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Extra-curricular activities

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

Original poster

Autumn 21 music thread

334 replies

thirdfiddle · 18/09/2021 11:44

Well, we started the summer thread on a rainy day so how about an autumn thread on a sunny day?
Welcome all parents of musical young people, from total beginners to total professionals. Please come and chat in one of the friendliest and most helpful corners of MN.
What's new this term?

OP posts:
Mendingfences · 27/09/2021 19:46

Viola players seem to come in waves here, i suspect there hsve been some recruitment drives periodically, or they come after a bulge of talented violinists so the most available route into the talent program is with viola. Dd1 is a violinist who has shown no interest in the viola and dd2 went straight for double bass Grin

minisnowballs · 28/09/2021 09:46

Ha - well it's a hard ask for my not particularly musically gifted daughter, put straight into a quartet because she was the only viola and even in the ensembles she's playing a very different part from Violin 3.

Still, I tell her its character building. Impressed she's stuck it out to be honest. We thought viola quite normal as both her teacher and her head of music at school were first study viola - guess perhaps just a coincidence.

horseymum · 28/09/2021 10:32

No one in our council plays viola, it's a shame as surely it can't be any more expensive. Hopefully as the regional orchestra develops and gets back up and running there might be some who would be interested. I suspect they will say the new clef is too hard, they seem to shy away from anything challenging. Dd2 is excited to be going to orchestra for the first time after half term, principal bassoon!( Only one)

Original poster
thirdfiddle · 28/09/2021 10:57

Ha - well it's a hard ask for my not particularly musically gifted daughter, put straight into a quartet because she was the only viola and even in the ensembles she's playing a very different part from Violin 3.

Sounds like she's been really thrown in the deep end with proper viola parts. I mean, I can't complain really, DD's don't often have any violas at all, so if they had music with a viola part doing independent stuff there would just be missing lines.
Maybe like mendingfences says we need a wave - if there were a few, they might give them interesting parts, and that would make it more attractive.

OP posts:
minisnowballs · 28/09/2021 12:34

The clef is scary for sure - but no worse than for her sister who is having to manage the tenor clef on two instruments now.... Certainly the school violin teacher (down as a viola teacher too) says she doesn't like to teach it, so maybe that's part of the problem. All viola teachers seem able to teach violin!

Horsey, great news on orchestra! DD2 gets a promotion from junior to proper wind band this year - one of two bassoons - and the only one who got her instrument stuck together during the first rehearsal and had to run up to the canteen so I could unstick it. Argh. Never have these problems with the flute.

Siriusmuggle · 30/09/2021 11:45

Conservatoire applications submitted- originally 3 London plus Birmingham and RNCM. Last minute change of heart means rwcmd now added and he’s withdrawing from trinity. I’m looking forward to the audition fee refund!

londonmummy1966 · 30/09/2021 17:27

@Siriusmuggle - good luck with the conservatoires - are they online (so only one set of audition tapes) or 5 in person trips? My DD loved Cardiff but they couldn't offer her what she wanted sadly.

To all the potential violists out there I would say give it a go. My DD is the type who wants all the glory of being a front desk player but none of the hard work so viola was an easy choice for her as there were loads of really good violinists and only one viola 5 years above her. I think it helped that being a harpist meant that she was used to counting hundreds of bars of rests and then doing something flashy that everyone noticed so she had nerves of steel when it came to orchestral playing. It also meant that at CYM she got put into quartets that were significantly above her pay scale.... Having a cellist older sister who had been reading tenor clef since primary school also meant that she wasn't going to let a little thing like an alto clef defeat her!

londonmummy1966 · 30/09/2021 17:27

@Siriusmuggle - good luck with the conservatoires - are they online (so only one set of audition tapes) or 5 in person trips? My DD loved Cardiff but they couldn't offer her what she wanted sadly.

