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....

I like Janine Janssen's Bach. She's quite modern though; Rachel Podger for more authentic style. The other recording I have is Menuhin, romantic to the point of comedy.

Milstein for me for Bach. There is an early recording on lp only that is just amazing. It hasn’t ever been released on cd though.

Wow, thanks all for the sharing. It's interesting that Kennedy's interpretation is so different from Menuhin while he maintains that his old teacher is still gold standard. He even said that Bach speaks through Menuhin's violin. Taggie, which Bach piece is that? I listened to his Bach A minor recorded in 1957 and it's truly amazing.

Patrick - I was referring to the unaccompanied sonatas and partitas, but the A minor concerto is also marvellous.

Have you (and mini-Patrick) seen this?

I imagine that mini-Patrick is about to start on unaccompanied Bach and so he might find it interesting

Or the wonderful Heifetz

Thanks for the link, Taggie. DS watched it this morning. He's gone to play football now, for the last kicking around with his mates. He'll be back for lunch then we are taking him to the school. Watching the amazing Bach was a great send off gift.

Oh yes, Heifetz, of course.

Good luck for later little Patrick’sViolin, and to mummy too!
He’ll be fine and I imagine he’ll love it!

Ooh, good luck mini-Patrick, have a fabulous time at Hogwarts!

Thank you for this thread and good luck to all your talented DCs.

Do you mind me asking what a good starter instrument for a 5.5 year old girl would be? I’m really keen to get her started and we’re lucky enough to have the Sage Gateshead on our doorstep which is great.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Wishing mini-Patrick lots of luck. Please let us know how he gets on.

frontrow what is your daughter interested in?
Strings come in fractional sizes as standard for little ones so are popular for young starter. Usually violin or cello. Piano will give a 'nice' sound from day 1, which is not to be underestimated.

Dd1 started on violin and dd2 on flute and ds on drums (all she 5 or 6) and if ds wasnt our youngest i would choose drums/percussion for å first instrument again.

It's also worth considering space for storing/ playing/transporting instruments (the violin and flute are not an issue and the piano is ok but the double bass is massive and the drums keep multiplying and ds is only 8....)

Frontrow you are so lucky to have the Sage close by I was there in the summer and they have so much going on as well as concerts . A real community music resource it's great .
Good luck to mini Patrick and you today I'm sure it will all feel very strange for a while but I'm also sure he's going to have the most fantastic time !!

Love and luck to mini-PV (not that he needs it). Look forward to hearing all about his dream school!!!!

@FrontRowSeat welcome!!! DD1 started violin at 5.5, DD2 started piano around that age and cello at 6. Of the two of them, DD1's journey has been easier, but that is partly due to temperament. Piano has a sort of 'instant gratification' - no issues with tuning and less issues with things like posture, bow hold etc. (At least in the early days) so it is more enjoyable more quickly.

DD1 did very well with violin at 5.5. We had a great Suzuki teacher - although we moved away from Suzuki after about 18 months, it's a fabulous teaching method for little ones and is very ear and technique focussed. It set her up very, very well for everything that followed.

Cello is beautiful and more in demand than violin, but for little ones it is more demanding- trying to find the right place for your whole body around this big wooden box, then remembering where to put your fingers, how to hold your bow, how to bow in a straight line.

If you want to go down the woodwind route, there are more knowledgeable people than I on this thread, but I know lots that have started out on recorder (properly taught) until their little arms and fingers can manage other instruments. It is very transferable.

Good luck!!

Thanks, Zak, cat and disorganised. Please be my shoulder to cry on for the next few days/weeks/years. I don't know if I can sleep tonight.

FrontRow Seat, welcome! I am not an expert as I don't play any instrument but having seen lots of musical DCs, I really like the idea of starting with percussion for young age. Or recorder or/and singing - all are great for building up good musical foundation and the skills gained from them are so versatile it will be super handy for any instrument picked up later on. Piano could be another good option if you think she is ready for formal lesson (you don't need to have big hand as there are plenty music for small hand), or could be violin as tiny size is available.

Thanks Trumpet and folk.

Wow thank you for the lovely welcome.

I love the idea of cello but it does sound slightly challenging at this age. But violin and piano both sound do-able - I shall start researching local teachers.

Thank you for your advice - I look forward to being a part of this thread x

I can't keep up with the thread but must wish MiniPatrick all the very best and offer a bit of hand-holding for his mum! Also fascinating to hear about Alex's trip.
Agree good teachers don't come cheap (and rightly so!) Green. We pay £40/hr for DS1's bass lessons but he has to travel for them. The teacher is most definitely worth it.

Cello is beautiful and more in demand than violin, but for little ones it is more demanding- trying to find the right place for your whole body around this big wooden box, then remembering where to put your fingers, how to hold your bow, how to bow in a straight line.
Oh that's interesting - I had the impression cello was easier for little starters. It's a less twisted playing position, and you don't have to hold the instrument up. Bowing straight on violin is really hard too! Guess there are advantages either way. Perhaps I'm biased because we have a cello teacher locally who is brilliant with tinies. (Now if you want her to be really in demand try viola.)

Have fun FrontRow, hope you find something she likes! Do you have a piano? It's a relatively big investment of money/space if not already in the house. But if it's already there it's an easy instrument to start, quite a few kids at DC's school start in yr 1. Finding a teacher who's good with little ones is key I think.

Possibly just our experience @catkind , guess it depends on the child (and lord knows DD2 is not easy....)

Best of luck Patrick and mini Patrick

Ah Patrick - hope your DS goes well today. He will shine . It must be an emotional time for you all but what an opportunity you are giving him!

Have had a bit of a frustrating morning with DS this morning. Having his mother teach him the piano is difficult for him. I didn't even shout this morning - all I had to do was raise an eyebrow at his shocking attempt at scales and he dissolved in tears.

Then he did the last of his Grade 3 theory papers and they didn't go well either. My approach to teaching the DCs theory has been to work our way through the ABRSM workbooks and then do a pile of practice papers. When they are consistently getting in the 90s then we move on to the next Grade. DD has just finished the Grade 4 set of papers, is scoring well so we are moving on to the Grade 5 workbook next week. DS has been working on Grade 3, I have no more papers left to give him but he scores are, um, patchy. Some are in the 90s, some in the 60s. So stuck in a bit of a limbo now. Sigh.

Good luck to the patrick family
A new and exciting chapter

Hello everyone.

I was intending to pm cantkeepawayforever re auditioning for jazz performance undergraduate courses at conservatoires as my DS is going in to his second year of a BMus in jazz performance at a conservatoire. But I can't figure out how to pm from my tablet. 😶

Is tonight the last night of the proms? With Jess Gillam? Or did I dream that?

It was last night Rogue . Expect it's in iPlayer.

Patrick good luck to your DS in his new journey. And be kind to yourself this week and look after you.

Thank you to the people who wished my DD good luck. We delivered her yesterday. Unpacking helpers thought her sax was great, sadly no musicians amongst them but assured her there was a band to join.

Good luck mini Patrick,

Rogue far right of your measage click on message poster, this is how to pm.
I enjoyed jess last night, the whole prom was great.