Spring 21 virtual music thread

[thirdfiddle]

New year, new lockdown, new virtual ensembles and digital exams - welcome to a new, virtual, all digital, socially distanced music thread.

This is a continuation of a very long running and friendly series of threads, dating from long before my time, and anyone with music learning kids from pre beginner to music college is welcome to jump in at any point. Thank you to our esteemed founder and to all the lovely knowledgeable folk who chip in.

PS success stories welcome too, we like a cheery post. Never mind the stealth boasting here, just boast, your kids earned it.

Didn’t know you could travel the world with nymt - that sounds amazing choco - what was your instrument?

Flute! Obviously it was a long time ago now though. And certainly pre-Covid!

@woolleybear in answer to your clarinet query, my DC changed to the next level clarinet around G5/6 so it may be time to look at an upgrade. We always had excellent advice from the teacher so maybe he/she could recommend if that’s the best option.

Thanks @Freedobby, I think that I will do that. I was going to ask if she knew of a service place anyway so will combine it all in one.

Interesting to read about the NYMT, definitely going to be looking into that in future years.

Depending on where you are @woolleybear I highly recommend Woodwind & Reed in Cambridge. No pressure from the staff when looking at options and excellent advice/after care.

Thank you for the recommendation!

Choco 👍 what an experience!

On the topic of new instruments, DDs teacher sold us her current oboe when she started, saying it will be great till about grade 8. ( It's a student one, rather than a beginner one) He also said recently that if she got into a JD, the first thing they would recommend was a new instrument. I guess this is fair as she is approximately grade 7/8 now but the double financial whammy might be a bit hard to cope with. I know nothing about clarinets, but I guess the teacher is best placed to know when they have outgrown the capability of the instrument and need a better one. I know DD is missing a couple of keys for more advanced techniques but it isn't a big issue just now. I don't know what improves the sound ( wood, craftsmanship, fittings etc?) but I expect if you try some different models you would ( hopefully!) hear a difference. I know when I got a better classical guitar as a teenager, the sound was so much better, it was more enjoyable to play and made me more keen to practice, so it may be money well spent.

@woolleybear we upgraded DD's clarinet, and the teacher was very helpful in advising what should be next. It is quite a jump in terms of cost though. We had a service of the old one anyway, but it cost only £50 with somebody local to us (reduced rates), to keep as a spare in case of injury to the new one ever.

The new one is so much nicer to play apparently, and there is a difference in the quality of sound.

The replacement was recommended by her teacher and the local music school, and we bought it through Normans (online). They also serviced it for us and arranged collection/delivery last year. It is worth checking with any schools/groups that your DC plays with, as you might be able to order through them to save on VAT.

Hello all, I'm a long-time lurker on the music threads - finally feeling brave enough to join in!

I have a DS, 10, who is a cathedral chorister and plays bassoon and piano. He's a keen bassoon player, has been learning for almost 2 years and did his G3 exam just before Christmas. Unfortunately he's now a bit stuck progress-wise as he needs to change from tenoroon to full-size bassoon for G4 and we can't visit the hire shop to try out new instruments until lockdown lifts.

He's less enthusiastic about piano but gradually warming to it (compulsory instrument for choristers at his school). G2 exam was meant to happen last Easter but was cancelled last-minute due to lockdown, and now it looks like this term's planned G3 exam won't happen either. Luckily his teacher isn't too fixated on exams and is happy for him to move up to the next grade if he's ready. The dreaded G5 theory is on the horizon some time later this year too.

Thanks all.

DD plays the bassoon also and we are having issues with that too! Unfortunately her current instrument has to be returned to the County Arts team, she is gutted! Hoping that she will be able to use a school one but no way of getting to those at the present time. Will he be using a short reach one @Vaduz? I am not sure dd will ever not be able to use one of these as she has small hands!

@woolleybear, what a shame your DD has to return her instrument. Would her school let you go in and collect a school one if they're open for children of keyworkers ?

DS will change to a short-reach as he isn't very big for his age. His teacher has suggested one particular model but the specialist hire shop recommends coming in and trying a selection to see what suits best. We hire the tenoroon from Howarth in central London and I'm looking forward to visiting their bassoon room again after lockdown - so many beautiful instruments.

Nice to see so many other young bassoonists on this thread. I've always thought it was a very niche instrument but perhaps not!

@Vaduz, she is in school a couple of days a week as I am a keyworker myself. I don't know how easy it would be to get into the music dept though. We are very lucky that they have a good set up where the library and sixth form centre are in a separate building that they are using but I do think it means the rest of the school is hut up.

