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.

One benefit of larger instruments I suppose is that this is never an issue for us!

Mind you dd is going on music tour in the summer and is very excited that her cello gets its own seat on the plane.

Vocal concert for us this week and not much else. Dd has put off her g4 voice until the summer which is good.

Oh wow their own seat! Does it mean more space for her too if its next to her?!

My daughters school tour this summer is by coach....

My suggestion would be video call... But if you go for it not sure you get a better option to take than a flute!

ALso - on cellos having their own seat on the plane, will be interesting to see if the airline double books them. My friend is in an orchestra who were touring and last time the airline double booked cos they'd released all the cello seats. Putting them in the hold is definitely not an option so there was a stand off until it was sorted (especially as they were flying in for a concert that evening)

Gosh can they do that?! (double book seats). Can't really discretely stuff them. Under the seat.

And yes at least it's just a flute!

Just a quick update for those who helped with advice for a nervous Grade 1 recorder player…she passed with a merit, hurrah! Thanks again 😊 I’ll probably stay loitering on this thread as it’s lovely reading about all your children’s musical adventures!

Yay congratulations!!

@WheelySquirrel - congratulations to your dd that's a fantastic result.

As a former recorder player myself I always love seeing others pick it up. There's a girl at DD's school who is a diploma level recorder player and (after dd of course!) she's my favourite to listen to at school concerts!

Congratulations @WheelySquirrel DD!

Well done to mini @WheelySquirrel I teach a bit of recorder and it's lovely to see others enjoying it. My dds still Pick it up now and again. There's loads of opportunities if she keeps going.

Great result for your DD @WheelySquirrel - is she keen to carry on now? Mine refused for a while post grade 1 until she was ready to do gr 5- but it was cheaper and less restrictive so not all bad

She’s very keen to carry on! Before the exam there was talk of never playing ever again if she failed, but she actually enjoyed the exam itself and the result is the icing on the cake so she’s now definitely talking about Grade 2. I am keen to have a break and some playing for fun for a while though (which has already started with a bit of Yellow Submarine practice earlier 😊). She’s also pondering taking a second instrument up as the plan was always to get through Grade 1 and then see how she felt. The challenge is the lack of teachers’ availability though.

Where do you all find out about piano festivals and competitions? DD is taught by DH, who is only familiar with the Hong Kong musical scene. She really needs more opportunities to perform. Her current primary school doesn't give many opportunities and their pianos are terrible! She's 11.

@mustardrarebit we'r doing our local annual music festival. Do a Google search for any music festivals around you. I found it by luck on Facebook .

@mustardrarebit similar here - DD also 11. The competition i found out about was just on facebook so it was a random luck thing. There are lots though - where are you based as people may know?

DD has also found public pianos to be a good option. Current favourite is the one in Battersea Power station as its way less hard to get a turn on than the Kings Cross one

There is an association of music festivals website which lists many of them. Others I've seen on Facebook, a piano school in the city runs a festival over two days each year, not just for their own pupils. Maybe contact any local music schools to see where their pupils go for these things. A church in a town nearby is doing occasional Sunday afternoon performances where anyone can sign up to perform. Maybe look for that kind of thing too. The rotary club do competitions each year, leading to regional finals and a national competition. Start your own? I did an evening at Our Primary school for anyone getting private or school lessons. I'm trying to get the energy to do a modest piano one but work keeps getting in the way! I have people to ask help, and offer of a nice piano, an adjudicator. Just need to raise some funds to cover it.

Thanks. We are in Yorkshire, but we do travel all over, thanks to DD's fondness for performing arts. She's played the St Pancras pianos and loved it, but that was pure luck that it was a quiet time.

Thank you, I'll look into those options! She did a LYPCO online entry competition last year. I think we entered in the wrong category, everyone else had 6 years on her. I'll see if the local music academy have any suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have anything like the time or experience to start a competition!

@mustardrarebit depends where in Yorkshire - but know Holmfirth have traditionally had a quite big music festival - but noticed that they're not running in 2024 as need more support running and funding it to go ahead in future.

@herbaceous might know of piano options in Yorkshire for performance opportunities?

The only ones I know of are the Mrs Sunderland Festival in Huddersfield, which has many many many categories, inc piano, and East Yorkshire do something too... I have yet to really explore all that. DS gets quite a lot of performance opportunity at school, and a fierce teacher!

I'm not looking initially to start a competition, more a playing opportunity on a nice piano, with the option for some to have comments from a kind adjudicator. I'm waiting till I have a bit more time to organise though! There are loads of online things but most look like money making scams, costing £50 to enter. Or they say free first round and pay to progress.

I've come across a couple of competitions that seem a bit scammy. Your idea sounds lovely, especially for younger musicians. My middle daughter doesn't like to perform at all. She plays for herself, but something low pressure like that might give her confidence.

The festivals site @horseymum mentions is: https://www.federationoffestivals.org.uk/festivals There are lots! Many take place in March. We've found it good to go to our 2 nearest festivals in March and to one further away at another time of year.

That's how our local festival started horsey, it's still non-competitive which I definitely like. Mine don't get many chances to perform to an audience being at a very unmusical school, so it's really valuable to them.

Quick question. We are buying dd a new cello next month. We have an appt with a luthier about an hour away. DD's cello teacher and his wife are meeting us there and they are "making a day of it'. This is in the school holidays and I massively appreciate them taking time out of their week for this. He insisted on coming (don't think he trust us to buy a decent instrument without him - fair enough).

Should I take them a thank you gift? Offer to take them out to lunch/pay for their time? How does this work? We've always just rented an instrument from school until now.

Any input much appreciated.