Spring 23 music thread

[thirdfiddle]

I saw some sunshine today so it's officially spring! Here's a new thread for all things musical.

With a nod to those who started the series, well before my young folk picked up an instrument or I braved the vipers of MN. This little corner is for support only, and bragging about your young folk's musical achievements is positively encouraged.

How are things looking for new year? Anyone new want to join us for a chat? Any lurkers want to delurk? All welcome from pre beginners to music college and beyond.

Yes likewise congrats to those passing and commiserations to those with near misses.

Four musical events for dd this week - two vocal and two piano-based. Busy busy! She's also helping at open day - singing and drama so need to add that into the mix too!

After this week it's just two more choral events and then we're done til August when she has an orchestra workshop for a couple of days. We're looking forward to the break!

Sounds like everyone is very busy! Hope concerts going well @QueenMabby. Here we have one finished with GCSEs - so maybe she might be induced to pick up a viola. Younger one had her last saturday centre woodwind concert - she has vocal next week - in which she played both flute and bassoon.

She was pretty pleased with the outcome and actually it was the first time her head of department had ever heard her play the bassoon (she's been learning three years), so probably about time! I was terrified for her - the bassoon can go very wrong very loudly occasionally and it was a very long piece so lots of potential for slips.

Real treat last night going to the ballet at the Albert Hall, in the expensive seats at a very cheap price, courtesy of her bassoon teacher who was up in the orchestra somewhere.

Now we have school production, final stagecraft concert and the grade eight flute to go. And working out what she needs to do over the summer to be ready for new school - suspect taking the bungs out of new open-hole flute is the top priority.

@minisnowballs - what a fantastic treat! I remember when I took dd to the proms last year. Cheap seats but when we arrived a member of staff offered us a pair of reruns for free - in a box! It was such a thrill. The Albert hall is a very special venue.

Glad dd1 has finished GCSEs now and hope dd2 gets on ok with the new flute.

I totally get you on the fear of a squeak/random note and it sounds like dd did fantastically with her bassoon. My dd did really well in her vocal concert. I was a bit worried as her hayfever's really bad leading to spontaneous nosebleeds including one in the car on the way to the concert! But I mopped her up and she wasn't too bunged up and it sounded good. She managed all the Italian rolled Rs and no more blood. A win!

@QueenMabby congratulations on the success of vocal concert post a nosebleed and hay fever. She's so determined!
We are also getting busy and a bit nervous (me not DS). Saturday night has piano teacher's pupil concert. DS will play 2 solos, 1 duet (with me ), and 1 violin piece. 15th July will be the local music services annual concert for both of us ( different string orchestras).
We've booked to see a family concert in a specialised music school on the 2nd July as well so super excited for that!

@QueenMabby well done to your DD - mine had a nosebleed in her last one where she was in the chamber choir - we were very far away in the audience and the fact she had a tissue firmly clamped round her nose in the bit beforehand did help to identify her. Much harder with a solo. DD really struggles with rolled rs so would be very jealous of her facility.

And a box must have been incredible - these weren't as glam as that, but it's the first time in ages I haven't needed my glasses to see a performance - we tend to go for the 'cheap and often'

@chickentikkasalad good luck to you AND your son - are you also a violinist?

We have been to a few specialist music school concerts - mostly at open days. The standard is incredible - but they all have such different personalities, some very formal, some very relaxed. Hope you love it!

This time of year is totally mad, isn't it! DS's slight over-commitment has come to bite him on the arse rather this weekend. As well as g8 piano and g5 horn this week, he's got scheduled a concert at school Saturday afternoon, and an exactly clashing choir concert. Then a play rehearsal. Sunday is church choir, then a trip to Durham to sing in the cathedral with aforementioned choir, missing a fairly vital rehearsal for School of Rock. Many people are pissed off with him/us!

His rather lackadaisical approach to practice has also bit on arse. His grade 5 French horn exam is likely to be a disaster - he's hardly practised his scales, or one of his pieces. One can only pray for a favourable scale choice and a kind examiner! They also need to be a horn specialist - it's almost impossible not to split the odd note, something not nec true of other brass instruments....

@minisnowballs I wouldn't call myself a violinist- I started learning the violin when DS started, 2 years ago. I've always wanted to learn music instruments but never had the opportunity or money when I was young. I sat at my son's first violin lesson and thought I could learn it too and I started. It's never too late to learn isn't it! I play 2nd in an adult beginner string orchestra at the local music service and am awful! But I do love it so much I keep on learning!! I also learned a bit piano before DS was born so can just about play the duet with him (grade 1 level or lower ).

