Spring/ Summer Music and Musicians Thread

I think we'll only do two jars of all the scales, practice the new assigned ones every night until she can play it with her eyes closed and then choose some old ones from the jar and move them to the other jar if played correctly 3 times.

Scale jars/pots here too when DD needed to know them inside out for exams. These days although she always warms up using scales with lots of different articulation on first 2 instruments it takes threat of death to get her play piano scales! I have given up now - annoyingly when her piano teacher asks for them she seems to be able to do them anyway - I think she has learnt them so thoroughly on the other instruments the note patterns and key signatures are ingrained and its just a case of muscle memory for the fingering on the piano.

Good luck with the GCSEs everyone, I am going through the anxiety of it also, I know how it is.

Great idea, thanks all! I need an idea of the jars size, lol

Me too, great idea Newlife, I am doing the jar thing too(only about 50% of the time I dont know if the scale was played right or wrong)

Aaoo: mine started on piano when she was 4.5 yrs old and only did her grade 1 when she was 7, so it did take a very long time. What happened, she was just too young, less focused, never practise(or very hardly). She took grade 2 last November then grade 3 last March. The lesson I learnt, we shouldnt expect too much for a less than 6 yrs old(or mine is too ordinary). I will properly start with my second child at 6. Save money and time.

Only: what grade your daughter is doing for this Jun violin exam again? Sorry I forgot. Best of luck to her.

Loose: that was just a fantastic idea, she was so happy to promise me tonight(her teacher agreed too). If she earns 12 stickers then there will be a theatre/O2 trip. Lets see!

Lemanitoba: its great to know there is another option.

To every one who has children doing gcse, it must be tough having a musical child studying for gcse as they are so much busier. I guess around that age asking the child to drop some instruments/practise similar to ask a runner/gym addict to stop running/going to gym. It must be harder I think.

Right, that's it - I am doing the jars thing!
Cello teacher just wrote down scales pot. Now I see what she means! [ smile]

Oh, we had the jars too. DS took Trinity and could get away with not knowing his scales (there was an option to do exercises and he always chose that). When he wanted to audition for something that asked for all the G8 scales he needed to learn them in a hurry. We had two kilner jars with slips of paper in, I think he liked sticking his hand in and coming out with a handful of scales.

Fleur.

I laminated pieces of card with different scales on them and placed them in 2 jars.
In one were all the scales known/ past grades.
In the other were the latest grade being studied.
Scale practice was half of each jar.
Oh, a third jar was used for the ones she got right, when all were in third jar, she started again. In order to consider them right they had to be played 3 times in succession without mistakes.

It also helps with concentration and practising playing them right not wrong, because practice makes permanent, not perfect.

I've listened to some very good teachers in my time, this isn't my work at all

Fleurdelise thank you, then I should relax with our practice and not to worry too much about time spent but rather keep the momentum going....

LooseAtTheSeams you tell me! I know exactly how it feels and under no illusion that my dd may return to her old ways, but at the moment I just enjoy seeing her practicing if not with a great joy but at least without arguing! .

Drummersmum

I think that GCSE and A level music are good choices for advanced players, even if they consider it an easy GCSE.
At dd school even those who are taking diplomas post grade 8 have to take both GCSE and A level, it's as compulsory as Maths and English.

maybe because it is different to taking grades some see it as less important but even at conservatoire level they like to see that curriculum music was studied at school.
People are surprised that dd is doing KS3 music, it's a school and I'm not sure what they expect. All schools have to do it.

trout one of dS's friends has grade 7 trombone and is going to do GCSE music and is completely happy!
It was nice at the options evening as the teacher was so encouraging and when she heard DS1 was doing grade 5 theory said briskly, 'excellent. That will get you on the A level course.' His face was a picture!
only the worst is when someone else's kid apparently is happy to "just sit down and do the homework in twenty minutes!" But I'd rather have a quirky child!

onlymusic just piano. She gets assigned a lot to practice these days so it does take a bit. No complaints yet, but I am waiting for it...

Drummers , Loose, Icouldbe and Leman I am pleased there are others who have very musical dc doing GCSE .. It will be interesting to see how the boards vary.
Icould .. I am really glad your ds has enjoyed it so much. Dd's form tutor was a bit negative about choosing it as an option ( because dd is on higher grades) but we thought it would be the best choice because she is still so young (plus she most of her free time doing it anyway and I want her to have fun!)
Thanks also for top tip about sheet music
Dd is doing it in year 9 ( she's currently year 8.). The school pack a 2 year course into a year (do the same hours of teaching as a 2 year course but condense it into a year) .. So I'm hoping it will work out well 😊

Thank you Fleurdelise, does 45 mins include one or two instruments? We mainly ignore piano nowadays, feel like we are approaching new problem as piano is a bit difficult to her therefore regular practice is essential.....

