Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread as the old one is filling up and think we can claim its spring now!

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.

Oh no @northerngoldilocks that sounds horrible! 🙈 Hope your DD recovers soon!
They're also tired towards the end of term and probably less focused as a result.

What awful timing, and not once but twice too.

sending healing thoughts.

Oh no! Hope it improves soon!

Oh so sorry for your poor DD northern! Hope she recovers quickly.

@northerngoldilocks poor kid! Healing vibes from here. Mine definitely fell over a lot when they were growing, so maybe it's that.DD2 also falls over just walking about sometimes but that's because she's in a world of her own.

@Ubertomusic that sounds like a tough decision. What does your DD want - as I'm sure you've realised mine is not a 'narrowing down' kind of girl - more a kind of 'widening out' one . Lots of different musicians needed - depends what they're aiming for. School supportive to both types,

I think recognise DD2 isn't the type to spend all her days perfecting one thing. Unless it's making a bassoon/recorder thing out of a carrot, which seems to have been the excitement of the last few days.

"I was going to tune the orchestra with it, but it's gone a bit mouldy"... classic comment on the phone this week.

Sorry @northerngoldilocks that’s really rotten luck. Hoping she can rest up and recover double quick!

@Ubertomusic is it an instrument choice thing? If your DD wants to go into the profession she will need to choose one instrument at some point, but probably not for a few years? I know a lot of talented multi-instrumentalists and a front runner emerged usually by mid teens, but slightly depends what it is as you can get away with much less practice on wind and brass as compared to strings and piano, so easier to juggle more if that is your thing.

Ive been thinking about encouraging DS to start piano as it’s so useful, but he’s not asking to learn and I think he does plenty of music atm with violin + choir now ramping up (he’s still 7, in year 3) so my inclination is to leave it for now. Does anyone have thoughts on when is a good stage to add it?

Goodness that sounds painful @northerngoldilocks - we have had a lot of relief with arnica cream in this house for bad sprains. Hopefully she feels better soon.

Thanks all. Am feeling a bit bad that i was just grumpy that she had fallen over again so hadn't appreciated that it was actually really sore - suspect this is why she hadn't really told me how much it hurt. She messaged me at work yesterday and said it was hurting so told her not to do any music practice, but only when she was going to bed last night did i realise it was swollen and perhaps more of a problem... She obviously hadn't told her dad who was at home yesterday!

Have now ordered a splint (as obviously its the other wrist from the one she broke a couple of years back) and will head out for some arnica. Have sent her to school with it bandaged and taking ibuprofen. She has a trio run through tonight so will see if she can play or not - she feels bad for the others if she can't do it as the concert is tomorrow but i'm mainly hopeful that she will be ok in time for NCO! She has form for this as broke her other wrist just before the one and only violin exam i've ever entered her for!

To be fair, I know two kids who have arrived at NCO in slings and a harpist broke her arm whilst there, so they are used to it!

@CompsearchMy eldest started at 12, but to help
with composition. He picked it up really quickly. I think it depends tho - he was playing both clefs already. Maybe give it a whirl? He can always go back to it later if it doesn’t work out first time.

I’m hesitant to recommend apps for piano @Compsearch but at that age Simply Piano or similar might make piano more of a fun activity than officially learning another instrument requiring lessons, practice and exams.

DD wants it all, and more MT and dance and maybe singing lessons too... 🙈 It's absolutely impossible and I said she wouldn't be auditioning for the next show - she got upset but we just have to be realistic :(

She wants to be a professional orchestral musician but is also thinking about studying biology so I don't really want her to neglect academic subjects either. I changed my mind very abruptly when I was a teenager, dropped art school to study science, lost one year to resit maths - it's doable but hard, and my parents were in a better financial situation than I am and could support me with my zigzags of studies. I could help DD with biology as I studied it at uni, but music is terra incognita.

It's such a complex question with lots of factors involved... I don't think it's about an instrument choice only as the choice is pretty much obvious - violin is extremely competitive so why bother BUT it's her first love. First love BUT is not being practised 40 hours a day :) I could continue with lots of ifs and buts... but I'm thinking more about the psychological side of it, the mindset. I simply do not know if it's good to strive for perfection in music and if not how you could actually balance that "good enough" mindset and the quality of your performance.

I mean live performances are never ever perfect and perfection is not that music is about, but surely professionals don't jump off the stage happily thinking "I managed the notes and rhythms, I did dynamic and some phrases, I played well". Notes and rhythms are not what music is about either :) She played Tchaik 2nd movement for auditions two years ago and "managed" that too, but does it mean she played it well - certainly not.