I wrote a long post about bassoon but it didn't post! My DD started on the big bassoon in October, which was challenging online, as we are in Scotland so no face to face. It is much heavier and needs more air but the sound is so much more satisfying. She is only ten but her hands ( and feet!) are as big as mine so it didn't take her long to adjust.
Would recommend the Showcase Virtual youth orchestra to join for anyone who's children want a fun project to join. Parts for mini and full size bassoon, and all orchestra instruments. There will also hopefully be a big double reed day zoom at some point, so watch out for that.

Evening, could I ask the advise of anyone who’s already experienced the new performance exam system please?

DD’s submission date is 28th of this month. We were a little surprised the deadline was so early in the session. She seems to think it can be pushed back if requested, but I don’t want to inadvertently cancel our original date and end up with zero in the system...is this possible, to pick/be issued a later date? And if so, how?

Sorry for typos 😱

So many small bassoonists! I have one too. We've been so lucky as our DD (11) has been lent to use for as long as she needs the most beautiful instrument that used to belong to a friend of mine. She's only been playing for a year and obvs mostly in lockdown - but her teacher's repairman converted the instrument into a short reach for her. It feels like a bit too much for her level (very shiny and we're all a bit scared of it). Lucky girl though.

However, we are being driven mad by the fact the instrument is so bloody non-standard. Most lessons seem to be along the lines of 'yes, I know it says that in the book but the fingering on your bassoon will work better if you do x or y, because it just does - every bassoon is different you'll just need to work with it'. All of which is particularly tricky on Zoom as no-one can see anyone else's fingers properly. No wonder Howarths reminded me so much of Ollivanders. Feel like DD has joined some kind of wizarding cult.

Meanwhile her first love (the flute) remains reliably standard and the fingerings in the book actually work - and there is no need for small pots of water, seat straps and endless fuss with reeds. I can see why flute is so popular... Perhaps I will learn to love the bassoon as my dd does, but at the moment its behaviour is not endearing.

I now have an image of the parents of small bassoonists across the country reaching out to mumsnet as nobody locally understands their trials. They will be popular if they stick with it!

I literally know no other parents whose children play bassoon, it's not offered in our region so we have private lessons. The teachers other pupils are in different areas so never met them! The water pots are insanely annoying I would suggest a magnetic one ( from crook and staple). Or just attach a magnet to any small pit then stick to stand, no more spilt water everywhere. Bassoons are a different breed if instrument, I think there are 13 keys in total for the two thumbs, no other instrument has this level of complexity I think! Flute fingering is much more logical, at least for the first two octaves.

I would love to visit howarths one day! And the Early must shop to look at recorders!

Hi bassoon parents,
My 11year is a bassoonist. We've never had a tenoroon or short reach, teacher wanted us to wait til she could do a full size because of the sound quality and the benefits of building up the air needed for it. We found the issue of hand size wasn't as important as hand stretch. She has a wide reach, even though she has quite small hands. Started on a student bassoon and now on the bassoon that will last til college. Its absolutely true about each instrument working better with different fingerings. Dd and her teachers bassoons are vastly different in what fingerings work best and its something that is adjusted regularly (though her second teacher has a bassoon that behaves very similarly to me daughters). So wonderful hearing about all these other little bassoonists!

Magnetic water pots? That’s a whole new level of accessorising - we were solemnly handed an old film canister by dd’s teacher when she started - along with an M&S ‘curiously strong mints’ tin for reeds. I assumed that was just what you had to have! Yesterday I dropped the nasty water all over the iPad after her lesson. And swore.

I guess the ‘many fingerings’ thing makes sense squints- it’s just blessedly difficult on zoom when I’m also trying to do my work while dd’s lesson is going on and she’s not taking detailed-enough notes. She’s not had a single lesson in person on this instrument and that makes it really tricky.

This is hilarious, we have an m and s strong mints tin for reeds too!! Just bung a magnet on your film canister, I hated having wet patches on carpet all the time.

No magnetic water pots in our house, just a small tupperware cylinder. I was thinking about getting a folding bassoon stand, so that it could stay assembled to avoid DS's moaning about putting it together to practice, but the only ones I've seen online are a bit pricey for a casual purchase.

The ability to experiment with fingering was one of the things that attracted DS to the bassoon. He doesn't seem to have too much trouble remembering which keys to use, which is good because I can't make head or tail of bassoon fingering charts - looks like hieroglyphics to me! In non-lockdown times he boards at his choir school so is generally pretty independent about music practice.

Howarth's is wonderful, a rabbit-warren of beautiful instruments and weird-looking accessories. They have a whole room filled with nothing but bassoons and the staff are lovely. When we first went there to try out tenoroons, the staff member helping us had her contrabassoon with her. She let DS try it and gave him the huge contra reed to keep as a souvenir (then she told me how much a contrabassoon costs and I had to sit down )

Horseymum... No way!!! That's exactly what we have, for the in use ones. We also have a gorgeous hand carved (charity shop) box for the proper stash