Summer Term Music and Music Exams Thread

DD's G6 violin result came in today. Disappointed with her 127 until her teacher provided lovely feedback re her effort made to learn in a term. This may have been a drop from her usual (and sometimes too high bar) but I am pleased with her growing maturity, even if mixed with the hormonal tantrum here and there?!

Lots learned this year to reflect on for both violin and piano - focus for Autumn Y6 on improving technical/musicality skills, no exams (yes!) and most of all, enjoy non-exam pieces!

Have a great summer everyone!

DD1 had her Grade 4 singing on Friday. She said it went okay, even the sight singing, but the main thing is IT'S OVER! Roll on the summer!

I'm pretty sure that there is no minimum age requirement to do an ABRSM performance diploma - have just checked the syllabus and can find no mention of age. I think you do have to be 18 to do a teaching diploma.
Maybe Morethan's friends think that their children won't be mature enough or academically advanced enough to do a diploma until they're 14. At the end of the day, they will need to write a 1000 word essay on the music they are performing, and do a viva voce, as well as performing.
I've heard of people taking the diploma at age 12. Chinese children sometimes take it very early.

Shaky

I'm sure it was ABRSM, I know that's what my friends dc have done.
Am I not correct? They seem to be under the impression they can't go any further now.
Maybe I heard wrong and she meant she didn't want them to do it until this age, but sure I have heard this before. Happy to be proved wrong though and may help us in the future

Circular - I'm not confused, I'm just idle! I knew you'd got two DD but I couldn't work out whether it was the older one taking the G8 by reading up a few posts. I could have read further up the page but I just hedged my bets and waffled. There's a few more points there for her with G6 on the horizon so that's good news too.

I'm not looking as far ahead as A levels, we're riding the waves of all-change GCSE at the moment. One step at a time is enough for me.

I was trying to remember how I chose a university, way back when, and I was struggling to remember. I was lucky in that the well regarded one that was ranked highly in my subject liked me and made me a EE offer. I didn't have a difficult choice and somehow I don't think my son will have it that easy.

More than potato - minimum age 14? For diploma? Which board is that? ABRSM doesn't have a minimum age that I can find and Dd is currently working towards grade 8.
Other daughter is heading down trinity route until she gets her grade 5 theory.

Herc - Its NOT The Guildhall. Its Gloucester Academy of Music.
Appreciate may still be some distance from you, it's 2+ hours from us, but DD1 was quite a bit older. But as JimBob says, lots of young ones there returning year on year.

JimBob - I don't think you appreciate quite how far we live from the guildhall! DD1 is doing a residential there next week, and I'm more than a little concerned despite the fact that my London office (I say 'my', I mean the London office of my firm, my designated office is the brussels one) is round the corner and I've managed to organise to be there most of the time she will.

Ishouldbeweaving thanks for looking, I think you will be even more confused when your DS's time comes as A levels are 'all change' again in a years time. Going back to 2 year courses, though believe there will still be a separate AS qualification. I'm sure those with current yr10 DC will know more, as they are the first year it will affect.

I think you may have me muddled with someone else, as DD2 only 11, sings but takes no grades and doesn't read music. More than capable, but too bloody-minded grin
DD1 is taking grade 8 on her main instrument soon (recorder), has grade 5 piano, and is grade 5/6 level on violin (none taken) - so will possibly take 2 grade 6's next year. Appreciate well behind some that are applying, but a late starter.

Tortoiseturtle DD1 won't be starting diploma straight after grade 8. concentrating on audition stuff and general playing for 1st term of yr13, The rest of the year will be depending on where/whether she is going in 2015. She does know a yr10, just turned 15, has 3 grade 8's and has already started working towards diploma on 1st study - not singing though.

Herc re the far far away on a residential course: there are quite a few kids that age that do the gam g5 course and the recreational activities are organised to suit - it's not like borstal (and the kids tend to go back year after year to senior orchestra or jazz once they've done tje g5 course)! I think we'll be sending ds next summer - he's doing a different gam course this year.

First results in dd got a distinction at grade 4 singing.
We had a chat and no more exams apart from theory until grade 6. Well in singing anyway.
She wants to learn German to go along with Italian and take it next summer or winter.
Just one more to go on Wednesday and then finished for a break.

Was reading the posts above about Diploma, it must be hard for those reaching grade 8 at a young age as they can't take Diploma until 14.
My friends dc are 9 and 6 the 9 yr old gained distinction grade 8 piano at age 8 and her db is currently doing grade 6. They are brilliant.

circular - I had to go away and look to see how A levels work these days, it's a long time since I did mine and much has changed. I am now less clueless than I was before about AS/A but not by much. If I'm talking a load of twaddle then someone better qualified than me will hopefully come and correct me.

