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.

@Heli1copter I think (if you enjoy it) there's lots of benefits to DC seeing a parent working at an instrument and getting enjoyment from it. My DH plays piano really well and has just taken a diploma exam (not sure which - something well past Grade 8). He's been having lessons again and doing a lot of practice. The additional benefit is that he is DS's accompanist for exams, school concerts, regional events, etc and is regularly involved in his practice. That definitely helped immensely in lockdown when we couldn't see anyone else and is a really lovely thing for them to do together now through the angst-ridden teenage years!

We both also sing in choirs (and DH leads some choirs and is taking courses on choral conducting) so there's a lot of music going on. I think DS has definitely benefited from seeing how much fun and social life we all get from our music. Only if you enjoy it though!

Hi all and welcome new posters.
Not posted in a little while.

Lots of music happening for dd (too much really) so we've put off her g3 singing til next term. She's yr9 so making her gcse options this term. Desperate to do music but she has more choices than slots available so fitting it all in might be tricky!

We're off to an (amateur) concert just to watch this afternoon which will be lovely.

Dd has a strings concert coming up in a couple of week - cello solo and part of a trio in that, then three or four more other concerts this term. It's a lot. I've told her she's not to take on any more!

@QueenMabby we are in the same position with Y9 options and too many choices. At DS's school, there is an option to take music as an extra out of timetable which means a 7:40am start twice a week! The bonus is that only the very keen musical kids participate!

@Darkdiamond fwiw, I think piano is a perfect first instrument for learning how to read music, music theory etc (because you can see the notes), and if you want to pursue music it's really useful to be able to play it to some degree (e.g. it's great for composing). Guitar is an instrument you can pick up quite quickly if you already understand basic music theory such as chords and scales. Obviously it depends on what the child wants to learn, but personally I would prioritise piano.

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet -that sounds hard core!
Dd already doing one gcse off timetable that she'll take at the end of year 10 so I'm not sure if she I could weather another one but she'd probably want to have a go!

@Darkdiamond i'd agree with @Tartifletti that unless your child wants to be a classical guitarist, they seem to be able to pick up guitar later on and play a few chords / simple finger picking fairly quickly. DD got a guitar for Christmas and now can play a v basic version of a Billie Eilish song and also most of Adele's 'daydreamer' thanks to online tutorials. I think that the bigger question is whether they want to do piano which most of the time is on their own - especially when learning, or an orchestral one. DD now does a piano trio at her Saturday music centre which is a nice option, but otherwise its just lessons and practice on her own with the occasional performance now at end of term concerts. When they get older / v good there are chamber music options or accompaniment things they can do, but they're a long way away when you start out. On her violin she started in ensembles pretty quickly and she really enjoys that element of playing.

In other music news I had the most confusing week of discussions with DS's flute teacher - he got the gr 6 book in the summer so started working on the pieces in September with his teacher. He came home with notes that indicated he should sit the exam soon so i checked when and he replied 'i think December' I was horrified hopeful this wasn't the case as really couldn't face the pieces for that long - so clarified over email with his teacher who also said something along the lines of 'he's doing really well - so yes, December'. Thankfully upon further investigation it has become clear I'd managed to totally confuse her and she means March. I suspect we're both relieved - but definitely me more so!

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet - early morning music GCSE sounds excellent. DD2 takes hers in one lunchtime every two weeks and one evening after school - but since there are only eight in the class this seems to be working ok so far (only year 9 though, so we will see).

She was distraught when they pulled GCSE music from the main curriculum for her year, but it has allowed her to take Dance as well so she does get to do Dance, Drama and Music. She's still convinced this will one day get her a part in Hamilton, but since she doesn't know her left from her right her dance career may be a short one.

She's readying herself for a NYO Inspire day in February - particularly amused by the email we got asking if she could play contrabassoon. She's a very small 13 (which is I think as young as you can be for NYO) and has to play a short reach bassoon as it is. I had to ask her teacher whether it was physically possible for her to play it - she says 'short answer 'no''. Hoping their other bassoonists have larger hands!

