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.

Thank you all for the kings words about DS's piano.

Although we're nowhere near GCSE's (DS's only 7 🤣) but I can totally relate to the craziness of your schedules. DS had his ankle broken during the summer holidays so he's now out of sports that means he is not having his other activities(cycling/racing/jiujitsu/beavers) and it feels very relaxing and very nice. It makes me think maybe he has too many activities normally. But he doesn't want to drop any of those apart from beavers. But beavers is only 1 hour a week so wouldn't make a lot of difference anyway. I wish he would agree to drop the Jiujitsu because that's expensive and time consuming but he loves it! It does mean his after school time is filled with activities and music lessons/practices he barely gets time to "play"...

Placemarkimg.

What’s the song Catatonic? Do you think he is able to perform it with a full understanding of the character, meaning & situation

Oh. Just realised that I marked my (very long) reply to @CatatonicLadybug when I should have tagged @amr78. Sorry.

Can't help at all on the musical theatre song but dd seems quite keen to switch to the musical theatre one for her g5 having done the traditional singing exams up til now.

I am in awe of the schedules your DC manage to follow (with your help). My DS17 has been working his way slowly through the grades; he really enjoys music but it's not his main focus. Couple of ensembles, weekly lessons (30 mins on one instrument, an hour on the other), weekly cathedral choir. Occasional rock-band with his mates (he was playing a gig yesterday!) But also helping run a couple of academic student societies including giving talks, volunteering, and coaching his sport (which takes up many weekends).

It's our school's inter-house music competition this week and he's upped his practice game for that.

By contrast our DD20 (currently at art school) hated all organised activities and spent hours at wildlife reserves with her camera in blissful silence (hence my username). Chalk and cheese despite the same upbringing. Funny how that happens!

Thank you all so much for your insight! I think we will plan to go ahead with this song as the plan then and hope for the best. While he wouldn’t have the life experience, he has the understanding of it academically and can fully explain what is happening to the character, how it relates to the plot, and how the plot is commenting on society, not that he’d be interviewed! But that the acting through song is there and not by rote or anything. It works for him somehow!

Will report back in a couple months with whatever happens I guess.

Thanks again for the help. :)

Congrats chickentikka! Sensible teacher moving him on and not traipsing through every grade. I wish people would just give them nice music to learn rather than deem it 'moving on to grade 3' though. Music doesn't have to come with numbers on.

Re adult songs - I don't hear many singers but with string pieces i find kids do fine with heart on sleeve emotional stuff. They can emote like nobody's business. What can be harder is conveying emotion in a more understated sort of way. So say Schindler's list comes out more effective than the slow movement of Winter.

@PhotoDad your ds' schedule sounds wonderfully well-balanced. But equally exhausting! I have two very different girls- the older one hasn't picked up her viola since she stopped Saturday school in June, which makes me rather sad. But maybe she'll find an orchestra at uni.

Spoke to DD2 last night, who informed me she'd had a 'very musicy day' - which for her is a day that would border on the insane for the rest of us. She sounded very happy but informs me that her teachers think she's doing Grade 8 bassoon, ARSM flute and Grade 7 singing 'in the summer'. I know they like everything to be 'in the summer', but she also has GCSES this year. So that's a no from me, assuming I have any jurisdiction at all.

Slightly hoping she could get the bassoon done sooner - the pieces she's done recently would make up a grade eight programme without anything more added - they'll all have been performed in a lunchtime concert by november and she knows the scales. Plus it's her second grade 8 so she knows how the aural works. Perhaps skip the singing completely? Is grade 7 necessary?

That sounds a bit mad to me @minisnowballs (speaking as a parent of little ones with no direct experience!).

Couldnt she do flute or bassoon in the spring, the other one in the autumn and skip the singing and move straight to grade 8?

My DS has been practising for the Benedetti sessions. Im so
impressed with how well organised it is. The music is so thoughtfully done - notewise the parts are well within his reach but lots of interesting little details to work on that haven’t come up for him in his normal lessons yet (different articulations and dynamics, glissandi, col legno etc). He’s really enjoying working it all out.

Also I meant to add in response to all the activities - wow! I guess/hope that when they are teenagers they can get themselves to and from a lot of this stuff?!

@chickentikkasalad how does your DS fit all that in? Are some at school? Do you work? DS has swimming and beavers on the same day and then his violin lesson, so 3 days/week with nothing - I’ve been fighting to keep it that way so he can chill out (and to keep logistics simpler!) but all his friends seem to do something every day.

Thankfully most of DS's activities are at school. Two of his external choirs are walking distance, so he gets himself there. I have to take him to his orchestras, but it's nice to have that 'car chat' time!

Last term he had three rehearsals a week for a musical 15 mins drive away. That was annoying. Especially when it interfered with my Friday evening wine!

@Compsearch - I suspect that once her teachers talk to each other and her head of department a far better plan will be formulated that doesn't involve any of that craziness.

Skipping the singing, for sure.

