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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

September 2018 Music Thread

905 replies

folkmamma · 01/09/2018 08:21

Hi all! Our lovely host Waffle is away at the moment and has asked me to start this months thread.

Here is a place for us to share stories, ask for advice, and generally support one another through our DCs (and in some cases our own!) musical journeys. All are very welcome, from the early beginners to the very advanced. Some people have been regular contributors for years, but we also have a lot of newcomers and love welcoming new contributors to the MN Music Thread team. I became aware of this group about 9 months ago via the NCO 2018 thread and I now spend more time here than on Facebook... Grin.

Over here, I have Noo, just turned 11, violinist, violist and pianist. She is playing at aroud G7 standard on violin (first study) and is starting JD this month, eek!. Noo is also an associate member of NCO and this year joined the Pro Corda ensemble training programme, which she loves above all else! She is also very into musical theatre and regularly performs in professional and semi-professional shows - it is a challenge to juggle it all, but somehow we do. This month is a biggie for Noo as she starts secondary school as well as JD.

DD2 is Moll. 8yrs old and plays cello and piano. She is a very different kettle of fish to big sister - every bit as able, but some self esteem issues, together with a slightly quirky personality, mean her journey is not often quite so smooth (and mine completely turbulent!). Working towards G3 cello this term (although she doesn’t know it yet) and will go for a consultation at Noo’s JD sometime this term also.

I’m sure Waffle will drop in to update us on Goo, Rara and her own musical self once she gets back from holibobs.

Good luck to everyone with back to school, changes in school, new routines and audition prep! I predict September will be a busy month on the thread!

Over to you.... Smile

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PatricksViolin · 21/09/2018 12:29

If you are under the same roof, even though you don't talk much, you can sense if something is wrong. If you don't have a good communicating habit when you don't live together, how can you 'sense' or 'know' if something is wrong? That's why I like to enforce the importance of regular contact, brief but regular... Especially DS is not very articulate and sometimes doesn't know how to 'explain'. I think this communication issue is totally personal and hugely depends on the family and the child personality.

Trumpetboysmum · 21/09/2018 12:31

Polar Smile nursery rhymes are so important though and as an early years teacher I still sing them in a daily basis !!

PetraDelphiki · 21/09/2018 12:35

Thanks littleladsdad is it worth auditioning at grade 6 do you think?

Wafflenose · 21/09/2018 13:46

Frankly I definitely would try to clean it/ have it cleaned somehow!

My DDs just wanted to start young (3.5 and 4.5 respectively) and there weren't many options at that age. I had no intention of moving them on to other wind instruments at all, but when they were older they chose to. It did mean that Goo was playing Grade 1 pieces by her 10th flute lesson (aged 6). Eventually she played the flute more, and it caught up with recorder around Grade 6/ age 9ish. She loved the recorder, it's still better than her piano and she is thinking of going back to it. Rara started cello at 6 and clarinet at 8, and really did keep all three going for a while, but then clarinet got more serious and recorder got a bit sidelined. She still joins in with her peers at school when I need her to, and played in Noye's Fludde with me a few months ago. Her cello and clarinet are now at the same level, < Grade 5, and the recorder a bit behind that now.

SwayingInTime · 21/09/2018 13:59

Tabby - what a lovely thing to do, your life sounds like a TV show!

Folk - I find myself trying to explain how amazing Eliza Haskins' performancce in BBCYM was to random people all the time. I think is was the contrast of how young she seemed in interview and the breadth of her choices and incredibly 'let go', powerful performance.

Polar - hello! I have a chorister in her last year (sob!) who adores it and wishes very much that she could have started at 6!

