Spring 21 virtual music thread

@thirdfiddle we went straight in at 5 here too. Worked through all the workbooks and papers papers (the 'How to Blitz' books are great) but only took the exam for 5. DD was 10.

@thirdfiddleThirdfiddle, DD2 went straight to G5 - did some books (marked by her music HoD at saturday school as I couldn't do it!) from October 2019, then got herself vaguely towards Grade 4 standard by Christmas and joined the grade 5 theory classes at Saturday school for one term in person then one online. Used the app for revision.

The app is worth using -especially with the new digital format, but you'll need books as well I think. It's definitely doable to skip straight to five.

DD is 11, was at primary before taking the exam in summer and certainly didn't put in all that much time. She got a high merit despite only having half the time and horrendous technical issues. It's easier now you know what you're preparing for (she'd prepared for the written one in class) and the shorter list of terms is fab!

I'd go for it and get it out of the way.

My DD2 did the summer grade 5, which was (as you say) a mess. However, she got in, passed well and the stress is all in the past for her now - so I think the pain was outweighed by the gain for her (and now is a good time to study for it when they're in lockdown anyway. Lots of her music school took it in autumn and said it was better so I suspect they've improved - certainly more than one date this time which will make a huge difference!

Also following with interest as I’m considering having DD study for G3 theory for something extra to work towards. Meant to read up on how it works while soaking in a hot bath, but got distracted reading AIBU.

I get the impression that most people skip straight to G5? But their school normally gets them to do all levels and provides a theory lunch club that they enjoy so it works well for us. But I don't know anyone who has done the online theory, though I read of the problems last summer.

Has anyone done the ABRSM online theory exams recently? I heard that the summer ones were a disaster, have they improved since? Both my DC want to do a theory exam in the March sitting, elder G2, younger G1. They would normally have lessons at school for them but as it's only the lower levels they have got the workbooks and are doing them by themselves as something to help them stay busy while we're in lockdown.

Have they fixed the initial problems now or are the online theory exams still a mess?

@bostik - yes. Su-a does brilliant cello classes with the BF. Highly recommended. Good call.

@doesanybodyhaveamap we chucked in the School of Rock audition tape for NYMT, it's pretty old and not very relevant, but we find recordings so difficult and so much to do for recording for JD auditions... so we just chucked £10 at it and thought what the heck!

@RCM2020 - great idea, lovely to see your work!

Hi @KittyOSullivanKrauss glad to hear piano is going well. Have you tried the Benedetti sessions, I think they sometimes include cello? What did teacher say about Modulo? DD enjoyed the first session, which was quite encouraging as she's not usually particularly delighted by online things.

Went to the Junior Trinity Laban online open day, was pretty impressed with it. Seems like a lot of opportunities for small group work - chamber groups and sonata classes.

NYMT have just extended their deadlines by a month. If you were hesitating, then it's a sign! Go for it!

That was a great solution Comefromaway, good luck to your DS on forthcoming results, and to all others waiting.

For NYMT you have to upload to YouTube, Vimeo or Dropbox and provide a link so touch wood it will be easier.

They asked if they could come and park on our drive and connect to our WiFi. It still took over an hour.

A final tip for those submitting recordings, especially if long: even though you may be well within file size limit, the download will be subjected to your provider’s internet speed, number of users on, what’s draining it etc. It took us 4 hours to submit, getting often to 48% bar sent, then kicking me off the ABRSM site, to have to start again. Stopping all usage around the home worked.

Extending my sympathies too. Submitted G8 performance recording this week. Horrendous experience, forget those last 30 points, no chance given her anger after umpteen takes over many days 😱

We used a music stand so she could adjust, press on/off herself. Then ran for cover...

Comefromaway you have my sympathies (we had to record G6 performance last week). Have you tried propping the phone up with a combination of books and bluetack (or maybe you have a cookbook stand at about the right angle)?

My phone kept adjusting the sound balance so we ended up propping up a laptop and recording using Quicktime (even then it ignored the low slow notes a lot of the time). In the end we left DD(13) to switch the camera on and off.

Good luck!

I thought I remembered that @Comefromaway .

Good luck to your DS. We are waiting for news too x

Ds has asd too.

I’ve tried the restricting takes but he just gets frustrated.

I’ve just gone onto the website and seen the deadline extension. We do now have two usable recordings , one piano, one synth) so fingers crossed. I know it’s a very long shot.

Also, we have a gooseneck holder that clamps to pretty much anything that I can mount my phone or iPad in. Holds it steady and if needs be I can leave....

Tryone Gooseneck Tablet Stand,... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EMMKI4O?ref=ppxpoppmobappshare

@Comefromaway it's really hard isn't it!! My DD's really struggle with audition recordings, especially the younger one due to her ASD. It just gets massively stressful and things descend into chaos....

I try and stick to a 3 take rule. We set up, we've got 3 takes. You keep going no matter what happens and select the best of the three in terms of a balance of performance and accuracy.

If, after 3 you really don't have anything, leave it and come back another day. NYMT have extended the submission deadline now so you so have a bit more time, although I appreciate it needs to get done at some point!

Any tips on getting Ds to play as though he’s in a live audition or performance rather than a recording.

He has a total mental block about making recordings. We need to get his NYMT one done today. Failed last night.

I can’t just leave the camera (my phone) running as it needs me to hold it so they can see him play.

I have noticed a lot of questions over the last couple of months about the new performance grades. My daughter and I are new to music and have been learning violin together for the last few months (and now piano). As I don't have a background in music, I looked on Youtube to get an idea of whether we are making decent progress but most progress channels are for total prodigies who are practising many hours a day and videos only show completed pieces as opposed to showing a more realistic 'work in progress'. So we started our own channel. We have also been showing our performance grade results with full mark breakdowns - we can't show the actual recordings as it is not allowed but we show rough recordings which is usually a little worse because we're obviously not trying hard - it will however give people taking performance grades at the lower level who have never taken grades before a rough idea of level and what progress looks like for normal amounts of practice on cheap instruments. We have completed grades 1 and 2 in seven months. The link is here:-

www.youtube.com/channel/UCC8zsmOrNdYIz52TYLIQBXw

Exam results playlist:

That's a brilliant idea, thanks @thirdfiddle - she's developed a real psychological block over the whole thing (just changed teachers and doesn't want to show the new teacher in case what she was doing was wrong after a year of online lessons). Not entirely sure the bassoon teacher has recovered from the sofa gymnastics revelation - it had clearly not occurred to her that any child would ever attempt anything like that.At least she can't stand up with the full size one, no matter attempt dangerous balancing tricks.

Ah yes Kitty, I've found sending the odd picture of how DD2 is sitting (for both cello and bassoon) quite helpful for teachers who genuinely couldn't imagine how you could play the cello with your feet wound round the chairlegs, or the tenoroon while standing on one leg on the sofa. I still think there will be a lot of correcting to do when teachers actually see them in person..

Commiserations - mine really miss ensemble work too - though do some recordings for quartets etc which help somewhat. My older daughter is really struggling with learning vibrato online (viola/violin) - not sure how I help with that!