I'm sure we'll enjoy the family concert at the music school. It'll be either inspiring or demoralising for DS. Knowing his competitive nature I guess it'll be the former :)

@herbaceous we have very similar problems- adding in DofE expedition for next two days as a non drama or music commitment as well - as well as a couple of STEM and maths trips she's been picked for, and a load of prefect meetings. She's missed so many things she should be doing. Thankful there is only one exam and we have two more weeks. Good luck to him for horn - bassoon teacher gets cross with non-specialist examiners who apparently don't understand that the tenor register is 'often a bit flat' - but I'm not sure how many specialist examiners they would find! Horn prob the same. Suspect he'll walk it despite the lack of practice. Kids are annoying like that.

He has always sailed through exams before, but got a bit a of a wake-up call with grade 7 piano. He didn't practice enough, and only got a pass, rather than the distinctions he was used to! I was hoping this would be a valuable lesson, but not sure it has!

But yes. Specialist horn examiners are probably rarer than hens teeth. The school is doing loads of exams today, from piano to flute, so prob just one examiner for the lot.

Exams are so stressful for the parents! We're waiting on a result. Because it was through her JD it's taking ages. She's prepared us that the scales/ aural weren't amazing but we know from accompanist the pieces were good. I think examiners are usually pianists or violinists in our experience. They don't use specialists for different instruments, and it will be the same examiner all day. Hopefully they are at least a bit understanding of the quirks of different instruments though.

We had the same with Grade 7 @herbaceous - however it was two years ago now so she's a very different child. @horseymum , fingers crossed. The aural is just SO hard at this level unless you are something like a cathedral chorister who does it all the time. Trinity I think uses specialists, but we are ABRSM.

Interesting to know trinity may use specialists. Younger DD is doing bassoon at some point and will be trinity as theory exam will not be taken!

Interesting what you say about aural, @minisnowballs - DS, as you know, was a cathedral chorister, but found the aural tests quite hard! Partly as his teacher never actually went through them, thinking he'd be good at them because, ahem, he was a chorister!

Ah, @herbaceous - I'm sure he found the singing ones easy! Some of the others including cadences and chords are maybe more to do with theory? If grade eight is a performance exam though at least he won't have to do them for that. The grade 5 ones aren't so bad.

He found the grade 7 aural hard - lots about, indeed, cadences, key changes etc. More difficult than grade 5 theory...

And yes - g8 performance has no such torment. Or scales!

Well DD just got her oboe results, her teacher somehow managed to circumvent the JD bureocracy. 142 so she's pretty chuffed! I would say she she worked very hard at the aural, they have a weekly half hour drop in aural class at JD for grade 6-8 which helps. Her piano teacher also did a couple of whole lessons on it and she had the app. Oh and two extra 121 sessions with another teacher. I haven't seen the breakdown of her marks to know but she still felt this was her weakest area.
We can properly relax now.

Congrats to your DD @horseymum , that's a fantastic mark! How long did you end up waiting?

Wow -that is fantastic @horseymum - she must be very proud (as should you). Amazing!
Relax for the summer now.

What a fantastic result @horseymum, your DD must be thrilled! Such a great way to start the summer.

I'd agree that for aural tests beyond around grade 3/4 its not something that you can just 'do', there is an element of familiarisation with what they're looking for and for the higher grades (7/8) the chord cadences /identification of intervals isn't really something you'd ever 'just pick up' so does need teaching. DD flunked the grade 5 aural section badly but its unsurprising as despite asking and even paying extra for longer lessons her piano teacher barely covered any of it. This time she is doing weekly aural classes for 30 mins for 5 weeks with a singing teacher who is going through each of the elements with her, so hopefully she will do better than last time (also - not a high bar!) Grade 1 and 2 is pretty much ok with just the app though!

Wow @horseymum! What an amazing result!

DS’s horn exam was an unmitigated disaster, apparently. He chose to start with the scales, which went wrong, which made him so nervous he stuffed up the pieces. The only thing that was ok was the sightreading. 😞

he’s a bit cross with his teacher, as he never went over the scales with him, nor any aural tests.

Congratulations on @horseymum for DD's achievement. Great start for the summer!

Sorry to hear @herbaceous about DS's unpleasant experience. Very surprised that his teacher never went through scales with him. My DS's violin teacher always starts a lesson with scales even though she doesn't want him to do any exams yet. I just thought all tutors do that..

Yes. Not impressed with teacher. He spends a lot of time chatting, rather than teaching. Doesn't believe in grades, apparently, so maybe doesn't go through the motions of teaching how to pass them!

Well done mini @horseymum what a result!!

@herbaceous - what a shame for your ds. I hope he can dust himself off and move on. Will you stick with the teacher or change do you think?

She might get the Sheila mossman with that score! Tremendous

Bit tricky re horn teacher. He’s had the same one for about four years, and he’s the only one that comes to school. He’s got school horn lessons in our city sewn up! A different teacher would mean yet another thing done outside school…