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.

Thanks @horseymum. She has been involved in a lot of groups through school, and has just joined a local training orchestra with cello, hopefully moving up to the full youth orchestra once she has taken grade 5. And also started a Saturday school at our city’s conservatoire, so is getting a fair bit of playing with others. I’ll look into competitions though.

I’m not sure I actually asked the question I wanted to in my post! Should she stick with her current teacher or look to move on? How do you know when they have ‘outgrown’ someone?

Flute day is in east London. Imagine just cos they had far too many flutes to fit them all in orchestras

Moving teachers is a tricky one. I guess she needs to know what she wants to do and if she can achieve it with current teacher. We have only ever changed teachers due to circumstances changing, although with one we had felt for a while a change would be helpful, but hadn't wanted to ditch a lovely teacher. Happily, circumstances meant it ended up not being awkward and new teacher is working out well.

@Delam we have quite a bit of experience in moving teachers for various reasons and I also moved when i was a similar age to your DD.

I think that its harder when there is no external reason to move - eg changing location or retiring etc, but it does depend on whether your DDs aspirations on piano are a good fit with the teacher. If the teacher really has just an exam focus and that isn't what your DD wants to do, then maybe consider others. I'm really not clear how group lessons work at grade 8 standard, and whether the need to do a narrow syllabus is necessitated by the format of the lessons, but perhaps a first step would be a discussion between your DD and the teacher as to what other post grade 8 options could exist other than ARSM.

When I moved i was bored of the narrow syllabus and constant Haydn / Mozart and moved to a teacher who taught more modern / jazz pieces and would have done improv work too had i been there long enough (but as it was i was battling through grade 7 and then went to uni quite soon after!).

We moved my DD teachers when it started to become clear she needed a more advanced level teacher and she had outgrown her previous one - i think with hindsight we were a year or so too late in moving her, but it did all work out well. We also moved my DS's flute teacher and piano teachers at his Sat centre but that was more of a specific issue with teacher availability.

If your DD is happy with continuing down the exam route - maybe another thing to think about is whether there is any opportunity to do any duets with others or play in a trio? DD does a weekly duet class which she's really enjoying as it develops different skills and its nice for pianists to get to play with others. She also does a piano trio which might be good if she can find a violinist / cellist. (although for DD her trio is violin for her as as violinists are in way shorter supply at her school than pianists!)

They do have a lot of flutes always. DD2 initially applied to NYO inspire on flute, which she was very much first instrument on (at the time she hadn't even taken grade 5 on bassoon) - they rang us and asked her to change and now I suspect they've completely forgotten she can even play it.

I'm still not sure what an Inspire Ambassador is, but it seemed to involve a rather unexpected 9am Zoom call last Saturday, which DD2 hasn't actually told me anything about. Perhaps all will become clear when she's home on Friday.

So many busy young people!

NYO inspire sounds fantastic - I was in NYO back in the day but the equivalent was much smaller scale - the participants came for a couple of days on our Easter course and that was it - I think there was only one session once per year. It’s great that they’ve expanded it because it’s such an amazing experience. I had such a wonderful time and made so many friends I am still in touch with.

@chickentikkasalad the course sounds great! Is your DS happy to join in over zoom? Mine hates all forms of video calls which I think is a covid hangover so would probably struggle with this.

He’s just started CYM on a Saturday (on recorder) and seems to be enjoying it so far, though it feels like a lot to me.

@compsearch Inspire has been great for DD2, though for those of us trying to organise our lives round two jobs and three very different teenagers they can be a little lastminute.com.

Ah, CYM. This is my first term in six years without it. Can't say I'm missing the Notre Dame canteen but they are fabulous people and DD2 would not be having the experiences she has today without it. Though I warn you he'll be on a mini bassoon before you know it.

@Compsearch yes DS actually quite like the video call lessons. I guess it's just extra screen time which he would normally have a limit on . Sounds like your Saturday school is a perfect fit for your DS. Glad they've all found something that fits them personally. To be honest I would very much prefer a in person Saturday school but our local one isn't anywhere near as good as CYM. It's a long way to travel for us. He still goes to our local Saturday music centre straight after the online lesson, just to get some ensemble experience.

