Autumn Term Music and Music Exams Thread

I get my daughter to practice sax at lunchtime or straight after school, although her room is separated by a garage from our neighbours so it's not too antisocial. Piano isn't an issue as it's an electronic one so the sound can be turned down, and if she wants to play guitar late in the evening she often uses my guitar, which is a hollow body electric that can be played unplugged but is quieter than her acoustic.

During half term she has started messing about with some of the rockschool guitar exam pieces, but a lot of them are too "heavy rock" for her tastes so we may look at alternatives (Trinity?).

hello Waffle

It's the same here, dd and her dad just can't go much further although she listens to him more than me.
At the moment though she is a bit better as she visited the school she wants to attend, it was open day on Saturday.
With 2 auditions to prepare for at a school with a catchment area of the world, she needs all the help she can get.
Piano practice is actually being done correctly for once, violin has been relegated to fourth instrument, but attitude under pressure isn't that nice.

Troutsprout, we have a brass player in a semi detached house. Morning practice is out unless it's Remembrance Sunday or an exam. My neighbour comes in from work about 5.30, my son gets in at 3.45 so to me there's an obvious time for making noise. Sadly this is not so obvious to DS who gets in from school and wants to be straight in his room jacked into the matrix. I think time/length of practice is the biggest argument we are having at the moment. The saving grace has been the silent brass system that I got off ebay, it means that I don't feel so bad about disturbing my neighbour in the evenings.

Hi everybody
Waffle dd(11) started keyboard lessons 4 weeks ago after the move up to secondary school.
She's loving it and seems to be flying with it but also sneakily seems to use it as an excuse to not do other things.
She usually practices keyboard in the morning and then her clarinet a couple of times in the evening. I try to put her off clarinet in the morning because it bounces off the walls and seems very loud. We live in a small victorian terrace... My neighbours haven't commented in a negative way ( yet) ... But I sometimes wonder . I think maybe a box of chocs at xmas might be in order!
Does anyone else have this worry?

ohmychrist is he doing ABRSM? You can get a CD for each grade, which includes a few Aural tests. Rather than sight reading there are quick studies for jazz; you can buy the book yourself for him to practice from at home. Look on musicroom.com for both of them - they normally do next day delivery. PM me if you want - I've put three people (plus myself!) in for different jazz grades now, and am entering a couple more next term.

Wafflenose her attitude may well improve, DS1 at 13 is lovely to teach, and is doing Grade 6 piano with me next term. At 9-10 I often felt there would be blood on the carpet if we persisted with the lessons though. It was the threat of sending him to someone else that really worked for us though - he decided that he wanted to carry on with me, and his attitude improved radically. We even play duets together now!

Hello all, interesting read of thread - and in awe of how advanced your D's are! DD (Y7) doing her Grade 4 piano (LCM) in November. Not convinced she is totally ready for it yet, but i am confident her teacher knows what she's doing!
Scales have always been perfect before, she practises well - but she just can't seem to remember what she's doing on them at the moment! (especially the minors). One piece great, one piece OK (needs speeding up) and one piece not finished being learnt yet. Practise hours have been put in, but not sure she has been very efficient (too much playing through and not enough working on the tough bits).
Sight-reading improved a lot this year.

We have had the "not allowed to comment" arguments; and i do find it difficult with the "What scale are you trying to play??" (although she takes that quite well at the moment). It won't be long before she is past my ability to "show her".

DS has Grade 1 Jazz Piano, but his teacher is hospitalised and he hasn't done any aural or sight reading - the exam' s in two weeks time. Does anyone have any advice, please? Any online tutorials?

Ages since I checked in with this thread! No exams for my DS's this term, but we have managed to get a good practice regime going - they are both getting up at 6.30 and doing two lots of practice before school! It's not really as much as DS1 should be doing, but he tends to play again later when homework allows, so overall he is doing far more music regularly. DS2 is loving the drums - we have an electric kit now, and he is playing twice a day most days.

From my students I have one grade 5 theory, and three grade 3 pianos, two of whom are frustrating me by only practicing the bits they want to - so ignoring their list A pieces and scales. My other grade 3 failed by three marks last term due to nerves; unhelpfully his father told him this week that he doesn't sound ready and will probably fail again . He has learnt new pieces, so they are not quite polished yet! (I agreed to the retake so long as he still felt he was moving forward and learning new things). Not my easiest term.

I had to get special exemption for some of my piano exams because of small hands - I couldn't do certain technical requirements like octave scales. I could just about stretch to octaves in certain pieces, but injured myself in the process.

