October Music Thread

[Wafflenose]

Welcome to the thread for October, which is open to ANYONE who wants to discuss music lessons, practice, exams, auditions, instrument hire/ purchase or whatever related issues you'd like to. Newbies are especially welcome, and we have some each month, often with beginners. All of our kids were beginners once.

I have two DDs. Goo is 12 and plays the flute and piano. She can also play recorders and the piccolo, but doesn't. We've just moved her to another piano teacher because the first one retired, so it's nice to hear her practising again. She has been learning for about 2.5 years and hasn't done any exams... nor is she intending to. On the flute we have extended range scales, the Chaminade Concertino and Bizet's Carmen Fantasy at the moment. She plays in 7 school ensembles and does NCO and South West Music School, although she's likely to be leaving both at various points during this academic year.

Rara is 10 and plays the cello and clarinet regularly, and recorder sometimes. She's vaguely working towards Grade 5 on both, but it might end up being 4 on the cello because of various aspects she's behind in... we'll see. I am still teaching her the clarinet and am currently super fed up because however kind, patient and helpful I am, she behaves in such a horrible way. We can't afford lessons. Ho hum. Rara also does NCO and SWMS. Under 11s will be beyond her, but she'll carry on with SWMS for now.

I am a teacher of woodwind!

So DD2 had a decent bassoon practice tonight and a short practice for piano following her first lesson last week. She was full of enthusiasm when she came home from school today having tried cello. Very keen to start learning that too! Just thinks that normal lessons are getting in the way

Hi all. DS - jazz sax / clarinet, also known as Nosebleed Boy after a somewhat fraught run up to G8 jazz clarinet - has just put in his UCAS Conservatoire application and has also recently started the jazz sessions at a junior conservatoire.

I do also have a slightly younger DD, who dances instead of doing music. I do lots of taxi duties, but have also just taken up clarinet through the local music service 'Learn as you play' adult scheme. I am hilariously awful....

I went searching on Netflix for one thing and ended up glued to the Quincy Jones documentary. Just wow. Musical tour de force of his life. If I ever get reincarnated I want to be him. Incredible the people he has been involved with spanning so many genres of music. And a great line that just two kinds of music - good music and bad music. Also nice to see Jacob Collier his amazing UK prodigy on screen as well.

DS played in a scholars concert yesterday. It was a mix of abilities, from grade 1 piano to diploma level, so very interesting to watch.
It made me realize how much DS has progressed in the year since he played in his first one. 😀
One of his class mates played a diploma level violin piece ( I'm guessing some of the DCs here probably know him from NCO U12s) - technically very impressive. Are all next year's U13s such advanced players???

I only know one girl trying out for U13's floot, she is playing at around G8 standard on violin. She got in to U12's last year, but that's obv that's not a guarantee. I think some sections are more astronomically high than other's though..

Ps congrats to Mini-floot on his concert and making such good progress. Sometimes we don't realise until these sorts of occasions just how quickly they are progressing xx

Crazy, I wouldn’t mind if she wasn’t already playing three instruments! I hadn’t heard anything about the flute and cornet she’d tried the week before, but she was so enthusiastic after the cello yesterday.

I guess strings are possibly a higher standard because of the younger age children are able to start learning than, say, brass, Folk. It's a small comfort that this particular DC might have been having lessons for years longer than DS. 🤣 He's a similar standard on piano, apparently - scary! That said, DS win his scholarship at the same time as the other DC, so presumably DS showed some kind of potential?

I agree, it's so hard to see progress when you hear the process - a bit like not noticing how much taller your DC has got until you see an earlier photo!

How was miniFolk this morning, after you fraught evening?

She's fine Floot thanks for asking. Piano this morning, which I've always been able to let her get on with. It's my problem really, I need to trust her and back off. It struck me this morning that every practice session is pretty much like a lesson to her so there's no let up. No wonder she is pushing back....

floot - there was a big range in U10s. In DS2's section, there was one who already had a diploma, and another 2 who were proper prodigies (winning international competitions, performing virtuosic repertoire in public etc). The rest, including DS2, were grade 6-8 standard. Many of them were at the JDs.

I suspect that the prodigies will tend to drop out of NCO eventually, as they get older and start to get more and more performance and college-level summer school opportunities. But I don't have strong evidence for this!

I think you are right about strings being a little ahead in the younger age groups because they tend to start younger. It evens out by the time they are all in their teens and auditioning for county and NYO etc.

folk - glad Noo has calmed down!

this is the leader of the U10s

Taggie that is a high level for u10s. I knew NCO was probably a stretch for Dd...gr6-8 and diplomas... wow!

she's amazing!

Incredible. Watch out for her on BBC YM in a few years. For a bit of balance though we know somebody in under 12 or maybe even under 13 for violin who I think just passed grade 7.

Owlm Noo played G3&4 pieces in her U10's audition and got a reserve place / regionals, which means she was on the standard they were looking for but there just wasn't a place for her. She got pretty close though. It varies more at U10's but tends to be higher grades later on.

Thanks Folk She'd be happy with a regionals place.

Would you class the u10s leader as a prodigy? She looks born to play that violin. So natural.

Wowser! She's quite something!
That said, of course she isn't representative of every 10 year old or every DC who will be auditioning ( thankfully!).
I read a very interesting post by Steven Isserlis ( can't spell today!) about prodigies, and competitions and he is very much of the school if thought that there is a wider consideration, eg that people start learning and developing at different ages and stages, and that if he had not been supported when he was younger, he would not have got to where he is now because he was by no means a prodigy.
My wonderfully wise flute teacher used to have a metaphor about people who played pieces at breakneck speed - he'd say, " so you saved 30 seconds? What are you going to do with that time?". 😀

Thanks Waffle for the usual lovely monthly thread, love to hear the girls’ updates.

I have a 10yrs old in yr 6 daughter and a 4 yrs old reception daughter. Yr6 one is in middle of 11+, she loves exam so almost no 11+ stress for me yet. Her first choice will be in Jan but she sits couple of grammars. We have always been struggling with so little practice, only 15mins or so week days on each instrument. We do better with exams and havent had one for a while so she might be sitting exams summer term next year. If so then it will be gr8 piano and gr7 violin. The 4 yrs old is doing 15 mins violin lesson at the moment(started for a month or so), no practice yet, main reason to start so early is sharing lesson with her elder sister and having fun. I hope practice starting soon, may be once she is 5.

Green that's incredible that she has got to that standard on 15 mins per instrument per day. Just goes to show, it's not always about the length of time you spend practicing.

Druid that sounds like the description of a prodigy to me... so that means she's only been playing about 4 years?? Wow!!!! (I think we bump into her from time to time too, although don't know them to talk to.)

So envious, Green! DS would take 10-15 mins to get ready (stands up, picks and opens the case, looks for music, checks what others are up to, returns to get ready and picks a bow, etc...). I must tell him by the time he's finally ready to practise someone else has finished one instrument and started the second practice!

DS still has runny nose and sour throat and feels a bit worse in early morning but fine otherwise so I took him to school today. Hope he survives!!! I'll pick him up tonight (as he tends to feel worse in nights) so I must catch up with all the stuff while he's at school!