Autumn Term Music and Music Exams Thread

Happy Christmas, everyone! I think we all deserve a sherry and a mince pie (which we call a 'christmas mince pie' here otherwise you get a meat pie!) for helping our children this term. A few weeks off and then we start ramping up for miss 8's grade 5 theory exam.

Well done to all those passing exams!

DD had to do an end of term exam in her theory class for which she got 95% - which suggests that the bar was rather low :p (it's her first term of formal theory, in a class of much more experienced students).

Well done to all those with exam results.

Waffle, baby Waffle sounds as if she has found the right instrument for her with her cello.

We too are in the middle of the Christmas season. Concerts, shopping centre carols ..... DS2 has had his choir appearance on BBC1. The music service Concert Band hasn't finished yet, a Carol service plus rehearsal and a day at a shopping centre to go.

On Saturday the choristers are singing carols on the pitch before the football match, which is a new one for us. Although not a new venue as DD played there last week for a community carol concert.

Of course, as a chorister, DS2 doesn't finish until Christmas Day.

I've written large cheques for next term's exams (Grade 8 trombone for DS1 and Grade 4 clarinet for DS2).

dd2's grade one clarinet result in- a merit with, it has to be said, minimal effort, but thankfully minimum stress too. And at least she wants to carry on playing, whereas she got a high merit for grade 1 piano and virtually refused to ever play again!

Yes, that's us. DH plays too and I linked a video of the pair of them at summer school. Our music centre finished term with concerts last weekend and as it clashed with a band job I went to music centre and DH went off with the band so that they were only one player short rather than two. The last job is Christmas Eve and then there will be a couple of weeks off and then it will be back to normal rehearsals.

I was a student in Manchester in the mid 1980's, I don't think I've seen a busking cellist since I left.

Thanks, Ishouldbeweaving, I will try and look those up, it has a list of scales in the back of current book but no other information.

Thanks, I'm guessing she does a bit of sight reading without it being planned anyway as she is always picking and trying to play other tunes from her book as well as the ones she is given to practice! It is all a learning curve for me too!

Ishould.

I remember now, sorry.
Doesn't your dh play as well or am I thinking of somebody else.
I remember seeing a video you loaded now, I think it was you. x

Our music centre usually breaks at beginning of second week of december, but this time last concert is thursday, then her choir concerts start and I spend days shopping at xmas markets in Manchester.

Then we have xmas day together and dh then starts his gigs until New Years eve, who'd marry a musician eh?

We are a banding household and "Christmas is a band's harvest". I've been hearing that at least once a year for the last twenty odd years. A typical December weekend is a concert Friday night, three gigs Saturday, two more on Sunday and another concert on Monday. Three of those will be sit down concerts and the others might just be an hour playing carols in the local shopping centre/supermarket. It takes planning to arrange a time where a hot meal can go on the table. The thing that balances it out is that music centre breaks up fairly early in the month and there are no band rehearsals once everything is up to speed.

Back in the early 1990's the summers were really busy too but there are fewer local shows, galas and fairs now than there used to be. The rising cost of insurance was blamed for a few of the galas finishing, events that had a march had to have police or properly trained stewards - it means that Christmas is now a bigger share of the band's income than it used to be.

Thanks Ishould I do hope she gets in, or not sure what she'll do.

That's a lot of performances for your ds, I thought 8 in the week was more than enough.
What has he been doing? Is it an orchestra?

Sight reading - DS always ends his lesson with a duet or two which is really sight reading in disguise. He doesn't get the thirty second look through either, the second page is always a surprise.

I think we're down to the last eleven performances now, the last couple of weekends have been a blur. I should be able to keep up with the white shirt laundry now as he only needs two more for school. This year I caught him early and made it clear that three performances on the same day did not need three white shirts. There's no wonder that he never has any in his wardrobe.

Congratulations on the Chets audition Morethan, I hope it all goes well.

Woolleybear you can see the syllabus (busses? bussi?) online, it shows you what the various parts of the exam are, how many marks are for each, how long the exam is, what scales they are expected to know, what pieces they can pick from. It will help you understand what they have to do in advance of them having to do it.

congratulations to those who have results, both parents and teachers.
None for dd this term as too many other things on and not enough exam sittings a year to do them all

She got through to second audition at Chets so is working on new pieces, modes and aural. So many concerts over this week, I think its 8 plus rehearsals.

Looking forward to watching her with the choir on boxing day, not sure how often she appears though. BBC 2 at 3.30 and other one at 9pm.

Getting transfer students (or older beginners) to sight-read is the bane of my life. My littles are much better at it (though occasionally play things a fifth out, i.e. on wrong violin string).

When I taught instrument lessons, I would encourage children to read new pieces during the lessons and do fresh duets weekly. However a lot of children, and adults are filled with dread at on-the-spot sight reading. Examiners are looking for fluency, musicality, accuracy. And there's only one chance. I ensure my children do a bit of sight reading every day - and yet they still haven't achieved perfect marks for sight reading yet. One day sigh

if a child work on new piece on her/his own before he practice same piece with teacher ( for correction etc.), wouldn't it take care of sight reading ? I always encourage my child to play new songs before he shows it to teacher. I want expert opinion whether its recommended or not ? Though we don't touch pieces which involves some new technique ( slurs etc.).

With my 8 year old and a late afternoon exam, she did a very short practise in the morning. Definitely do NOT run through whole pieces. Maybe one scale, one arpeggio, and start each piece only playing 3-4 bars. That keeps them fresh for later.
Good luck.

Sight reading is playing a piece that the child hasn't seen before. It's a crucial skill as a musican. They get thirty seconds to look through and play any parts they like before the official playing. It's really easy in the early grades so not some thing to worry about - but definitely some thing to practise as they are easy marks to get!

Hi all,please could I have a hand hold today? My son (8 and a half) is doing his grade 1 violin today.
He is definitely nervous but he's keeping it all in. It's not till late afternoon so it will be a day of chilling.
What could people advise with regard to practice today,should he bother?
I'm feeling really nervous as although his teacher is very confident he does have co-ordination issues (possible dyspraxia) so time keeping can be Anna issue. He plays in the school orchestra and instrumental group and our local council run music academy orchestra and the local young people's orchestra so he is on the right path!

Thanks,please send positive vibes!

Thanks, she is practicing two of the three scales she needs to do already. Sorry to be ignorant, what is sightreading? The whole music lesson thing is new to us.

Definitely varies. Older children can whizz through initial grades and be ready within a few weeks - and come out with merits and distinctions. So can young, well motivated students who may make better use of their practise time. So how long's a piece of string..?
Or you may skip grades altogether.

I agree that starting with scales is the best way to go.

Varies with teacher, I will start some grade one work next term for summer exams. But I start with scales and sightreading.

Looks like I might be joining the next of these thread sooner than I thought! My dd has only ben learning since September but we have been advised to purchase a grade 1 book over the Christmas period so she can start preparing for it after then. I know it varies but how long should we expect to be working on the book for?

She has her first public appearance playing tomorrow, at a care home with some of her school friends!