@minisnowballs That's great that she's managed to get so many creative subjects into her choices.

DS had a go at contrabassoon at NCO under 13s last year. He enjoyed it, but said he literally saw stars the first time he had to blow it as it's such hard work! He's pretty tall with biggish hands, so managed ok size-wise, but some of the others couldn't reach to play it properly. Hope she enjoys NYO Inspire - DS is hoping to try for that next year.

My youngest would love trying contra, she's just discovered her teacher plays and has one, so she's getting a go soon, can't wait. However, she's only 12 so not sure how she'll go. Her hands are big and I think she has good lungs so hopefully won't pass out!

I'm annoyed with DS's school music teacher and am wondering if I'm being unreasonable. There are two end of term concerts in March to fit in all the various school music groups. DS can't play in the second one, as it overlaps with his NCO residential so he needs to be away from school that day (we are the other end of the country).

I let the music teacher know last week that DS couldn't be available for the final concert as it involved some repertoire with key bassoon parts which he will now have to get a cellist to play.

Now the music teacher has told DS he needs to "bow out" of orchestra for the rest of term since he can't be in the concert. That's another 7 weeks of rehearsals. Bearing in mind that orchestra doesn't run at all in the third term due to needing the venue for exams, I'm really annoyed that DS is being told he can't attend for what amounts to about a third of possible rehearsals this year.

The orchestra is good but not selective - their whole ethos is that it's developmental and anyone can play. So to exclude DS from it for the rest of term because he can't make the concert seems very harsh to me. I'm wishing we hadn't done the right thing and confessed so early that he couldn't do the concert now!

Would I be unreasonable to speak to the music teacher, do you think?

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet wow. no you're not being unreasonable. i can only sympathise though, we've had exactly the same issues with our school (both DD and DS excluded from choir for 5 weeks as we fessed up they couldn't make the end of term concert, as they had a 3-line-whip public concert for their JD on the same day). We've observed definite snarkiness from school over DD and DS's attendance at JD - school take this to mean their music provision isn't good enough (which it isn't). anyway, i digress massively. YANBU, speak to the teacher. i didn't and should have done.

Thanks @LuluKentGirl and sorry you had the same experience. Our school have generally been supportive and have authorised absences (so far!) for the odd day or two where DS has had to miss due to music commitments elsewhere, but there is certainly scope for school music to be better.

I might ask the music teacher if DS can join orchestra on the violin for the rest of term, since he could do with ensemble experience for his violin playing because everyone is more in need of bassoons.

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet that seems unreasonable! If the worry is that it will put off the cellist who now has to play the bassoon parts if he's playing them in rehearsals too then yes, perhaps asking to play the violin will help - but it seems unfair, especially since he could play the bassoon in the other concert.

School should really be supportive of the children who play in the national/regional ensembles - they mostly (including NCO now - as well as NYCGB and NYO) have arts council funding as portfolio organisations that are meant to help the development of the more advanced musicians in the state sector - that means they are literally part of the development pathway for musical children. The music national curriculum mentions that children should be encouraged to attend them (JDs and Saturday schools too)

DD has never been excluded from music stuff in school because of external commitments and has had absences authorised where necessary (and licences granted when needed by council too). The school finds her a little confusing, but are generally very nice about it. No snarkiness for sure.

Thanks @minisnowballs, I've now included that info about funding in the leave of absence request form!

I think that's rotten of the school @PinkGrapefruitSorbet - how childish of them!

Many children have numerous commitments and it's not reasonable to expect them to do everything. It's not like the school concert's being sacked off for something minor.

I'd be complaining to both the music teacher and the head of music and telling them to give their heads a wobble.

First batch of my pupils exams done with excellent results all round - a very positive and encouraging examiner this time.

@BartokRules that's great, worth all the stress I'm sure. I think you had a lot of pupils too. Our piano teacher only has a handful but finds the run up to exams stressful, especially as some pupils practice more than others!
No exams for us this term but a couple of competitions, a music festival and a couple of student concerts, then the regional and JD end of term concerts, plenty to look forward to.

