Autumn 2020 music thread

[thirdfiddle]

Oh go on then, let's have a new music thread. Spring wasn't good.
What's going on music parents? Are they going back to real live lessons? Is it all virtual for Autumn? Have they sustained interest over lockdown? Any new starters want to join us - or new departures for established musicians?

Yes - I've been thinking of you too @mbell - really hope your daughter is now able to take her exam.

Sadly the stars just did not align this time. The piano accompanist was not available even though I did manage to find a teacher hosting private visits.

Thank you for the advice from everyone on this board.

We’re parking grade 7 for now. Starting grade 8 repertoire and then will fresh the pieces in March. DD is ok with it all but soooooo deflated at the time.

Goodness, lots of congratulations due! Horseymum congrats to your DD for NYOS. Mini, distinction for exam logistics and nerve. OneLovelySister, congratulations on DD's exam and specially on your new small family member !! We don't get many of those on the music threads.

Mbell sorry it didn't work out for your DD's exam. Does she absolutely need to come back to it? Sounds a bit dismal. Noone needs g7. Though guess she might find coming at it from behind gives her a different perspective on the music.

Oh, what a shame, so sorry to hear that. Of course, the progress has still been made, and preparing for an exam/event is useful preparation practice, but it’s hard on DC, especially at your DD’s level, to miss out on showing what they’ve achieved.

I’m sure she’ll do well taking the Grade 7 exam in March - sometimes it works out surprisingly well to neglect a practised thing for a bit and come back to it later.

Your poor dd mbell - we had that with dd's Grade 5 - I tell you, this generation are going to be amazing with setbacks - they will be super resilient. I am looking forward to them being in charge!

Is anyone else struggling to get any sort of response out of ABRSM? My child took two exams 6 weeks ago - one was back within a week. The other is still marked as pending and we have had zero response to emails. Any thoughts appreciated

ItsCovid, ABRSM took three days to get back about correcting DD’s date of birth, but I still haven’t had a response about correcting her surname for the certificate (emailed three weeks ago). Are they still not taking phone calls? Have you tried Twitter, if you use it? Hope it’s sorted soon.

mbell, thirdfiddle has a point. And one silver lining (for parents, at least) of missing out on the exam is saving the fee... to pay for the next one!

Thanks, thirdfiddle DD1 is only 10.5yo, so younger than many DC on these threads, but new DD2 was definitely a last-chance effort (I’m 43)!

On last year’s (pre-Covid) autumn thread, I had some very helpful replies re DS and instrument choice. He did go for trombone in the end, and started at the beginning of this term (on a pBone mini). I’d be interested to hear from any parents of small trombonists how long before it sounds... musical? (I’m trying hard not to compare to DD1’s beginner flute sounds!)

Hello,

My son is sitting grade 2 piano - will he be expected to wear a mask as he has glasses and they fog up?

His sight reading has inexplicably gone backwards whereas a month ago it was great - so we are not going to worry and hopefully they are not too harsh. It is his first exam. His teacher thinks he is grade 3 level but we thought we would try grade 2 as an entry level.

Thanks

How old is he snowpan? If primary age i think he doesn't need to wear one anyway. Hopefully someone will know about the rest. Good luck!

I like it when teachers pitch exam a bit below child's level. Quick and painless and then you can move on to different things not spend 6 months on the same 3 pieces.

onelovelysister in my experience (i'm a volunteer with å kids windband) brass beginners often take å while to develop a decent tone and spend å while in the wilderness somewhere between note and fart.... trombonists have the added challenge of slide positions and tuning. Something that i have found helps is to challenge them to try and play very quietly/loudly start quiet and get louder and vice versa, play it to sound 'spikey' or 'soft and round' all of which gets them focussing on the sound they are making (when they start out it can be hard to hear any actual difference but it gets them thinking about how they sound).

@snowpan It said on the website that if over the age of 11 (and that was the wording, which is why I noticed, because dd is 11 so I wasn't actually sure whether she was mandated to wear one or not - she's at secondary so I decided that must be the cut off and she wore one in the waiting room) they must wear a mask when waiting and that 'facemasks should be removed as appropriate' in the exam. He'd have to remove it for the aural tests anyway so I should imagine it would be fine. Dd took off her mask to go into the exam (wind player) and no-one suggested she should have been wearing it to go into it. I suspect he'll be fine to remove it.

