August Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Welcome to the new music thread for August - a place to discuss anything you like to do with learning instruments/ singing. We have child and adult learners on here, and all standards from toddlers experimenting with music to the very advanced.

It's coming up to 7 years since I started the first thread, and I have been flagging a bit lately due to a long illness. When I started the first one, my daughter Goo had just turned 6 and was about to take her Grade 1 recorder exam! She is now 12 (13 in two months), has done her Grade 8 Flute (result currently under appeal), is thinking about Grade 8 Recorder next year (having not played since Year 6) and is learning the piano. Piano hasn't gone well this term. Her teacher has been going on lots of last minute holidays and also has another job now, so Goo has only had two piano lessons since Easter. Teacher has now decided to retire from teaching, so we need to find a new one. Goo has never, ever performed on the piano and hasn't taken any exams either. She has been learning since she was 10, and was recently learning pieces by Bach and Chopin, although I have no idea what she is practising at the moment.

I also have Rara (10) who plays the cello, clarinet and recorder at a good Grade 4 level. It doesn't come naturally to her at all, but she's more inclined to work at things... when it suits her. She plays the clarinet most, but swears she's in love with the cello. Her bass clef reading definitely seems stronger. We have started and stopped theory three times. I think she is more than capable of doing it, but she's distractible, longwinded and feels the need to reinvent the wheel. I have decided to wait until she's ready to do the whole lot in one go... hopefully when she is a bit more mature and developmentally ready. Goo had it done and dusted at the same age and I find it hard not to worry about Rara at times, but in many ways she's just as able... but on her own timeline.

I usually have 80-90 woodwind pupils on my books - mostly recorder these days, although I'm a clarinettist really. I currently have a clutch of little clarinets, a couple of flutes and a good saxophone pupil, so plenty of variety.

Well said Druidsong.

DS veers between computing and music - I know which is likely to earn more money! At the moment he is more fixed on the music.

The Director of Music at his Cathedral actually did a Maths degree before a career inMusic, so decisions can work in both directions.

Don't even get me started on the B word...

It has already caused me enough anger, anguish and anxiety. The stupidity of others will not cause my child to abandon her dream.....Sorry. Rant over.

I have had two family members who were "encouraged" by their parents down a particular course of study. One was pushed into studying medicine and one was pushed into conservatoire. Neither stopped a full year - both immediately set off to places 4000 miles away until things cooled down at home (it was years before the notamedic came home again). It's their life not ours, they should be doing whatever it is that they want to do, not what their parents think would be best for them. I don't think a career in music is a spectacularly good move but if it's what DS wants to do then I will support his decision.

Brexit will have an impact on all careers, so I don't think it's a reason not to study music. At least music isn't affected by the issue of recognition of professional qualifications.

I was a very academically able student who decided to take a year out to do an art fondation course before going to uni, and ended up abandoning my deferred uni place to go to art school. So I certainly wouldn't deter my kids from an artistic education. My oldest is off to (French) university next year and has chosen a broad-based social sciences course which will enable her to continue some sort of arts education (she is taking history and theory of arts as an option, and her course also has a week of practical artistic projects per semester).

DS had his first piano lesson on Friday, teacher not at all nonplussed by her new "beginner" turning up with a half-completed Chopin nocturne

I have often heard variations on "music should be the thing you do because you cannot NOT do it". I don't think Brexit or no Brexit will change this. My sister tried a year of medicine before commiting to music. I'm now teaching violin having very non-music-based qualifications behind me ...

With my own children, the elder is increasingly serious about singing but we'd all like her to gain some non-music qualifications that would allow her to support herself while she sees where singing gets her; GCSEs next year and I'm hoping she can explore lots more directions to help choose A-levels - currently lots of possibilities for her. The younger one is your typical maths/music combo, but is increasingly sounding like music is "hooking him in" and something he cannot imagine not pursuing very seriously. We shall see what the next few years bring!

I don't think there's a massive gulf between professional musicians and the rest. I know people who now do music professionally who initially studied something else and vice versa, and quite a few who work both in music and another field. The only ones who've said they regret their choices have been those who wanted to study music but let their parents push them into something else. So I definitely think you're all doing the right thing supporting your kids' choices. Make sure they've thought about the options, yes, but it's got to be their choice.

