Congrats! What a great experience she’s going to have.
DrummerDad18 - it would be better if she could play with your daughter! Someday…
Compojazzmom - that’s ridiculous (what the guidance counselor said). Sure - if our kids were letting us drive the bus, I would undertand - but my daughter is very vocal on what she wants and doesn’t want. I’m just there to provide info. God knows where she would end up without information.
I have 4 teens - and I’m constantly reminded of how their brain is not fully developed. They do not have the same executive functioning as a developed brain. They are impulsive, don’t fully look at or consider all aspects of a decision (at least most teens don’t - I know there are some that do, but in my experience, they are the exception to the rule). I’m sure that all of us have seen that in our teens. It would be like letting a 3 year old pilot a plane!!! It would not be pretty. So - we are in the second cockpit ready to take over the controls should they be headed for a crash. One might say - well, they will learn from their crash - but a poorly informed college choice can cost us $$ so it does have an impact on us.
I would doubt that any of us are forcing our musicians to attend one school or another - but it’s our job as parents to make sure that they are informed as to the pluses and minuses. And that they understand what the financial implications are to their decisions.
@tripletmama Congratulations to your D! My son went to the five week last year and the Newport group is THE best and most admired sub-group in the program by far. I’m pretty sure every one of them got an offer to attend! Truly, it’s a great honor and speaks to your D’s talent and potential.
As a rising senior, your D will have the opportunity to audition for the college during the five-week. She should definitely take advantage of this! They give out scholarship offers as well. She could have an offer in her pocket by the fall. (ETA They did this last year but please check to make sure they’re repeating it. My son was only a rising junior so was unable to participate.)
I am SO excited for you both!
@SpartanDrew I know what you mean about that FB board. What I do like on that board is her webinars about the kind of skills you need to be a modern working musician. It’s changed how I look at programs somewhat… My kid was actually set up with a fantastic online master class through that board too. That board seems very focused on her business which is totally fair and musicians that want to do contemporary/recording artist. Which isn’t exactly my kid though right now my kid just likes and wants to do everything but wants to audition in classical. So anyway - I turned off the feed on that page and just go over there to watch the webinars, the posting level is nuts!
Congratulations to your daughter tripletmama!
The 2017-18 “journey” thread has over 100 pages, and more than 62k read it! To me, that is a staggering number of people to read specifics about a kid, but I am older and not used to it 
Music is a small world. But many are used to putting things out there on YouTube or FB or whatever.
I think there is a change in the forum that is perhaps harder for those of us who have been around a long time. Bassdad’s thread was after the fact, pretty general, and geared only to giving info to others on the application, audition and admission process. In other words, it was not really focused on his kid and his kid’s particular path.
I thought GoForth’s thread was similarly concise, methodical, and mostly geared to others reading it later.
I think the intention of the 2017-8 “journey” thread was similar but it morphed into a lot of very personal, specific info from many parents, relating to various kids and their disappointments and successes. It was very parent-focused (angst) at times, and provided, basically, a “chat room.” I love chat rooms. I use them for health issues for myself.
These “journey” threads may certainly be helpful and even comforting, but it is true they have created a new phenomenon on this forum that is worth noting. Some will be happy and others won’t participate due to privacy or other concerns. If your kid is on board, by all means, enjoy. (My kids would kill me!)
One other thing that I like to remember, and Pablo Casals said it best. Someone asked him why he was still practicing at age 90. And he replied “Because I am finally getting somewhere.”
With a longer perspective (my kids are older), these early successes are exciting but these kids are still developing, still students, and amidst all the joyous posts, just saying that one reason I don’t like to post personally is because I don’t want to jinx things!!! You just never know what these successes mean long term. There is a lot of hard work ahead, for all these young people, and hopefully some luck and some breaks too. They leave high school as stars and then start undergrad as newbies…exciting but humbling.
You always say the wisest things @compmom, I find the journey/journal format very entertaining and compulsively readable - but in a kind of overly personal, reality show-ish way. And it’s not the specific awards or scholarships that bring up privacy issues, it’s more the descriptions of your kids and even specific texts and interactions that are laid bare. Also, for all that they’re viewed more frequently, these blogs seem more exclusive somehow than the discussion threads. Oh well, call me old-fashioned. I’ll go catch up on Terrace House now.
@compmom and @drummergirl; I suggest you start a separate thread to voice your concerns rather than continuing the discussion on either this thread or the journey thread. You’ve made your views clear; at this point I am eager to read more about @tripletmama’s D and the continued distraction makes her story difficult to follow. In addition, @drummergirl, statements like “the journey/journals are…readable–in an overly personal, reality showish way” cross the line between helpful discourse (which is encouraged) and personal criticism (which is not.) Of course, I am new here, so I will check with the moderators to make sure I’m not speaking “out of school.”
