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Extra-curricular activities

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Original poster

Autumn term 2019 music thread

420 replies

thirdfiddle · 30/08/2019 16:45

September is looming, the old thread is getting full - I think it's time for a new music thread. This is a support thread for parents of children who are into music or indeed just thinking about giving it a try.

Perplexed about starting the piano? Experimenting with ensembles? Concerned about college applications? All welcome here. Huge thanks to those lending their expertise and sage advice and particularly wafflenose for starting the threads.

So, new school year, what's new with your mini musicians?

OP posts:
PetraDelphiki · 24/10/2019 15:02

FWIW in brass all the first cornets in dh’s band and all but one of the thirds are female...3 men in seconds but that’s all! Dds Orchestra is 4 trumpets - 2 of each...

SE13Mummy · 24/10/2019 20:55

@PetraDelphiki that's brilliant!

DD1's brass band has only one female in front row cornets and only one male in the back row, the main and the wind orchestra at JD has all males in its brass section, the big band is half and half but the brass chamber groups tend to be one female and four or five males.

DD2's brass band (not the same one as DD1) has no females on the front row, one on repiano and two on third. She plays in a concert band in which she is one of two female brass players. In my concert band, there is only one female brass player too.

PetraDelphiki · 25/10/2019 10:46

Dd plays in dh’s band when she can too!!!

At Brass Academy over the summer every front row teumpet/cornet was female...I think all bar about 2 in total were!! In that instrument anyway! More mixed in others tho...

woolleybear · 25/10/2019 17:01

The same four instruments were considered rare here a few years ago. A rare instruments day was organised and then they selected children who then received free group lessons on that instrument for a year. This is how dd got started on the bassoon. She is lucky now that she has joined a school with other bassoon players so is still able to choose to play her clarinet in some ensembles. Last year she was the only bassoon in the junior orchestra but another one has started this year.

OneLovelySister · 26/10/2019 23:14

Wow, thanks everyone for all the interesting thoughts about choosing an instrument Smile

I have seen pBones! The mother of a very little chap told me all about them, when I asked what was the instrument her son had brought along to a workshop at an LSO family concert (it was a pBone mini).

Looking them up online, we happened across this marvellous by Christopher Bill which we all love (I’m certain Prince would’ve approved). And, , we discovered the excellent , too.

DS is still too little for a full-size trombone of any sort so I’ll remind him about the pBone mini. He’s not yet six, but with his older DSis playing an instrument, I worry he’s missing out a bit. Seb Skelly brass inspo playlist at the ready Grin

thirdfiddle, we’ll see what spring brings. I hope DD isn’t right at the end of the exam period again; there’s only so long a family can listen to three pieces over and over, so the earlier the better!

PetraDelphiki · 27/10/2019 09:55

I believe you can also get pTrumpets (sounds a bit like a dinosaur to me!!!)

Thistly · 27/10/2019 15:22

Hi, has anyone got any experience making a claim for a musical instrument loss? My dd left her bag on the bus. 😭 If anyone has been through this, it would be super helpful to know a bit about the process.

Thistly · 27/10/2019 15:31

(I mean a claim from an insurance policy)

Boyskeepswinging · 27/10/2019 17:43

Oh no Thisly how annoying! I guess you need to contact your insurance company ASAP and take it from there. Do you have specialist musical instrument insurance? Have you contacted the bus company? It might turn up (fingers crossed).

Thistly · 27/10/2019 18:18

Hi boys, thanks for the sympathy. I got a no off one possible bus company, the other i will contact tomorrow. I will then get in touch with the insurer. Yes it is a specialist music insurance, and I hope it will all be ok. Of course the instruments will never be the same and she has lost all her personal notess etc, so she is gutted.

Lotsofmilkonesugar · 27/10/2019 19:24

Sorry to hear that thistly what a nightmare... I would try going down in person to the bus station where the bus terminated, I had success finding my daughter’s school bag there although they denied all knowledge over the phone! I think things tend to be put on a shelf and forgotten..

PaddingtonPaddington · 27/10/2019 20:29

@Thistly sorry to hear that. No experience of instrument loss but DD left her PE kit on the bus and it turned up about a week later. Definitely agree with @Lotsofmilkonesugar that in person visit seems to work wonders.

