Autumn 23 Music chat

[horseymum]

It's autumn term already! I'm sure there's lots of music going to happen this term. Welcome to anyone who wants to chat about your child's music activities, whether current or things you hope to do. It's a friendly group with experience at many different levels.( I've learned so much) No question is a daft one and don't be put off by chat about higher levels, all our children couldn't play a note once.
Come and ask about starting music lessons, which instrument to choose, exams, music festivals, specialist schools, orchestras and ensembles. We love talking music.
We also love to share music exam successes or struggles etc ( you can't always shout about these on FB!).
Feel free to do a wee intro if you want, although it's still public so only share what you want to.

Massive congratulations to @horseymum @Alsoplayspiccolo and @Pollyanna8844 ! Commiserations to @PinkGrapefruitSorbet , I'm sure your son will love inspire though, it was brilliant for dd last year and she can't wait to go again. The standard of bassoonists was so high, he's done brilliantly to get to the final round.

@horseymum you cracked me up with the description of videoing performances, I felt very seen! DD had to do a video audition for JD, and it was painful. We managed one take by pretending it was a practice run, but after that I think we were all in tears at one point..worst bit was the Q&A bit, rather than the playing!

@minisnowballs sounds like your dd is settling in wonderfully. It must've settled your mind to see her so happy.

Great advice @thirdfiddle thank you. Yes @northerngoldilocks the ticking clock could easily disrupt the performance.

Thank you for educational post about recording @thirdfiddle! DS will try to audition for NYSO (thanks to @Alsoplayspiccolo for mentioning it) in a month's time with a video recording. I've taken your advices onboard as this is our first audition/recording. I'm going to do it at a lesson with the teacher there (because he often plays his best when the teachers around 😂). I've booked two dates first one at the music centre where we normally have lessons, then the 2nd one at teacher's house which is where DS likes most. I may have over planned it . Do people normally record at your own homes or with teacher in a lesson?

Commiserations to your DS.
Please tell him not to be downhearted - it’s taken DS three attempts to get in, and each time he got offered more and more from NYO.
Inspire is a great launch pad and the Unite days will be a great way of getting to know what NYO is really like, and for them to get to know players better.

Thanks @Alsoplayspiccolo and others for kind comments on DS not being successful with NYO. It's reassuring that some other DC have needed multiple attempts, and I'm hoping we get some more info soon on what Inspire sessions he might be offered. All we have so far is along the lines of: your journey doesn't end here, there's Inspire and the Unite day in October (when we are on holiday sadly). I'm hoping for a little more clarity on what Inspire will offer him, so we can make plans around those arrangements.

He was youngish to go for it (he's 14 and is only sitting his grade 8 later this term), but his teacher really encouraged him to apply for experience. I feel we got his hopes up unnecessarily really, but he did enjoy the Manchester day and threw himself into bassoon practice last night ready to improve for next year.

Good luck to everyone doing recorded exams - we've just booked DS's grade 8 for December and it is live but all the locations are miles away (we are north east so there's nothing much handy and central in our local provision!!!). He's hoping for a full day off school!

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet I think he did absolutely amazingly to get to the audition day. He must be super talented.

I think a full day off for Grade 8 is probably not too bad a thing to be honest - DD2 absolutely fell apart after her flute one in summer. It was psychologically gruelling apart from anything else. It was in the afternoon so I didn't take her back to school, just filled her up with syrupy bubble tea and let her spend the rest of the day scrolling mindlessly on tiktok.

We are also on holiday for the Unite day we were offered... I wonder whether it's a common problem. Selfishly I really don't want to lose DD for a day of our hols, even though it's in the UK and she could travel (and her sister is taking a day out of it for some Oxford Uni access day she wants to do)- I just don't have enough time with her at the moment for that.

@minisnowballs I can see why you don't want to lose a day with DD for the Unite thing, given how much of her time now is music and how much you must all miss her. It's an odd time of year to be offering it because loads of people must have overlapping half term plans. Technically the day that DS has been offered falls on the one day between his school trip to Germany and our family half term trip to Rome (this makes us sound like jetsetters, but DH and I haven't been abroad since before Covid!), and I just can't face driving from the north east to Lancaster and back in that day. I'll need to be washing, packing, sorting getting the dog to her homestay arrangement etc, not schlepping across the Pennines. I do feel a bit guilty, but music can't always override everything else.

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet Glad it's spurred him on to keep going. My DD only got into NYOS on her third attempt. We had definitely seen this year's nyo audition as a 'for the experience' so very surprised to get in. I think that attitude really helped take the pressure off. Some of the players we know who didn't get in were 1 or two years post grade 8 so he should definitely not feel disheartened. He's also got plenty more time. In terms of inspire, it looks like there's ten days in February where they might get a three day residential in Blackpool, I think there might be odd days during the year too as DD got invited to something last minute when someone dropped out. Hope his grade 8 prep goes well. Will he get the chance to perform some of the pieces live before then to help?

