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Extra-curricular activities

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

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Original poster

January to March 2019 music thread (Title edited by MNHQ)

712 replies

CruCru · 14/01/2019 09:46

Hi all

Here is the new music thread for January - I hope no one minds me starting it.

I am mum to a son (7) who is learning the piano and trumpet and a daughter (5) who is learning the piano and violin. I am having piano lessons and played the trumpet as a child.

Some of the people on these threads (and their children) are fantastic musicians. Some are more like me. All are welcome.

Thank you to Wafflenose for all the time she has spent managing these threads.

OP posts:
QueenMabby · 04/02/2019 19:05

It’s all very relaxed CruCru! About 45 children playing various things - some excellent, some barely starting out. DD played pretty well. Slight oopsie in the piano duet but her partner is 4 grades ahead of her (same age!) so covered it well!

LooseAtTheSeams · 05/02/2019 08:25

"yes, of course I know rehearsal is every Tuesday, that's why I take my bass in," said the sarcastic teenager - who has left his bass guitar at home this morning...(I really hope there's still a spare one at school!)

Mendingfences · 05/02/2019 09:44

Ds forgot to take his cajon to school today, åh well he'll have to play something else (fingers crossed no one lets him near a tuba, im not sure i could cope if he re-ignites that desire.....)

Original poster
CruCru · 05/02/2019 09:51

I’ve just googled Cajon. I never knew such a thing existed.

OP posts:
LooseAtTheSeams · 05/02/2019 12:47

Mending Grin at tuba!

RomanyRoots · 05/02/2019 13:03

mending fences Grin Grin oh, that's so funny.
I keep hearing the word Flute, have even read it on a report, and hoping it doesn't materialise.

NeleusTheStatue · 05/02/2019 13:33

Seeking for advice/suggestion from those multi-instrumentalists...

When you know clearly which is the most important instrument (1st study) and the rest are purely for supporting/fun purposes, and when you practise early morning and late evening, which instrument do you practise in mornings?

I always prefer studying or tackling something complicated/trickier in mornings and leaving to do something easier in evenings. However I've recently noticed DS often chooses to do his supporting (and a lot less important) studies in mornings and gets on with his first study practice in evenings. He says starting with something light in early morning helps his brain slowly wake up and he likes the gentle start of a day like that. But as a parent I know his concentration level can be crappy after a long day so I was surprised by his (I think) poor choice.

If you have time to practise in mornings AND evenings (I suppose it's not always possible though), what do you do?

NeleusTheStatue · 05/02/2019 13:36

I appreciate it depends on if you are morning or night person though...

Boyskeepswinging · 05/02/2019 14:00

I appreciate it depends on if you are morning or night person though...
Also depends on the instrument, there is no way I'd subject my lovely neighbours to DS's snare drum practice first thing. The older and stronger he gets the louder it gets, I swear it could wake the dead when he's got an ff passage! They are good enough not to complain about the racket in the evening so I am not pushing it!

NeleusTheStatue · 05/02/2019 14:24

A very good point. Environment is a massive factor!

However, DS usually uses a practice room at school so loudness isn't a problem here. Morning practice for him means at around 8am and evening means at around 5pm or the very latest 6pm. He never practises after dinner.

catkind · 05/02/2019 15:16

I always did piano (less serious) in the mornings but I only had a half hour slot. Violin (more serious) in evenings when I could play for as long as I wanted. I guess I am more an evening person too though.

NeleusTheStatue · 05/02/2019 16:36

Another good point. DS has less time in mornings...

Lotsofmilkonesugar · 05/02/2019 16:47

DD also an evening person so does main instrument last thing at night in her pyjamas... her youngest brother has learnt to sleep through it.. Piano (less serious) gets a shorter session straight after dinner

Mendingfences · 05/02/2019 18:13

You may all laugh, but i picked hun up from school and he was waxing lyrical about the ...... trombone Grin

As for practise, luckily we live in the middle of nowhere so no neighbours to bother. 3 kids with 2 instruments each is a jigsaw puzzle for practise. Each day looks different because of lessons ør sport but mainly it's evenings some practise before school but not every day. On sunday i let ds loose on the drums
when i think it's time for dd1 to surface Grin

horseymum · 05/02/2019 18:45

DD does piano in the morning ( probably second study even though doing it longer) and oboe in the evening, it takes more strength I think and she does longer. Not worth getting it all out and warmed up for a short session.