Knotaknitter · 27/10/2019 20:38

DS got off the bus without his instrument once, as he told it he was swept along by the press of bodies rather than wandering off and leaving it. I was lucky in that it was a contract bus, as soon as the bus returned to the depot it was found and they rang the school, the school rang me (DS was the only possibility given the size of the case) and I fetched it in time to return it to school for his lesson. After that I attached a large luggage label with my phone number on so the coach company could ring me directly (not that he ever lost it again).

I hope that yours is sitting in lost property somewhere waiting for you to claim it.

OneLovelySister · 27/10/2019 21:24

Was there anything on it/with it that might help a member of the public return it to her school (assuming she’s school age) after half term (assuming it’s been half term where you are)?

Thistly · 27/10/2019 21:46

Thanks for your messages!
I have been to the depot and the lead driver said he hadn't seen it, and he would have. I could try again tomorrow. I have 2 more leads to follow.
I have prior experience of successful reunification with lost items on public transport so I will pursue it to the limit.

Inside, most of the music has phone numbers written on it, so anyone wanting to return it could have done so.

She will learn (I hope she will also learn that she doesn’t need to take ALL her music books with her to her lessons, just the ones she needs. Usually she gets lifts, but I was away for a few days so she had to use the buses....

Original poster
thirdfiddle · 27/10/2019 22:19

Oh no, what a pain thistly. Everything crossed that it shows up but I'd probably give your insurer a heads up first thing tomorrow too.

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SE13Mummy · 27/10/2019 23:06

@Thistly sorry to hear about the forgotten instrument. It's something my brother did regularly when we were at secondary school and the instrument always got back to him eventually.

It's probably worth posting on Facebook and Twitter in local groups, ideally with a photo of the case/bag so people know what to look out for. I know I've seen posts in Facebook groups where a member of the public has posted to say they found a flute which they've taken home and will take to the police station tomorrow, or a trumpet that was left at a bus stop and was handed in to a local shop. In both cases, the instruments and owners were reunited although it took a few days for contact to be made. It's because of this that all our cases have personalised metal/dog tags with initial.familyname followed by my mobile number fixed to the outside so no initiative is required should either DD forget to pick up their instrument.

PetraDelphiki · 28/10/2019 05:56

Having had a nightmare of lost luggage before (Not instruments thankfully) I make sure every case case in the house has a luggage label with phone numbers and email addresses on...

Dds violin teacher left her extremely valuable violin on a train once (with no name label) and did get it back...so there is hope!

I do wonder if there is a market for very small gps trackers to attach to instruments...

magnaconcordia · 28/10/2019 08:54

I'm sure I've seen gps trackers somewhere - when I got a full size violin for DS, I remember considering getting it.

Thistly · 28/10/2019 09:40

Great news! Her bag has been handed in. I need to go to a different depot to pick it up.
Hopefully everything is still in it! Thanks for your words of encouragement everyone. I think we need to review her bag and how it works.... and love the idea of a mini gps.
Dd is dyslexic so she is often forgetful... might be perfect for her.

Original poster
thirdfiddle · 28/10/2019 09:46

Hooray thistly! Great news.

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OneLovelySister · 28/10/2019 10:15

Phew!

On not leaving things behind, the only way is to practice always looking back and scanning the area you’re leaving, as you go, until it’s habit. (I learned this the hard way.)

That said, I’m Googling mini GPS trackers right now...

Thistly · 28/10/2019 10:31

On not leaving things behind, the only way is to practice always looking back and scanning the area you’re leaving, as you go, until it’s habit. (I learned this the hard way.)

I will read this out to her later!

SE13Mummy · 28/10/2019 12:37

A few years ago I posted on here to ask if anyone knew of any GPS tracker type devices that could be used for instruments. I don't think there were any that fitted the bill and were affordable, lots were things that would only work within a particular distance of the phone/whatever was doing the tracking. That's why we opted for low-tech... and have trained the DDs to make sure one part of their body is hooked through the strap of any instrument case they're carrying on public transport.

Original poster
thirdfiddle · 28/10/2019 14:08

Talking about leaving things on public transport
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50195591?fbclid=IwAR0ImRpREWaBDDT-SRtwdZMFXoG55R6XjMExK0GRsadoTKfZ4ABhvd9TV5Y

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