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet I completely get why!

Dd's was in Brighton - easy on the train from home and she's good at travelling, but we'll be on a canal boat in Oxford - at least in the evening.

Not only can music not take priority over all other family commitments but her sister probably needs to feel her needs come first occasionally (not to mention our new f 16 year old Ukrainian guest who also obviously has plans and projects she needs support with too). It is hard finding the balance.

Thanks @horseymum, that's really encouraging and I'm sure your DD is really proud even though she wasn't expecting to get in. A possible Blackpool residential sounds fun, so hopefully we hear something about that soon.

No, there's no chance for DS to practise performing before his exam unfortunately. His school only has two concerts per year: mid December and late March and his exam is before both of those. The county and regional things he plays in only let leavers do solos (year 13s), so he's many years off that at the moment. He's playing in lots of things and has fortnightly lessons, but performance opportunities are very limited sadly. I think that doesn't help the audition situation really.

Yes, @minisnowballs, it's definitely hard getting the balance right for everyone! I'm glad it's not just me who sometimes insists that family comes above (yet more) music. DH is very musical too (runs choirs, has two music degrees) and I think he and DS get caught up in a musical vacuum sometimes. Your canal boat trip sounds fab - hope you enjoy it!

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet shame re performance I'm sure that prepping for the NYO audition supercharged his performance skills though. What's he playing for the exam?

DD, bless her, still hasn't learned how to stand up with a bassoon (she hasn't had a harness, and so hasn't had the chance) so I think she needs to master this before she actually takes the exam.

Maybe some people take it sitting down, but new teacher was a bit startled that she couldn't, I think!

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet WRT performance opportunities, I've seen a couple of churches near us start amatuer musician Sunday afternoon concerts, great chance to play in public with probably a relatively small but warm audience. Small entry fee charged for church funds. One of them even offered an accompanist. Might be worth seeing if anything like that is available? Or organising a small event yourself if you have a suitable venue, could invite some other young people or adult amateurs. Other option is seeing if there is a school or council meeting he could play for? Be bold and just ask. My DD got asked to play for the council education leaders meeting, they have a different musician each term, gives the meeting attendees a wee break from hearing speakers!(disclaimer, this performance was her worst yet, reed clammed up and she stopped before the end but a useful experience and the audience still enjoyed it!)

Oh and family always first here too, although we often try to work things around. Ie holidays next year will be planned around NYO but we didn't have any fixed plans yet so makes no odds.

Great ideas about creating performance opportunities @horseymum, thank you! I will have a think about local options we can exploit!

@minisnowballs DS always practises his bassoon standing up, in fact he only sits in orchestras etc. He has a shoulder harness thing (rather than a neck strap) which makes the posture much easier and supports the weight evenly, and he uses that for standing or sitting. He's playing Fasch, Schrek and Grovlez for his exam (I think that's right) and those are all pretty solid. It's the scales and aural that still need plenty of work, but he's got a couple of months yet.

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet that sounds brilliant - DD is also doing the Fasch (but then Elgar Romance, and some Weissenborn or Saint Saens I think - she's got some Pierne too but that's come off the syllabus). She has only ever had a seat strap, but she is also still very tiny and on a short reach, so I think it would have been tricky before now. I can see she will really have to build stamina to practise standing up

DD doesn't stand up yet, I asked her teacher recently but she said no need to get. Probably good as she's only just 13 and has a tendency to stoop as so tall.

For scales practice, DDs teacher got a couple of people to pop into lessons and just ask for random scales off the list, meant they weren't influenced by what he knew she was strong/ weak on and took away his bias.

@thirdfiddle that's interesting, I didn't realise that cadenzas were mostly written out these days - presumably by the soloist though? My background is actually rock/blues/funk guitar with a smattering of jazz, so very much from an improvisational background. DS started sax and as the classical sax repertoire is so limited (read, virtually non-existent) the jazz syllabus was the obvious choice - his first instrument is rock/pop drums which is heavily improvisational and he has excellent internal pulse. We are currently into a deep progressive rock writing phase so it's all about polyrhythms and setting ourselves challenges to use obscure modes (hello Lydian Dominant...) to make actual listenable music. If you consider "Debussy-Black Sabbath fever dream" to be listenable 😆

Hello all, I'm new to this thread, and a new mumsnet poster generally!

I'm non-musical myself but my 14yo son is keen to apply to the junior conservatoires... is this what's referred to as "JD" on here, as in Junior Dept? We're in London, so the options on the table seem to be Royal Academy of Music (this is RAM, yes?), Guildhall, Trinity, and... any others? Main instrument is piano, also plays flute but much less enthusiastic. Just wanted to kind of get in on the music-chat as I have no idea about these things and don't really have other piano-mums/parents to talk to!

