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!

But she is home-schooled so has plenty of time to practice.....

Very true...

Thanks all. Yes, home schooling would be great but unfortunately that is not a practical option for us. Also, it really hasn't been easy tracking people down locally who can provide high quality music tuition so even if she was home schooled we'd probably have to drive all over for what she needed. I have little doubt she'd be considerably further along if she'd been having 3-4 hours practice a day! We do occasionally have a long practice at the weekend and the progress is invariably amazing, which I suppose is one of the reasons why I am acutely aware of the difference between her progress now and what she could do if given the right circumstances.

No, I hadn't tried Guildhall. I will do so!

Also try a music school or two- for an advice audition- just to see what they say, they can also advise about teachers if you don’t want a specialist school yet.

Thanks ZakStarkey, useful to know.

That's what my dd's doing in December - an advice audition. She's had one before and although was very nervous beforehand, really enjoyed it. It was more of a lesson and she got a lot out of it. Following that, she was invited to an open rehearsal with one of the school's ensembles which was probably one of the highlights of her life to date!

There's a 'Play at Purcell Y7 Taster Day' on 17 November, which could be of interest to some?

www.purcell-school.org/admissions/open-mornings/

Do Purcell still have a Junior dept? I heard they were getting rid of it?

I think the youngest are year 6 Zak.

I agree there are lots of different ways into becoming a musician.
Some people manage it without ever taking a music exam.
Some even manage without attending a FE/HE college/uni.

I think like anything else you look at the child, their personality and what works for you as a family.

We went down the H.ed route for a few years then audition for specialist school. However, had we chosen a different route she'd still be playing as it's what she wants to do.

I always say this but we assess each term, half termly at times, if it isn't working she will leave and would probably be h.ed again, as state schools aren't for dd, considering her commitment to music and practice.
Other approaches would work for those with different circumstances.

There's absolutely no need for an 8 year old to be doing 3+ hours practice a day.
Musicianship, technique, understanding etc all take time to develop. Putting in more and more hours won't change that.
JDs and specialist schools nurture, not force, which may mean putting the breaks on, eg advising against taking part in competitions and other public performances etc.

Music just isn't something that can or should be rushed. Getting to grade 8 before anyone else means very little, in the grand scheme of things.

Just my thoughts. 😀

Floot/Ealing: thanks so much for your advices/kind words. (And agreed with do everything we could attitude )

Brass: my advice is worry alittle about something hasnt come. If she wants boarding and there is music boarding schools for little ones then why not trying it. You only have to decide once you have choices. The thing about boarding at young age that if she wants to switch back to mainstream school and drop music a little later then it wont impact her secondary school choices at all from day 1. Your daughter seems a very strong and determined child, loves her determination and focus toward a very clear goal.

Floottoot, I'd normally agree but she decided on this when she first started playing and it hasn't proven too taxing for her, despite us having a huge amount of disruption in the meantime. She plays loads of repertoire and has a lot of fun. She hasn't done any competitions but does seek out every opportunity to perform as she loves it.

Floot I agree sometimes they just need to slow down a little , play for the enjoyment of playing or work on technique without pressure. I’m really hoping that ds’s year will be more like this this year , although there have been changes recently which might impact on what he does who knows ? In the big scheme of things they are all so young with time on their side ( although sometimes they don’t see it like that and it feels to them like a race to grade 8 and beyond) Ds will probably take it before he’s 15 , could have taken it already - but it’s got to be about more than grades. I’ve always seen them as a happy extra not a goal in themselves ( though I do get that some dcs need to take grades to motivate them ) Brass your dd is doing so well she probably doesn’t need to worry about exams at all

Hi brasstacks
With all 3 of mine (8,10 & 12) i notice significant progress with the occassional mega practise session but they benefit from time to sort of mentally process while focussing on something else. For example big improvements in bow control from a weekend doing pizzicato pop/rock group improv on double bass.

Dd1 is now focussing on classical music and interestingly has had some positive comments that she has a certain 'something' about her playing which i suspect comes from living in the sticks and saying yes to every musical opportunity regardless of genre etc. A sort of accidentally rounded musical education

Brasstacks - it sounds like your DD is doing really well and is very keen. I can't comment on specialist school and jd, as I have no experience. However, in the meantime, I would certainly recommend both Pro Corda and NCO, as being places where she will interact with young musicians of her age, both at her own level and more advanced. It is difficult to find these opportunities at school, and county ensembles for grade 5+ players tend to be for much older children (at least where I am).

My DS2 had a wonderful time at both Pro Corda and NCO this summer, and his playing came on a lot. It was the first time he has come across children of his age playing at a higher level, and he loved the challenge.

Just realised I wrote breaks, when I meant brakes. 😳

Trumpet, I completely agree with you about grades. They are a means to an end, not the end itself. I'd even stick my neck out and say that students that are hell bent on getting through them as quickly as possible don't make good, rounded musicians.

Totally agree with that Floot. We know a young violinist who almost exclusively studies for grades and has reached a high level for her age. However, she can barely play anything else, can't sight read very well and struggles in an orchestra. It seems the teacher tries to get her to slow down on grades and do something else for a while but parents put huge pressure on teacher to just pursue grades. We have the other problem with DS. Once he went to specialist school he lost interest in grades completely. He could probably get grade 8 on four different instruments but he has no interest although it could be helpful for the future if he ends up teaching. In the end one of his teacher made him do one just to tick off and say he had grade 8 in something but he was kicking and screaming.

Herts I can see the same happening here - Noo's new teacher asked me what we thought about grade exams, we said not bothered, and the book was practically chucked aside! Exams just don't seem relevant now... although I do want her to 'tick off' Grade 8 at some point, it's more of a rite of passage than anything. And maybe at some point the UCAS points will come in handy!

And she still needs the climbing trees, watching sunsets, researching her favourite animals, jumping waves, writing stories about dream worlds, talking through her fears.... as well being valuable life experiences, everyone of these this week alone has contributed to some kind of colour she’s searched for in her music. Their musical education can take many, many forms!

Wonderful post crazy!

Absolutely Crazy / Taggie. Lots of tree climbing over here!

Loved your post crazy! Here is also another girl who only sees things up side down( hanging herself in the swing in the garden upside down all the times). We have Band A Henrietta result today and I called her and asked what she wants as a treat. Then she said she only needs more canvas, here is a girl who loves drawing most at the moment.

I although support exams though. Mine hasnt had one for sometime now and without exams we feels like we have lost our tickbox. With exam then we know a thick scale books have to be learnt and memorised, loads of sight seeing has to be done. Certain kind of technique has to be learnt to perform the 3 different pieces. We will take exam again next year.