PatricksViolin · 21/09/2018 14:10

We came across a chorister option when DS was a bit younger and seriously thought about it but in the end decided against it. People in the world around me praise the opportunities and experience A LOT and DCs seem to be developing very nicely, so it's clearly amazing but the amount of commitments really put us off at the time (that's not the main reason for not going down the route though). But then, probably some people think DS doing NCO, jd, specialist school among other hobbies are def too much and exhausting! Grin

Original poster
folkmamma · 21/09/2018 14:11

Swaying for me she should have been in the final. And I'm a string player!!!

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RomanyRoots · 21/09/2018 14:37

patrick

Don't let school or JD hear you talk about music being his hobby Grin
It's assumed it's his profession now.
Seriously though, you'll see a change in him as he gets into it.
They sort of come these different creatures you don't recognise.
I know before summer dd had the palest skin imaginable, usually from April she starts to get a glow being out in the sun, even if it isn't the hottest. It took for us to go abroad for some colour to come back.
They spend an awful lot of time inside practising.

TaggieOHara · 21/09/2018 15:03

welcome polar My DS2 is 10yo a chorister. He is now in his 4th year (including 2 years as a probationer). It is a big commitment, but it is a wonderful opportunity and privilege. We are very lucky in that we live locally to a good choir, with excellent school attached, so logistically it isn't too bad. DS2 is also a keen violinist, very academic, and a commited binge watcher of cartoons/netflix (as well as Xbox) so he manages to keep it all going somehow! I tend to do my ranting/whining here, so don't let that put you off. The good times outweigh the bad in real life Smile

Lovely to hear your DD plays the recorder. There is lots of fascinating recorder discussion here, which has even inspired a couple of us (me and patrick) to dust off our recorders and have a go!

As an aside, I am a bit ashamed about the recorder cleaning discussion. I got mine out after a 35 year break, wiped it off and played it. But tbh I am generally untidy and unhygienic...

LooseAtTheSeams · 21/09/2018 15:09

Patrick you're absolutely right - it is different and he's still very young and new to boarding so not at all like a trip. I meant to emphasise that you and littleladsdad are right to pick them up on the not phoning.
Romany that's the problem - DS can do the maths but doesn't like it so wants to drop it. I wasn't totally chilled and DH even less so but he does love his music so what can you do?Smile

PatricksViolin · 21/09/2018 15:40

I can't imagine DS not being outside, Romany. I'll come back to report you when the pale skin syndrome starts showing!

I may have had unrealistic ideas towards specialist school (by being so novice... Blush) but so far I'm more surprised to see how normal it is. Before DS joining the school, I heard this rumour that the school was trying to change the direction from its intensive and strict approach to more balanced, broader approach. Then the head's speech on the welcome day kind of backed up the rumour. I don't recall they mentioned the word of 'professional' and instead kept mentioning 'balance and rounded human-being', and music as a tool to achieve that rather than music to be the goal. I'm still new so will find out more later then, but my impression so far is children are not necessary expected to be professional, though they take music very seriously and also it'll be a totally different story for older kids as at that age they know they are there to be professional.

Anyway, DS hasn't shown any exhaustion yet and actually looks somehow healthier and happier due to no stress over wasting time on journey and juggling all the demands coming from different directions. Funnily he seems to have more 'chill-out time' now.

Loose Smile

PatricksViolin · 21/09/2018 15:51

I think he's saving a lot of time not only because he has no journey but also he has no option to have any length of negotiation with authority (me! at home!). Things he has to do have to be done without but or if. And once all is done, it's fun time with friends till bedtime. Hopefully he finally realises that he can gain more fun time by being efficient like that so there is no nagging duty for me during school holiday!

Polar81 · 21/09/2018 18:34

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Nice to see some other chorister parents on here too! Out of interest, for those of you whose children attend JDs, how far away do you live from the music colleges?

Original poster
folkmamma · 21/09/2018 20:25

@Polar81 we are in Oxfordshire and JD is London 😊

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RomanyRoots · 21/09/2018 20:55

Patrick

Sorry my love, I meant in attitude when they are doing it, not that they are expected to be professional standard.
Performance classes etc.
I love that they do Alex technique.

