Music Exams For? Against?

Well I've probably done upwards of 30 music exams in my life over 20 odd years and about 5 or 6 different instruments, so it's just a generalisation based on my experiences.

if you have a female examiner, they will probably not wear a suit....

and none should be scary!

Definitely depends on child. DD2 had guitar lessons and was practising for grades and hated every minute. We said to her did not have to stopped lessons self taught herself and plays Taylor Swift etc.
DD1 plays clarinet and would do an exam a day if he could !
DD3 self taught piano and DD2 teaching DD1 guitar.

mine have had 4 examiners - all had suits on 2 were scary.....

Sorry double post!

And what makes you think an examiner is
I) scary
II) in a suit?

And what makes you think an examiner is
I) scary
II) in a suit?

Fine, that's you! Different people are different! My dd would far rather play to 1 person who is trained in being friendly and helpful, with no comments until at least a week after the exam, by which time she's mentally moved on. There's no rule that says everyone is the same!

In fact the thing dd hates most of all is if she plays in a concert, and loads of people come up after and say 'that was amazing!' Because she is so shy she would rather just vanish which of course is what happens in an exam essentially!

I disagree Lily - 20 people sitting round tables, in a familiar place, eating cake and cheering you on every step of the way (even if you stop and start again), with your teacher standing right next to you if you want them vs. a one-off chance to play in an unfamiliar environment, on an unfamiliar instrument if you are a pianist, to a scary person in a suit? Oh and knowing that you get marked for it and you can fail. No contest which I'd rather do.

Lots of people are like that, I'm the same, but if you are a bit nervous, I think an exam is actually less intimidating, especially if you are likely to go a bit wonky in the middle!

Oddly, DS just lurves playing for an audience and would far rather do that than play in an exam.

DS will warm up on scales... but would never voluntarily have learnt G sharp minor, which is his current nemesis.

One plus point of exams is that they are an 'enforced performance' and if you are a musician, although obviously there is much merit in playing for its own sake, performance is the thing if you want to go beyond the 'playing for fun' stage. It's also an opportunity in a safe environment to do something more formal than playing at home; if you mess up in an exam it's only you and the examiner, mess up in a concert and you mess up in front of everybody listening. Even if you fail, you haven't had that moment of not being able to face everyone as you slink off the stage...even in the most informal of concerts this is a possibility.

And it is also an opportunity to get some comments from a pro musician, which will sometimes back up what your teacher has said, sometimes give the teacher something to think about (eg if a teacher gets all the sheets back and they all say 'pulse was variable' then they get the message that there is something they need to focus on more), and provide a solid marker and framework for technique.

Yes, it is only how it went 'on the day', but that is the nature of performing arts. In the same way that a sportsman may do well or badly on a given day, and that is part of learning, to learn that!

Lancelottie you have a point - I may be speaking too early! My DCs are still young enough to be supervised during practice, so maybe I will be frantically enrolling them for exams by the time they are teenagers.

I learned the piano and viola and never did exams (this was not in the UK) so it is possible! Maybe I was just terrified of my teacher instead...

Mmm, I used to supervise practice, but DS (mid-teens) would prefer his parents not to exist, let alone hover around interfering with his music.

I do comment if he's been up there for half an hour unable to help wash up because he Must Do His Practice, but all I can hear is ukelele chords (he plays brass)!

Always start with 3 or 4 random scales and sight reading - then the fun stuff... ( but I do supervised practise 3 times a week)

Ahem.

All those saying they don't agree with exams -- do you have children who voluntarily practise scales?

Only a good dollop of exam terror will get DS2 anywhere near scales practice (and even then he often avoids it in favour of tootling around playing anything he comes across), but I think I can hear the difference in his playing when he does do scales and exercises.

ps - good luck to the ones doing exams this week!!

I am not really into the exam route at all, be it for music or dance or whatever else there is, but I guess it depends on the child - mine are not particularly motivated by exams, and I think it is good that way.

With music, I think it is more important that they have opportunities to join music groups or orchestras, and get the chance to make music together with other people, provided of course that there is something that suits the instrument and they enjoy being part of a music group. In my experience, you do not need the exam grades to join ensembles - most of them are done by audition anyway. DD plays in a city-wide ensemble and a music group and has never done an exam - some of her friends do them, but she has never been interested.

Having said that, DS will be doing a music exam this year, his teacher wants him to, and he wants to, so I will be helping him prepare for that.

You never really need to do the exam (except maybe for UCAS points?). A note from a teacher saying you are "Grade 8 standard" does just as well (for auditioning for the NYO or whatever).

I agree that an occasional exam (maybe grade 5) can be useful, or a good project, if you don't take it too seriously, but exams are NOT the point of playing an instrument. Too many people are obsessed with them, and they are even more stupid than other public exams, I think.

I am not abig fun of exams. They only capture snapshots not always one's real level of abilities. Having said that I am supporting my DD to do violin exam next Tues and Piano exam next Fri. This is a joint decision between DD, teachers and myself. Both exams at grade 5 and DD wants to do it before getting busy preparing for 11+ exam. Pros of exam: she is focused, working hard and leant a lot more than comparative period without exam hanging overhead. However ... Recently she started talking about being worried. There are no pressures from her teachers or me since we all recognise that it is not easy for a young girl to do a high level exam. So I feel that I must keep a very close eye on her emotional development.

I have tried to tell her, attending the exams and trying her best, the results are not important. If she gets a distinction or merit it is a bonus. If she gets a pass it is fine. If she fails we should still celebrate because learning to deal with failure is also part of growing up process. She should try to remember what she has learned from preparing this exam. Whatever results she get is not going to be the end of the world.

So what I am trying to say is I think the most important thing is not about whether children should take exam or not. It is about what to prepare our children.

Another thing is I am of the view taking exam or not should be children's own decision. After all they have to do all the work. They need to own their decisions. Sometimes my DD gets a bit lazy. All I need to say is, what do you want to achieve for your exams. That focuses mind every time.

I have 2 girls - they are both different - one is doing grade 3 piano exam on Friday, the other took her grade 1, 2 years ago, and decided she wanted to play piano but not do exams.... our piano teacher is happy with both.. go with the flow - but push a little if needed

As other posters have suggested, I feel it's totally unnecessary to do every single exam. Far better to get really comfortable and proficient on an instrument first. My DD's first exam on violin was Grade 4. We may well skip Grade 5 and do Grade 6 when she's ready. It does get tedious being on the exam treadmill.

However, I think there are benefits to the occasional exam. It's very very focusing, for the teacher and the pupil. It's a real opportunity to perform and a great lesson on handling pressure. And there's a massive achievement for the child.