Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

Thank you @StuntNun! That might be what’s happening here as well. I’ll learn to be patient one day 😂

@chickentikkasalad my DS’s music organisation like to email out the results to teachers and pupils before they release them on the ABRSM website so that might make it take longer to get results.

Thank you for letting me know changofname! Ill
send you a private message if that’s ok.

Thank you @catclarks ! I've sent DD's old mouthpiece to Doodles for gold plating as it was urgent for her rehearsals and concerts. We'll see how it goes and I've saved your link too.

Apparently, it's a known thing among female players. I think we'll still need to get a steel or titanium one later on but at least I will be able to manage the costs (we'll need to upgrade instruments too fairly soon 🙈 ). She needs at least two, for trumpet and cornet, and she's still growing and developing her sound so I don't even know at the moment which model to go for. I've heard titanium gives a different tone too so not sure how it's going to work for British brass band sound.

School gave her Warburton with a plastic rim yesterday as a short term solution but she doesn't like the feel, just like your DD. I hope gold plating will help for the time being.

@chickentikkasalad - oh no! The wait is painful. But I can confirm that it will still show pending until the school releases the result to the candidate or until a certain period of time has passed since the results were received (ten days or something). Dd's still shows as pending on our computer even though she's had the results and mark cert etc.

Hope they come soon for you both @MockCroc !

We’r in the same boat @MockCroc- waiting for a practical piano exam result that DS sat last Wednesday so it’s over a week. This is first time we did it through school so that might be one of the reasons. As it’s his 2nd study and I’m much more relaxed but starting to wonder whether I shall nudge the school just in case they forgot the release the result?
BTW does anybody know if both result and released show ‘pending’, does it mean even the school haven’t received the results?

Has anyone had to wait more than a week for ABRSM face to face practical exam results recently? Over the last 7 years we have consistently received results between 48 hours and 72 hours post exam (and with three children x 2 instruments each that’s been a lot of exams). We’re waiting on a result for my youngest and it’s been over a week. I know in the greater scheme of things that’s nothing (I remember the days when you waited 6 weeks for them to arrive by post) but it does seem unusual. The ABRSM website says 1-2 weeks and can be as much as 28 days so we are well within all of that. It’s just our experience has always been much quicker. Over invested parent here I know.

@Ubertomusic My daughter had exactly the same problem. Her allergy got worse over time and it really curtailed her playing. She’s currently at a JD and one of the tutors herself has a nickel allergy. On her recommendation she got her mouthpiece coated with gold and it’s made a world of difference. The company she used was Brass Care, and they were very quick (https://brasscare.uk/mouthpiece-plating.html) A year on and the coating is holding up really well.

She’s heading off to Conservatoire in September so is looking to get a spare mouthpiece, but is still planning on using her original one as her main. Paxmans let her try a mouthpiece with a plastic rim but she didn’t like the feel of that one so the hunt for another mouthpiece continues!

I had no idea but now you said that I googled and apparently people do all sorts of things - applying nail varnish or metal paint... 😂🤦‍♀️

We could do replating but I think the problem is it will wear off again so unless you have a custom made or sentimental value mouthpiece the costs may be higher in the long run... I guess. I'll need to figure out with replating services, so far the quote I get is half the price of a new steel mouthpiece but I haven't contacted Doodle yet.

😁 Well done to your DS!

Can you get some kind of paint-on coating, like you can for jewellery that is causing a reaction?

I haven't heard about Doodles, thank you, will try and google replating services. Rosehills actually contacted one of their suppliers for me and they said they don't make steel mouthpieces but can do platinum plating. I guess platinum will be even more expensive...

DD tried a plastic one (actually, only the rim was plastic, it was probably JK) but as you say the tone is different. I guess it depends on the player too, I think I've seen Phil Cobb playing with a plastic mouthpiece and no one would notice but DD is no Cobb 😂 She plays big pieces like Haydn and Arutunian but neither her breathing nor technique is at the level required for them, and plastic makes things worse.

Anyway, she's done her end of year assessment relatively well despite the pain so it's one problem
less, but they do very long rehearsals at national residentials so we'll definitely need something.

@herbaceous that's great. DD's school allows them to do single pieces in concerts - and very kindly included the entire Saint-Saens sonata in a recent one which was very kind of them, so she had done most of the programme over two days beforehand (but not, she assures me, on her best reed).

But if they were all doing full recital programmes there would be neither time nor space as there are quite a lot of them!