I have a few comments that I’d like to say respectfully and I truly hope it puts all of this to rest once and for all. First off, this is a public forum and I have followed the rules of the forum. Thank you to the thousands of people that have read my thread and sent me positive DMs of support. It’s been a crazy journey and I’m glad it has helped so many people.
My area of expertise is vocal jazz and songwriting. Others with that same concentration have had such helpful information that made this process so much easier. Sure, there are some posts offering advice that are irrelevant and made by people uninformed about these specialties, but I’ve learned to filter them out. Unsolicited advice by less informed people can be dangerous.
I’ve kept my Ds identity private but harbor no judgment on those that have not. It is damaging and wrong to judge people on a forum that is supposed to be an aid.
The journey threads have helped me, but they may not be for everybody. Happily, there is a place here for every person and they can choose how they use the forum. I know I use the search feature all the time and it’s great…
Now that I am nearing the end of our journey, I am here to answer the occasional question, but I will not be lurking here or scolding others as they make their own individual choices.
I have not expressed judgment. I have tried to discuss the most helpful way to help newbies and raised the issue of privacy in a way that allows for diversity of opinion and experience. At the start of the new cycle, I thought such a discussion might be helpful.
I think drummer girl was accurate in saying that the journals are “reality-show-ish” in that they are personal narratives over a period of time, that share details of the near daily experience of an applicant. That is not a judgment, it is a comparison that seems valid.
This is a new phenomenon as some of us have indicated. It seems that people enjoy it. So clearly there is no problem.
I did not intend to distract since I only had one thing to say, and intended to say it only once. Let’s just leave it alone, okay?
@tripletmama - S was just talking to us minutes ago in his weekly phone call and mentioned that he knows a bassist who just got over trigger finger but is having tendonitis. He went and spoke to the very wise prof who said - yeah, it is your technique. So they went over the technique, and the bassist is now feeling much better.
GoForth - good to know! Ever since it reared it’s ugly head a few years ago - we have tried everything! PT (told her it was a shoulder subluxation. Told her surgery was likely. Gave her exercises to do at home (which of course she didn’t do). Then she got free Alexander Technique sessions (we couldn’t afford it - and a generous practioner donated her time Then she tried changing her posture (put a yoga block under one foot - a bassist suggested that one). Then we moved to CA and she went to an amazing PT who works with musicians in LA (I’ll be glad to share his name if anyone needs one) who helped calm it down and suggested working with a physical trainer who has worked on strengthening her shoulder muscles. This seems to have done the most good. When she is diligent and goes once a week she usually doesn’t have any issues. When she didn’t do it over Christmas and then went straight into practicing for a classical concert, it got inflammed.
Regarding technique - she’s been told by several instructors (some high caliber) that she has good technique so it’s probably not that. But - it does rear it’s ugly head when she bows. Go figure.
I think she’ll be OK since she has stopped bowing for now. And she continues to do strength training. For some reason, plucking doesn’t have the same affect on it.
Now I better stop before I’m accused of being “show offish”
@tripletmama - does your D use French or German grip? Does D want anything particular out of a professor, her peers, or her school’s location?
S had several bass instructors over 2-3 years (classical and jazz) and took sample lessons with about 5 other professors (upright or electric). Each sample lesson showed some aspect of the prof, perhaps among many aspects that could exist. One was quick to notice that S had too much pressure on his left thumb holding up the bass neck, so he had S lean the bass forward. What a nice subtle and important change that hadn’t come up until them. Another prof gave S the impression that the prof would teach all his students to be like Ray Brown. S felt that his current prof loves and understands Ray Brown, but has the capacity to guide each bassist to be his own bassist - S believes that S plays more like Eddie Gomez right now. S met one prof that say something like “you’re doing a good job, keep at it”, as if maybe there wouldn’t be much more instruction to come. There may be a prof who isn’t so in touch with the bow and only uses it when he has to - we thought this could be not great for S.
Then, the schools and profs have even more distinctions. If you go to Frost, not only does Prof Chuck Bergeron teach you upright bass, but Prof Tim Smith is the electric bass prof - there are two bass professors to sample and learn under. If you go to UNT, you might have to hunt out some support on your own for electric bass (which S has done just fine), but you will be doing a lot of bow work in your two years of required classical bass lessons. So, even the programs have these distinctions aside from who exactly the professor(s) is.