Spring 22 music thread

[thirdfiddle]

Roll up roll up for a new term of music parenting! This is a long meandering series of threads for all things musical. Please do say hi if you're new or lurking.
Delighted to see on the last thread that musical things are up and running again in the new term despite some covid nerves. Here's hoping for a smooth normal as possible run.

It seems to vary massively geographically what is available.

I'm still laughing at DD2's description of tutor time this week in which her tutor (geography teacher) asked what the children had done on their holidays. DD2 (for some reason known only to her) apparently decided it would sound less 'elitist' to tell him she'd passed a bassoon exam than that she'd been on the youth choir course or been on a short holiday.

The teacher then got very confused as to what a bassoon was, and she tried to explain it to him with friends of hers shouting 'it's like a big stick'.. 'it's a big drainpipe', 'it's as big as her' as she did so. Have images of him going home and googling a baboon and wondering why DD2 spent her holidays with a large monkey-like thing.

Next time perhaps she could she just tell him that we went to Spain for a few days?

@StuntNun Sight reading is about practice but targeted practice to get better. I would second the 'Improve your sight reading' by Paul Harris,its a structured approach looking at rhythm, melody, etc. It gives steps for approaching a piece logically to produce a musical performance. One of the key things is the overall musical feel, rather than every note being correct. Honestly don't stress about merit vs distinction at this level, the key is him having fun and progressing. You also don't need to do every exam as it can put them off if they spend too long on pieces. Hope it goes well.

@Vatacito my DD was 6 when she started violin - made reasonable progress then broke her shoulder and had a year out. started again at 7.5yrs - she turned 10 in Jan and has just passed g6 with distinction. she started harp 2 years ago, progress has been much slower has her teacher moves at a glacial pace but she is now preparing for g3.
DS started cello at 6; that was 2 years ago and he's now working towards g5 this summer.
both have attend Trinity JD since September.

@horseymum this might be a stupid question, but with the 'improve your sight reading' books would you just start with the current grade or are there techniques covered in the earlier books that might not be re covered in the later grades please? I'm assuming I'd just pick up the next grade but wanted to check

No question is daft! My dd started on the grade 6 one in preparation for grade 7. She then did the grade 7 one. It seemed to help having done the one before but I have another child who will use them so will get my money's worth! It seems to go through all the stages each time though so doesn't assume you have done a previous one.

Thanks - that's helpful. DS scored badly in sight reading at gr 5 flute which I was surprised by as his ability to 'read' the music is really good- but it's the musicality and timing, rhythmic quality etc that lets him down (suspect the piece was in compound time and he messed up his counting). I've been taking a no prisoners approach on counting and phrasing on the studies he's working on which is really helping but think that I'll pick up the grade 6 version then even though he probably won't sit that exam.

Ds says his sight reading really improved last week at NYMT when he was playing for dance rehearsals. The important thing was not necessarily getting all the notes right but keeping the rhythm and main structure going.

I think that's the important thing @Comefromaway and something that you do need to learn. I'm hoping more ensemble playing will help too but he's only just 11 so probably needs some guidance with these things. Also for kids who have mainly learnt in lockdown there is a big gap in that sight reading in public experience.

Definitely focus on musicality. My friends D's had a teacher who was an examiner and I think the Ds exaggerated slightly but said his teacher told him the notes were the least important bit, it's rhythm, dynamics etc. There is a BBC podcast of the listening service by Tom service call about sight reading and playing from memory,bits fascinating. In an ensemble it's much more important to be at the right time and with the right quality eg attack etc than the right note. Don't be afraid to be wrong! Too much having to record etc has probably made kids perfectionist rather than willing to give it a go.

We had a bit of a breakthrough with sight reading when the kids realised that the right note in the wrong place is the wrong note. Interestingly the one who started with drums never had that problem - for him rhythm is naturally king 😁

DC have both become good at sight reading by dint of playing in more ensembles than they could possibly practice the parts for.

Doesn't really work for piano, I guess equivalent might be accompanying but you need to be a pretty good level before that becomes feasible.

I have a question. DS has progressed a long way in piano (to grade 7 in under four years), mainly by musicality and sight-reading ability. He has never really needed to practise difficult bits over and over, just plays through pieces and they generally sort themselves out.

However, he's now getting to a stage where his teacher is saying he needs to actually practice difficult bits. But he doesn't really know how! And I don't want him to be put off the general joy of playing.

I've suggested he should spend, say, 20 minutes playing through new stuff, and 20 minutes practising difficult passages in whatever he's working on. LH and RH separately, properly concentrating on fingering, etc. Does that sound about right? His teacher just says 'practice properly', but I'm not sure DS knows what that means!

We had the same issue with ds. I think it generally means slowing everything down and focusing on accuracy and even tone etc. My ds wants to sight read through everything at performance speed!!!!!

@herbaceous sounds good. You could try getting him to play the difficult bits in different rhythms and speeding them up from the tempo they should be. Both of these make them harder and expose any fingering etc that needs work.

Also you could try recording and playing back either sections or whole pieces.

Good luck with the G7!

Excellent advice both.

He’s got his grade 7 - but only with a pass. He’s winged all previous exams and got distinctions, hence now the need to practise and improve properly!

