Summer term 2019 music

I’ll take some cake! Waiting for g4 results (flute) for dd2. She’s whiling away the spare time by taking a lamda exam in shakespeare performance. I had no idea these even existed but she seems to attract exams in much the same way as she attracts dirt. She’s just started karate and eagerly tells me there are ‘grading for that as well.

I think she likes the idea of different coloured belts much more than certificates. Abrsm should take note.

Good luck to everyone else waiting- I’m sitting in the lamda waiting room with a flute and a 1/2 cello (bad planning on having to pick them up from a friend on the way), wondering where my weekends have gone.

Hi Karate,
I don’t know anything about NCO, but I’m sure someone who does will be along soon. In fact I believe there is usually a special NCO thread which will probably pop up soon if it’s application time.

I am just sticking some more cake in the oven if anyone else is feeling impatient today for theory exam results.

A nice Victoria sponge.

It feels like ages ago already, so how come we still have 2 weeks to wait?
We are also waiting for my other dd’s Practical exam result on her second study.

Cmon, Thistly get a grip, don’t wish these weeks away!... lots of lovely end of term concerts to prepare for and enjoy!

Has anybody got any special concerts coming up?

Hi there

My DD is playing cello Grade 7 level now.
Piano Grade 5. She just turned 11 years old and year 6 now. Got music scholarships in private school start from Sep.

Her teacher recommended her to try NCO audition this year. I have checked their website and application will start from 1 July and they changed their audition process.
Anyone going for this audition?

I know it's very difficult to get in even Grade 8 player, so we will try our best!

How is everyone this (exceptionally warm) evening?

Found out the other week that DD’s singing teacher is leaving the school at the end of term. Think we’ve managed to sort it as her harp teacher also teaches singing so is willing to take her on (and that means back to ABRSM as she’s an Examiner for the board), thankfully! Looks like unaccompanied folk songs are part of my future... Got to be better than her current habit of singing whatever anthem she’s done with the Minster choir while pottering through life though. If you heard a child singing Britten’s Jubilate Deo while washing a car last Sunday, that would be mine...

Truffle; sounds exhausting! I don’t think my dc will be studying music, and a few years yet to go before making decisions, but it must be quite a journey (literally as well).

Many thanks, PaddingtonPaddington!

ooh horseymum you sound like you might go to the same centre as us...though maybe there are just lots of lovely ABRSM hosts round the country!

I lurk on this thread. Been around for a while under various usernames. We've got a busy few weeks - multiple music centre concerts for both dds (one does three ensembles; the other does two) and they'd both got exams coming up too - Grade 1 cello for dd2 and Grade 5 violin for dd1.

Dd1 will be leaving her current teacher and music service soon as she's heading off to a specialist music school in September. She's super excited, but sad all the same. She sees her teacher every week at strings, too, so I predict tears at that point mine, probably

We had an exhausting end to last week. DD will be applying to music colleges/conservatories this autumn and we went to London for her to have a consultation lesson. It was absolutely brilliant, she got a huge amount out of it.

We then went up to Glasgow by train to have a visit and tour of the Royal Scottish. Stayed overnight, observed a masterclass and then flew back on Saturday afternoon! We both slept most of Sunday.

Interesting times as DD moves towards the next stage.

Glad you found someone ginger.. good luck with the exam prep! 🍀

Greenleave... how about having separate lessons? I’m not sure about books, as my dd’s Teacher took bits and pieces out of lots of different books. But I would say if the focus is on your elder daughter, separate them. You could even allow 15 minutes separately and half an hour together?

Thank you for the help. I've managed to find an accompanist now and she'll do a rehersal before hand. It's expensive though! £50!

Violin is Dd's second instrument, I might persuade her to skip a few violin grades after this one. At least learning piano she doesn't need an accompanist for that!

Now to practise as much as we can at home using YouTube's with accompaniment.

My second daughter is sharing lessons with her elder sister and although its cost saving and convenient(teachers come to home so no travelling) it feels like the focus is still much on her elder sister so I will need to work with their teachers on that. She is still on string in step book 1 after nearly a year, I am much appreciated if you have a recommendation on the next book please. Many thanks.

Second the ABRSM aural app. You have to pay but get content up to grade 5.

Thanks Taggie - that is probably the best option. My teenage daughter is teaching her tomorrow so scrambling around for resources.

If they have an apple device, the Abrsm app is really good. We had a similar emergency with DS2’s grade 2 piano aural the day before the exam (big fail on my part!). He had 30minutes with the app and went on to get full marks the next day.

Anybody know any good free online resources for grade 1 aural? Bit of an emergency teaching somebody who is not prepared properly so need something by tomorrow and no time to order and get delivered.

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Hi to all. Hoping to find someone that knows about the Guildhall String Training program. Has anyone got any experience of the years 4/5/6 of the program (not the early years)? Would love to have a chat if anyone has any experience of this. Please could you PM me? Thank you so much.

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In our exam centre there is a big keyboard with head phones to warm up on in another room ( the hostess or whatever they are called also provides a hot water bottle in winter to keep your hands warm!) You then go through and I think are invited to play a few notes before you start but my children would always start with scales anyway ( you have the choice) so you get a feel for the piano. It's a lovely grand in ours, the only thing is the music stand may be higher than you are used to if you play a clavinova like us. Friends ds was put off by this ( mine didn't bother!) You can get help to adjust the stool height if necessary.

Bear an adjudicator one year at our Festival was also an ABRSM examiner. She encouraged everyone to try the piano before their piece, and said they should do the same thing when they go into a room to do their exams

Bear there is a separate practice room where DS takes exams and he gets about 5 or so mins in there before going into the exam room, but no time on the exam piano beforehand. If your DC end up doing a few exams they'll probably be in the same place each time so they will be familiar with the piano by the time they get to higher grades. Good luck!

I would definitely have at least one or two rehearsals beforehand if it’s for a grade 8, the piano parts are normally pretty tough, and they will expect good interaction between the student and piano... but you will probably need to pay for the time. If you can get a recommendation from someone who has taken a similar level exam and understands what’s involved that would be best. We were lucky that the teacher could do our DDs grade 8 but I’ve paid a separate accompanist for one of my other kids’ exams and they weren’t able to play the part and arrived late! Luckily it was only grade 1 but would have been very annoying for a higher grade.