<p>[In which glassharmonica rants, then dodges brickbats.]</p>
<p>Mom of a violinist and 4 violists here (well, one of them plays both; I really only have 4 kids.) As other have said, pit orchestras are exhausting and really a musical “waste of time”-- there is a reason no one likes to play pit, or really any vocal/choral accompaniment. Operas are also exhausting-- way more rehearsal time because it’s really about the performers on stage, not the musicians. And this music is often very repetitive and injury-promoting for string players. She’s squandering her time in those 6-hour rehearsals. (If she were in a union, she would not be put through this; it’s kid-instrumentalists who get abused by choral and youth orchestra conductors.) I pulled my violinist daughter out of her youth orchestra after 10th grade because the conductor was using them as an unpaid accompaniment to his adult community choir, and serious musicians were getting tendinitis right and left. He would run a 6 hour rehearsal of Mendelssohn’s Elijah the day of the concert (Elijah is 3.5 hours of repetitive stress-injury-producing playing for violinists.)</p>
<p>Viola is a problematic instrument-- most violists struggle with pain issues. Most violinists have back problems, and many of them develop tendinitis. The pain-free violist is the exception. She should work on posture, perhaps with an Alexander Technique practitioner, and she needs to take care of herself. I would strongly advise you to get her out of the pit orchestra and really any ensemble playing that she and her teacher do not think is furthering her development as a musician. </p>
<p>My one daughter explained it this way: think of your pain-free playing as being a cup with so many spoonfuls of yoghurt. Every time you play a rehearsal or a long show, you use up one of those spoonfuls. You don’t have infinite spoonfuls. Save your spoons for what counts: careful, thoughtful practice of your etudes and repertoire. Ensemble work (such as string quartet with a good coach) that will further your development. Avoid pit orchestra, and, really, orchestra playing in general. Sure, there are some great youth orchestras with excellent conductors who understand the repertoire and don’t abuse their players, but you really have to watch out. Don’t squander your spoonfuls.</p>
<p>Sorry this is worded so strongly, but I’ve watched so many kids, including my own, suffer over the years!</p>
<p>Ah, rehearsals are the issue not practicing (in a practice room).</p>
<p>I agree with what others have said about pit rehearsals, but I also wanted to point out that there are other rehearsals, other than pit work, that do down the same road. So, just avoiding pit work might not be the solution for someone who wants to music performance and does not like to rehearse. </p>
<p>My daughter just played (oboe) in a “chorus gala”. The orchestra had played the piece before, but they needed to rehearse with the singers. Several hours of practice during the day for a performance that evening. Long tiring hours, and yes, she too has a new oboe that she was fanatically protecting. Tough on all involved.</p>
<p>Musical performances (and rehearsals) are often about much more than the music. I am sure it can be boring and tiring. But I think it is the nature of the beast. It would be nice if all of our very talented musician children only play at the performances, but it does not work that way. She has to come to peace with this part of being a performer.</p>
<p>She has actually never complained about rehearsing for any other regular orchestra. She plays in her school’s varsity orchestra and the city orchestra. She wants to be allowed to audition for the youth orchestra in a city that is further away. I felt like that is so far away, it would be too much to try to juggle with everything else. We already drive that far (on other days of the week) for her lessons because her teacher plays in the symphony. And those lessons cost a lot. Then she has her rehearsals for her 2 orchestras. And she still has school work and whatever else to balance, without adding in the cost and time and travel of yet another orchestra.</p>
<p>My comment was not about her playing in an orchestra per se. It was more talking about the type of performing where to focus is not on the musicians themselves. In the case of a pit, or the chorus gala my daughter played for, etc. the other performers were the main attraction. However, the musicians have to sit through long hours and play the same thing over and over in order for the other performers to sound, and look good. The musicians are an accessory - not the show. The focus of the rehearsals are on the other performers and not the musicians. I guess that can be frustrating, or at least less rewarding for some.</p>
<p>And yes, lots of expensive, time consuming logistics to juggle. You can’t do it all!</p>