To all the potential violists out there I would say give it a go. My DD is the type who wants all the glory of being a front desk player but none of the hard work so viola was an easy choice for her as there were loads of really good violinists and only one viola 5 years above her. I think it helped that being a harpist meant that she was used to counting hundreds of bars of rests and then doing something flashy that everyone noticed so she had nerves of steel when it came to orchestral playing. It also meant that at CYM she got put into quartets that were significantly above her pay scale.... Having a cellist older sister who had been reading tenor clef since primary school also meant that she wasn't going to let a little thing like an alto clef defeat her!

Siriusmuggle · 30/09/2021 22:12

@londonmummy1966 mostly online I believe, but with varying submission dates.

minisnowballs · 01/10/2021 10:07

@londonmummy1966, the quartets at CYM were so far above DD1's pay scale that she used to cry afterwards - but then she did have to do them online. She's refused to do quartets this year - I'm hoping that the other stuff in person will get her confidence back. She loves the afternoon folk group as she plays brilliantly by ear - on both viola and violin - and understands folk better, so I'm hoping that will make her feel more at home.

With DD2, we are having a sudden conversion to singing, it would appear. She did a quick aural prep session with her Head of Department last term for an exam, sung back a melody and now has been catapulted into some terrifying afternoon singing classes where everyone else sounds like they should be on the London stage and people talk about 'protecting her voice'.

We can't really afford any more individual lessons for her, so I'm trying to convince the head of singing that the 25 minute shared singing ones at school will do for now. Gah. Keeps you on your toes, this stuff.

manuelandviolin · 01/10/2021 12:29

Just found a new thread! I have a 14 yr old violinist DS who also plays piano (only when he remembers...). He's just started playing viola in an ensemble without lessons this term. He seems to be enjoying the experience so far, which is great but part of me is hoping he won't become too keen and just stick to violin as I, or rather my bank account, really don't want to face another expensive shopping... And now he's talking about taking up the fourth instrument...

Mendingfences · 02/10/2021 06:40

Hi Manuel it seems like some kids just can't help adding new instruments. Dd1 has been solidly focussed on violin with a little side helping of piano but the other 2, i've got to the point that I almost dread someone letting near another instrument.....Luckily the brass ones are supplied free from the band 👍

londonmummy1966 · 02/10/2021 19:07

@manuelandviolin - I'd ask if they have one that they can lend him at least for the time being. If it looks like being a thing then you could ask Benslow if they could lend you one benslowmusic-ils.org/index.asp?PageID=1
We do need to encourage our violas!

@minisnowballs - so sorry to hear she was put off - perhaps by the summer she will be ready to try again. If the choir's at CYM then I'm pretty sure your daughter will have been put in one that she can handle as we found they were more likely to underestimate than over estimate singing ability.

@Siriusmuggle good luck. Tell him not to be over-perfectionist about the recordings -- DD's school only allowed two takes as they had so many to do and hers was far from perfect but she still got in!

Siriusmuggle · 02/10/2021 19:10

@londonmummy1966 I suspect his school will be the same. I just hope he gets some non London offers. Or any offers 🤣. How is yours finding it?

londonmummy1966 · 02/10/2021 22:21

@Siriusmuggle - mine is living her best life. She did Junior Guildhall until 6th form and came home buzzing every Saturday complaining that she'd rather do Guildhall Mon - Fri and school just on Saturdays. RCM seniors seems to be JD writ large so she is absolutely loving it. Halls are painfully expensive though! Having said that the Londons do have more funds for scholarships and are more generous so it can cancel out a bit.

In retrospect I think not being allowed too many takes was probably a good thing in that it didn't waste too much time - DD knows someone who did a dozen recordings and then sat and agonised for hours over which one to post.

manuelandviolin · 03/10/2021 13:32

Hello Mendingfences. It wasn't the first time DS mentioned other instruments but I always managed to dodge the request! But he brought back the viola one day and now he plays it in an ensemble and also an orchestra!

londonmummy1966 thanks for the information about the Benslow. Luckily he can use the current one for free until he leaves the school (if he wants). My concern is after that. If he becomes too keen, at some point we need to consider buying it. And now we are trying to buy a violin bow and can't think of caring other instrumental shopping... I think string instruments are generally costly, both to buy and to maintain. So the thought of owning two string instruments don't excite me... I know some people happily manage to own and maintain multiple instruments though.

