I thought ! Ds1 6 just taken up drums and ds2 also 6 who supposedly plays the violin but refuses to practice so this is up for review !!

Thank you for the new thread, Waffle. How are you feeling these days?

I have a DS also about to finish year 6. He plays violin and piano (and recorder...). We had an unexpectedly dramatic month last month and now DS has two different paths in front of him - a stable state secondary as a music scholar or a music specialist school as a weekly boarder... We've decided to let him go to the music school but whether it realises depends on bursary. So still not 100% sure where he is going from September...

DS played footy all day today despite the heat. His team went to the final so it was so exciting and our adrenaline reached max. Once we got home we realised we were soooo exhausted. Then I remembered DS would need a packed lunch tomorrow but we didn't have anything in the fridge so dragged ourselves to Waitrose only realised it's Sunday so was closed already.... We were two hopeless zombies as you can imagine.

Still, after a quick shower, DS recovered and had a bit of fun on the violin. He is loving his version of Por Una Cabeza. He played Melodie beautifully too. But it was too mellow and beautiful that it sent me straight to a quick nap...

Really enjoying reading about what everybody’s up to this month!

I’ve got DS 19 who plays guitar and bass guitar with his friends for fun. His main love is dance though! (Contemporary and hip hop). This month he’s going to be working a lot to save for university and for traveling around Cambodia in late August/early September with his girlfriend!

Then we have DD 14 who just got a distinction in grade 5 flute and earlier in the year got a distinction in grade 4 violin. She’s in school orchestra and flute choir. Mainly lives for sport though...

DD 12 is away for almost all of July at her dream dance summer school in New York. I’m missing her dreadfully already and it’s only been a week!! She’s just got a distinction in grade 7 cello and earlier in the year took grade 6 piano. She also doesn’t have lessons in but plays clarinet (grade 5/6 standard), guitar, ukulele, bass guitar, and various random percussion (mainly xylophone and cajon drum). She’s getting into writing her own music at the moment, but like DS her main passion is dance!

(Three youngest DDs are turning 6 this month, 2 and a half, and just 5 months old so nothing musical to note there!!)

Looking forward to following everyone’s activities this month!!

I'm not very good at keeping on top of these fast-moving threads so I'll try to join in this one now...

Both my DDs are brass players. DD1 is 13 and has just finished a weekend of concerts (one JD summer concert, one local jazz concert) before heading off to Europe on a school music tour...not to Germany though. She's approx G7 but has decided against exams for the time being so hasn't taken any since doing G5 jazz last Easter. She's working on a wide range of repertoire and taking up what sometimes feels like a crazy number of opportunities to play, especially as she claims she doesn't want her whole life taken over by music. She also sings and her teacher is thinking about G6 or 7 for next year. Double bass is her second study at JD - she's only been doing it since September but it's free because it's an endangered species instrument.

DD2 is just 9 and has been playing horn for twenty months. She has a school concert tomorrow in which she's playing a solo and then an ensemble piece, in an ensemble of three Y6 boys and her - she's not much taller than her horn whereas the Y6 boys are fairly tall so it's likely to be a funny looking group. She's taking G3 next week and is hoping to start French horn soon.

Sounds like Germany is the place to go this year. DD1 went there with her school concert band last year and the audiences were great. At one of their concerts, nearly 300 turned up and were so keen to get a seat that they were coming in 45 mins early! They gave them a standing ovation at the end too

DD1 (15) plays oboe (working towards Grade 8) and alto sax (working towards Grade 7). She is going on tour with the school orchestra to the Czech Republic and was recently offered the chance to join the county youth symphony orchestra on their tour to Italy at the end of the month.

DD2 (11) has three more weeks of primary school left and will be starting secondary in Sept with a music scholarship. She plays classical guitar at around Grade 3 level, but that took a back seat when she started bassoon. She is in NCO U11s and regional orchestra; she may well know your DD WindMum if she did U11 last year or U10 the year before. Clarinets are usually seated next the bassoons.

We went to the music centre end of year concert last night which was fantastic as usual. Highlights for me were obviously the Double Reed Ensemble that both DDs play in with 9 bassoons, a contra bassoon, 2 cor englais and three oboes (no such thing as a lack of bassoons in this county!), the concert band and the string orchestra. The latter had a guest soloist aged 10 who had won the county strings competition, playing on a violin dating from the 1740s which had been gifted to her by a benefactor. What a beautiful sound it made - it just sang!

Thank you for the new thread waffle . Hope you are feeling better - nearly the end of term
The third well done to your dd for getting on with the exam despite her nerves I'll keep my fingers crossed for a better than expected result .

I have 2 dcs ds 13 who plays trumpet for NCO under 13s as well as Aldeburgh Young Muscicians . He hasn't taken grade 8 yet (and won't for a while ) he's just busy doing lots of playing - but he's playing at that standard now . He also sings ( very well it turns out !!) and plays piano . I also have a dd 10 who loves to sing ( and act and dance) . She also plays cornet and piano and has taken grade 1 in both of these this year .

We had a crazy performance weekend so I am just recovering from organising this today !!
This month is also busy with more shows and concerts for both plus DS goes on his obligatory music tour to Germany !?! next week. He's so excited . He's also got a whole week at Snape as soon as they break up for summer putting together a special AYM at 10 concert .