<p>I remember those logistical problems and all that driving! Is it possible she could drop one or both of the orchestras she is currently in and substitute the new one in the city that is further away, if that would be a source of inspiration? Could the lessons be coordinated with the rehearsals so you only drive once? Any trains?!</p>
<p>There is a train, but it does not go close enough to the place where she would rehearse. Plus, there has been enough crime on the train that I am thinking we would not send her on her own. This city has not had a train system for long so they are still working out the security issues. </p>
<p>I did offer that she drop the music lessons with the teacher and go to a local one to free up the time and money for the city orchestra. She said chose to stay with the current teacher. The current teacher is a long drive and high price, but she is very very good.</p>
<p>Try to find a way to let your daughter play in the good orchestra. As another poster suggested, perhaps get her lesson and the orchestra on the same day. She might need to miss some school for that, but that’s what many serious musicians do.</p>
<p>Some musicians travel to NYC and other large cities to participate in the Juilliard pre-college program, and other such programs, on weekends. Many of them travel four or more hours each way to do this. My daughter auditioned into a youth fellows group with the local major symphony orchestra, which requires her to miss full days of school in order observe and listen to the orchestra rehearsals, sometimes rehearse with them, get lessons, play in chamber groups with coaching, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with others–drop the school programs if there is not enough time. Focus on getting your daughter into the best orchestra and lessons she can get into.</p>
<p>Just wondering, did your daughter get anything to eat during that marathon rehearsal? My musician kids start to melt down after about 2 hours and need a high-protein snack to keep them going. </p>
<p>And did she get a bathroom break? Could someone hold her viola for her so she can just go stretch her legs?</p>
<p>SimpleLife, above, could have been describing my son! I coached him a lot on how to do what he needs to take care of himself before he resorts to an outburst. Bringing food and getting a brief exercise break are two things he makes sure to do now.</p>
<p>Heck, I need to eat every 2 hours! And I make sure I do :)</p>
<p>My son is in his second year of music school in college, and other than for marching band and drumcorps, has never had a 6 hour practice.</p>
<p>He claims he practices about 20 hours a week in college (private practice excluding ensembles and lessons), but I suspect that he rarely practices more than a couple hours in a single sitting. I think that if I had to do it for 6 hours straight that I would also be crying. </p>
<p>Most college ensembles, at least at his school, don’t practice more than an hour and a half.</p>
<p>In professional or semi professional settings (like music schools) they would never have things like a 6 hour rehearsal, professionally it would be expensive (if using free lance musicians) or would violate union rules (which limit by contract the number of rehearsal hours a week), and in music schools the students and their teachers would object to a musical theater or student opera rehearsal taking that much time. High school music directors, on the other hand, are notorious, my S went through that at one point, I did, and it also can happen in community music productions and so forth, the problem in effect is as someone else said, the musicians are the accompaniment,not the focus, and they often get treated like that. Because the players are free (and/or coerced, there is strong pressure on the good music students in schools to be involved in pit orchestra and such). It isn’t that the school music directors are necessarily tyrants (well, okay, mine was!), but rather they love doing the musicals and want them to come out great, and in that passion forget the toll on the kids sitting in the pit, and also quite frankly will use questionable means to try and get a kid to do it who is reluctant to commit to the time, I think they kind of forget, too, that with playing, there are physical limits, I remember after some rehearsals that went on and on my lips felt like melted rubber and my lungs literally hurt, playing a wind instrument that long:). It is why I said the experience of high school pit orchestra, unless a musician does a community program for free, is not likely to be their future as a musician.</p>
Exactly-- that is what I was saying in my post below. And this sort of thing also happens in conservatories (a number of my daughter’s friends are injured right now; one of them probably a direct result of being placed in two concurrent orchestra services last semester.) You just can’t sustain that much fine motor repetitive motion. That’s why musician unions strive to prevent these abuses. As for students, it’s up to them (and their parents when they are younger) to protect themselves from these injuries, which can ultimately be career-threatening.</p>