How on earth do you get from grade 3 to grade 8 in two years? That's an incredible progression. Is it sheer talent or dedicated practice or a combination of the two?

Well she hasn’t got grade 8 yet 😄 I looked back to first contact with her teacher and found an email from May 22 checking that we had the grade 3 books, but she actually skipped grade 3 in the end and went straight to grade 4 in Dec 22. So will be grade 4 to grade 8 in two years really.

She has always been pretty good at practice, not much pressure required, but it hasn’t been all consuming. I think she’s very talented, obviously 😊

Thanks for other comments about moving teachers. She has done very well with her current teacher. Perhaps we should wait to see how things develop.

It is possible. My husband began piano lessons when he was 14 and took his Grade 8 when he was 19. My son began around the same age too. He was playing Grade 5 pieces aged 16 and Grade 7 pieces aged 17/18. Both just became obsessed, with ds it helped we were in lockdown and his GCSE's were cancelled so he just spent hors and hours every day playing.

Ha ha @minisnowballs yes the canteen could be better - there are so many sweets I’ve just had to give in to both kids. I’ve got my 4 year old with me as well so need to entertain her for the whole time which she seems to enjoy but is exhausting for me - I envy all the other parents chilling with their books!

DS is doing the primary years programme and I think the idea is 2 years of recorder and then move on to a wind or brass instrument, but I actually only really wanted him to do it for the musicianship classes - will see how he gets on but I’d be happy enough if he just focused on violin after the 2 years and then maybe added piano instead. He does like tooting his little recorder though so who knows…perhaps it will be mini bassoon!

@Compsearch DD2 only joined for the sweets!

The sweets are one of the things DS loves too - i've just taken a view that once a week is fine!

I also hate Notre Dame canteen - the addition of an intermittent high pitched noise from their alarm system is a new 'joy' for this year that i'm hoping stops soon. Its also freezing cold. Thankfully I go home after DSs flute lesson and them DH picks him up later, but it really is a miserable place to hang out so i'm grateful DS isn't younger.

I could do with that kind of progress. I'm currently playing piano at grade 6-7 level and taking my grade 6 ABRSM in January but grade 8 still seems a long way off!

Loving all the nyo inspire experience.

We never would have applied without all your support and answers to all my daughters questions! Shes really excited and I'm so proud - a couple of years ago she'd never have gone to play with people she completely didn't know.

I think all these music things give them confidence. My youngest got asked to play for another council on their residential where she wouldn't know anyone else but I think the experience of getting stuck in at other camps meant she wanted to do it and was fine. It's lovely to see. I usually suggest taking a bag of sweets and a card game for any breaks, helps break the ice.

That's a fab suggestion! Will tell her

Hello all!

This thread had indeed been very quiet.

DS continues to plough his musical furrow with no input from me. Played in an informal school concert the other day - a Chopin nocturne, and then straight into keyboards and vocals for Hotel California.

He complained about the stiff action on the concert piano not enabling the finesse he's used to for the Nocturne - I did indeed notice a few missed notes, but only because I've heard the piece eleventy billion times! Didn't seem to matter so much for the Eagles!

Re grade progress, sounds a bit like DS. He was about grade 4 when covid struck, then spent hours each day noodling about and did his grade 8 three years later.

@herbaceous you should be glad your school has a real piano! I think ours has one upright, not sure if it's ever been tuned and it's usually kept in a locked cupboard. They have about eleventy billion guitars though! ( Not complaining about this as it means all the kids get to try guitars in class, it's just rubbish for concerts where someone wants to play the piano). They have only just got proper music stands for orchestra.

Yes - he is of course luckier than most! There are three grand pianos, and a number of uprights in various practice rooms...

My DC school is the same @horseymum - they've been selling programmes to raise money for new stands at every concert since DS joined 2 years ago and had a fundraiser last year for the music dept which meant new stands and clip on lights this year. Unrivalled luxury!

They have only just got proper music stands for orchestra.
Hey, they have an orchestra.

We just have the eleventy-million guitars, and a couple of dozen rock bands. There isn't even a choir.
Guess this is why things like NYO Inspire exist. The differential between private and state schools is real, and in some cases cavernous. (The other local state secondary is better but we live too far away from it.)