Well done to DS for last night. Don't blame you for letting others know how proud you were!

DS's school is great - lets those about to take a diploma perform a recital, partly to get their pro wider audience and partly to give them practice playing/singing by hear for 30 minutes to some strangers! (Tho of course friends and family come too)

Tho I say so myself, DS was absolutely amazing last night. The girl next to me was in tears during 'Bring Him Home', as was I, and I couldn't resist leaning over and sobbing 'he's my son'. DS would kill me.

@Londonmummy66 apparently the examiner said 'I always feel guilty when examining diplomas - there should be more of an audience to hear these performances and I am really lucky' - which was a nice thing to say.

I think it must be genuinely hard for examiners to say anything without making a comment that might make a candidate think they've done well or badly, but that was a nice one along with 'the bassoon is the best instrument in the world' which put DD at ease for her grade 8. She's had some stony-faced ones too so I'm always grateful when they find something nice but non-committal to say.

Just my exam to go now. Eek. Practised with my accompanist (my brother) two night ago. Fell apart a bit. The Aperol Spritz definitely didn't help. Won't repeat that on the day.

@Ubertomusic you should be able to get a plastic one pretty easily and accept the weaker tone as a short term fix while you research. If you can't find a new stainless steel one (I've never heard people talking about the metal beyond silver plate/gold plate) there are a few mouthpiece replating services, Doodles is the only one I can remember from advertising it although I've never used them and I know there are others. They might be able to advise, or asking a specialist brass shop like Rosehills what they would recommend.

One of my friends makes wooden versions of mouthpieces for people, but again you have to want that different tone.

That’s good to know! My DS always likes to choose from the wider list which usually means three expensive book purchases for me! So good to know it’s at least keeping the examiner happy! He’s taking grade 6 piano next month but has already decided he’s going to do the Harry Potter C piece for grade 7. He didn’t even look at anything else on the list!

Agree - my friends who are examiners love anything over a Grade 6 as they have to listen to so many Grade 1 violin and piano exams where everyone plays the pieces out of the book - they love it when someone plays something that is on the list but not in the book....

Fabulous diploma result achangeofname!!!!!

I think people don't understand about diplomas. The way I think of it is a pass is like a distinction in a grade exam : you need to be able to play your repertoire with a high degree of both accuracy and style. Decent players can still fail.

So, many congratulations to changeofnameDD and friends.
I think the examiner had an absolute treat. Who wouldn't prefer that to two days of grade 1 pianists!

It is actually quite painful 😞 School gave her a stainless steel one for trumpet but we need another one for cornet and they don't seem to be available in the UK, or at least I cannot find anything at our usual shops. I found Giddings but they're in the US and I'm not sure it will arrive on time for her residential. I'm just wondering maybe I'm missing something.

I don't even understand how you could play for years with no problem at all, then go to swollen and bleeding chops overnight 🤷‍♀️

Singing was beautiful!

@herbaceous - how rude. Perhaps if you said he got 92% they'd realise how good it is!

I fear his thespy works rather impinged on his y12 exams - he had rehearsals every night, and all Sunday, the week before. Hopefully his predicted grades won't have suffered too much, as that will scupper any chances of Oxbridge choral scholarships...

His theatre company is asking him to audition for Dear Evan Hansen next May, but I feel I'm going to have to put my foot down with a firm hand re A levels!

Re diploma mark, DS got 46/50, and a 'friend' said 'only just a distinction'. I thought 'sod off'.

@herbaceous thanks - some of her friends got 49 but I think 47 is an excellent result! Poor examiner must had had an absolute marathon 2 days with lots of her year getting their diplomas out of the way before Year 13.

Break a leg to Jean Valjean tonight! Amazing show to be doing. DD has reluctantly given up on theatre ambitions for next year as she knows she probably needs to concentrate on actual A Levels. But it is very reluctant (and I think she's got some pitband aspirations anyway depending on the band they need).

Ouch @Ubertomusic that sounds painful. Does school/teacher have any ideas? They must have lots of mouthpieces? Agree with you about the singing, very uplifting.

A question for brass players, can you recommend any manufacturers of hypoallergenic mouthpieces? DD seems to have developed a severe allergy to nickel or something else on the mouthpieces (strangely enough it happened only recently, after many years of playing). Do you think gold finish would help or is it the same nickel? I know there are steel and titanium mouthpieces, but looking for personal recommendations before spending a fortune 😞