I've just had a text from my DD's violin teacher to say she's failed grade 1.
She has been with him for almost 2 years and has practiced regularly, particularly since we've been preparing for the exam (since last September). To my untrained ear the pieces sounded fine. After the exam the teacher (who accompanied her on the piano) said she had done well and he was pleased.
The scales and sight reading are done with the examiner only so he didn't hear these.
By text he said she talked through the pieces but I will get full story tomorrow.
I wanted to know how common it is to fail grade 1? Is it DD or the teacher? Should I try to switch?
Thanks
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Grade 1 Violin failure
245 replies
Honeymum · 04/04/2011 18:41
OP posts:
onlymusic ·
17/07/2016 12:40
This is such an inspirational thread! It is all very well if everything goes smoothly, but to have such a difficult start and to stick to her dream at such a young age and persevere, your dd is such a little hero, OP, I wish her all the luck with her future dreams, I am sure she will achieve everything she wants! 
howabout ·
21/04/2016 14:30
This is a fantastic story Honey. It is so lovely to read about how well your DD is doing even after such an inauspicious start. I failed the school music aptitude test aged 7 and only got into lessons because my friend asked the teacher for me when someone else dropped out. I am still playing 40 years later and teach my own DDs who are the same age and standard as yours. Loads of really good points on this thread about what to look for in a teacher and how to prepare for the exams. I didn't put mine in for the lower grades and didn't teach to the syllabus. It was a huge ask for them to go in cold to grade 5 but we side stepped some of the issues of earlier grades with non instrument specialist examiners.
Having rtft I now realise my DDs are not actually that deprived having to put up with me for a teacher. Thank you
Congratulations to your DD and please keep updating. 
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HoneywithLemon ·
08/05/2014 13:26
Hello!
Sorry for being rubbish and not checking this thread in aeons.
Well, DD got 113/150 at grade 3, and she's going to be taking grade 4 in July. To my ears she sounds like she will be ready, and I think her teacher is happy with her progress at the moment. She's been preparing for a while but she did play other pieces for a couple of terms, including a couple of her own choosing, before embarking on grade 4.
Getting her to do her practice can still be a struggle. We aim for 5 or 6 times a week and average 5, I would say. Often the sessions are 30 mins, but I often find myself shouting upstairs to her to carry on for a bit longer. There is a lot of nagging from time to time on my part, and now and again DH gets stuck in and threatens to stop the lessons! DD is not very good with her own company, and sometimes I pop in and listen and ask her to play for me, which helps. DD2 by contrast is currently working towards gr.2 on the piano and is better at settling down to play by herself. She's more of an introvert and gets lost in things quite easily whereas DD1 has a very busy restless sort of mind IYKWIM.
But, we had a conversation just last night about whether it's easier and more fun to practice now that DD1 is so much better, and she agreed it is. I hope that this continues. The music that she is making now is so much improved, I really enjoy hearing her play.
She started secondary school last September and it's a VERY music-oriented school (particularly for a state school). There is so much going on and the standard is very high. All kids are encouraged to join groups and ensembles which meet at lunchtime. We went to a recent concert and I enjoyed various ensembles/orchestras etc and then DD1 appeared with her string group and she was sat with her friend who is grade 1 standard playing the same part. I tackled her afterwards and she explained that she'd missed the sign up for orchestra and joined the string group instead and she didn't realised the standard was lower (!). She cried and said she thought orchestra would be too difficult so I've had a word with her music teacher who is going to make sure she joins the orchestra next term. DD isn't very happy pushing herself and I think doesn't always appreciate how much she can do. I'm hoping that as time goes on, if she keeps up her playing at school (she also gets to play in her music lessons) she will keep on improving.
Someone asked what the difference was between her two teachers. I think teacher number #2 is much more experiences than teacher #1, even though they are roughly the same age. I think teacher #2 has had so many pupils over such a long time, as well as two children herself who are excellent musicians, that it really helps her adjust to different children's learning styles. Beyond that I can't really say much more. I am not a musician, it's difficult for me to tell.
Once again, apologies for going AWOL. I am so glad that people have found this thread helpful. It was tremendously helpful for me at the time and it's lovely to have it to look back on, so a big, big thank you to everyone who has contributed. 
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