Many years later, I am finding that the Alexander technique is helping. My previous attempts at stretching had all involved a lot of tension, and now I am finding that learning to relax certain muscles makes it easier and more effective. It is also possible to stretch between my fingers more easily (things like yoga hands). It is a really different way of approaching it to what I am used to, and is a very hard habit to break after many years, but children would find it easier to learn to relax instead of tensing as they learn to reach for larger chords.

Don't you just love it when your carefully written post vanishes?

SpringheeledJack, to be able to get the VAT back your DC needs to be in a state school (including academies) and play the instrument in school. For most instruments that's not a problem but size is obviously a consideration here. If the harp isn't going to be going into school on a regular basis then you won't qualify.

The HRMC guidance is here (I shan't say how my experience ties in with those, waves to VAT inspector).

www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vatgpbmanual/vatgpb7825.htm

(Or take a note or two with the other hand depending on what else is going on).

For hands... You cheat. Depending on the repertoire, you can either rearrange the chord so it fits, omit one note, or spread the chord.

thank you celtie, that's good to know

and I'll look into buying through the school if poss (though as school doesn't have a big music dept, might not be a goer)

Not the solution to the chord problem but a related tip for playing Chopin: when you have a long stretch from one note to playing one/two others straight after (happens quite a bit with Chopin, my teacher says), you can use the sustain pedal on the first note and move your hands up the keyboard at the same time. I'm interested if there are any remedies to impossible chord stretches as I also have small hands and so does DS2!

Misti dunno. Dd1 didn't do grade 8 piano as she couldn't reach !

Quick question for the pianists/ teachers out there. Small hands - how do you manage once your child/ student starts to move up to the sort of repertoire where bigger stretches are required? DD is petite and has titchy hands (can just, barely, reach an octave) and they are unlikely to grow much more if at all. She started working on Débussy's Reverie at her last lesson and has the first page done except one bar where she is finding one of the chords a stretch (it's hurting her). Not sure what to advise her to do? On the one hand it's not for an exam so she can cheat, but on the other I kind of feel that she needs to stretch her hands a bit (but I don't want her to pick up a hand injury).

Oh wow, Celtie, well done on following the Scottish exams! I've been using the repertoire with some of the violin students (espec. adult beginners) and have the harp books for my use (playing around grade 3, can't play the grade 5 stuff... because I don't practise!). However, can't take them without flying to Scotland :p

Hi SpringHeeledJack my DS2 plays the harp and will be sitting his G3 next month. He has the Hermine lever harp and it is a great option. I commented on the other thread re harps that we purchased through school to save the vat which is a great saving. We are following the Scottish trad exams which currently only go to G5 but they are in the process of extending to G8, the Hermine would be ok up to the G8 exam. That said DS2 would love a new Telor harp that he has his eye on.

Outside the harp, I have:
DS1 cello/piano/guitar
DS2 cello/piano/harp
DS 3 cello/piano/chanter

All at fairly early grades but they all enjoy their instruments. DS1 is sitting G2 guitar in a few weeks,

I laughed out loud at that Theas.

We definitely have no exams this term, but my list for next term has just increased as DS2 has today informed me he is doing Grade 4 clarinet next term. I had hoped he would be happy just to 'learn' clarinet and just do piano and trombone exams!

Ok..... Bad mother of the year award goes to me lol
Just mentioned to youngest that I was feeling a bit chilled that we have no exams this term. ........

Muuuuummm ...... I am doing grade 7 clarinet in December you know!

Ooopsy!

This is a bit of a long shot, but I am heartened by the fact there are harp experts out there! Can anyone recommend a not too expensive xylophone suitable for grade 3 and above? At the moment DS1 has a hired glockenspiel so we're not desperate but thinking in terms of a joint birthday and Christmas present. I will ask his teacher for advice but if anyone has personal experience of a good outlet and/or student brands that won't break the bank, it's always good to know! (Secondhand would be fine.)

That's very helpful Runaway, thank you

You can get to grade 8 now on a 34-string lever harp. The AB exams have pieces marked that are suitable for pedal, lever, or both (though there are fewer choices for lever at the upper grades), and the Trinity exams split into totally separate exams for pedal and non-pedal after grade 3 with a wide choice on each list. The specifics in the syllabus say that lever harps must have minimum 34 strings. The lever harp syllabus tends to include slightly more choices of pieces that have a folk feel to them.