How early is too early?

[davincisop]

How early is too early to pick program music?

For example, I've been thinking of what I want to skate to at Christmastime and right now I'm creating a list of songs I'd like to skate to. I have one top one, but I'm so bad at making up my mind, and hoping I'm good enough my xmas to have a program and they don't change the requirements (I'm a bronze level skater, just haven't tested it yet and working on silver moves). I was qualified to do one last year but they made the cut off for solos TWO days before testing and still let a little girl get a solo even though her testing was at the same time as mine. So this year I'm determined to solo, and I've come leaps and bounds from where I was. I just don't want to end up doing a "solo" that's the same time that they have the lts kids out there like they did at our spring show. So I'm getting it ready early so I can start working on it as soon as I finish my september competition if not earlier. I'm absolutely determined and my coach says I should be able to do one. SO here's hoping. Anyways, rant aside, how early do you all tend to pick out your program music?

I have to decide on a competition piece soon. I have a program ready, but I have to change the music due to there being lyrics in it (I'm using lyrics for my bronze freestyle test because it's Josh Groban and I don't have to think about the music when I use his music AND he puts me in a good zen state so I hopefully won't be ridiculously nervous lol).

[hopskipjump]

I always keep lists of music.  Once dd starts a new program I start thinking about the next program and ask dd to "look out" for music.  We listen to a wide variety of music and we keep a notebook of maybes.  I like to give her coach a cd of songs we both like and then she tosses out what won't work and then if she has a tie, dd picks.  I try really hard to help dd pick out music other kids aren't using.  I think learning about different genres is a large part of skating.  I also look for kids books about music that include cds.  They often tell the story in words at a kid level so she can understand what the music is saying.

There is no "too early"!

[techskater]

You can keep the music with lyrics to compete if that's what you want to skate to.  It's allowed.

For Christmas, you should probably start soon if you are pretty sure you will get a solo so that you are scrambling to get it done.  Usually I start around end of September putting programs together. 

[jjane45]

There is no "too early"!

Right

[Clarice]

Also, if there's a piece of music you really want, the sooner you let the show director know what it is, the better.  At least for the shows I direct, if I know what music somebody wants I'll let the other skaters know so we don't have duplications.

[davincisop]

For my competition music I'm stumped on what I want to skate to, I've put several songs on a playlist and I figure I'll give it to my coach and say surprise me. lol. I did that for the program I'm working on for Bronze Freestyle and she ended up picking the one at the top of my list, so she knows me well.

I have a definite song I WANT to skate to for Christmas because it's just beautiful and something I could skate to and keep up with and interpret well in my opinion. But with Christmas I will have to see how they're conducting it. I really would LOVE to solo, but because I've never soloed I honestly wonder if they'll let me. My friend and I are going to duet in the Halloween show which we have to start working on so maybe that'll at least show the skate directors I'm capable.

I just hope being a basic skills coach doesn't work against me and not let me do a solo, I don't see why they wouldn't but there's a lot of kids at the rink and I'm not sure how many people want to see a 23 year old skate. I don't want to get my hopes up but I want to solo so badly, I know I'm capable of doing it. Maybe if my coach and I show the skating director I am a capable skater then I will be able to, unless they up the requirements again... I would have been eligible to solo with the lts kids in spring (don't really want to do that at xmas) but I'd gotten knew skates and was having some trouble skating in them.

Ok I'm done rambling, I promise!

[Kim to the Max]

I just hope being a basic skills coach doesn't work against me and not let me do a solo, I don't see why they wouldn't but there's a lot of kids at the rink and I'm not sure how many people want to see a 23 year old skate. I don't want to get my hopes up but I want to solo so badly, I know I'm capable of doing it. Maybe if my coach and I show the skating director I am a capable skater then I will be able to, unless they up the requirements again... I would have been eligible to solo with the lts kids in spring (don't really want to do that at xmas) but I'd gotten knew skates and was having some trouble skating in them.

Ok I'm done rambling, I promise!

I skate a solo every year in our club show (the past 3 years since I started skating again. I had to skip the first show because it was the same weekend as a national conference I paid to go to). I am the only adult who does so, and I am a skate school coach. There are a lot of parents who are impressed that I still skate, so I think it works to my benefit. Plus, it shows the adults that skating is a lifelong sport and it shows the kids that skating doesn't stop when you turn 18.

I actually had to raise a stink one year because the club had written into the show policies that adults couldn't skate in the show. And I actually have people rooting for me now because I skate the most in the club (I'm there to coach anyways...why not skate while I'm there) and because I don't have some of the test levels (I haven't tested any dance), the way they do the points to determine solos, I might not get one, but I think they will make an exception because I do put so much into the club and I'm not talking about just money.

If anything, being a LTS coach will work in your favor

[jjane45]

Both rinks I skate at always have adult group numbers at shows, but only one rink consistently has adult soloists (plural). While kids must be at ISI FS5 to audition, FS2/3 usually suffices for adults. One of our ladies is especially a natural performer, and audience really responds to her.

Very nice Kim the Max to stand up for yourself, and good luck to davincisoprano1. Curious what formal rules do they use to determine solos?

[davincisop]

I sure hope so!  I've had tons of parents and random people come up to me and tell me they love watching me skate, that's got to mean something. I skate because I enjoy it, and I've wanted to solo since I started skating at 11.... Hopefully getting a competition and a duet under my belt before xmas will stand for something. Plus the 80 year old that skates duets with my coach for a dance number.... so I don't see why I wouldn't, unless they decide to favor the little children... in which case I just might raise a stink (and my coach will, too... she said she would have last year since someone else who passed pre-pre the same time I passed pre-bronze got to skate a solo in the show even though the cut off date was a week prior, but I'd just graduated college the day before the show so I didn't want to push my luck, and I wanted to wait a year so I could improve, which I have tremendously).


Jjane, last year it was you had to have passed pre-pre to solo. But in the spring show it looked like you had to be in the USFSA freeskate levels to get a "solo". It was more you skated around the learn to skate kids while they did their little routine... I personally didn't like it, I was out there with my class and was more worried about them getting knocked over by the soloists than about them actually doing the routine. The kids are out there all of one minute, let them have their glory lol.

[davincisop]

I think I might have settled on competition music for september. I keep coming back to it and I think it'll give me an extra push to skate with more power.

[PinkLaces]

I think I might have settled on competition music for september. I keep coming back to it and I think it'll give me an extra push to skate with more power.

I really like that music. 

[davincisop]

Good news! I gave my coach a cd with several songs because I didn't know if Icarus would work for the program or not. Well she chose Icarus! When we did a run through (we're using my bronze program that I already have and just modifying it a little) and when I finished she said "THAT IS YOUR MUSIC!" She was really excited because it actually made me skate a bit faster and stronger to keep up. Overall it's a good decision.

[PinkLaces]

Good news! I gave my coach a cd with several songs because I didn't know if Icarus would work for the program or not. Well she chose Icarus! When we did a run through (we're using my bronze program that I already have and just modifying it a little) and when I finished she said "THAT IS YOUR MUSIC!" She was really excited because it actually made me skate a bit faster and stronger to keep up. Overall it's a good decision.

Yay!