Autumn / Winter 24 - music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

Feels like time for a new thread for the new school year!

Come and talk about music lessons, choosing instruments, exams, auditions, specialist schools, orchestras or whatever other music activities are going on. Everyone is welcome, from those with total beginners to those whose children are studying music at advanced levels. Ask for advice or share successes or struggles.

No- but you could call them and ask. There is an insta clip of their exam rooms but I can't make it out.

www.instagram.com/reel/C5xinWYgk27/?igsh=ZHBzdG44dDZpbzI3

Also- for all exam centres you arrange your own accompanist- it's just that at a private venue you get to use theirs (eg JD / other sat centre)

@amr78 yes we had to arrange our own. Thankfully was able to get a Saturday slot as weekdays generally not viable for peripatetic music teachers.

@PurpleStarrySocks just realised I replied to myself in the message above 🤦🏻‍♀️

Are the NYO final assessment days fixed to the same time each year? Planning a short trip with a friend for a special birthday in September 2025 so want to make sure I’m available if DS gets through to this stage.

The rooms look nice - thanks for sharing the Instagram clip. 🙂

@amr78 they have been in the 1st 2 weeks ish of September since 2021 if that helps

Can I just say, "Aaargh!" to people who will be sympathetic? I arranged for DS's regular piano lesson to be on Fridays, confirmed twice. He turned up last week and teacher wasn't there. Today I got a text, "Sorry I misread your message and thought that he can't do Friday."

The teacher is amazing, but so disorganised; we tend to get invoices at random intervals, once (memorably) for two years' worth of lessons.

@PhotoDad i do feel your pain - we had the flakiest piano teacher for years - to the extent that he never got a Xmas present as always just randomly stopped turning up for the lessons before Xmas. Some of my friends locally still have him and its a bit of a joke about how 'casual' his approach to lessons is. Sounds like your teacher is otherwise good though so probably worth sticking with them - especially given how long your son has left before A levels.

Mine were younger so switched both of their lessons to their Saturday centres - which worked flawlessly at the 'organisationally epic' local one, (including switching her to another teacher who's a really good fit too when the first one left after a year) and continued to be really flakey at my son's until I complained again and got switched to another tutor who is much much better.

@PhotoDad I feel your pain - we've definitely had ones like that! The ones DD has now are epically organised though - I think given they are very busy freelance performers they have to be, though it does often mean that there's a lot of rescheduling in her life. Though obviously I don't have to deal with it.

We've just had exeat, which was fab to have DD2 home. She's very chirpy, but now reckons it's grade 7 singing and 8 bassoon NEXT term instead (diploma summer still I guess for flute)

Not sure that's going to be any better, but she informs me grade 7 is 'only singing' and she isn't intending to do any practice. It emerges she never practices singing because all her practice time is scheduled into the woodwind dept, and she 'feels weird' doing it.

I'm assuming she should at least do some?!

I never hear DS doing any singing practice, except perhaps a few days before an exam. Apparently he's doing grade 8 this month. I shall keep ears peeled.

In other news, he got the lead role in the school production! Super-chuffed.

@herbaceous brilliant news - hope he's not too daunted by the dancing!

Maybe it's just me and my old brain, but the thought of learning four long pieces (Trinity) plus a new folk song without practice in a term is unfathomable. She's got one massive Brahms thing in German, which she doesn't speak, Vivaldi's Domine Deus, Girls of Summer by Sondheim (which she finds easy) and something by Betjeman which is at least in English.

Also the folk songs with Trinity are definitely more demanding than ABRSM, where she just used to do the same one for every grade.

Your son must have the memory of an elephant to do singing on no practice - but then DD2 hasn't had his choral training I guess!

Not sure what folk song DS is doing. He's doing something in French, which he doesn't speak, Joanna from Sweeny Todd, and something else! Maybe Handel?

He had to do something in Italian for his grade six, forgot the words so just repeated the verse before. Examiner didn't seem to notice!

As for the dancing, judging by the nanosecond glance I got of the cast list, I think he'll be subtly edged out of any dance requirements!

Good news about the casting @herbaceous and lovely to have dd back for exeat @minisnowballs.

