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Original poster

How much flute practice for DD1

22 replies

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 11:27

I amnot musical so wold love some advise from musical Mums or those with mmusical children please!
DD1 has been playing the flute for a year and has her grade 1 exam in two weeks time. She is self motivated abput practice and I never need to "remind" her. She usually practices 3 to 4 times per week. How much should she practice in the lead up to the exam. She has 3 pieces and scales/apeggios (sorry sp - I am NOT musical!)
Would it be a better idea to concentracte on 1 piece per day? - or do the whole lot together??

OP posts:

JanH · 27/02/2006 11:37

According to my kids' teachers (from when they had lessons ) "at Grade 1 standard 20 mins a day is necessary" and "for wind players, where stamina for breathing and holding the indtrument has to be built up, a player needs to be able to play continuously for at least twice as long as an expected performance".

When DD2 was doing Grade 1 flute (she was about 9 IIRC) she used to practise before school every day and do more after school in the runup to the exam.

For scales and arpeggios she used to write them all on bits of paper and I would fish them out one at a time to give her a random selection.

HTH. Good luck to DD1

WigWamBam · 27/02/2006 11:39

I learned clarinet to grade 8 at school, and my advice would be that, as she's self-motivated, you allow her to manage her own practice in the way that she enjoys and that she feels works for her - otherwise she may lose her self-motivation if it becomes too much of a chore. As long as she is incorporating her scales and arpeggios into her practice (they're boring so she might prefer not to do them!) she should be fine.

brimfull · 27/02/2006 11:44

sonnet,my dd is 14 and has been playing the flute since year 4 or 5 I think.She is rubbish at regular practising.She will practise if she's got an exam coming up or a performance at school,but otherwise she hardly ever practises.Saying that she's quite talented I think ( i'm not musical either).
She's doing her gr 5 theory and working towards gr 7 at the moment.

I find the teachers always say little and often is good,but I find if the teacher badgers her she listens more so I've given up telling her to practise.

She sounds like she's doing enough to me .Practise daily will help her in the exam though.

JonesTheSteam · 27/02/2006 11:48

I think about 20 minutes a day is probably about right.

This is probably going to sound weird, but it's also important that she stands up to practise.

Standing up - better for the diaphragm and increases stamina.

Original poster

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 11:51

very helpful both of you - thanks..
Janh - my DD is 9 as well BUT is not doing nearly as much practice as that! - but I don't want to put her off as WWB suggested.

Maybe I need to "suggest" more practice in a subtle way!

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Original poster

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 11:53

Thank-you ggirl and Jones the ateam.
Yes, she does stand up to practice (teacher told her this apparently but she didn't know why when I asked her)
Will suggest she does 20 mins every day over the next fortnight!
How long is a grade 1 exam and does anyone know the format?

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JonesTheSteam · 27/02/2006 11:58

Can't help you there, I'm afraid - it was a very long time ago - and I didn't do Grade 1!!

I think I did my pieces first (as they had a piano accompaniment, and the pianist left afterwards).

Do Grade 1 pieces have piano accompaniment?

JonesTheSteam · 27/02/2006 11:59

When I did the other Grades, I mean, as didn't do Grade 1.

Original poster

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 12:00

Don't think they do have a piano accomp..but I maybe wrong!
She has scales & appegios
3 pieces
and Iknow she does some aural work as she has started going to aural practice at lunchtime on Fridays.
Other than that I am in the dark!

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WigWamBam · 27/02/2006 12:02

It's been a long time since I did exams, so it might have changed. They used to start with the two accompanied pieces (I didn't do grade 1 so don't know whether they are accompanied - they probably are), then the accompanist would leave the room. They would then do a small piece of sight-reading, followed by sitting down and doing some theory (saying what the time signature of something played by the examiner was, and beating it with a baton, for example). Then it was scales and arpeggios, followed by the unaccompanied study piece.

JanH · 27/02/2006 12:02

Very short - about 10 mins I think.

The last exam I sat outside for was DS2's Grade 3 piano last year - he has just popped out, when he pops back in I'll ask him if he remembers the format (unless someone else has responded by then!)

