September 2018 Music Thread

[folkmamma]

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... .

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....

Finally joining again! My 3 all do piano, with DD 2 oboe and recorders and dd2 keen to start bassoon if we can source a mini one. Our council apparently has one ( and a cor anglais) but they seem to have been 'mislaid'. Hue currently doing an instrument audit so will see what comes of that. We do have many many recorders though, they are a bit cheaper to collect!
Alexandra, that conference sounds great, I work with disabled people but rarely see anyone playing an instrument, I think it is just seen as too problematic.

Alexandra your trip sounds fascinating - do report back as I'd love to hear more about it.
Well, on the topic of multi instruments - just try living in a house with three guitar enthusiasts. Surely one electric guitar is enough? Oh no. You have to have an acoustic one for milder rock/jazz/folk moments and a classical one. (There are two - one cost £10 from the borough music service and sounds surprisingly nice!)
I'm sitting on the sofa in the front room. Directly in front of me is a bass guitar. Next to the armchair is an acoustic. Its case is across the armchair - because obviously that's what chairs are for - and propped next to the footstool is an electric guitar. There are other guitars lurking around the rest of the house. They are supposed to live in posh shed...
Oh, and then there are the amps...

Romany, DD2 started on a mini bassoon aged 8 and then moved onto the tenoroon as she grew taller before playing a full sized bassoon with short reach keyword. The mini plays a fifth above a regular bassoon and the tenoroon a fourth with the same fingering.

horsey, DD2’s tutor at NCO this summer teaches bassoon for East Renfrewshire Council music service and at The conservatoire . You could try contacting her to see if she could help?

I should have added horsey that you could get your music service to talk to East Renfrewshire’s one. Our music trust appears to have links with another one and loan between them. Otherwise, I think our music trust has some kind of sponsorship arrangement with Howarth.

Patricks
"Or if you say sax is your first study, then that mean you treat all sorts of sizes and types of sax as your 'first study/instrument'? It sounds like a percussionist - expected to be proficient at all sorts of percussion!"

You beat me to it. I was just about to say the same thing. It is crazy what some of the freelance pro percussionists have to own including the van to carry it around. I was reading of a percussionist who recently left everything in a van close to Sadlers Wells I think and the whole lot was stolen. Maybe £25k's worth...and not insured.

I am updating the new year educational activity cost, I pay £850/month(on 10 yrs old and £600/month is on music lessons/orchestras/musical activities. Not too sure how we could budget this along with the Indie fee next year. The 4yrs old activities are not as expensive yet(swim, before and after school club, music is zero as lesson added up with the 10yrs old) still its another £500/month. Awgggg! Now the only one thing less worried is we have some handsome credit with Woodbridge violin for the 4/4(£3k), so once it comes to the time if we need the full size hopefully there will only be a gentle top up.

I have paid a lot for activities including music but struggling to understand £850 a month for a 10 year old? How come so much?

To be honest, everything add up and the fact that I have to choose in favour of my convenience( Eg. music lessons at home£55/hr, 1hr for piano, 1.25hr for violin including 15mins for the 4yrs old). Well, my husband said at least its cheaper than the time we had to pay for nanny(£150/day or nursery £85/day). London is truly a very expensive place to live even just on basic.

Wow Green - that is all so expensive! One of the great things about doing jd is that everything such as theory, aural, singing is included and it costs so much less that way

Double, thanks for that, will investigate. Will I find her name on the NCO website? The lady at the council in charge of music service also has a remit for pupil equity fund so is pretty busy. She did say she would ask her colleagues in other councils but maybe I could suggest east Renfrewshire to target! The issue is partly that I would be having a private teacher as none of the council wood wind teacher s are double reed specialists, they even say they won't offer double reed due to cost of instruments and ongoing reed costs. however if they have instruments sitting doing nothing I would have thought they would maybe at least hire one out to me! I might investigate hiring from a shop if no luck elsewhere. I will ask about any arrangements with howarths too. The teacher teaches at a private school so he might find a ' spare' instrument once he has done his recruitment for this year anyway, he brought one for her to try for size previously.

Well that is obviously expensive per hour but perhaps in London not so unusual especially if at house. My children have had lessons with an RCM professor for only £37/hour!

That aside an hour a week on piano and an hour on violin at 10 years old strikes me as quite a lot. If you need to reduce cost when start paying school fees could easily cut in half (although I appreciate maybe teacher wouldn't want to travel to you for just 30 minutes.) Maybe can have lessons at new school which would be easier and cheaper.

I hope you find a suitable instrument horsey dd2 is playing a double bass that was languishing in a storeroom which we have on free loan from the music service and they also provide a space for lessons so we only pay for the private teacher .