The teacher really needs to model what a practice session looks like. Eg scales in the key of the piece, finger exercises if appropriate ( we still use dozen a day for my youngest, you can transpose them into any key). Isolate bars and do with metronome. Start from last bar, then second last and last, working backwards. In no way does my DS do this, he's brilliant at the first page of any piece as he stops when he goes wrong and restarts! He's lucky to have talent but hard work can get along way too.

Well yes. It would be helpful if the teacher actually said what he meant! I have in fact suggested playing a scale (arpeggio, etc) in the key of whatever he's going to play, partly as a way of getting his scales practised too!

He is indeed talented, but I wonder what he could do if he worked hard too...

He is indeed talented, but I wonder what he could do if he worked hard too...

Ahhh kids. I keep thinking that about my DS too. Tho not grade 7 in four years sort of talented, that is /very/ impressive.

I actually say down with mine today and persuaded him to let me help. He's determined to play a particular piece for music festival which is really hard for him, so that may be motivation. He's inclined to explode at interference.
Oh the difference a metronome makes though!

I think if your DS thinks about the way he works on sections in his lesson, he should be trying to do similar things at home. So many things I could suggest but it really depends on what he's working on and what is wrong with it. Which his teacher will already be addressing in the lessons. If he's really stuck for what to do he might try recording a section then listening back as critically as he can. It may be with long g7-8 pieces he's looking at it as a whole and working on all that seems intimidating. He should pick a short section to try to improve each day. If he wants to play through too he can but you don't need to always do that.

We've had a morning of whinge about having to take pieces apart and do the difficult bits @herbaceous - DD is also 12 and passed grade seven flute (just before Christmas, and with a somewhat underwhelming 116) and is finding it hard to know how to get better. The constant 'my tone is bad today, I don't know how to fix it. There is just no way to improve', is wearing.

I'm wondering if
a) she needs a longer lesson than half an hour (though her teacher wins prizes for efficiency)
b) she needs to keep doing scales - her teacher only sets exercises when she's not doing direct exam prep so obviously she doesn't do any
c) she just needs to mature a bit before she improves again - perhaps these are just plateaus...

So sorry, that's not help, just empathy, but I'm stealing all the ideas from this thread for her. It would also help if she didn't play two other instruments (and voice) and if she spent less time playing everything on the piccolo as well, to concentrate on the flute. Horsey, I am in awe of your ability to get a child to use a metronome and do finger exercises - I just get snarled at...but then I'm not musical and don't UNDERSTAND apparently (12 also quite a hormonal age, I'm finding).

Ah the metronome..... my kids have a tendency to either view it as a punishment or simply argue that it is wrong 🤪

Dd2 is also a multi-instrumentalist. I tend to take the view that its all good musical development and sometimes one instrument needs to take a back seat for a while. Flute is currently just treading water because of braces (also baritone) but her flute teacher has got her doing all sorts of stuff like modal scales (which she claims to "hate" even more than blues scales, but still serms tobe rather enjoying her lessons - I swear her teacher is a Saint!)

Oddly as a musical theatre devotee ds likes playing with metronome as it is the convention in musical theatre to play to a Click Track in your ear!

He despises scales with a passion.

@thirdfiddle

He's working on Debussy's Arabesque no 1 for a school concert - he needs an aim! Four of the five pages are almost perfect, but the second page is tricky. So he's just been stumbling through it until he gets back to familiar ground. I think it's the accidentals in the left hand...

He too is a multi-instrumentalist. His first, I guess, is voice - as a chorister he sings for about 18 hours a week, plus a lesson. He's just got 143 for his grade 6. He also plays French Horn, which has suddenly got loads better with lots of ensemble playing. (Prob about grade 5).

His constant immersion in music seems to have embedded itself in his neural pathways - he can just sit at the piano and compose something amazing off the cuff, or play whatever he's just heard on the radio, by ear, in correct four-part harmony.

So - in common with lots on this thread - the concept of having to actually work at something that he's accustomed to coming so easy to him is alien. He will only do scales, under duress, in the weeks before the exam, and gets a bit arsey with his teacher when he points out the fact he's making loads of errors!

I've never had to make him practise, and don't want it to become a chore, but will suggest the ideas upthread to him to make him feel they were his all along!

Perhaps I can rebrand a metronome as a click track, and tell her it's a musical theatre thing (musical theatre being the highest goal in this house apparently), @Comefromaway !

Ds uses a digital one on his phone although we do also have a traditional wooden one. He has some MT pit musicians he watches videos of, they are all on click. I'll find out some names.

So DS will never use a metronome, he plays piano for fun and I can't really get him to change the way he practices but the other two have been drilled into using it by their woodwind teacher right from the start. I think you have to play things strictly before you start adding your own interpretation. At grade 7 dd has 45 minutes oboe which helps as the pieces get longer. Long notes with a tuner, breathing exercises, scales are all part of her practice, not just for exams, her teachers are quite strict but fun. She has also always done a lot of repertoire which helps, it's not just exam pieces. She got 137 in grade 7 and I think being really confident in the supporting tests helped to as these had previously been a weak point. I think getting a grade 7 pass at 12 is fab, and there is no rush to do another exam, maybe consolidate, improve tone, expression, sight-reading etc. Do some festivals or chamber music.