My poor love still has a hacking cough and has gone to bed, we had a good chat though and she seems to be trying really hard and producing revision cards, so she says.
I'll ask to see them tomorrow, here's hoping. Grin
Right how would you answer this. "Mum, why am I rubbish at Lang but really good at Lit" (English).

PatricksViolin · 21/09/2018 21:13

Polar, it's 10-15 mins drive for us. But it takes 40 mins or so door to door if we use bus. We usually go by car then come back by bus.

cantkeepawayforever · 21/09/2018 22:01

DS is, as of tomorrow (yay) embarking on a 45 minute train journey each week, 10 min drive to station this end, 10 min walk at the other. But he's old enough to go by himself, so this is OK...

druidsong · 21/09/2018 22:15

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request

hertsandessex · 21/09/2018 22:43

Patricks/Littleladsdad - on the boarding communication issue I share your pain. It was the hardest thing for us - the music and academic side of things was fine but boarding generally and communication specifically was difficult. Within a few weeks we noticed a change in personality generally being more grown-up and wanting to be more independent. Unfortunately it doesn't get any easier! :) As the teenage hormones start to kick in even more is actually get harder. I think there was also a month where the whole year were restricted to the 30 mins on phones per day. On the positive side I guess it is good that they are get more independent but still tricky. Also losing a lot of control over music things is tricky after years of being closely involved. I still haven't met one of my DS's main teachers or even swapped an email two years on and last term I found out he had been entered for grade 8 about four days before the exam! They had decided he should tick it off and he rushed through the pieces at last minute. School hadn't told me and neither had he. Funny old world but still love it overall! :)

hertsandessex · 21/09/2018 22:46

Swayingintime - totally agree on Elize Haskins. She was incredible beyond her years and couldn't believe she didn't win the category. Hope she is back next time.

raspberryrippleicecream · 21/09/2018 23:00

Polar welcome, ex-chorister parent here. Amazing opportunity.
DS2 still sings on the back row (and it also led on to him playing organ).

Busy weekend for DS2 coming up. Tomorrow he is taking part in a workshop with John Rutter. He would love to be able to tell him he sang his Gaelic Blessing in the church opposite his house 2 years ago, and the wedding photos were on his front lawn!

Then on Sunday he has NYO Inspire day, which is long (2.5 hours each way travelling) but a great day).

Oh and Romany no offence taken at all!

SwayingInTime · 22/09/2018 06:56

Raspberry I don’t know anything about music but apparently when I say I particularly like something it’s always Rutter, it’s become quite the joke with the choirmaster. He gave DD a solo in a Rutter Anthem on the Daily Service last week which was very sweet. The workshop sounds great.

hapsburg · 22/09/2018 07:32

Hi Polar - 1hr15mins in the car for us to JD. Would take DD a good 2hrs to do it on train by the time we had driven to station and she had faffed around on tube at other end, so for now DH or I drive her. A lot less time than driving to different teachers during the week though, and a lot less stressful than trying to fit everything in separately around school/work etc.

Original poster
folkmamma · 22/09/2018 08:15

Fist day at JD today! Eek!!

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4strings · 22/09/2018 08:20

So hi everyone Smile.

I've been on mn for ages but had to quit for a bit. I missed this thread though so I'm back with a new username.

I have two dds, both of whom do musical stuff. Dd2 (7) does piano and cello and is soon to add a brass instrument.

For dd1, music seems to be taking over her life! Violin is her first study and she's starting to work toward Grade 5. She's 10 (nearly 11) so I think that's pretty good! She's doing Grade 3 theory this term. She does piano and bassoon too. So we're rather busy!!!!!

She really wants to go to a specialist music school for y7. She had an advice audition last term and following that was invited to a rehearsal of the school's youngest string orchestra. They want to hear her again after Christmas. I've no idea if she stands any sort of reasonable chance of getting in but she's giving it her all and why not!