At home we're in london so our children are self-propelled to their activities and have been since year 7, thank the lord. Our foster daughter made it to and from her choir in central london last night, and DD1 will be off to aerial dance by herself tonight. DD2 seems able to cross the country by herself quite competently as long as she has the Citymapper app and Google. It makes it all much easier.

We don't have great local public transport but definitely the top tip is do activities you can share lifts with other people! Also for one, JD helps keep most things on the one day.

Hi @Compsearch it's all after school in the evenings with clubs etc. I do work but only part time till school pick up. Part of reason I went part time :)

Your DS's Benedetti session sounds amazing. I'm sure he'll fly through and really enjoy it. Are you in London? Our violin teacher mentioned it a few times but unfortunately where we live there's no such good facilities.

@thirdfiddle I agree with you playing lots of fun music. DS learned lots of very nice music between grade1 and 2, played for music festivals and pupil concerts etc. it was really interesting. Now his teacher thinks he needs more challenging pieces to keep him interested. He is a boy who thrives on challenges.

His violin teacher is also very good - they work on exam pieces but try to include extra pieces that he enjoys as well.

@chickentikkasalad lots of the Benedetti stuff is online so worth a look for your DS. DD did some when she was younger and it was really good.

Oh I didn't know they are online. I'll definitely have a look. Thank you!

@chickentikkasalad we live in London but the one DS is going to is actually in Saffron Walden (in Essex, but an easy train ride for us).

I think one of their main aims is to make the sessions accessible around the country, so they seem to hold them in different places every time. As well as Saffron Walden they’re doing one in Perth in Scotland this term. Definitely look into it!

I know someone who does some of the comprising and arranging for benedetti sessions. It's a definite skill. Hope he enjoys it.

Honestly @horseymum - Im
so impressed! Please pass that on to the person you know if you get the chance 😊. And thank you - I hope he will!

Yes @Compsearch they do seem to vary their location around the country - will keep my eyes open for one more accessible for us.
Will also look out for those online sessions!
Thank you all. I learn more from this thread than anywhere else!

Now his teacher thinks he needs more challenging pieces to keep him interested. He is a boy who thrives on challenges.

Grade books are intended as a summary assessment not as a teaching book. Maybe your teacher doesn't mean the actual grade book - one of our teachers was literally using them as her teaching books, and anything between exam books was unchallenging marking time. A friend's DD had a novice teacher who took this to extreme and thought it appropriate to hand her complete beginner violin student a grade 1 book 😱 luckily mum knew enough to run away fast.
The way our current teachers do it and I prefer, they do more challenging repertoire when they're not doing exam books.

@minisnowballs definitely skip the singing exam - by all means work on the repertoire and as you say your DD has already covered the aural. My DD's first clarinet exam was Grade 6 and it was the best decision made as she had taken all grades 3-8 for singing and all grades 3-6 for cello. They at least were spread out across the year but she was working towards at least one exam for something most terms and it did start to get a bit tiring.

@minisnowballs - I'd agree on the grade skipping. DD's just started to prep for g8 cello. Last exam was g4!

She's also skipped g7 piano and is going straight from 6 to 8.

It gives them more time to play around with repertoire and learn the skills they need that way. Plus three grades in the term of GCSEs is crazy.

@QueenMabby @yodaforpresident we are absolutely no strangers to skipping the things - DD has only ever done one bassoon exam (5), quite some time ago. I can see she needs 8. The ARSM she could wait another term for.

The singing? I suspect that if she's learning the repertoire anyway she'll want the bit of paper - and the singing teacher is definitely setting her all the grade 7 stuff.

We'll see. But not in the summer term - unless it is way after GCSEs have finished, since it emerges she has to stay at school afterwards for music.

Because we don't pay for her exams, there isn't the financial consideration (for us, anyway - the school may feel differently).

DD had her first ever singing lesson at school today and loved it. Apparently she got asked if she wanted to learn for fun or for exams and thankfully said for fun. I've told her if she wants she can do grade 5 if she gets to that point and wants to do an exam, but nothing before that!

She seems to be living in the music department at her new secondary which definitely wasn't what I was expecting as it didn't used to be particularly musical - they had an orchestra but very much of the 'it will be fun' rather than 'it will be good' category. They've now managed to add in some more focused music groups as well as the general orchestra plus she's in a band for the school production so its none stop. She's also doing a couple of choirs so is there after school most days and some lunchtimes. Tomorrow she's doing a workshop with Voces 8 which is such an amazing opportunity to get in week 3!

I've also had to buy her a case for her electric guitar as apparently she wants to take that in for some year 7 band for performance ( i didn't anticipate it leaving the house really) as well as learning a duet with her friend for violin /cello and perhaps trying out a piano solo audition for the concert too. She's exhausting.

DS on the other hand is still waiting for CYM to start back - finally its this Saturday but as ever it feels such a late start. We have the joy of 8:45 flute lessons this year 😩and they're for 45 mins too which is quite a tough start to his Saturday Hoping he might find some piano enthusiasm again too.