Grade 1 Violin failure

This thread has brought back all my memories of music exams, they were the most terrifying exams I ever took and I went to university at Cambridge... Got grade 8 distinction and now never ever play, the memories of being forced to practice and those exams are too awful. Sadly my mum finds this very distressing as she was so involved. Not sure what we'll do with ds but think we'll focus on enjoyment more than exams.

I've just found this and read most of it. As a music teacher, I'm horrified by the poor teaching which led your DD to fail Grade 1 twice (after being told how good her pieces were) but am so, so pleased that she carried on and passed Grade 2! Most children would have given up. Congratulations to her!

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. I'll post again when DD passes grade 3!!

oopss

read this last year - really pleased to find the update. Well done DD!

waiting on my DD's grade 2 flute result now!

she was just coming back with an update on an older thread. In the meantime she has changed teacher and her dd is doing very well, so it does seem as if the teaching was at fault

It really sounds like you need a new teacher - I doubt she failed on scales ,aural, and sight reading alone.

Long time ago my DS failed sightreading on his first piano exam (which was G3) but still got a merit because of the scales and pieces.

So chances are the pieces were not up to required standard.There might be a serious problem with technique (or a lack of it) she has been taught.

If teacher claimes that he was pleased with pieces I would seriousely doubt his professionalism.

On a more cheerful note, its only G1 - your DD does not need to retake it.
She can easily go for next one or two up in a years time providing she get better instruction :)

Congratulations to your DC for not giving up!

Congratulations!!! I remember getting my excellent violin teacher at the age of 14 - I jumped from grade 5 failure to grade 8 distinction in 3 years :-D . A good teacher can make all the difference

That's great news! Congratulations to her!
And thanks for the update.

It's not easy this parenthood malarkey.

I have two children one musical and one (DD) not particularly musical. She is now 14 and has been playing the piano for 8 years. She's just about to take grade 4. She wasn't much interested in choir and progress on the piano has, as you can see, been painfully slow. Her sightreading is terrible, and she refuses consistently to practice her pieces because they are "Too dull to practice". She did pass all three earlier grades with distinction, when she eventually got around to sitting them.

The thing is, she actually loves playing the piano. She downloads sheet music by Coldplay etc and practices them until she is perfect. She plays with real enthusiasm and love and never less than an hour a day. I know when she is truly happy and immersed in the piano by the pieces that she is playing.

So I've come around to thinking - what is the point of these exams, exactly? To teach her music in a structured way. But she cannot be bothered with the structure or the discipline, she will never buckle down and deal with the gaps in her musical education yet she really loves the piano and the grades are getting in the way of that enjoyment.

FWIW, OP it sounds to me as though your DD was entered for these exams too early (for her) and the thing to be careful about is that she is not discouraged by repeat failure. Don't sweat the grades.

I remember this thread - very well done, not only to your dd, but also to you for having so much faith in her.

Lovely to see that paying off.

Well done to your DD.

a) for not giving up
b) passing grade 2.

That's great, congratulations to your DD on passing her Grade 2! So glad you have found a good teacher.

I remember this thread! Well done to your dd!

hello there, I remember this thread. Great that dd is doing so well with her new teacher!

Hello

Just in case there is anyone around who followed this thread last year.....I am pleased to report that DD passed her grade 2 violin in April and is now working on grade 3 which she will take at Christmas! Our new teacher is fabulous and DD is very happy learning with her, as is DD2 who has taken up the piano.

Thank you all again for your support and advice, it was all very helpful.

Very pleased for you Honeymum. Believing in our children and supporting them especially when things aren't going well - you've shown how it's done!

Unitarian, I know how your friend felt. Last year dd aced exams in ballet, tap and violin and although very pleased for her I had an uneasy feeling that she had set herself up for being deflated later. So when she heard she had a merit for violin this year she was not happy despite everyone else being happy for her - she'll get over it and hopefully will learn that you can be happy with your achievement whatever it is.

A friend of mine fervently hoped her son would fail his driving test because he had never failed anything in his life. He passed and continued to sail through exams. Eventually he failed a relatively unimportant one and flipped. She had been right all along - he had never learned to cope with failure.

My DD is also a serial exam passer but years of music has taught her to keep going despite mistakes and to stay calm - to outward appearances - when something is going pear-shaped.

Your DD's early disaster might be a blessing in disguise - and well done to you for encouraging her to carry on.

I teach musicianship to children at a local music school and a large part of what we teach is sight sing, reading and aural skills because they're often not covered in individual music lessons. Often it's a lack of time. We also teach to play through mistakes and to carry on in performance as not doing that has been a reason for exam failure for a few people I know.

Your daughter's teacher should have told her to keep going I would have thought. I'm also a bit that he would enter a child for an exam if she was so fearful of sight-reading that she completely refused to do it.

Singing is a great way to improve sight-reading and general music skills, could she maybe join a local choir? The music school I teach at requires all children to join a choir for just this reason.

Not a musician myself but I've sat in waiting rooms many times while DD took music exams - 20 I think. Some examiners are 'nice' and some are 'scary', and that's all I ever got out of her about how each exam went! I was always sure that her teachers wouldn't have entered her for an exam if she hadn't been ready though.

I hope the new teacher works out well for your DD. The previous one was certainly not preparing her properly. There is a preliminary exam they can take which results in an official certificate but no marks. The idea is that they have a taster of what it's like to perform for an examiner and then go for grade 1 a term or so later. He should have done this for your DD.

I hope the new teacher will allow your DD to skip grade 1 and head upwards. The landmark grades are 5 and 8, the rest are really stepping stones to those and it is perfectly OK to progress without passing every exam.

I admire your girl's grit. I won't be surprised if she turns out to be a really good player.

Great! Hope she has many happy years playing. Definitely would like to hear how she gets on in the future.

Excellent! And what admirable determination from you all!

That's good news honeymum. Keep this thread updated, it's fascinating hearing about your dd's progress.