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.

Catching up on here- what a lovely thing for the conductor to say and notice @Siriusmuggle !

@minisnowballs amazingly well done to your DD. What a time to pull a distinction out of the bag!

Can anyone recommend some decent ear protection? Guessing it should be custom made but have no idea where to start!

Nyo have some really helpful ear protection guidelines, I'm not sure if you only get access when you sign up but I'll see if I can find them. NYOS offered all their musicians reduced price ear plugs, can't remember the brand. My middle dc has the ones from NYOS, youngest just has bog standard foam ones from chemist travel section as I needed some in a hurry and haven't got round to getting better ones. Our school has a love of orchestra/ bagpipe fusion so they are essential!

Document link at the bottom of this page
https://www.nyo.org.uk/support-safety or Google nyo hearing protection guidelines

@horseymum thanks for this - DD has just asked for some - so that's a helpful link! Too late for this week's tour so she'll have to cope with ones from the chemist. Just dropped her off all excited (not sure whether it's the thrill of some piccolo solos or the promise of a trip to Cadbury World. Perhaps both).

Thanks horseymum, really useful!

Cadbury world sounds good! Dd on a course which is very intense, the most downtime they get is playing card games and eating sweets! It's good for her to see some of her friends from jd when they can actually chat instead of just being in classes all day. Id heartily recommend residential courses for your dc if any of you get the opportunity.

Intense courses are brilliant for learning - this one definitely not intense, but lots of concerts and bonding and friendships. DD2 has been wildly excited for weeks about it. She turned down NCO for this tour, so let's hope it's as good as she hopes it is!

DS also on the 'non intense' tour. Though for him it's full on in comparison to his school music tour which involved only 1 concert!

I'm hoping that this time he loses less stuff though as he lost shoes and a shirt on the school one. His flute has an AirTag!

DD is at our local orchestra where I seem to have forgotten that lots of parents are 'enthusiastic / optimistic' re playing ability and instead said where she currently is. As a result the other kids she knows from the sat group she's in are in the more senior group. They may all have higher violin grades though and this one is a bit odd in that they just go with what is on the form!

Excited to get a 'new' piano this week. We've not had a real one for several years as the previous one wouldn't hold it's tune so had to go. Dh might actually get the love back for playing as he never loved the clavinova. Kids looking forward to playing it, all away just now.

@horseymum that is exciting - I think a real piano is more appealing myself, but I'm a bit of a luddite I must admit.

Bet its quiet at yours with them all away- DD2 seems to be enjoying herself on tour, at least I've heard nothing from her except a picture of some cake and she's looking happy enough on the Facebook photos.

It was super quiet, but two back today so that's good. Real piano is lovely, it's really old but from a piano expert friend so in great condition.
Dd will be super pleased her bassoon teacher is bringing the contra again as a holiday treat! We are still not getting one though.

Delighted youngest has been told she'll be invited to some NYO inspire activities. Not sure how much she'll be able to attend as distance is an issue but we'll try to make some happen. ( They state they have activities across the UK then literally list six places in England for the first thing. Which is fine but just say England not UK!)

@horseymum love that contra is a holiday treat! Dd2 has just always been told by her (I guess now former) teacher that she is too small. We'll see.

She is back from tour - asking me if she could just go on orchestra tours as a job. Well, I guess yes, but they might not be quite the same! Seems to have had a lovely time, but is mostly filling me in on the gossip of who is dating who.

Afternoon all.

Anyone else waiting for performance exam results? DS's teacher submitted his g8 piano on 11 July, and we still haven't had a result. Apparently it usually takes between 7 and 10 days...

Confidence of admin competence is low, as about a week ago ABRSM asked for proof of him passing g5 theory. Which they know he must have done, as he's subsequently done g6 singing and g7 piano! Different school, though, thus different candidate ID, which may have been the problem.

At any rate, frustrating!

If you used a different candidate ID (or school did) then this will delay results as they aren't linked to the account. More generally people seem to be saying about 14 days without additional checks, also if you didn't do the entry and the school is now closed it will be an additional 7 day before you can see on the dashboard

Hello, how long do you usually wait for Abrsm digital results? It has been over a week? So our a week and a half ? Should I be concerned?

This is for a piano performance grade.

@Pianotwister on the ABRSM fb chat people seem to be getting results in about 2 weeks on performance exams at the moment- they're slower than f2f, assume because examiners are out doing the f2f exams

Thank you very much. I was getting worried. I loaded the exam up late at night and started to doubt myself. I am even doubting if I uploaded the correct file but I will give it more time.

It was interesting as in hindsight we should have gone for a F2F exam. Thought I would save time but in the end it was so challenging to get 4 takes in one complete row, when I am sure the F2F result would have been of a high standard.

Also for those of you with children at secondary and multiple instruments how to fit it all in. My older child needs to do grade 5 piano but does other instruments that are less grade dependent. How do you manage practice and school work at secondary?

Also anyone know the best approach for grade 5 theory? Is an intense and compressed course the best?

For us personally my kids do a maximum of two instruments, I know other people keep three or more going to a good standard but we focus on two. This gives plenty of time for family life and some other sports etc which we feel is important. Middle dd gets some practice time at school each week which helps - she has chosen a ' music performance ' class alongside the normal music exam subject so that gets her some time. Youngest also sometimes gets to practice during music class time. The rest is just being disciplined but keeping it fun. Aim for practice 6 days out of seven which in reality often dips to 4 or five when orchestras etc in full swing but that's better than aiming for 4 or 5 and it dipping to 2 or 3. 10 minutes being better than nothing. Leaving big instrument out to make it less of a faff. Not stressing about exams and doing when ready ( or not if not appropriate).

On the theory pianotwister - we have tried to trickle it in, in the hope they're more likely to remember it long term that way than if they blitzed it. Really depends a lot on circumstance. When is it needed by? Can you support at home? Or if not what does his teacher recommend? One of our teachers offered to do it as part of DC's lesson if we had wanted. There were also classes at local music centre.

DS fits in his two instruments by practising each about 10 minutes a day, if that. Not sure I'd recommend his approach but he does still manage to fit in a disturbing amount of gaming time and good school grades so if he wanted to practise he has plenty of time. Again depends on school day and travel time. Many find having one practice before school helps fit things into the day.

@Pianotwister does your DC have a view on how they want to do theory? My DD was asked by her BFF to do an intensive with her, but decided she'd rather learn it 121 and more slowly so that's what I've set up for her. Having just passed G4, she's got a while to do it (just as well, with voice and viola as her instruments, she's not got much of a grounding!) so she's going to potter through steadily with a goal of doing the exam some time in 2024. Probably late 2024 😁

My DD plays violin quite intently, piano reluctantly, more to complement the violin, and for fun/relaxation (no lessons) she sings, plays bass guitar, guitar and ukulele. Violin is practised twice a day, apart from on a lesson day, when it will be just once. She practices piano for about 10 minutes a day and mostly only during term time. She has dropped a GCSE so that that she can fit it all in.

DS plays the piano, voluntarily, for an hour or so each day. Not often what he’s supposed to be practising, but I want to ensure he carries on enjoying it!

French horn lamentably little, but during term time he has two ensembles a week, plus a lesson, which keeps his skills up.

Singing - well, he sings in four choirs, so I reckon that’s his practice!

Viola? Hmm. About 10 mins the evening before his lesson!

it’s a tricky balance between ensuring he stays enjoying it, which is the main object of the exercise, and still progresses, which is both rewarding and ensures he maintains his music scholarship!