I've joined this orchestra as a flautist with a view to joining the strings section when I'm good enough on the viola............

but..........

It is just so difficult for me!

The problem is:

The conductor is wildly ambitious and knows his stuff so he seems to be pushing them on and on at a very fast pace. They don't seem to just perfect a few pieces then move on to other stuff, it's just NEW stuff ALL the time! I can't keep up! It's just constant sight-reading ALL the time. I have yet to play the same piece twice!

They have some very good players so they obviously don't want them to get bored and thus the pace is kept moving.

They seem to do a LOT of concerts and are very ambitious - they're always doing stuff and preparing for stuff and it's just all too fast paced for little old me!

Well, I just don't think I'm gonna cope with the viola as the constant sight reading will just blow my head to pieces. If I can't cope with my flute, then I have no chance with this viola.

and, I am SO upset because I just love playing it and I'm loving my lessons and I really want something to work towards, but this orchestra is no good for me.

I've looked for other ones in the area and there's a few that I could try, but they only want strings players and I'm not good enough.

I feel like crying

I've just wanted to get back to doing my music for so long and now this has happened.

They advertise themselves as being suitable for ALL abilities as well.........some of the other instrumentalists just sit there 'cos they can't keep up (myself included). Why would a conductor be so cruel to his players?

What do I do now?

I know the feeling! There's no such thing as an orchestra suitable for all abilities (unless they actually have different parts for people at different levels, which sometimes happens). But my answer is just to accept that I won't be able to play in an orchestra until I'm grade 5 or so, if that day ever comes. Why do you feel you need to be in the orchestra now, if your goal is to play the viola in it when you're good enough? Why not give it up and concentrate on the viola, if you're not enjoying it?

Yeah, perhaps I should do that. I was just enjoying being part of the orchestra with the flute until I was good enough for the strings section, but I'm grade 6 flute and I still can't cope. It's nice being with other musicians and I thought it would be a good way of sparking my interest again.

I can't wait for the day to join my local amateur orchestra (that's the Croydon Symphony Orchestra by the way). I did contact them and they told me I need to be at least grade 5 to join for 'rehearsals only' and grade 7 to 8 for recitals too.
Well, I am somewhere around grade 3 or maybe 4 not sure. I am aiming to be grade 5 by autumn 2009 latest.
I can understand the position you are in but if there are no other orchestras you can join for now which are more 'beginner friendly' then you might want to leave for a while, especially if you are not enjoying it much.
good luck

Do you know any string players of a similar ability to you or, ideally, just slightly better than you, with whom you could play some easy chamber music? I'm not a string player but regularly play one-to-a-part recorder music at home with 3 or 4 friends, and have been doing this since my playing was even worse than it is now! We can help each other out when we get stuck, and repeat a piece as many times as we need or want to. I like this much better than playing in a big group where, if the music is difficult, I may be out of my depth and unable to do anything about it or, if it's easy, I end up feeling my contribution to the whole is insignificant! We always finish the evening with a glass of wine and a chat about things musical and not.

echelon, you are not alone in this. Feeling out of your depth is a common problem in amateur orchestras, especially ones which are described as 'suitable for all abilities'. I play violin in an amateur orchestra(similar to yours I guess in some ways), I passed grade 8 over 15 years ago, and I can only just about cope with the repertiore. We tend to work on a few pieces consistently over a period of months with a concert at the end. There are times when we bash through lots of different pieces which results in constant sight - reading for a number of weeks, but this is only because the conductors are trying out a selection of works with a view to narrowing down the coices to a concert list

<correction> coices = choices

So perhaps that's what is happening in your orchestra at the moment? Don't give up just yet.

It sounds like a very stressful experience, but as you say, you are not the only one in the position of being overwhelmed by the challenge.
On the positive side, there's nothing as effective for sightreading as doing lots of it! If you could stick it out for a bit you might find that things start to improve very quickly, especially if you can at least follow the music. Just play the easier bits, maybe the beginnings and ends of phrases, and you will probably be filling in at least some of the gaps before long, and gaining in confidence. If is supposed to be for all abilities this approach shouldn't be a problem. And surely you don't have to play in concerts until you want to? Good luck!
N

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's feeling like this! I feel a bit despondent at the moment, but I'll see how it goes. There's another branch of the orchestra who have a group a bit further away from where I live and they're supposed to be a bit easier - according to the clarinetist who was sitting behind me on Thursday and who was going on about how difficult it was. I might have a run up to the other group and see how they go about things.

I don't mind doing the sight reading, but not all the time. It's nice to have a mixture of things to do during a practise session.

You might find the string section easier.

Usually in orchestras the wind is one to a part, so you have to be able to play all the notes. In the strings it is possible for not so good players to fake some of the harder passages as long as at least someone in the section is playing.

I know - I am getting very good at faking

I fake SO MUCH - it's a very good thing I'm only desk 4! go for it!

*LOL*

Yeah, that's funny. I might be okay doing that.

Jane - how long did it take you to get to Grade 5? I'm an adult learner too and it's so much harder than when I was younger!

I feel like my brain has gone to mush after having the kids!

Echelon, if you are within travelling distance of Leeds, you can join the Yorkshire Late Starters Strings after just a few months of lessons (or ELLSO if you're near London). We exist exactly for people like yourself who want to play in an orchestra without any pressure to perform well. The people are lovely, the tutors are great so keep working on that viola!

Welcome to the land of Mush brains!!

About 9 years (eeekkk)

But I don't practise as much as I would like to, and I did start from absolute scratch ie coudn't read music and had never played anything else.