Most of them are at the end of term, just 3 hours of them this time. Yes the stress comes from inconsistent practice and the fact that kids are kids and act unpredictably!!

Hello, am new to MN but have been lurking for a while before joining so I can get used to all the acronyms!

I'm a bit out of my depth with my DS, who has taken to piano in a slightly terrifying but wonderful way... Hoping I'll be able to pick up some information and support here, especially if he wants to take it further - he's in y4 now so I feel I should get to know a lot more about the world of music than I do, before I have to start making choices of secondary school and so on for him!

Well done Bartok & students!
Pinkgrapefruit, I do hope you can sort something with school. It seems very precious for a school orchestra. I can't see any excuse for them not to let him play along at the back of the violin section anyway, so perhaps a good outcome for him.

Hi teapotkitten, welcome on board. Sounds like your DS is a real enthusiast, how long has he been playing?

Welcome @Teapotkitten! My dd plays the piano too. Glad your dc is so enthusiastic.

Dd facing the possibility of having to drop music for gcse. She just had too many choices and not enough slots. She's devastated. It is the "head over heart" decision though as she does so much music outside of the curriculum she can still enjoy it without doing it academically. Waiting for a call from the school this week to discuss.

He self taught for about 10 months (DH and I don't know anything about playing pianos) before we found him a teacher last April, then in the summer we got him an acoustic upright piano instead of the little children's digital one he'd been using. If you'd told me a few years ago that I'd have to find house room for a piano I'd have laughed, but here we are! Buying a second hand piano was certainly interesting, having no experience of them - I watched a lot of youtube videos about pianos to help, didn't even know what the insides looked like, let alone what to look for!

I know it probably sounds absurd that I'd be thinking ahead as he hasn't even taken any grade exams yet, but everyone who has heard him play has been surprised, including his teacher, and he absolutely loves everything about it, theory and all. I have no idea what he's talking about most of the time. I don't even really understand what a "key" is other than that it makes a tune sound different, while he's happily transposing (a word I only knew from maths!) pieces all over the place. At any rate, I can see he could end up wanting to really get into it all and I don't want him to complain in a few years that he missed out on opportunities and things because of my ignorance..!

Hi @Teapotkitten , your experience is resonating with my own. My DD is just obsessed (also piano).

We rehomed an ancient piano locally, the tuner came out and pulled lots of horrified faces about its viability 🤦‍♀️ but he was amazing, managed to tune it (took 2 adjustments) and convinced all the keys to work, hurrah :)

He said it'll do her until gd 3 or 4 with regular tuning. But then she'll need a modern "student" piano. He said a good pianist can play anything but a student needs something good quality to learn on. We were happy enough with that.

So did you buy a new piano? What did you go for?

(DH played brass in a previous life and the musicians in my family are woodwind players so
no piano buying knowledge here!)

Hi@mumoffourminimes !
I ended up going to a second hand dealer's shop about 40 minutes away, after doing lots of research. The man there was really lovely, after hearing DS play and asking our budget he basically told us which ones he could do at that price, discounted quite a few of them! My DS had a go on them and then picked the one he liked the sound and feel of best. It was funny watching him, there was one he tried which he just instantly went "nope!" to, no idea why?!

The one he chose is a Japanese one from the 80's, looks just like a Yamaha inside and out but is some weird brand that only comes up on Google on Japanese websites. It sounds good though and he's happy with it, the seller said it would be fine to grade 8 so hopefully we won't have to fork out again later on!

Funnily enough I did trumpet as a child, but had only done grade 1 before we moved and I lost my teacher, DH only plays guitar and can't read music either, so it's a bit of a learning curve for us!

How old is your piano loving DD?

That's interesting, what was your budget? I'm so clueless with all this.

The pianist is 7/yr2 :) she's taken it it very naturally. She also blinking loves her recorder so we're carrying on with that too. it's turning into a very expensive hobby 🤦‍♀️

I've had to learn to read music to be able to help with the practising. For all 3 children with their instruments. I've really enjoyed learning!