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.

They did, and they're a very good standard for jazz, better than the saxes were.

It may be just our former school and national bands though.

Of course horns get welcomed everywhere but as horns 😁

I remember when DD had to choose a brass instrument and they were all the same to us (well, DD liked tuba but I refused categorically) my reasoning was "if we have to do it, at least let's pick a versatile one".

DS plays the French horn, and is often asked to play in various local orchestras, as horns in such demand, but never in his school jazz band! I guess they have enough oomph with the many trumpets, trombones and saxes.

Des anyone have any knowledge/experience of piano summer schools or holiday courses at all and if so which ones?!

Popped back on here and enjoyed seeing all the horn love. DD is going to a state secondary where they don’t have lots of anything so I will encourage her to throw herself - and her horn - into whatever there is. The staff are great and used to making do with what they have so I am sure she will be welcomed wherever they can make it work. It’s a great school but the lack of orchestral instruments (or in fact anything really apart from guitar, drums and piano) is my one sadness about it

Further horn news - DS has his grade 6 result back. A merit. He seems pleased!

26 for all his pieces, which his teacher thinks should be higher - his beef is that examiners never mark horns high enough, as they don't realise the technical achievement!

Pretty much full marks for sightreading and aural.

What let him down was scales - 12/21. Silly arse. He always leaves them until the weekend before to practise, and they often let him down.

Wells should be good as Jo Tong is running it - my Dc's old teacher - he's lovely amazing and into duets etc as well as solo. CHets have one too.

Fab, thank you!

DD is doing the Wells piano summer school this year for the first time . I saw St Mary's and Chets also have them

Also- fab news for DS @herbaceous

His teacher predicted him a 'strong distinction', so I think is disappointed. However, he never passed on this expectation to DS, thankfully!

To give reassurance i have a horn player and i had this fear when they started secondary - the school didnt have an orchestra etc. My fears were misplaced and actually the school do some fab stuff just using the instrumentalists they've got even if its unconventional groupings! So yep they and their horn get thrown into all sorts of stuff very happily!

Your DS sounds is very much same standard as my dc @herbaceous but mine is the opposite in the they nail the scales but mess up the aural!

I've often felt like actually the examiners are disposed to be a bit kinder to rare instruments - but i suppose it depends which one you get.

DS is a v experienced orchestral player for his age, so those skills are what comes over in exams. He's much further up grades wise with piano and singing, but has managed to get there with never really nailing scales. He's a great one for winging it and see what happens!

Can I ask how old she is? My daughter's just gone 10. Wondering if it'd be too old for her. She's grade 6/7 level. She does so much stuff with orchestral instruments but piano's her main and feel it doesn't get the same weight outside her lessons.

She will be 12 (end of yr7). I felt the same last year in that i was worried she would be too young and not love being away or the environment. She's suddenly much more confident and really wants to do it so have said yes this year. We have a similar set up that piano is her 1st instrument but she does much more on violin in terms of holiday courses so this felt like a good option for her.

What I will say @chocolateisnecessary is that Wells is excellent pastorally - I'd be confident they'll be kind in their summer schools to littler ones - they're used to having young boarders as they have choristers.

Fab, thanks both. It clashes with Viva Strings which she adores, but will consider it seriously the following year. I think the social side of it all is important and piano's hard for that for obvious reasons!

RCS in Glasgow has summer schools, including piano ( it's 12+, grade 8+) but not residential although you can book to stay in halls.

Am logging this in my head for when she's older. Thanks!

and @herbaceous well done to your DS. Excellent stuff.

@chocolateisnecessary - seconding minisnowballs comments about pastoral care at Wells - also as a cathedral school they are used to having some very young boarders as choristers. Joe Tong who is running it this year is a really lovely man - very kind (although that doesn't let you get away with anything) and a very inspiring teacher. DD loved him.

Well done to @herbaceous's DS. All these talented kids! Our house is full of carols in preparation for chorister trials. I suspect I'm going to be feeling differently about this by mid-Jan when the trials actually roll around.

I'm busy buying bassoon supplies for DD to start in Jan (the best Christmas present is something you were going to have to buy anyway!). Can you lovely parents of bassoonists give me an idea of how many I need to buy? I know I could ask her teacher, but she's been so busy with all the end of term concerts that I don't really want to bother her. I'm wondering whether if I only buy two I'll come to regret it.

Do you mean reeds? I think three, perhaps two 'easy' and one slightly harder for as she gets better.

I do! Not sure how I managed to leave out the most important word there.

Reeds, just the sort of thing every eight year old hopes to find in their stocking on Christmas morning.