Dd does abrsm singing but a different folk song each time. She's done songs in both Norwegian and Italian - neither of which she speaks. I think she's hoping to do g5 as a musical theatre grade rather than traditional so we'll see what her singing teacher says to that! She doesn't really practice between lessons either - although she says her shower singing counts!

She's awaiting a recall for her school's musical. Not expecting a big part (they go to the 6th form) but she did 3 auditions - ensemble, dance and a "main" character one so we'll see what comes out of it.

Also a new cello group starting this week which is nice.

DS is going to try and start a jazz piano trio. As if he hasn't got enough to do...

I think they are all so impressive @QueenMabby @herbaceous - i can never learn songs unless I understand the words. DD2 cheated a bit last time as she can understand Spanish more or less, even if her speaking is a bit woeful.

I'm unreasonably excited because DD has texted me that she is going to a class about studying English Literature. Because it is the first time in a year she's attempted to do something that isn't music - she must be feeling brave.

Sounds identical to DD's strategy for G7 signing last year

It does sound fun though!!

DD said tonight that she wants to start a band and was going ask her friends who have just started guitar lessons if they want to join her. Feels similarly like I have no idea when she would fit it in, but love the enthusiasm.

She's now doing 3 choirs a week, 1 singing, 1 violin and 1 piano lesson plus a piano duet class, a strings group, an orchestra, a chamber orchestra, a piano trio (on violin) and is in the band for the school musical! Feeling like my decision to push grade 8 piano back to spring was probably wise though!

Singing teachers all over the country with their heads in their hands reading this thread then @se22mother !

It does seem weird that it requires so much less work than everything else. It used to really rile DD1, who did GCSE music, that the girls doing singing could just walk in and perform a grade 5 standard piece having had no/few lessons and pretty much get the same marks as she did with her hard-won violin playing!

I guess you can either sing, or you can't, to an extent.

I love all these singers winging it! I have a rubbish singing voice despite reaching a high level on my instrument and I was always jealous of those who could just add it on easily like that!

On the singing front, DS (6) has a gorgeous singing voice but in the last year or so has basically stopped singing. He used to go around the house singing all day long from practically as soon as he could talk but not that long after starting school he just stopped. I don’t know why and I miss it a lot! If asked he just says he doesn’t like it anymore. He does still sing in his musicianship classes.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get him back into it?! Did any of your kids go through this kind of phase? I’ve noticed when he is absorbed in his small play he will still hum a “theme tune” for each figure, which he has also always done, so I think it’s a shyness/self conscious thing when he is aware others are listening.

Aww -@Compsearch I love the 'theme tunes' ... he sounds so gorgeous. I think probably just don't comment on it and it will come back? Does he sing in the car if you put music on? My dd1 has the most stunning voice but won't sing at all now she's a self-conscious 17 year old, but if you put Mean Girls or Heathers on the car all three of my teens will even do harmonies! Obviously you'll want something more age appropriate but as the kids get older we find car journeys are the best places for singing, serious conversation etc etc, as somehow being trapped in a metal box with your mum and dad removes the self-consciousness.

Yes, that’s the thing with singing, if you’re good at it, it just happens. DD wasn’t one for practising pieces either but just did lots of other singing during the week. She has auditioned for a role in her school’s musical and is waiting to hear if she had made the callbacks on Friday - she is in the youngest year of the four that are auditioning so 🫣.

I don’t know what we will be doing each term for exams as it’s a new school for her but I have a suspicion we are going to end up with three in summer term, which will be interesting.

DS took Grade 5 singing via the cathedral as part of the "leading chorister" process, which was good of them. He didn't practise much for it, and it's the only singing grade he took. He sings a lot of the time when he's pottering around the house, which is lovely.

He's just joined a male-voice a cappella group which a friend of his runs at school. Which is great, except he has rather a lot on his plate at the moment, and should maybe focus on his UCAS application and prep for Cambridge entrance exam for the next couple of weeks?

Ds is loving his new piano teacher. To be fair he liked the teacher he had last year but they have now left. The teacher he has been given this year he originally had in foundation year but he had to change due to timetabling and it wasn't a good change for him.

He is even prepared to work more on scales and classical in order to prepare for postgrad auditions this time next year.