Spring /Summer 25 - Music thread

I imagine the sol fa will be Kodaly - some of it is quite complicated and it might well be a harmony based class. (My post Grade 8 DD did some in year 8/9 with a teacher from school and found it hard work!) Musicianship is the class that leads up to the Guildhall Certificate and GCSE support classes. Is WIlliam B still in charge of strings? His energy is really impressive and he's a lovely man (DD was a second study string player and did quite a bit with them).

Hi, they will be in year 7 next year, a string player, so maybe too old for Kodaly? Not sure? I know there is a musicianship class where they do sol-fa, which is new to DC. Not sure if sol-fa is the standard in all these saturday schools?

@yodaforpresident Just to say thank you for the Poco books recommendation - my daughter is loving working through the first one (and is now very keen to do the exam for the certificate - I am less keen given the cost but may give in as don’t want to discourage her!). She also got a merit in her recorder exam so we can relax a bit until the next one!

@nlondonmummy123 well done to your DC. How old are they and which instrument? If they are young then JG is quite Kodaly heavy. MIne was older and a pianist when they went to JG and that is a very structured programme (and absolutely excellent). They had 3 piano classes each Saturday - sight reading, duets and workshop (which might be on stage presence or accompaniment or comparing several recordings of a piece etc etc). They also had supporting studies classes - music theory class which led to the Guildhall certificate as they didn't think GCSE music cut it anymore, a GCSE support class looking at the set works and a composition class. Strings were a little different in that they had chamber groups and orchestras etc. It was a great programme.

DC has got into RCMJD and Guildhall Juniors. I'm trying to work out what the difference between the programmes that they offer are, to work out which to choose. DC prefers RCMJD, but it's further away (though not massively, we live in north london) and seems much more expensive. Does anyone have any insight/experience for a non-muso into how these 2 differ, and whether RCMJD is worth the extra money??

I don't know the new assistant - I'd try to ensure he's prepared to sing unaccompanied as well as accompanied.

Ah thank you! It is a man that we are seeing - so mustn’t be who you are thinking of. So should he expect to be both accompanied and unaccompanied on the hymn? Singing back phrases and notes from chords should be ok…intervals not so much!

New MD so I don't know what she will be looking for (although she is lovely) but when my DDs auditioned they were asked to prepare a short song/hymn - both did Skye Boat Song and they asked for one verse unaccompanied. They were asked to sing back a short phrase and pick out upper/middle notes of chords. DD1 took along a piano piece as she was quite a decent pianist at that age which impressed them but was something she took as an extra rather than something they wanted.

@Compsearch good luck to him! I should imagine they might ask intervals, texture etc - but the only thing I have to go on is DD's national youth choir auditions so maybe very different.

But I'm taking on board what you say about the A-Levels. DD2 is going for History, English and Music (compulsory and she's only allowed 3) - I'm hoping that looks solid enough as she's far from decided between uni and conservatoire when it comes to next steps. She had a very useful meeting with the academic deputy head at school who was firm on the whole facilitating subjects thing and advised those were the ones for her.

Last week we watched DD2 in her first gig as first bassoon in the school symphony orchestra (Haydn's Creation). Which we think went OK. A big ask for a 15 year old to take on, and she was particularly nervous when there were arias where she was accompanying soloists. She's now very excited because she's on a school trip without her bassoon, which apparently 'means I can wear lipstick'. The excitement.

As someone on the other side with loads of my friends from conservatoire no longer working in music, I’d say it’s worth getting solid A level grades in well-respected subjects (as far as possible), as lots of people do end up pivoting to other things (out of my friends I’ve got lawyers, accountants, a paramedic, two personal trainers, someone with a cake-making business, many teachers, both classroom and peripatetic). Some went back to uni/on to grad courses and others just straight into jobs, but good A levels always useful and will leave more options open! All those subjects look solid @chocolateisnecessary so probably go for whatever will be easiest/get the highest grades.

On another topic, DS is going to sing to the Director of Music at Southwark - does anyone have any tips/know what to expect in terms of aural tests etc/what to prepare? DS doesn’t have singing lessons (he’s almost 7) so doesn’t really have a repertoire as such…I’ve picked a short hymn that I found online as an example for a different cathedral choir - will that be ok?

