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.

My dd also did slyo . Had to miss school to go to the concert day. Is also doing Lsso. I do think we are lucky to live in a city with so many musical courses

Another for team SLYO here - state school so missed a day but school gave permission easily so that was good. I think though its a fair point that there are fewer and fewer local state school kids the higher up the orchestras you go (though DD is in 3 and even that is fairly indi school heavy). One of the issues is the minimum standard, most kids who learn in junior school get to about grade 1 or 2 by the end, so needing to be grade 6 minimum on woodwind before you can join is a bit of a challenge. Its easier for strings players to get involved.

The concerts were fantastic - DD did well considering how little she'd played over the past month, but watching her she's definitely still 'protecting her wrist, whether consciously or not in terms of her bowing being more cautious / smaller! Hopefully once it fully stops hurting she'll stop with that.

@se22mother I'm truly impressed yours would do both! That's a lot of playing!

LSSO clashes too much for DD to have auditioned - plus the winter concert is after she's back at school - so she's gone for the LYWB instead. No guarantee she'd have got in anyway.

The cynic in me wonders whether DD2 enjoyed SLYO more this time because she's at private school (albeit specialist) and fits in better because she knows how to 'be'. Perhaps she's just grown up - she didn't like 2 as much and was nervous about this one.

Just got the email - DS got a place in the NYSO! He was reserved but a place came up for the summer course so he's in!! Really looking forward to it...

@chickentikkasalad - congratulations to your ds. That's a fantastic achievement! Well done.

Thank you @QueenMabby we did have much hope when he was on the reserved list. It's nice that it actually worked out. He worked so hard for the audition recording and it's paying off! It's given him a massive confidence boost as he's been struggling with tuning since changing to the bigger size violin.

Fantastic news, well done! Does he know the pieces yet, mine always love listening to them to get a feel for them, it's so exciting.

Hello - not really asking for advice but interested if anyone else has the experience with having two instruments at similar level? DD is studying for both grade 8s - in piano and cello. She seems to veer between prefering one or the other. I don't have friends with kids who seem to have a double instrument passion in her youth orchestra group. Anyone else here? Do some people just keep up a lifelong passion for 2 instruments? I played both too but dropped cello after grade 5 so impressed she is going full blast still on them.

Interestingly her cello playing is very passionate and I think has the edge whilst on the piano she is much more precise and technical - she is almost like a different musican/personality depending on the instrument. She also records herself playing one part so she can play with herself if that makes sense. Her cello teacher has just given her the Chopin cello sonata to learn both parts with.

She's been invited to debut a new composition in a chamber group with a pianist, and is lead cello in the country orchestra now. Piano is more moving into competitions.

Are you referring to the orchestra pieces or general pieces? We don't know which pieces they'll play at the orchestra yet as only got the offer today. For his general learning he doesn't tend to listen to them just picks up a piece and play the notes. He does tend to look at the footnotes to read about the story of the piece though. Maybe we should introduce more listening to get the feel and help with the tuning. Once he's heard an adult playing a piece his tuning is generally much better. Listening on YouTube doesn't seem to have the same effect for some reason. Unfortunately my violin playing is not good enough to demonstrate intonation as I struggle myself .

@Iwilltrytobepositive sorry I don't have anything experience to share my DS is too young and he only loves the violin. Just wanted to say how talented your DD is and how passionate she is towards music! Well done to her!

Chickentikkasalad, that's great news for your DS. Bet he will love it.

Iwilltry I think we have a few multi-instrumentalists on here. It does get harder as they get more advanced and the practice expectations increase! At a lower level than your DD but as far as I can tell mine are kind of similar on their instruments. It's harder to level their piano as they haven't been doing exams for a while, and some sorts of music they're better at than others.

Certainly know adult musicians who are extremely proficient on more than one instrument, both on pro side and good amateur side. And some who have a whole collection, why stop at 2?

@chickentikkasalad huge congrats to your DS - hope he loves it.

@Iwilltrytobepositive how old is DD? I have a daughter with two instruments at basically the same level - nothing like as sensible as your daughter with cello and piano though - she's a flautist /bassoonist.

To be honest for her it's a constant problem... applied for music school on one instrument, got told the other was her first study. Wrangling over how much time she can spend on each and consantly being asked if she can please just make her mind up. She's 14, and finds it all a bit tricky!

But cello and piano sounds like it will work, one for orchestra and one for not - and I'm sure one is fuelling progress on the other? Lots of the children at DD's school have very high level piano as well as something else. Sounds like she's doing really well!

Thank you Mini and third. Yes he's quite chuffed and very excited. I'm sure he'll love it! We're going to book a hotel to stay nearby just in case he can't manage the residential bit. He's never done a sleepover so don't know how that'll go. Hoping this will be motivating enough for him to give it a try! He's generally quite confident just still very clingy to me at nighttime

Think thats a really good idea @chickentikkasalad , hopefully he totally won't need you at all, but its a nice intro to the residential and the main thing at this stage is that its fun. He's really little so it doesn't need to be stressful for him. Bet he has a blast and you wonder why you bothered staying over, but that would be a good result!

Yes northern that's what I'm hoping too! It's only 3 days and they've already said he doesn't have to stay over as he's so young. However by then he'll be a bit older (he's only doing the summer course) and hopefully he'd be more than ready. Who doesn't want to stay and hang around with people that share the same interests and passion!!

