Spring /Summer 25 - Music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread for spring!

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.

@amr78 that sounds like a lot going on for all of you - good luck with the jazz sax. Keeping it simple and supporting on gcses sounds wise - it's an intense time.

On the ear stuff, DD2 also has loop switch - she really likes them. Had the occlusion ones before but the switch is her favourite as she can change it around depending on what she's playing and where she's standing.

I'm not very keen on exams either, DD tends to
practise better if preparing for an exam, solo performance, competition or audition, but I feel it's kind of an artificial motivation... I don't know... in real professional life, soloists are few and far between, major auditions for places don't happen every year, and orchestral musicians just need to practise habitually, without any "exam" looming over. DD certainly hasn't got into this habit yet! 😂

Grades are good anyway for giving some structure in what can otherwise become a winding road :)

Thank you @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest that's reassuring! Though I've just had a meeting with her HoD and everything now looks even more complicated 😂🤦‍♀️ but at least I have some info to
plan ahead.

June was definitely overwhelming, I cannot even remember how many orchestral concerts DD has done but four solos in one month felt like a lot...

Good luck with the grade result and GCSE!

Congratulations to everyone with exam results! @Happydaysandhappysmiles and @Legoninjago1 and @yodaforpresident and anyone I’ve missed!

Interested to hear about the exam chat as my DS hasn’t done any yet and I’ve been wondering when is a good time to start.

I feel like it’s probably quite tricky to time it right and choose the right grade, so that he’s challenged but not too much and can actually get a decent mark without having got bored of his pieces! Also think though it would be good to get an exam under his belt before it starts to matter to him. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? (I will obviously ask his teacher too). eg if he’s between grades atm, is it better to aim for the lower or upper? (I think he’s about grade 3-4 standard atm, is learning Handel Op 1 no 15 if that means anything to anyone!)

Should have said - he plays violin!

In our experience, it's better to perfect lower grade technique than overstretching for a higher grade. DD played g8 pieces for RCM auditions but her technique was "grade 7 level" - she didn't get an offer. We auditioned for joint first study so there might have been other considerations, but the same happened at a competition once - she lost to a child who played much lower grade but did it perfectly.

Thank you @Ubertomusic - good points. I think it would be great for his confidence to do well in a grade that was “easier” for him, so that’s probably the right call. Slightly doubt his interest/ability to perfect anything without getting bored but that is all part of learning and an important lesson for him I’m sure.

@Compsearch - as a contrary view you could just go into the first few grades/grade on the basis that you're just ripping the plaster off and getting him used to it - so not really worrying if he's perfect.

DD2 used to reckon if she got an insanely good mark on something when she was younger she'd probably spent too much time on it.

She was too young for caring about polishing.

Now she's older, she generally gets and works for better marks but goes much more slowly. But she has the lack of fear that comes from going in and getting a variety of marks when younger (she's always passed comfortably except when she did a piano grade on her own 27 days after taking up the instrument by herself - 104 for grade 3!). I'm sure the musical among you will be horrified, but she just wanted a benchmark.

@Ubertomusic it does all crunch up in the summer term. DD2 had her lunchtime concert yesterday in the middle of a symphony orchestra rehearsal the morning after her prom. She was ... delicate... but it went pretty well. You have ages before you really have to choose GCSEs - both my girls changed their minds loads in the interim. The GCSEs may have changed completely by then!

Thanks @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest also good points! DS has no clue about what exams are and no benchmark because he’s just learning privately, not in an ensemble yet, and none of his friends are learning. I remember as a child the “what grade are you?” being a pretty big deal but it isn’t at all for him. (If I thought it would motivate him I might suggest a harder grade but don’t think he’d care). Anyway will ask his teacher once he’s done his Benedetti sessions.

For the lower grades, how much time is normal to spend on the prep? Eg if he was doing an exam in the autumn, should he start learning the pieces nowish or wait until September? (Appreciate this is how long is a piece of string question!)

I think you are both right - going in to a low grade exam without making too much effort and just seeing it as a way of dipping the toe in is a good approach and also just doing as much performance as possible even if it is little mini concerts at home to the grandparents. At one stage DD got performance anxiety as school music never organised concerts and we were getting her to perform to friends. Now she breezes on stage as if she didn't have a care in the world so it can be turned around.

Interestingly I saw that RAM are building a new block in Docklands which will include "a grand piano" - just the one???? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39zzelzdd2o

@Londonmummy66 lets hope they also have grand pianos in the majority of practice rooms. Thats one of the things my DD likes about her Saturdays at the music centre of the local private school - they have grand pianos everywhere - they even have 2 in the main concert hall meaning she could do a duet for 2 pianos last term!

On exams - i've taken a view that my kids don't need to do every one, but would echo the point about doing one of the early ones just to understand the process - try out playing with an accompanist in front of someone / learning to manage nerves etc.