For me I couldn't imagine not doing music but also couldn't imagine not doing maths. Not very imaginative here Was easier to combine the two studying maths.

A parent of a child who expresses interest and commitment in music here.... We’ve decided to support DS’s desire to immerse himself in music but to be honest still not sure if we made a right decision for him. Feel like I’m closing many possibilities he could have had by allowing him to follow his heart so young. He is naturally very academic and able in many areas so specialising one area so early may not make huge difference in the end - he may achieve similar outcome without focusing on music so much while managing to gain other academic qualifications. Yet we decided to let him narrow down... We discussed hardship of musician’s life and also lots of alternative routes and future jobs. So he is well informed and given choices. But how much could a 11 years old see the reality? I’m just hoping he will at least enjoy the environment he is going to be given and the experience and education at a specialist school will be no waste whatever he decides to do in future.

Patrick I honestly wouldn't worry. (By the way, It's totally normal just before Y7 starts to be a nervous wreck, whatever school you choose!) Years 7 and 8 are pretty fluid and he'll cover the curriculum he needs for KS3 while going into depth in something he loves. That can only be good for him.
If he gets to the end of Y8 and thinks 'actually, I want to be a doctor' you can move him for Y9 when the science curriculum ramps up. But he'll still have that amazing ability in music and opportunities to play.

Patrick I honestly wouldn't worry. (By the way, It's totally normal just before Y7 starts to be a nervous wreck, whatever school you choose!) Years 7 and 8 are pretty fluid and he'll cover the curriculum he needs for KS3 while going into depth in something he loves. That can only be good for him.
If he gets to the end of Y8 and thinks 'actually, I want to be a doctor' you can move him for Y9 when the science curriculum ramps up. But he'll still have that amazing ability in music and opportunities to play.

Oops - phone was on the blink and posted twice!!

That’s obviously because your point was important Loose! I get the thing about nervousness before the start of Y7 - more so this time round than last. Our never know if it’s right for your child until they start.

*You

Hi all...i'm new ..lovely to read about your talented families. Dh and I not musical and know very little about classical music etc. DD is just 14 and is obsessed with making music. She is a late starter...I randomly booked her on singing lessons after she was diagnosed with asthma just before starting secondary ..she has just passed her Trinity Grade 5 in voice with a distinction , come out with a school award and been self teaching herself keyboard and guitar over the past two years. She sings in the school house band and loves it...has also been doing theory 'club' at school and seems to be getting on fine with that. She loves to write contemporary songs mainly about boyfriends or sad stuff . I've been grateful for her music aptitude over the last year as it seems to help her with her anxieties and depression. She plays mostly by ear (apparently inherited from her great grandmother who used to play piano in tube shelters during the war). Consequently she needs to work on her sight reading ...its so easy for her to just work out how a tune is played so why bother reading the music

As she is going to Y10 we are starting to consider whether she may wish to do further academic study of music (I did have a thread about this in secondary topic in October @sprout) . She loves History and is also considering law conversion but often says she can't imagine life without music. I don't want to do her injustice so will be reassessing next Jan regarding piano lessons and grading - she reckons she can play grade three pieces at present. I have no idea ! Over next term she will be practising it as a skill for DoE with her GCSE teacher assessing her progress...can anyone recommend a good book?

Sometimes I feel scared that if she does study music academically then it might ruin her hobby for her. Does anyone else feel this way? Music is her life.. I've never had to push her to practice etc ...she misses her instruments whilst on hols!

I have stressed that she can carry on with historical study on a Music degree and if she does History there will be ample opportunity to get involved in Uni music life so we shall see. She seems more motivated by money so could well end up just making a sensible decision and going into Law (a teeny part of me would feel that would be a shame but I'd never tell her).

We are going to our first Opera in London next week to see Carmen at Sadlers Wells it has been done with latin beats so lets see how we get on !