Double that sounds like an amazing concert
Hopefully ds's school orchestra will get some decent audiences next week - the weather looks good for the outside ones

Hello All, it's so nice to hear about your musical children. I'm a non-musical to a musical DD (10) and a non-musical DS (13) with ASD very interested in art and history. DD is preparing for G5 violin and just got into SWMS. I'm so, so delighted that she will have a mentor - I can't wait to see what this entails. It really is needed as I becoming increasingly useless with my non-musical background and struggle even to pack and un-pack a music stand. (Must get better at this.) After G5 the plan is to take a term off and work on improvisation and creative playing rather than rushing into G6. We will be grateful for this extra time also to work on dreaded G5 THEORY. DD is not academically inclined, so she is already kicking up a bit of a fuss. Can anyone advise on regional orchestras? How does it work, can a child audition for their regional orchestra? Or must they audition for the NCO and hope for a place in the regional orchestra if they don't get into the NCO? Sorry about all my newbie questions. :) I hope all end-of-term concerts go well and children aren't too hot. Ours are more or less finished now. :)

Bostick yes just audition for NCO in the autumn and then they decide which place to offer . Just go for it - you never know
A mentor sounds great I wish DS had one at AYM this would be really helpful as I often feel stuck in the middle trying to sort everything out and as Ds gets older I think he needs to take more responsibility but could do with having someone ( who isn't his teacher or me and doesn't have a vested interest in which courses/ ensembles he plays in to give him some advice ) I think I will ask again for next year

bostik, with regards to the NCO regional orchestras, yes, you have to do the main auditions. Those that get into the age banded orchestras also get a place in regionals, along with those who are at the standard, but don’t get a place in age banded.

TheThird, the exam may not have been as bad as she thinks. The person who accompanied DD2 for her NCO audition last year gave me and her teacher the impression that it had been a bit of a car crash, so we were not expecting her to get a place. Might just have been in comparison the the older (and technically brilliant) other bassoons she had accompanied earlier. Who knows. She got a place anyway.

Thank you Trumpetboysmum, that's really helpful about the regional auditions (I always want to write 'trials' instead - my sporty background not much use here!). Yes, know what you mean about there being a special use for a mentor - not parent, not quite teacher and probably a bit mysterious to the child - the latter always carries a bit of gravitas! :) Sounds like a good idea to enquire at AYM :)

Some do have then at AYM - mostly the apprentices but not the full students , not sure why I guess it's just about finding enough and maybe they think the full students already have more of an idea about what they are doing - at 13 Ds definitely doesn't though he is getting better about saying what he thinks he needs / wants to do next

Hi Bostik, I have a 10yr old (nearly 11) violinist who for the last 2 years has been an associate member of NCO, so Regionals only. First time she auditioned was for U10's, and she played G3&4 standard pieces. Next time was for U11's, playing G5&6 standard pieces. Although it is not just based on Grade standard, as they look for quality of playing and sight reading too. She has loved being part of the Regional orchestras (we've done South Easterlies and this year South Westerlies). We will audition again in September, but really only want regionals, not age banded. I wish we could select this as an option! She has improved a lot this year and is off to JD in September so I feel she has a better shot at age banded this year, but it is soooo competitive. I don't know what we will do if she gets offered full membership! You should look at Pro Corda too - Noo joined this year and absolutely loves it over and above everything else she currently does.

Trumpet: I know, at such a young age, I'm not sure that they know what they want/need in some respects (and in others, very much so!)

Folkmama: thanks so much for the info. Yes, I would rather my DD just went for the regional audition, really. Sorry to be a pain but what is JD? Is it to do with the Royal College of Music? And is Pro Corda a separate thing? I know I should google, but I've tried and and lots of different (and seemingly unrelated) things come up!

JD is all the different Junior Departments- Royal Academy, Royal College of music , Guildhall and Trinity in London plus Royal Northern in Manchester, Birmingham and Welsh College of music in Wales. All run term time auditioned Saturday schools .
Pro Corda are music courses based at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk ( I know about these because I live close by !!) mostly for strings and piano they are very highly regarded I know lots of children who go and they all get a lot out of it , it's also quite a magical ( otherworldly?) place to stay though Ds would say not good for all 21 st century mod cons !! ( sometimes the AYM students stay there )

Bostik, all of what Trumpet said 😊. Pro Corda is all about Ensemble training. They also run some courses at other locations, I think 'Pro Corda West' happens somewhere in Somerset.

www.procorda.com/home

Dd loves Pro Corda . If I remember correctly Pro Corda West is in Somerset wc 13 August. Maybe not too late to apply. Dd wanted to go, but had already committed to something else. That was a life/manners lesson for her.

folk and bostik if you only want regionals, you just turn down the age banded national place, and they will offer it to a Reserve instead. Simple! That's what one of my pupils did once.

Ds got a distinction for his grade 5 jazz so he's happy

Waffle the only problem is, after 3 years of trying, if she does get offered full membership I'm not sure I'll be strong enough to turn it down, even though I know I should!!!!! 🤣

Oh wow! Congratulations mini-Trumpet!!!!

I have thought of quite a few other kids who've done the same, actually.

As for being strong enough... I think you just need to decide in advance whether she is going to go or not!

One of my pupils is auditioning for NCO this year. We've started one piece and I have found a bunch of others for her to choose from. I only have her for 3 more weeks though, because she's decided to have lessons at school instead.

Well it probably won't be an issue anyway, there seem to be so many incredible violinists of her age!

Well done MiniTrumpet - brilliant result!