Autumn 22 music thread

[thirdfiddle]

Hi all - I thought it was a while since we've had a new thread so how about one for the new school year? Would be lovely to pick up some new families too, all welcome at any stage of music learning from out of tune singing 2 yr olds to music college aspirants.

DD fancies learning tuba, largely because there aren't a lot of tuba players around. Viola was chosen over violin on the same basis. However, ain't no way that's happening. Semi detached house and the neighbours have been known to make pointed comments about singing practice, can only imagine how they'd feel about a tuba!

Yes I saw that - no wonder they wanted dd on bassoon rather than flute!

She's now trying to get her excerpts sorted for an LSSO audition (year 9 does seem to be the year when you can do all the orchestras- so apparently she's trying for this one as well) - fiendish bits of Rachmaninov and Sibelius on flute and piccolo - and since I have Covid this is going straight through my poor head.

Anyone else waiting for an NYO inspire email today? It's probably a very small chance dd would be able to go to anything even if offered but we are hopeful at least!

did you hear anything @horseymum ? Hope she gets something she can do?

De - lurking to add that if you've not been emailed by Inspire, get your DC to check their NYO account under "my dates". For some reason stuff appears there well before emails are sent.

Thanks @TheTurn0fTheScrew - I can now see DD2 has a residential in Feb halfterm and an orchestra day in April....we hadn't received any email. Hope everyone else has what they want...

Oh thanks for that, I'll look now.

She got an ensemble in Feb ( just after half term!) so will need to decide if she can miss three days of school. It's the risk with applying to an essentially English organisation that it won't suit Scottish dates. Also an orchestra day in April but she has JD then and it's an orchestra weekend so can't miss that. So we might go to one thing, which would be fun for her.

ah @horseymum that is tricky - it may well be the same ensemble as my dd2 - a woodwind one - but it is in our half term. Would be good to do something of course!

Reading through DD's lesson notes from yesterday. She's been playing a couple of the pieces in the 2021/22 piano syllabus just because she liked one of the jazz pieces and she learned another one over the summer before starting with her new teacher.

Her teacher has suggested that I get the scales book and the sight reading for the grade so guessing this means he thinks she should take it, but also that he wants her to get the 2023/24 syllabus for the same grade as the one she's already learnt a couple of pieces on. I think it's because she hasn't done grade 5 theory yet - she's doing it at her Sat music center but technically should sit it in June next year - and whilst he's suggested getting on with covering the material by the end of Dec that isn't really in line with their teaching schedule.

If she doesn't gr 5 theory separately to her group, I can see that there would only be one sitting left on the overlap year for the syllabus and so that wouldn't give her chance to resit with the same syllabus, but on the other hand, I wouldn't expect her to fail, and even if she did, I wouldn't get her to resit unless she was desperate to. Am wondering though whether he's not aware that ABRSM have kept the 1 year overlap period post covid, rather than the one session they used to have.

So much for an exam free year too - plus DS seems to be working on piano and flute exam pieces. All I need now is for DDs violin teacher to suggest an exam too and we'll have the full house!

I have a dd who is so very bored of her prep for violin exam in less than two weeks. Cannot wait for the exam to be over so we can move on to more new pieces! Anyone know what the jump from g1 to g2 violin is like? It doesnt seem massive to my uneducated eyes!

Hi Beary, hope the exam goes well. We've never really thought in terms of a jump from one grade to the next, they just play lots of music on a continuum, often having a mixture of easier and harder pieces to develop different skills. So it's more like a gradual improvement. The exam pieces are a very small part of what they play and they have done the pieces almost as an after thought when they are well confident at that level, rather than spending months trying to learn only three pieces. For both their woodwind instruments, they could almost sight read the pieces at a basic level before working on them because they were at the right level. For me, if they take 9 months to learn say, a grade 3 single melody line piece, they aren't ready and need to do more repertoire to bridge the gap. Scales are done all the time. The only exception is grade 8 piano where dd is taking much longer to learn the pieces as they are longer and quite tricky. That's just the way our teachers have worked though as they don't really believe in just learning three exam pieces, then the next three. Others will have a different approach. The grades are not a complete curriculum and you don't have to sit every exam. Otherwise you lose the joy, which is the whole point!

Hi @Bearyinlove , agree with @horseymum's comments about going from one exam to another without any wider playing not being great but also conscious that if you do lessons via school this can be all that's available. At DDs school strings lessons are group lessons only and once they start exams it's one to the next and only one sitting a year. (It's one of the reasons we don't do school lessons! )

More specifically gr 1 to gr2 on violin isn't substantially different. It introduces some more notes (c natural, f natural and b flat I think in particular) but all pieces still in 1st position. Obviously the pieces will be longer and have some slurring in too I think, but if there is an option to do some non exam music first that would likely be more interesting.

If carrying on through the grades is the only option though maybe add some Christmas music for a bit of fun after the exam? The 'fiddle time Christmas' is nice and accessible for around grade 1 ish

Thanks for your thoughts. For me, i think she is close to g2 level level in some ways already, so like you were saying, i would ideally like her to play lots of different music for 6- 10 months then this time next year maybe just do g3 instead (or the term or two after if needed).
I feel like progress has stalled as she been ready for the exam since early sept really as she learned the pieces in the summer hols. Exam prep seems to stall progress rather than just cracking on regularly with new pieces!