Mine did music, music tech, and history.
He would have liked to do drama possibly in place of history, but we encouraged him to do a humanity just in case he changed his mind about going into music.
I actually thought a language might be helpful, for possibly studying at conservatoire abroad or future performing work.

My relative did Music, History and Maths A levels. Now first year at a Conservatoire which he is enjoying.. I wish he had concentrated a bit more on History and Maths, he was capable of much better grades.

As l understand that Music can be difficult to make a living out of, l worry a bit about the future and think it would be safer if those grades were higher.

Mine did Music Psychology and History (and dropped the latter as soon as the EE offer came in). TBF they spent the extra time practising and it meant that they didn't have to undertake the pretty onerous non examined assessment for History.

Mine did Music, English Lit & History, only music has been any use really. Conservatoires are usually EE offers so A levels aren't hugely relevant.

Hi - I just wondered if any of you with kids now at conservatoires could give me some advice? My son wants to do composition and is about to choose his options. He'll be doing music, German and then needs to pick two from computer science, French and history. Then he'll drop one again the following year. Have any students found any to be particularly useful? To be honest, I'm guessing it doesn't matter much, although I can see having two languages might be useful.

@yodaforpresidentthanks for the recommendations. I’ll check those out!

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest She’s 12 and looks young for her age so the more adult themed songs don’t quite seem suitable. I’m sure there are some great songs on there that we just don’t know!

@StuntNun Yes it’s very tempting for them to just choose songs they know - this has been dd’s approach for all of the grades so far but she’s sometimes ended up slogging away at songs that really don’t suit her, rather than wanting to try something new! That’s why I’m hoping to apply some logic to the choices this time 😂

With the theory, we started with the workbooks to learn G1-3 content but later moved to an online course. She just took G5 exam, not the earlier grades. It still took a while because dd had zero enthusiasm to study but the course had good video explanations and was much more bearable than the books!

Of course! 🤣

I did the workbooks and practise tests at the same time as DD as a challenge and I found it incredibly hard as I have no musical background @StuntNun - at least I had DD to help me though, it must be crazy on your own.

I have a soft spot for A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square as DD did it for Grade 5 - a beautiful song but I'm not sure if it's only on the classical syllabus?

DD didn't do the MT syllabus at Grade 7 @hedwigsbeak but she has sung songs from those lists for other things - If I Were a Bell and Burn are both fab songs with a lot of scope for drama.

But he doesn’t have to practice @Compsearch

@StuntNun I also did all the theory exams as a child, right up to grade 8! WHY 🤣. Not as weird as doing theory without playing an instrument though - that seems totally bonkers!

@hedwigsbeakmy DS did grades 2 and 3 SFMT and is now preparing for grade 5. I’ve had to pick some songs for him because otherwise he only chooses between ones he already knows. He’s learning You Can’t Take That Away From Me by Gershwin which he would never have picked on his own but it’s actually a really good choice for him.

A bit late to the theory chat but my piano teacher made me sit every exam up to grade 5 when I was a child and I now think that was a colossal waste of time, effort and money even though I ended up with a distinction for grade 5 theory. My DS is taking two grade 5 practical exams this year so he‘ll need his grade 5 theory soon but he hates working though the work books. I’m going to get him to do the grade 1 and 2 practice papers then sit the actual grade 3 theory exam to give him confidence. Then work through the grade 4 and 5 material to fill in any gaps before sitting the grade 5 theory exam next year.

My nephew did his grade 5 theory exam earlier this year but failed. He doesn’t play a musical instrument though which must make it much more challenging. Apparently his mum gave him the choice between piano or theory and he picked theory because that way he didn’t have to do practice.

@hedwigsbeak how old is the candidate? DD2 hasn't done the musical theatre syllabus but I've had a look and there are some lovely ones on there (but I agree also loads I don't know at all!)
@QueenMabby yes we are now back to 100% abrsm - shame as she liked the trinity exam structure better, but they just don't have enough candidates for it to run a day in school. Given her woeful aural marks in the grade 8 bassoon she's just done she had better get that app out again herself!

Picking new pieces is always fun! Has anyone else’s child struggled with the ABRSM Singing for Musical Theatre choices though, moving up the grades? Finding songs that appeal, are the right range and not too grown-up in theme!

If anyone’s child has done G7 lately and can recommend good choices from the syllabus that might save me the job of trying to find them all on Spotify. Unfortunately I’m not very knowledgeable about musical theatre and most of the songs are unfamiliar!