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!

Well done to your DD worriedmum and glad your DS's last Year 6 performance went well Patrick.

I feel as though am melting away here. Went to B&N after school this evening. DD sized up to a 3/4 size cello and we hired DS a (hopefully) better set-up viola than the one he currently (tries to) play on. Staff were very helpful and spent some time with him trying to get his bow hold in better shape! Think it will take DD a while to get used to the bigger size cello. It's her last lesson tomorrow before the summer so hopefully she will have time to get used to it before orchestra rehearsals start up again.

Just back from the MFY festival at Symphony Hall - the wind band session that I attended was fabulous. Hope you enjoyed it too Stringchild.

That sounds great Littleladsdad.
Ds had his first concert of the weekend tonight - youth orchestra and wind band - he plays in both which means quite a lot of sight reading as they rehearse at the same time he does love wind band though and although they ( the county) see orchestra as a progression Ds doesn't see it like that at all . It's just different - and the trumpets have less rests and more opportunities for super high playing in wind band !! So as far as Ds is concerned playing in wind band is a must . Hopefully they will let him play in both next year too

School finished, concerts finished and can breathe. Phew. No more music for 3 weeks or so. Just got a composer (well sort of) coming to house next week to work on a piece he wants to write for DS.

Oh bugger - I immediately realised after posting got a brass band competition in Nottingham three hours away on Sunday. Champagne back on ice.

Well done crazy and to your dd !!
Hope your dd enjoys her weekend and that you survive it.
Ds had a brass band concert and then leaves on Sunday in the middle if the night for Germany !
Quiet week while he's away next week then Latitude festival ( for us all ) Ds is going to be exhausted I think

That made me laugh crazy! I didn’t think being sweaty was acceptable behaviour at festivals . Well done to you and your dd and hoping you sail through the calendar of events like a swan - all serene looking, while paddling like mad beneath the water.

DD1 is spending most of this weekend rehearsing for one of her tours and DD2 has a day of G&T music making and then her school production next week. Two more weeks of primary school to limp through....

Or even sweary ^crazy* - my autocorrect was sensible and changed it to sweaty

Trumpet, I hope your ds has a good concert and enjoys his tour.

7th and last performance for Nosebleed Boy today - off to MFY for the second time in 3 days.

Then 2 days of concentrated practice before Grade 8 on Tuesday...and about 10 days' rest before a fortnight of back to back jazz courses, one as a participant, one as a helper!

Good luck for the grade 8 can't keep - hope nosebleed boy's nose is holding up in the hot weather - it always used to set my nosebleeds off !!

Oh bravo crazygirl and particularly crazymum!! No mean feat to stand up and do that as an adult. (Also had a little lol at the sweary :) that's a new class)
And good luck to the young man who shall forever be known as nosebleed boy! Let's hope for a less dramatic one.

According to DS, having an MFY appearance which clashes with the World cup game (he was a serious goalkeeper before he took up music, and this is a big deal for him) has only a few compensations, one of which was 'We can sing 'Three Lions' in multi-part harmony on the bus home if we win'

Thanks catkind.

He's been fine so far. It is sax not clarinet and his teacher assures me that the pressure in his head will be lower, so I'm hoping that this will go less dramatically. He may also not do so dramatically well, but we can live with that. He only picked up the pieces for this exam after the last one before Easter, and has also had AS levels on the way through, so it's a little bit 'wing and a prayer'.

Can't keep I'm sure he'll be fine . Ds's exams always seem to be a bit like that . I've told both him and his teacher that grade 8 has to be planned out better

Orchestras in Symphony Hall. Just got home very, very grumpy as bass clarinet (hired from county) died in performance.

Yep. Given the part this morning - other key players away...

To clarify - normally has 1 bit of bass and gets to play clarinet in rest. Had a full bass clarinet part today and the instrument, fine in rehearsal, died. Still so upset he won't talk about it.

His group was the one that did Gershwin, Elgar and Tchaikovsky, I think. Missing about a third of its regular players for one reason or another.

Thank you for positive comment, if you have correctly identified him, though. I will use it to console him when he comes out from under his personal black cloud....