Siriusmuggle · 03/10/2021 15:30

@londonmummy1966 apparently he’s got 3 recording slots booked. Along with the rest of his timetable that’s plenty for a brass player!

minisnowballs · 04/10/2021 09:44

Manuelandviolin, DD1 just uses a school viola (her violin is better) but she's at nothing like a serious standard so the fact that it has the school name written on it in Tippex isn't such a concern - though definitely uncool.

This week in her strings group there were two violas and 30 violins. Would have been a huge improvement, except there were also two viola parts so DD1 was on her own again! However, she did get to go to a viola sight-reading class for those looking to switch and look like the star. Good for her confidence at least.

We had the wettest saturday school day ever, got accosted by an excited contrabassoonist in M&S on the way home, who was clearly thrilled to see a young girl with a bassoon on her back browsing the Percy Pigs section, returned home and swiftly realised DD2's bassoon case is NOT waterproof. Oh god. It is currently spending some time in my office with me and a dehumidifier. It is the only instrument that actually frightens me - i always tell DD2 it has more accessories than her barbies used to have. Fingers crossed it recovers.

horseymum · 04/10/2021 20:13

@mini that is a worry. We have a council bassoon with a tom and will gig bag. Have never been anywhere with it so that thought hadn't crossed my mind. Hopefully it is waterproof although I think the bassoon is plastic so may be more robust. All the bits are definitely a faff. ( And expensive. A bent bit of metal tube, that's £300 odd pounds to replace, a bit of leather with a cup on the end, £50, some bits of cane wired together, £15 a pop) Her teachers advice was make friends with a cellist who packs up quickly so that if you are on a course, they can keep you a space in the lunch queue!! She does take an inordinately long time to put it away. I would happily prod around the keys on my flute but never attempted it with the bassoon. Although her teacher took a lighter to a key she bent so they must be fairly robust!

minisnowballs · 04/10/2021 22:48

@horseymum I don’t want to worry you but that is the bag dd2 has too. I’m going to spray it with the waterproofing stuff we do the tent with? Might improve things?

horseymum · 05/10/2021 07:27

Oh dear, I'll dig out the spray before orchestra, thanks for the warning!

doesanybodyhaveamap · 05/10/2021 07:50

You can actually get waterproof rain covers for about £30 - Howarths have them x

squintsoftheworldunite · 05/10/2021 08:29

My bassoonist has a waterproof cover for the case. It folds up very small and lives in the case. First case didn't have one and I made it myself. Second case it came with the case but they're sold individually too. I definitely recommend having one x

minisnowballs · 05/10/2021 08:36

I do love the expertise on this thread! Blessed instrument and all its accessories....

Thanks all - will investigate cover...BUT WHY would you not make a waterproof case? This is the UK...

Sad dd2 is slinking into school today to return school piccolo. Desperately wants to have it. Desperately wants to be in the flute group. Also desperately wants to be in the debate club that runs at the same time (her sister is in the school team and they are the national debatemate champions so it is quite a thing in school).

The teacher in charge of debate says DD2 'does too much music' and should debate instead - presumably thinks she has also inherited her parents' 'argumentative tendencies'.

The flute teacher says she can't have the piccolo unless she plays it in after school flute group. The debate teacher won (she's an actual teacher not a peri and DD2 is in awe of her).

Sigh. CYM says she can have a piccolo, but she's just got used to this one! She wants a Harry Potter style time turner, I think...

squintsoftheworldunite · 05/10/2021 12:44

Gonna be honest, I would not have taken it well a teacher saying that to my child! "I think it would be a good activity for you" is totally reasonable, but the comment about the music crosses a line, to me. That's manipulative and not their call.

Flipside, perhaps the CYM piccolo in time may feel even better than the school one

(also, my DC is at music school, so there's no such thing as too much to us and although they are carefully supervised by school to make sure they have a balance of activities alongside music, music comes first). It's OK for them to make priorities, and for them to decide where those priorities lie.