DD is still very young so it's a matter of psychological maturity too, but she's been performing for years and knows all this full well. She's learning concertos now and maybe they just require much more depth than a normal pre-teen or even a teenage musician is capable of, I'm not a musician and don't really know if there is some turning point or disparity between the age and rep. Playing full Tchaik with understanding and sensitivity is certainly a very difficult task for a teenager unless they're a prodigy, they simply don't have enough life experience, but some baroque fanfares are not that deep and surely shouldn't be a problem to understand and relay to the audience? 🤔

There is also the physicality of brass that might be an issue, DD is not tall and big so can't breath in enough air for longer phrases but it's another story, and any case one cannot become a musician by making excuses for themselves all the time. There are lots of star brass players who are not big tall men either.

@Ubertomusic. It's a good job she's young. Also incredibly good. I'm maybe naive but since people who start on wind and brass far older have successful careers in music she could probably take her foot off the pedal a bit with the music for a while and do some things she likes?

DD has now got MT and singing out of her system, but she certainly hadn't when she was younger. And she was in her Senior play even this time (with a smallish main part so she could still do Symphony).

But what do I know - I've raised a dilettante!

Yeah I think you and she probably know @Ubertomusic that if she wants to be a violinist she will need to cut back on other things at some point over the next few years, but not even necessarily now. And if it’s trumpet then she’s got a lot more time and freedom to decide. She’s only early secondary I think? She should be enjoying herself and trying out as much as poss. Maturity for rep will sort itself out with time.

I also think keeping non-music options open is an incredibly valuable thing to do. DH and I will be actively dissuading our kids from going into it professionally as it’s so incredibly demanding (and difficult with family life) for so little financial reward.

I very much enjoyed all their shows, they're really good at drama but the rehearsal schedule was crazy for us (that's partially why they're so good - they take it seriously, besides the pool of talent) and DD is definitely not an actor.

She'll keep dancing "for fun" and she does art at home, not taking it for GCSE so without the pressure of exams and exhibitions :)

That's another question actually, how to do that much music or any art for that matter without it becoming a stifling experience yet still getting results. I'm not sure I know the answer, not for the violin at least :)

@Ubertomusic shows are amazing and so much fun. It helps that DD boards re rehearsal schedule. Literally couldn't tell you how many rehearsals but I know she missed a lot of them for Symphony.

She is no actor either, and certainly no artist - but I figure all public speaking experience is good and all of it good for performance anxiety. And great for making lifelong friends.

Yep, we know 😞 but I think the best she could aspire for on the violin is teaching anyway. The competition is too intense nowadays and we've already seen a couple of violinists of her age going off the rails because of pressure, or just starting to hate and avoid it, despite natural talent etc.

Yes, I totally agree and I keep telling myself "calm
down, it's very good for stage confidence and it's a lot of fun", but I felt overwhelmed tbh 😂

@Ubertomusic - why not spend a bit of time looking at Baroque - the Bach Partita's may take maturity to play but some of the other rep and in particular chamber works are fun and accessible? There's a whole different music scene out there for Baroque musicians - most of whom are currently overwhelmed with work as its "Passion season".

DD actually played mostly baroque last year (not Bach though) as her violin teacher was a baroque specialist, but she's with a new teacher now and it's about re-setting her technique again... which I totally get especially as DD is hypermobile and needs to build more strength in finger joints but it also means her teacher picks up specific pieces to work on specific technical issues like pinky collapsing on strings etc. She plays lots of technical studies instead of learning new pieces, just to address that physio/somatic issues.

Bach feels... monumental at the moment. I would really want her to play Bach and she does a bit in chamber and yes, it's more accessible, but I think polyphony would be a difficult concept to grasp atm.

Sending speedy healing wishes @northerngoldilocks DD arrived at NCO last year directly from an emergency pharmacy visit for antibiotics (non-contagious!) and the NCO Nurse was fabulous!

Thank you so much @Londonmummy66 @horseymum for the advice. Eek re the practice Q- definitely on the “efficient” end of the spectrum here!

@CelloMumFlums, when DD auditioned for her current specialist school, the HoD asked her how much practice she did a day. She doubled it (and then some) in her answer. He goggled at her, smiled, and then said -'well, you're going to have to do a bit more than that!'.

She is a BIT more on it now, but definitely not at the 'hours in a practice room' end of things.

Sounds a bit like the lies we tell the GP about units of alcohol. GPs double it. Music directors probably halve it!

I’m really curious - how much practice do JDs and specialist skills recommend?