Crikey Green

We pay for cello lessons for DD, viola lessons for DS, instrument hire, orchestra fees and then obviously the actual music and exam fees.

But I teach both the DCs piano, theory and aural and DD recorder.

I might show this to DP as evidence of how much we save by me teaching them.

I'd like to update you on DS's first week at school but can't - we had a two word text ('it's fantastic') from him on Wednesday and that has been it! We are used to not hearing from him on courses etc but this is a bit different!

Good luck for tomorrow Patrick.

I regularly ‘decide’ that the specialist school fees are ridiculous on our wages and that dd1 must leave, then I add up the music lesson / school dinner/ transport/ instrument hire/ orchestra fee costs and realise it’s basically the same or less. I suppose the benefit of pay as you go approach is that you can pause/ go down to fortnightly for a bit if money’s tight (we always pick very flexible teachers!). The school charge us nearly £30 for an extra 30mins of time when a 75min lesson with the same teacher at her house is £30 which irks me a bit but I think she charges too little for her independent work maybe.

Both of us (parents) are non-musical so we totally rely on her teachers. Yes, I am planning to have the 10yrs old having music lesson at school next year, our current state primary school isnt great on music, she was about to give up violin when she was on school lesson after 1 yr or so. Now the problem is we will start paying for the 2nd one soon and its extremely hard to find a good teacher coming home for 30mins lesson only. Anyway, we can still survive this year, we dont even know what school she is going to, the range of fees in London can be from £16-£24k/yr. I will need to be carefully add things like transport(public vs school’s bus), trips, meals, uniform etc. So right now, she is working on her coming exam and I am working on the planning. I dont feel as bad as I have no idea how she is doing regarding her exam preparation.

Really, really REALLY struggling with DD2 and practice atm. Probably since her RWCMD audition if I'm honest. She just won't cooperate. I get her into the practice room without too much drama, but then we have 15min or so of jiffing around / debate before she will actually pick up her bow. At which point we have a period of whining about not being able to get the right posture/bow hold/ bow angle. I'm lucky if we get through a C major scale before the whole thing disintegrates. Think we are reaching the point of no return, which is very sad as she has so much potential! But it's breaking me 😔

Sheesh, perhaps we'd better start saving up in case anyone gets serious about a hobby. (Suspect other hobbies add up just as badly!)

And lol littleladsdad, I think that probably comes under no news is good news.

DD loved baby string orchestra this week :) very excited for her that she's got to the point where music can be a social activity too.
And DS also cheered up about practice with a bit of screen time bribery and had a good first horn lesson back.
Looking forward to them starting piano lessons as I'm thoroughly fed up of hearing same pieces all summer.

Folkmamma, I had just logged on to say the same thing when I read your post.
DS has been absolutely awful about practising for a while now, and over the last few weeks in particular. I always supervise his sessions but his attitude has got so bad, it's reduced me to tears this week - he snarls at me if I dare suggest he tries playing things slightly differently, sulks, plays badly deliberately, refuses to listen (when I say things I know his teacher has also said) and generally behaves like he hates the cello and me.
It got to the point a few days ago where I shouted at him and walked out of the room, and we ended up having to have a long and difficult conversation about whether he wants to continue - difficult, because he would have to leave his wonderful school of he decides he doesn't want to play any more.

I'm hoping it's just almost-teenager hormones, but honestly, it is nearly killing me. He won the school music prize at the end of last term, got into the county youth orchestra, has just been asked by the HoM at school to join a string trio, has a fantastic teacher who thinks he's great, and has BAGS of potential...but he just doesn't love it or even appear to enjoy it ( he enjoys playing in orchestras and groups, just not lessons and practising).

I'm sorry you're having a similar experience - you have all my empathy.xx

folk, has she started back with lessons after the holiday? It is hard to sustain without lesson for impetus. Fingers crossed she can settle.

Greenleave I thought DD's lessons were expensive- but they are cheap in comparison. (£48 per hour but we have to travel) - it is a struggle with school fees on top so we may look at in school options for y7 too.

Folk and * -* that sounds challenging. Dd has been hard work with practice recently-I was hoping it is down to a lot of issues at school and the stress of preparing for 11+. If I correct anything, or suggest a piece has previously been played better then we have world war 3.

PS DS (9) is also horrific if I try to help with practice. Currently trying leaving him to it but applying screen time bonus if he practices well.

Littleladsdad - enjoy the youthful enthusiasm of "it's fantastic". Picked up DS last night and didn't get much more than a few teenage grunts.

Folk and Foot - I can sympathise on the struggles with practice. I now generally try to just not get involved and leave it to them and let them suffer the consequences if it goes wrong. I don't always succeed in sticking to this but do my best. It is just not worth constant family stress and fighting over music.

For those multi instrument collectors.

You might like to mute the music though.