@Iwilltrytobepositive my DD was in this position for ages (same instruments). It was eventually resolved when she applied for a conservatoire junior department and they basically told her piano was her first study and cello second. How old is your DD? Are they looking at junior departments or applying to conservatoire as it is usually possible to get a consultation which might indicate the way to go?

It is a good combination though as piano can be a bit lonely unless she can find some chamber groups. Even now at conservatoire mine finds her cello background helpful (if only to annoy the cellists she plays with by being able to play their part as well as her own....)

@Iwilltrytobepositive I juggled three instruments through my GCSE and A level years: piano and clarinet at high level and also bass guitar which didn't have levels back then as there were no graded exams. It was challenging. I couldn't practice all three instruments every day so I had a rota of two each day. Over time, different instruments have come to the forefront. In hindsight it would have been better to pick one primary instrument and let the other two take a backseat. Of course, since then I've also taken up the saxophone and I have even less time to practice now.

My DD (year 8) is currently trying to juggle 3 instruments for the last year and a bit - violin, piano and organ. It leaves little time for anything else tbh. She studies violin and organs at JD and piano locally. Violin and organ are joint first studies - working at diploma level. She’s also going to be taking ARSM piano at some point this year so time will have to be found for this too… Dropping an instrument has been mentioned but it’s an impossible choice for her at this stage still - loves playing in NCO so violin has to stay, loves the organ and been told she needs to keep piano going if going to take the organ seriously.

Crikey - that's an amazing standard at year 8! How 'seriously' does she have to take piano? Enough to keep her technique up, or more? That would be the obvious one to concentrate on less, I'd have thought.

Mixed bag of fortunes here. On plus side, DS was invited back to play French Horn in a very good local grown-ups chamber orchestra, so now is in the 'network'. He's also got a scholar's concert coming up at school, so is polishing. up one of his diploma piano pieces. Should be an amazing concert - be good to hear the other music scholars!

On the down side, he auditioned to be The Beast in a local kids theatre company production of Beauty and the Beast. But he didn't even get a part! Merely 'ensemble'! After a bit of thespy cloak swishing, we rationalised it by realisiing they mainly give principal roles to the kids that have been going for years, and put in the hard yards. No reflection on his worth - he usually gets principal or supporting roles.

... meaning that I've been trying to use it as a valuable lesson about loyalty, etc!

@herbaceous will he do it? DD2 loved being ensemble in her new school play - just wanted to make friends so was delighted to be in it at all.

She'd had a seriously main role in her old school's last production, but obviously wasn't known in the new one, and the cohort was completely different.

Parts depend on so many factors too - who else is auditioning, whose face 'fits' etc etc - but almost all of the benefit of doing these things is the being onstage, making connections and socialising etc.

Nice that he's getting french horn experience too.

Down at 'music hogwarts' dd2 is juggling three music teachers with very different ideas about which exams she should take next, and preparing for her very first solo lunchtime concert. She's playing the piece she passed out playing in her December masterclass so I'm sort of praying they'll let her sit down this time. There isn't a lot of breathing space in it and she'll be nervous as anything.

Then she seems to have another solo for 'bach day' (this time on flute) and some other concert as well for second-study performers. Struggling to get down to see enough of her stuff, but she seems happy enough.

He's not going to do it, no. He's Mr Bumble in the school's Oliver, and has a big part in an outside company's West Side Story later this summer, so is saving himself!

@londonmummy1966 thanks that is really interesting about the conservatoire helping/making you choose! What age was that? She started cello way before piano so not a level playing field but wondering if the fact she progressed so quickly means her natural home. She is 15/Year 10 and has been learning for 5 years but one of those without lessons due to Covid. Also she is petite and her hands are v small for the piano.

Has said recently that not interested in career as musician (previously had said she wanted to) - therefore I don't think Saturday conservatoire is the way to go.

It would be a massive commitment due to where we live so I think it would be something to look at for sixth form if she is still interested then.

@minisnowballs that's really interesting to hear that music schools force you to choose. I am sure there must be some musicians that continue to be multi-instrumentalists - it does seem a bit of a straight jacket and must be stressful for your DD. Mine also has her "cello friends" in youth and chamber orchestras and her "piano friends" girls who go to the music rooms at lunch time and play together. The two don't seem to cross over which adds to the complications as double social life as well!

@Iwilltrytobepositive - she was year 8 when she went to the JD . I think that if your DD doesn't want to do music as a career she should just carry on as she is, doing what she enjoys. The chances are that sometimes one instrument will be more in favour than the other and then they'll swap around. Mine had two distinct groups of friends too- cello friends from orchestra and piano friends from JD, I liked the fact that it widened her friendship group.

I think that is part of the problem with the classical world, having to choose/specialise.

A friend of dh (they were at the same conservatoire) is a professional flautist. Everyone also did a 2nd study and she did piccolo.

But when she graduated she started not only working as a classical player in things like wind quintets but she started playing in theatre orchestras. She took up clarinet, then saxophone (various ones) and now gets booked for shows where she quadruples. It is very lucrative for her.

Only the very few are going to end up as virtuoso soloists. Our friend plays at a very high standard but her jack of all trades has stood her in really good stead.