The issue was a total refusal to practice (just as LooseAtTheSeams said 3/4 of 2 hours were tantrums, etc) and request to stop lessons eventually

Yes Onlymusic I remember DS1,s homework at primary school and certainly remember him spending the full amount of the time suggested, but 3/4 of that was tantrums and being persuaded to do it! DS2 was and is a lot easier.
Icouldbe thanks for the top tip! Just wanted to wish your DS all the best in all his GCSEs - I know music will go well!

What was the huge issue btw? so curious

onlymusic DD (8 yo also) does about 45 min to an hour practice now. By the time she does all that was assigned to practice that is how long it takes. She does practice her scales every day but not all of them, so now she started grade 4 scales she only does those, I understand that all minor and major scales are needed for grade 5 so hopefully the previous ones will still be known by the time she needs them, I don't think she can do all of them as it would take a while and increase her piano practice by a considerable amount of time. But now that you mentioned it I may make a list of all the grade 1 to 4 scales and once every couple of weeks bring the older ones to life in a quick practice session.

Dd's violin teacher said that practicing should take for at least two hours but realistically it is about 30 mins . However, when I asked about routine and tried to implement it - it takes at least one hour! So I am trying to figure out what is the best way to deal with it....

Btw, how often your dc practicing scales and arpeggios? Is it every practice/mainly before the exam/few times a week/all of them/only some?

Fleurdelise basically agreed with your thoughts on theory exam and switching boards. Dd will be at least 9+ when ready for grade 5, may be even 10, so she may be ready for the theory exam by that time anyway or may drop all together! But as there is no music scholarship/music school/etc on the agenda I don't really care about practical exams, only about steady progress and enjoyment as we had huge issue with it recently, but sorted it out for the time being.

Music GCSE - They have enough pressure on them in Y11, having one "easy" subject gives them a bit less to do overall. I got the impression that certain teachers saw it as a waste of a GCSE slot but it's not - what's the point in DS studying something that he's got no interest in (which is most subjects) over the subject that he wants to take to degree level.

Pro tip - keep your own copy of the sheet music they use for their GCSE performances. Five months after the recording the teacher had misplaced the copy we'd given them and we were running around trying to remember which band it was we originally borrowed the music from. It was not a fun time - if I can't be a good example then at least I can be a terrible warning.

I think music is the GCSE that DS1 was most determined to do! He has really enjoyed school music lessons, too. I'm a bit concerned about him doing art as well but only because he seems to excel at not finishing things. Hopefully, his teacher will impose enough interim deadlines.
Not sure we can ever match that practice. i think he does a reasonable amount along with groups but nothing startling. He is focusing on percussion at the moment as he has an exam a week on Friday.

Her teacher (piano and violin) did exams with both abrsm and trinity one instrument with one board and the other with the other board. She holds both in high regard, uses abrsm for her students mainly because it is easier to have them all on one board. But suggested that if we do get stuck she could do an exam with trinity until grade 5 theory is achieved. We'll see what the next couple of years bring.

AaoograhaHoa I think it is normal to want to know how well you DCs are doing, not necessarily pushy.

I said even 3 years to get to grade 1 as it depends a lot on the level of practice at home. In all honesty the lesson is mainly for introducing new concepts but the real work happens at home practising. So if a child is explained something but not practising therefore not achieving the task the following lesson would be spend on practising the same task again. So not much progress. DD did grade 1 piano after 18 months but she did practise every day and generally achieved the previous task in order to move on. So progress in our case was proportional to the level of practice she put in.

onlymusic I feel the same about abrsm/trinity so if she does get to grade 5 practical and not ready for theory by the time she's ready for grade 6 I think skipping and taking the practical she's ready for after grade 5 theory is the best idea. But I won't push for it, I rather her enjoy her music regardless of grades at the moment.

Loose DS will also do the two year music GCSE. There was the talk amongst the parents at school that it was a waste of time for the students already doing music at a high level. But DS, who jumps with joy when he checks his timetable in the morning and realizes he has music lesson (the curriculum one), would not hear of not taking it. He's had the Head of Music teaching him the curriculum music lesson for three years and he's absolutely loved it in spite of being slightly ahead of the game. Personally, I am glad he chose it. At least that's a subject that won't clash with his other music activities.

RE PRACTICE talk on this thread, I once read that you need to add 10 min for every grade, so if preparing Gr6, you should be doing 60 min everyday. By this rule, DS would have to be doing 80X3: 240 minutes of practice everyday..... plus homework plus after school ensembles. On Monday he came home at 5:45 and had 2 and a half hours of homework

Hi Lucysnowe. My son started learning the trumpet at the beginning of Year 3 (at 7 1/2). Cornet might be best from a size point of view (if your DD is still quite petite) but ask a brass teacher for advice. As lemanitoba says, you can play simple and well known tunes almost from the start of picking up the instrument. Some of the DC on this thread are amazing recorder players though - don't discount it as an instrument in its own right. Recorder players have made it to the finals of Young Musician in two of the last three series.