DD did 1, 5,7 and 8 on piano, DS has done 1,2 and 6 so far but isn't taking 7 and will move straight onto 8. On flute hDS's first exam was gr 5 but he'd already done some piano ones so didn't feel the earlier ones were necessary and since then he's done 7 and has 8 next week. DD still resists all exams on violin - we did try with 5 just to see how an accompanied exam went but the wrist breaking just before killed that option, then missed the boat on 6 (her violin teacher had a baby and a bit of a break from lessons and then felt had missed the boat for it not being tedious and 'over it' so now hoping that she'll do 7 as think that 8 as her first violin exam is unwise.

@amr78 phew, we have a pair of loop switch arriving today. The orchestra give out the disposal ones for concerts but having seen a child wearing them every week it reminded me that we should. Cellos are squished next to brass and not far from percussion in a room that is rather too small!

Yes @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest we still have a few more years but looking at how it's going with lots of things crammed into the last month (including the grade that could have been done 3-5 months ago spreading the workload a bit more evenly) I guess I'll need to start planning for taking some GCSE earlier... I admire those who manage to do everything including a couple of gr8 in one or two years, but my DD is certainly not so organised and diligent! 😂 She felt exhausted in the last term even though loving it all, there is only so much energy one can spend.

It's also about narrowing down the options too early, I'm still struggling to find the right balance and it feels like if we commit to something now be it drama, Latin, classics or whatever, she will have to stay on that path till GCSE, just because her music timetable and commitments won't allow much leeway.

We had a funny thing with piano grades - DD had already done g3 and g5 at JD skipping g4, then we moved and had a new teacher who didn't like missing grades and made her do g4 instead of g6 🤦‍♀️ I just didn't want to make a fuss but tbh that didn't make much sense. Oh well, missed a year, never mind. So it very much depends on the teacher's approach too. We've had/known about teachers who wanted to do every single grade, who were not interested in grades at all, who were skipping some boring grades depending on the child's ability, who were rushing through two or even three grades per year "and now we can finally start learning the real music" :)

For young violinists, comparing grades can be quite toxic at a certain age as the strings are so competitive. All those "I'm playing diploma pieces, N is only grade 8, why N is the leader??" etc. They can also be misleading as exams do not assess technique as such. DD has abysmal technique on the piano as it's only her third study - I don't remember any exam report that would mention the improvement needed 🤷‍♀️ Same on the violin - her wrist is still not flexible enough for her level of pieces, no comments on that in the reports, ever. DD survives with imperfect technique thanks to her musicality but it's not how it should be, not for the violins at least, but no exam highlighted this problem. That's probably why JDs were not really interested in grade certificates, only real auditions.

That is a totally bizarre approach re making her go backwards @Ubertomusic?!

My DS’s teacher is pretty laid back thankfully and doesn’t seem to have fixed ideas either way. Most of his other students are adults so DS is a very different proposition for him!

@Ubertomusic - I agree re the toxic strings. There was an absolutely rigid pecking order in the school cellos at one stage and it was awful - one reason I think why DD just stopped playing cello at school

dd loves having a “target” to get to so quite enjoys exams. She’s done:

Piano: 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. Has skipped 7 and now prepping 8

Cello: 1, 2 and 4. Now also prepping 8

Voice: 3 and 4 (classical). Now prepping 6 but MT rather than classical.

i agree that the “what grade are you” toxicity can be pretty strong. Dd is not the strongest cellist but has excellent orchestra “skills” so often leads because of that. She’s not as strong as a soloist though.

oh - also on when to start question @Compsearch it really depends whether he's going for an exam that is a stretch or something thats more easily achieved . Would consider working on the scales over the summer though even if not starting the pieces.

The teacher is young and probably wants to establish her own way of teaching which is understandable. It's a learning curve for everyone :) I wouldn't sign DD up as guinea pig for a young teacher on her main instruments but I'm relaxed about piano and singing. And DD's piano technique is really poor so there's no point rushing it. I want her to do piano grade 8 well before GCSE just to have more time for everything else, but she would be struggling with more advanced pieces if her hands are that stiff.

Thanks all for the advice on the ear protection, DD already has the loop switch but looks like the professionally fitted ones are recommended.

That’s absolutely nuts @Ubertomusic, I can’t believe the teacher thought that was a useful way to spend time.

We’ve just found out DS (15) has got a distinction in his grade 8 jazz sax - over the moon for him as he’s had such a tough year with his neurodivergence diagnosis and the academic demands ramping up for GCSEs. He’s found it really hard to keep the motivation to practise going as masking his autism at school really takes it out of him.

That’s amazing @amr78- well done your ds!

Congratulations to @amr78DS! He might be over the moon!!

@chickentikkasalad he most definitely is! But I think he’s mainly relieved he doesn’t have to play those pieces any more!