So, he's done G5 flute, and he's preparing for G8 piano, but he's one of those who hasn't gone the traditional route, kind of started up in lockdown and has skipped grades, which means his sight-reading and theory knowledge are a good bit behind his playing. (He's done the G5 theory online test, we're awaiting result.)

Piano is the passion, and he's very keen on somewhere like RAM, but we haven't visited anywhere yet. Open days will be in late January, from what I can tell, does that sound right? And then application deadlines are around March; have to send in video recordings in the first instance, and then fingers crossed come in for a live audition. I think I've got that right?

His current music teachers are supportive and offering guidance, but it's always good to hear the view from other parents' perspectives also. I wondered if anyone else had been through the process lately, and might be around for a chat?

Welcome to the thread @FlightoftheTumbleBee . Just looking at your list of JDs I think that RCM is missing from the main ones in London. I always think of them as RAM /RCM and Guildhall as the main JDs and then Trinity and CYM (the latter is now a division of Junior Guildhall).

I know that Guildhall do advice pre auditions that you can book and pay for so might be worth considering - otherwise definitely go to the open days to see how he finds and to help him work out what it is as a pianist he's looking to get from it and which might fit best.

On a slightly less positive note - the instruments he plays are two of the most over subscribed and so the standard that they might be looking for especially on piano at 14 could be above Grade 8. Its hard to tell though - if he hasn't been playing long and shows amazing potential then that could also be enough - but it might be worth managing expectations in that he's obviously doing brilliantly but the competition on popular instruments is intense. Its good that he's discussed with his current teachers though as they obviously know him and should be well placed to advise.

Welcome @FlightoftheTumbleBee ! Sorry I can't help much with your questions, but as a fellow non musical person I understand what's it's like. We're not in London so can't comment on the conservatoires really, but the open day we went to was really helpful in understanding what they were looking for. If they offer pre audition advice as @northerngoldilocks says, I'd really look to take advantage of that, as it's good preparation more than anything else.

@PinkGrapefruitSorbet are there any small competitions or festivals your son could do? I know there's not lots of time though. DD did one for the first time this year, and it really helped. There's also the Big double reed day in Guildhall and the British double reed day at RAM coming up soon - they often have performance opportunities and feedback from great tutors during the day. We really wanted to go to the Guildhall day but sadly it looks like the trains make it impossible to get there on time!

DD is having the opposite problem with seat straps and harnesses...she's always learnt with a neck strap and has been told she needs to play with a seat straps! She's not really happy about this as she prefers to play standing up, even though her performance is better sat down. She's hoping a harness might be a compromise but as it's a slightly new body position it's throwing her tuning out a bit. Bassoons are such a combination of things to go wrong, aren't they!

We need to buy a tuner, can anyone recommend a decent, inexpensive one?

Thank you, @northerngoldilocks.

Ah yes of course, I forgot about RCM, thank you! What is CYM? (I ask that, but I'll google of course.) And how do they rank, do you know? I think I've heard/read that RAM is the most difficult to get into, is that right? Or does it depend on instrument? And do kids normally apply for all of these London JDs in one go? Or is it more common to apply to just 1 or 2? How common is it to apply and be rejected, and then to reapply the following year?

Thanks for the info re Guildhall pre-audition advice session.

I hear you re age 14 and G8 level piano. His teachers have advised the same. He actually does play above G8 but the idea is to get the G8 done just to have something to show on paper. He's been playing ... maybe about 2.5 years? So he's come on very fast. But his profile is very spiky, very good at some things (e.g. playing hard pieces; enjoys practising), and not good at other things (e.g. sight reading).

How important is the 2nd study for these applications? He really isn't that keen on the flute, but he's carrying on with it for the orchestral stuff, which he loves.

Many thanks again.

Thank you @georgedawes !

Thanks for the ideas @georgedawes - I'll have a look for local things. All the London stuff is so far away that it would take up a whole weekend and he'd miss other local rehearsals, sadly. He does have a final NCO weekend in London in November, which he's really looking forward to and I'm sure will have a bassoon tutor.

Welcome @FlightoftheTumbleBee - I don't know anything about piano or London JDs but you'll get great advice on this thread! Your son sounds really talented at piano to have got so far so quickly!

We have the same issue with the London days @PinkGrapefruitSorbet !

@FlightoftheTumbleBee your son sounds brilliant, getting to that standard so quickly is a brilliant achievement. DD is grade 6 (ish) on piano and that's from age 7-13....sight reading is tricky for her too on piano as she just doesn't get the opportunities like she does for her orchestral main instrument.