NeleusTheStatue · 05/02/2019 21:17

So, it seems I am the minority one!! Feel bad to call DS's decision 'poor'. This is a good reminder for me to stay back and let him drive his own car...

Original poster
CruCru · 05/02/2019 21:46

My neighbours are (so far) kind and tolerant. So I’m not going to let my children practise in the morning - my son is getting better at the trumpet all the time but we live in a terraced house and I don’t want him to drive them crazy.

In any case, we have to leave by 7:45am to get the bus so the mornings are busy enough.

OP posts:
QueenMabby · 06/02/2019 13:26

We only practice in the evenings. Haven’t thought about morning practice even though DD is an early bird! We leave the house at 8 though.
For those of you with DCs with a second (fun) instrument do they still do graded exams in those? DD’s done grade 1 on her cello (2nd instrument) and has her grade 2 pieces (loving that one is Pink Panther!) but I’m unsure if she really needs to plod through them all?
I’m definitely going to have a chat with her about morning practice though - sometimes we struggle with after school due to clubs etc.

LooseAtTheSeams · 06/02/2019 13:32

Well, for FS1 the fun instrument (bass) became his main one. He said he wasn't going to do exams in drum kit again but has just announced he plans to work towards G8. The third instrument (guitar) is the current 'fun' one but not a peep about exams!
DS2 has cello as second instrument but has raced ahead of piano. He does exams in both. Guitar is also his 'fun' no exam instrument!

Lotsofmilkonesugar · 06/02/2019 13:59

DD does exams on both, she sees her second instrument (piano) as a supporting study rather than a fun one though! She definitely finds her 1st instrument more fun, but she knows it will be useful to play the piano if she wants to teach music later on

NeleusTheStatue · 06/02/2019 14:01

the fun instrument (bass) became his main one
Same here! Grin

Queen, we don't dear to make DS practise in the morning at home. It happens only when he does it at school! We live in a residential area!

Re, grade for second (fun) instruments, in DS's case, he did exams for second study and didn't bother taking any for first study. Eventually he did grade 8 (only) for his first study but it was more like a let take it as an experience thing and really didn't need to do it. He did up to grade 7 for second study (skipping quite a few grades between) but now seemingly abandoned the whole exam thing for both instruments.

Boyskeepswinging · 06/02/2019 14:02

Funnily enough, I had this very conversation with my DS yesterday but regarding his third instrument. No decision made so I'll be following this discussion! He only did G8 on his first instrument and that was really just to have a piece of paper to prove he is at that standard for auditions, uni applications etc. That teacher isn't bothered about grades. He studies piano for his second instrument and that teacher is very focused on grades so he's religiously working through them. We both feel having good keyboard skills is useful for his musicianship so he's happy to plod away at the grades but he knows he's under no pressure, it's just the way the teacher prefers to teach.
However, DS was excited to learn that he now has 30 UCAS points with his Grade 8 which prompted me to ask if he wanted to start grades in the "fun" instrument but we came to no conclusion. I do worry he's got an awful lot on now that he plays in adult orchestras as well as NCO, youth orchestra etc. And the fees for exams are scary!

Original poster
CruCru · 06/02/2019 14:58

That’s an interesting point - how much are exams? Do they get more expensive the higher the grade?

OP posts:
Boyskeepswinging · 06/02/2019 15:03

Yes, they do get more expensive the higher the grade. I thought £95 was bad enough for G8 but the diploma is £161! Makes G5 Theory an absolute bargain at £38. Yet another reason why music making is becoming an increasingly middle class activity Sad

minisnowballs · 06/02/2019 15:19

Re practising, we have the huge advantage (rare in London) of having a detached house - though a very unglamorous one. DD2 does both her practices before school - which probably tells you how short they are (15 mins each at present, though I'm guessing we should be doing more) because no-one can hear us and DD1 has already left for school.

DD1 fits hers in whenever we can find the time (not enough) and she's often tired,- but music isn't her thing in quite the same way as DD2. She's getting lots of playing time in orchestras too, which has got to help?

Queenmabby - we have the Pink Panther too (love it!). DD2 takes her cello 2 this spring - it's her first grade on it, and she's only just started having lessons on her own, so we'll see how it goes. I find the whole grades thing a bit reductive, but I'm no musician - seems to mean they practise the same three pieces constantly for a bit, at the expense of learning anything new.