@sprout as far as I could work out for academic courses in Music (as opposed to conservatoire) Grade 8 theory could be used in place of A level music with Grade 8 on first instrument.

patrick I second loose on the pre-y7 parental jitters. Choosing a secondary school is probably the last big decision we will take on behalf of our DCs. Certainly, I don’t seem to have much input into DS1’s life choices anymore, even though he is only 13 and going into y9! It becomes more a matter of helping with opportunities and support, and being around to pick up the pieces

Welcome smelly. Looking forward very much to hearing more about you and your DD. It is lovely that she finds music a help with her health issues

Welcome to the thread littleorange
Im also suffering some sort of pre-secondary jitters and i have no idea why seeing as we didnt have a choice......
School is tiny, 23 in the whole year! But thats still way bigger than her primary school which had 23 in the whole school.....
Dd1 seems pretty chilled about her new school and about starting jd on 25th of august although she was a bit shocked when she realised how close it was 😯
Currently trying (and failing) to get the girls to pack their things for summer music school which starts tomorrow- i have a feeling getting them up in the morning is going to be painful but it's a 2 hour drive ish so i need them in the car by 7.15.....

I'll admit to pre-sixth form jitters at the moment although a lot of that is tied up with waiting for GCSE results and then worrying that I'll tell DS to enrol on the wrong day! He's fine, of course!

At the moment when it’s something she’s doing a lot, I can’t see how she could not carry it on at an intense level.... you'd be amazed how easily that actually happens. Music was my entire life at secondary school but the 'sensible' me decided to do science at uni. I started off in the university orchestra, but by the end of year 2 part time work, studying and parties left little room for it. I briefly played in an amateur orchestra upon starting work but didn't really come back to Music seriously until a few years ago. But now I can't imagine not doing it again!

Does anyone feel that classical music is now such a small field? That you can be pretty amazing at it, and no-one really notices or cares? If you go into HMV, the classical music section is almost non-existent.

Interesting thomasinaa. I think there have always been a small number of superstars, and there have always been brilliant players who don't quite achieve superstar status for whatever reason. I think it's a long time since HMV was really relevant to music sales. People who listen to significant quantities (I'm not one) use streaming services, and most CD sales are online. A much wider catalogue is available for instant download or near instant despatch than HMV ever had. It's very different but I'm not sure about smaller. Easier to get exposure - there's no additional cost to the user of trying out a new recording. We can get relatively unknown soloists in because we can easily go and listen to them on YouTube and see that they're brilliant, whereas on just word of mouth we might be more cautious and stick to familiar names. Otoh it's harder to become the definitive recording of something because we still have quality recordings of the previous few generations of stars.
At a junior level maybe we have less of the big fish little pond effect because of better communcation. I came across a primary kid recently who's grade 7 level in a couple of instruments. Instead of just wow, my reaction also had a degree of oh yes, I "know" some like that on MN. Similarly a 5 yr old piano prodigy is no longer something we've never seen before, we can look them up on YouTube and see dozens. So it's less easy to impress in that way. But at a local level they are still feted.

Yes, it is interesting isn't it!

In our family, classical music is literally the soundtrack to our lives and so I feel it is in a far stronger position than when I was a child. We have classic FM on all the time (as a comic aside, DH wanted some 'thumping' tunes in the car on our journey to Norfolk so we put on Radio 1. The girls seemed to love it at first, but after 15 mins asked if we could listen to some 'proper' music 😂). I also stream via Spotify, who have loads of classical playlists.

When the girls are learning a new piece, we turn to streaming services and YouTube and can now find many versions of pieces to listen to and appraise rather than just the one recording that I might have been able to access.

My girls can both name numerous classical soloists and age 11 and 8, which I could never have done.

We have been to 2 proms this year, and trying to get tickets was like trying to book tickets for Glastonbury! I was over 1000th in the online queue. The concerts were sold out, attended by people from all walks of life and all generations.

Also, Noo is quite an advanced musician, but by no means unusual in her abilities these days. Competition for places in JD and National ensembles is quite frankly brutal. Competition is driven by demand, which to me indicates there is a healthy pipeline of new talent coming through (at least for now) despite the devastating cuts to School music. (An entirely different debate - I'm not for one minute suggesting that the pipeline of new talent is sustainable given the current political/ funding situation)

Not trying to shoot down your point Thomasina! I think the point I'm trying to make is that classical music has possibly never been more accessible, at least to the listener. But there are clearly many different perceptions on this which someone somewhere should probably address...??