The one and only course I've looked at (DS has only just chosen GCSEs) was Huddersfield because his class went there on an enrichment day. Their B(mus) is point entry equivalent to ABB (320 points) but they don't specify 3 A levels (although applicants need A level music at B grade or better) and they don't limit how many points can come from music exams. It shows that your DD will still have options although maybe not at the establishments that she set out looking at. A G8 merit would net her 70 points, which is roughly a half A level to go with the new AS (if that's the way things pan out). Actually taking the G8 exam rather than "playing at G8 standard" is going to go a long way to putting her back where she wants to be providing she chooses a course that lets her use all of the tariff points from her music exams (I'm assuming it's DD1 with the G8 piano exam rather than DD2).

I'm not looking forward to my time with this, I hope the school's career advisor is going to step up because I am Mrs Clueless Parent.

Thanks Julie
Really won't know where she stands till AS results next month.
Probably capable of BB or even AB in 2 of the 4, but it's a 3rd subject that could be an issue.
Could be in danger of only being allowed to continue with 2, and possibly a new AS.

Thought even with UCAS point entry requirements, a big chunk needed to be from full A2, and still often required 3?

I wonder how do-able this would be for a singer. With the issue of voice immaturity. Has anyone's DC taken a singing diploma at a relatively young age, and were there issues to do with that?
DD is proud of the fact that she was singing a couple of diploma level pieces in primary school, but I'm guessing that they'd need to be sung in a more mature way if you were actually taking the diploma...

DD1 is doing (working towards) a diploma. She's currently in Y11.

For those of you with DCs who do grade 8 before their GCSEs - do they think of taking a diploma while in 6th form, or do they leave the diploma as something to do when they're at music college?

Or just do something else then go to Guildhall (lots of friends did this, mainly singers who had to wait a few years for voice to settle).

Circular,

I think the courses I looked at ranged from AAA to ABC. If your DD is likely to get below those grades, you may have to consider location carefully - find a location rather than a university necessarily where there is a good Early Music scene? Or find a university that's willing to take UCAS points total rather than A-level grades (so all her music exams would count ;-) ).

Julie sounds like you had a great time at KCL. Far too academic for DD1 though, not come across anywhere that requires A level language now, though I think there was still something in KCL blurb about favouring languages.
DD1 also fond of early music, though finding all those offering modules in it are also at the higher end.

Is Grade 8 theory really bad?
DD1 enjoys theory (quite mathsy, opting for Bach Chorale over composition for A2)) but gets little time for it in term time. Doing another 'crash course 'in the summer and hoping to take Grade 8 in autumn. Wondering now if that will be too big a jump.

If I do grade 8 theory at some point, I will actually have to study for it. Sad, but true. Grade 6 with no preparation I figured was possible. It makes sense if you realise that my real love is traditional and early music, whatever my main studies may seem to indicate.

Oh, I was also a choral scholar and CathSoc secretary at a time when KCLSU wanted to ban CathSoc.

Circular,

The music degree requirements when I applied were three As at A-level (A2), including music and preferably a foreign language, grade 8 in principal study and a minimum of grade 6 in a keyboard instrument (if not main study).

Even Oxbridge only expected AAB for music entrance.

OTOH, I mucked around, had a jolly good time, did lots of other stuff, became ridiculously Catholic and spent all my time reading Aquinas, and learnt lots of things that weren't, unfortunately, on my course, was in SRC for humanities, sat on plagiarism and disciplinary committees, and wrote my entire final dissertation in a weekend. As you can imagine, I didn't get a first! ;-)

Circular - she's only 10, I'm not sending her far far away on a residential course! She'll be fine, I think a break from singing exams may not do her any harm, but she's working at grade 3 now, and we will keep it up through the hols, so I reckon she should be ready by Easter (I remember when I did it! at 10, it took 2 terms. From scratch. And she's brighter than I was and rather more driven (I liked the idea of not having to do grade 6 yet, although in the end my disinclination to do badly in any exam kicked in and I did my thing (being good at exams was my super hero skill as a kid)). I might engineer a bigger gap just to give me some breathing space though!

Sorry Herc I didn't mean that for a dig at you, I know the piano crept up on you, I'm just trying to forestall it happening to us AGAIN. However best laid plans and all that!

I'm glad your DD is better.