Good luck to him!

Thank you. He has just turned 11 years. But it is his first exam.

Thank you so much for the response.

There are some amazing grades being achieved on this thread.

He knows some children at school with grade 5 or going for grade 6 and they are his age. So he doesn't feel confident he said others are doing higher grades.. maybe I am not that good, he was told that grade 2 was easy.

So I have had to say please don't compare yourself. You have not been playing a long time so just give it a go.

Looking ahead - he already has the grade 3 music and says he wants to play four pieces for the performance grade. So I will chat to the teacher.

He has heard about this from school friends.

Is it better to do the typical grade 3 or can he just do the pieces and performance grade 3?

I just wonder what people think about the grades where you just play the pieces rather than the additional aural etc.

We are probably best just seeing how he goes with grade 2 first l!

How mean kids telling him his grade is easy. Perhaps he should ask them what grade they were doing after learning for x years. Or perhaps not because that isn't the point either. The point is learning and enjoying music. For the same reason I wouldn't ask teacher about next exam unless teacher asks you. There's so much else to do.

Mendingfences, the note-fart wilderness is about right. Your tips for thinking about the sound are really helpful I’ll pass them on to DP, we’ll work on that

(DP played cornet in his teens so he’s taken on helping DS with trombone practice; I owned a recorder in primary school so I got DD and her flute I would’ve said I got the better deal, until DD got some new pieces a couple of weeks back. These notes with an abundance of ledger lines... my poor ears!)

snowpan, everyone starts somewhere and I think it’s probably a good idea to take an ‘easier’ grade exam early on, if you plan on doing exams at all. They’re quite a unique experience so it’s good to have ‘been there and done that’ (and, hopefully, been successful) when the stakes are lower, iyswim.

Juggling Good to hear your DC is enjoying it. Mine is too, but her course is totally on line till autumn 2021.

For anyone thinking of the US Conservatories, feel free to ask me about the process, since that's where DD went - though she is a Composer not a Performer. In the first term we've found that there are some huge adjustments - their technical language is different from everywhere else in the world, and every assignment counts towards your grade BUT you can get them pre-reviewed by the tutor/TA to make sure you are on the right lines. It's weird.

No grade is easy, snowpan - my dad has been taking them as an adult and they are blooming hard - I reckon you need nerves of steel. Hope it went well (assuming it was this session).

Dd got her results back today - a decent merit for grade 6 flute (125). In the circumstances she's pretty pleased with that - I think in a normal year (without grade 5 being cancelled in march and not having had face to face lessons) she might have done better, but I'm delighted it's done and so is she!

Great news, minisnowballs, what a super slightly early Christmas present Well done to your DD!

Let’s hope by the time next grade exams come around, we’re not having to factor in self-isolation, lockdowns, fear of stricken accompanists etc.

Hello all! I’ve been reading back through the thread and so great to see so many accomplishments despite the current circumstances!
DD is just starting to prep for grade 2 cello in March so I’ve reinstated the ‘scales and arpeggios lucky dip’ (shes 7 so seems to make memorising them marginally more enjoyable!) however shes had a complete crisis when it comes to the shifts in them - I think as a result of the teacher not being able to write in her book anymore and of a lack of face to face lessons.
Would anyone be able to help me out with what numbers to write above the notes? She seems to think if she has this she’ll understand but I don’t read music myself and can’t find what she wants anywhere!

We’re looking for:
A major scale
Bb major scale
G major scale
A major arpeggio
Bb major arpeggio

All in the ABRSM Grade 2 cello scale book.

Thanks in advance

I'll have a look at what's written in DD2s book - I think it runs grade 1 to 5 so should still have the fingerings in it. Unless there's someone who is actually musical here who can help more quickly.

@Pes0penguin - I hope these might help - some fingerings on them in pencil? They mean nothing to me and are from a while ago but they might help you?

Thank you so much mini! Exactly what we needed - now to tempt the child to practice to see if she can actually remember said finger placings! Huge thanks again x

So glad that this thread exists. I am wondering if anyone know of any online brass ensembles for kids. My DD is missing being part of an orchestra.

For anyone looking for a virtual orchestra for children, this organisation has been brilliant, it's free with lots of fun music.
www.showcasemusicschool.com/virtualorchestra