Thanks, yes it is through school but i seem to pretty much setting syllabus by buying pieces and sending them in really! I have lined up christmas music and some other post grade one books already thanks to a good charity shop haul! She has been working steadily through the next tutor book since i gave it to her a few weeks ago and hopefully her teacher will start listening and helping with those pieces soon. She has individual 20 min lessons during term time and the teacher seems good from what my daughter says which is nice. Its all new to me and sometimes i feel like a pushy parent but as lessons are £££ i am keen she gets the most of out it all.

@Bearyinlove do you get to speak to the teacher ever - might be worth asking them about next steps?

Sounds like she's keen which is great, and its really good to make the most of that enthusiasm. Do you play? with violin there is a lot of technique to work on especially at the outset -so just being able to play through the pieces is very different from working on the left hand position or the bowing etc and you don't want to push onto harder pieces if they're working on a particular thing as it takes away from it. My DD is around grade 4-5ish standard but i notice when she is focusing on trickier note sequences her bowing get much less good or her hand position slips back so its balancing all those things.

As a beginner the key is to just do lots of practice little and often to make sure that she continues to progress. Once she gets to grade 2 kind of standard there are usually ensembles from that level and that makes it much more fun too. DD plays in a local holiday youth orchestra as well as a couple of weekly ensembles and they really improve certain aspects of her playing so might be worth seeing what ensembles there are she could play in too to give some relief from grades?

Hi beary, sounds like you have a keen one, sympathies on the exam frustration! Early exams really aren't vital at all if you have a child who's engaged and progressing without. Or any exams really. DD has only done G5 on violin so far and says she doesn't want to do any more till g8.

They have ensembles right from open strings stage at our music centre, agree with northern I'd definitely recommend if you have something local.

Parent choosing music is unusual I think - are you concerned about teacher's choices? What I tend to do is have some random music in for sight reading and holiday fun, but teacher mostly chooses in term time, increasingly in discussion with DD. And actually teacher pushes faster than I would on violin because I want things to be perfect but teacher knows when to call that's a good level for the stage child is at and move on.

Hi,

She is in a weekly music centre strings ensemble which she adores. I think we tend to choose and teach the pieces at home as there were big gaps with her lessons at school at the start of the year due to covid etc and so it has worked out that way. Tbf it works well if teacher can then spend time on technique rather than sight reading etc. Also pieces come from books recommended from the teacher so perhaps not fair to say we choose really. Im just bored of exam prep i think and hope we can go a good while without it but still see her progressing and continuing to enjoy as much as she is. Communication is always going to be somewhat lacking and infrequent with an in school hours lessons set up and a primary aged child i think which is another problem.

Ah that sounds more similar to what our teachers do then. Fab that you've got her going on ensembles already, that was always my kids favourite bit. Good luck with the exam and enjoy the post exam freedom! Some Christmassy fun sounds like just the ticket.

Just looking at the calendar and seeing the headlong rush towards Christmas contains three JD concerts, three school concerts, four church carol services, one orchestra concert. I love it!! Not had this since 2019 ( and there was no JD in the mix then).

How lovely! The DDs' school has its first concert since Covid in December. Competition for slots is fierce! I'm a bit worried it might go on all night, such is the demand.

That all sounds lovely. DDs Saturday centre has had to split the concerts over 2 Saturdays as there are so many wanting to perform. They have a mix of soloists and ensembles so it is a bit unfeasible to have them all on one night. There's also a school music concert in the last week before Christmas, so good to see that back this year. She's year 5 at the juniors and has never done it.

DS has just joined a new secondary in year 7 after half term and is one of the many flutes there (essentially a flute ensemble with a few other instruments) so hopefully will have some performance opportunities at some point.

Overall, music is coming back and it's lovely to see!

We've had a concert this week and it was lovely. Dd played piano and for a change was one of only two pianists! Our school does lots of informal concerts - usually one every half term. They run two one hour concerts so you don't have to sit through everything. Usually solo performers with the odd duet/chamber group.

First major formal concert of the year is also this month - this is the larger ensembles predominantly with the odd small group. Dd playing in two orchestras. It'll be a long concert but there will be an interval. With wine. That helps!

Also much choral singing going on - dd singing at the remembrance service on Sunday and then it'll be straight into preparation for Christmas. Am not ready.

Quick question
DD2 has a formal(ish) audition for a specialist school in two weeks. She's currently playing her pieces off some really scabby photocopies, and though I've ordered the real music, ABRSM has it 'on order' and it seems to be taking weeks to come.

Is it going to be a big problem if it isn't the original? I had really assumed that the grade 8 flute syllabus was not so weird that the music was hard to come by but it seems I have miscalculated.

I suspect they already think she's a bit shambolic - her bassoon stuck together at the taster day and her flute has a broken case. I've never really looked at any of this but perhaps it isn't the impression we should be giving(!)

I would hope that they understand that not everyone has the means to have pristine cases or be able to repair instruments immediately.