JanH · 27/02/2006 12:04

Oh, forgot about accompanist for other instruments - as WWB says she will have one for 2 pieces. (Her teacher should give her a tape of the piano music to play along with.)

JonesTheSteam · 27/02/2006 12:05

Exams usually consist of (well at least they did in the 80's):-

Pieces + Study
Scales / Apreggios
Aural
Sightreading

Don't know if they do sightreading in a Grade 1 flute exam though, - I know they do in piano.

Don't know what order they do the exam in either, I'm afraid.

The mists of time have descended and it's all a blur!!!!!

JanH · 27/02/2006 12:06

There is an aural piece in piano too, where the examiner plays a few notes and the examinee has to sing it back - not sure if the other instruments are the same?

JonesTheSteam · 27/02/2006 12:06

You have a very good memory, WWB!!!

Original poster

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 14:05

Wow - thanks for the responses..just popped off to do some work!

Reading your post WWB, sounds like you did an exam last week!!

Yes, she has aural and sight reading, scales etc. I am not aware of any of her 3 pieces being accompanied, but will definatly ask DD if her teacher has said anything!

Thanks so much for your replys - I don't post much on mumsnet, just lurk and follow threads avidly! - But it always amazes me how friendly everyone is taking the time to post!
Cheers!

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sylvm · 27/02/2006 15:07

My daughter's exams have all been accompanied - depends how good the teacher is at playing - if she is accompanying your daughter, it will just be like part of the lesson to her. At primary DDs teacher accompanied her. Now (she is now 14 and just passed Grade 6) someone else accompanies. Regarding practice, when she was younger DD hated practising. She still hates doing scales and tends to scrape through exams on them but does better on other things. For general practice (not exam) we have found the CD things good. They come in different levels and you can get all sorts of popular music - more fun that way.

Original poster

Sonnet · 27/02/2006 15:08

Sylvm - please tell me more about the cd things!!

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snailspace · 27/02/2006 21:49

They can choose what order they do the various elements of the exam, but as the accompanist is only in the room for the pieces they often do those first to make it easier for the accompanist. Grade 1 is 12 mins.

20mins a day might be ideal, but not essential for everyone. My son rarely does more than 10mins on cello and around grade 1 we were probably lucky if he did 5. However, he's always been happy to do it and usually without prompting. For a long time my son just played everything through once and that was it (probably did this up to around grade 3 or 4). It's more use if the teacher explains what they actually want them to achieve in their practise rather than specifying a time limit.

pebblemum · 27/02/2006 22:46

I think it depends on the individual. Some people pick up things a lot quicker than others. It is important that practice doesnt turn into a chore because that it when things start to go wrong. I started to learn the flute when i was 10 and I used to practice almost every day. It wasnt because I had to but because I enjoyed it. I cant remember much about the actual exams it was a long time ago (im now 28) and I havent played properly for a long time but recently an old school friend asked to me to play at her wedding in September so now i am starting to remember how nervous i used to get before them.

Good luck to your DD

sylvm · 28/02/2006 15:06

Sonnet- if you go to your local music shop they ought to have some. My daughter started off with an Abba one which she now complains is too easy. She also has a Robbie Williams Swing one and a Musicals one. There are a lot of different ones. You could probably search for them on the internet too I guess.

The CD provides the "backing track" ie the rest of the band and on most there is one version of each tune with a flute, so they can play along with company and then when they improve the same tune with just the backing so they can be the "soloist". Sounds pretty good once they get the hang of it.

Original poster

Sonnet · 01/03/2006 15:09

Thanks for all the constructive advice!
Snailspace - that s how dd practices, just once through plus scales/appegios BUT I suggested that she reads the comments teacher has put against each piece during the lesson and concentrates on that - her playing seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment!
The CD's sounds great Sylvm - just right for keeping enjoyment going - I am impressed that DD1 has kept the enthusiasm up with the same 3 pieces. She does a flute group at school so has had other pieces to play, but even so....
I will look out for those cd's - thanks

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