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Extra-curricular activities

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Original poster

Grade 1 Violin failure

245 replies

Honeymum · 04/04/2011 18:41

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

OP posts:
Cyclebump · 08/09/2011 09:24

I teach musicianship to children at a local music school and a large part of what we teach is sight sing, reading and aural skills because they're often not covered in individual music lessons. Often it's a lack of time. We also teach to play through mistakes and to carry on in performance as not doing that has been a reason for exam failure for a few people I know.

Your daughter's teacher should have told her to keep going I would have thought. I'm also a bit Hmm that he would enter a child for an exam if she was so fearful of sight-reading that she completely refused to do it.

Singing is a great way to improve sight-reading and general music skills, could she maybe join a local choir? The music school I teach at requires all children to join a choir for just this reason.

unitarian · 08/09/2011 11:41

A friend of mine fervently hoped her son would fail his driving test because he had never failed anything in his life. He passed and continued to sail through exams. Eventually he failed a relatively unimportant one and flipped. She had been right all along - he had never learned to cope with failure.

My DD is also a serial exam passer but years of music has taught her to keep going despite mistakes and to stay calm - to outward appearances - when something is going pear-shaped.

Your DD's early disaster might be a blessing in disguise - and well done to you for encouraging her to carry on.

maggiethecat · 10/09/2011 00:08

Very pleased for you Honeymum. Believing in our children and supporting them especially when things aren't going well - you've shown how it's done!

Unitarian, I know how your friend felt. Last year dd aced exams in ballet, tap and violin and although very pleased for her I had an uneasy feeling that she had set herself up for being deflated later. So when she heard she had a merit for violin this year she was not happy despite everyone else being happy for her - she'll get over it and hopefully will learn that you can be happy with your achievement whatever it is.

HoneyWithLemon · 25/06/2012 14:03

Hello

Just in case there is anyone around who followed this thread last year.....I am pleased to report that DD passed her grade 2 violin in April and is now working on grade 3 which she will take at Christmas! Our new teacher is fabulous and DD is very happy learning with her, as is DD2 who has taken up the piano.

Thank you all again for your support and advice, it was all very helpful.

ZZZenAgain · 25/06/2012 16:37

hello there, I remember this thread. Great that dd is doing so well with her new teacher!

belgo · 25/06/2012 16:40

I remember this thread! Well done to your dd!

chrisrobin · 25/06/2012 16:41

That's great, congratulations to your DD on passing her Grade 2! So glad you have found a good teacher.

ReallyTired · 25/06/2012 16:53

Well done to your DD.

a) for not giving up
b) passing grade 2.

NeverAgain2 · 25/06/2012 16:59

I remember this thread - very well done, not only to your dd, but also to you for having so much faith in her.

Lovely to see that paying off.

Hopefullyrecovering · 25/06/2012 17:21

It's not easy this parenthood malarkey.

I have two children one musical and one (DD) not particularly musical. She is now 14 and has been playing the piano for 8 years. She's just about to take grade 4. She wasn't much interested in choir and progress on the piano has, as you can see, been painfully slow. Her sightreading is terrible, and she refuses consistently to practice her pieces because they are "Too dull to practice". She did pass all three earlier grades with distinction, when she eventually got around to sitting them.

The thing is, she actually loves playing the piano. She downloads sheet music by Coldplay etc and practices them until she is perfect. She plays with real enthusiasm and love and never less than an hour a day. I know when she is truly happy and immersed in the piano by the pieces that she is playing.

So I've come around to thinking - what is the point of these exams, exactly? To teach her music in a structured way. But she cannot be bothered with the structure or the discipline, she will never buckle down and deal with the gaps in her musical education yet she really loves the piano and the grades are getting in the way of that enjoyment.

FWIW, OP it sounds to me as though your DD was entered for these exams too early (for her) and the thing to be careful about is that she is not discouraged by repeat failure. Don't sweat the grades.

roisin · 25/06/2012 17:36

That's great news! Congratulations to her!
And thanks for the update.

pugsandseals · 25/06/2012 20:04

Congratulations!!! I remember getting my excellent violin teacher at the age of 14 - I jumped from grade 5 failure to grade 8 distinction in 3 years :-D . A good teacher can make all the difference

goinggetstough · 25/06/2012 22:43

Congratulations to your DC for not giving up!

pianomama · 26/06/2012 10:29

It really sounds like you need a new teacher - I doubt she failed on scales ,aural, and sight reading alone.

Long time ago my DS failed sightreading on his first piano exam (which was G3) but still got a merit because of the scales and pieces.

So chances are the pieces were not up to required standard.There might be a serious problem with technique (or a lack of it) she has been taught.

If teacher claimes that he was pleased with pieces I would seriousely doubt his professionalism.

On a more cheerful note, its only G1 - your DD does not need to retake it.
She can easily go for next one or two up in a years time providing she get better instruction :)

ZZZenAgain · 26/06/2012 10:38

she was just coming back with an update on an older thread. In the meantime she has changed teacher and her dd is doing very well, so it does seem as if the teaching was at fault

PandaG · 26/06/2012 10:55

read this last year - really pleased to find the update. Well done DD!

waiting on my DD's grade 2 flute result now!

pianomama · 26/06/2012 11:08

oopss

HoneyWithLemon · 27/06/2012 17:13

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. Smile I'll post again when DD passes grade 3!!

Wafflenose · 29/06/2012 12:24

I've just found this and read most of it. As a music teacher, I'm horrified by the poor teaching which led your DD to fail Grade 1 twice (after being told how good her pieces were) but am so, so pleased that she carried on and passed Grade 2! Most children would have given up. Congratulations to her!

chocolatecrispies · 01/07/2012 20:25

This thread has brought back all my memories of music exams, they were the most terrifying exams I ever took and I went to university at Cambridge... Got grade 8 distinction and now never ever play, the memories of being forced to practice and those exams are too awful. Sadly my mum finds this very distressing as she was so involved. Not sure what we'll do with ds but think we'll focus on enjoyment more than exams.

ImNotaCelebrity · 01/07/2012 23:01

I remember your previous posts. Soooo pleased she stuck with it and you found a good teacher. It's a real 'feel good story' now!! Well done to your dd - and to you too!

Dunlurking · 02/07/2012 21:00

Well done to your dd for carrying on and and getting her grade 2.

Thanks for the thread as well - there was sooo much useful advice on it. Dd did badly in her sightreading in grade 2 violin last year, so we followed advice on this thread, found her a holiday string course and a weekly string group and we are now keeping our fingers crossed for her grade 3 exam next week. Her sightreading is muuuuuch better thanks to your thread HoneyWithLemon

morethanpotatoprints · 03/07/2012 18:40

I would change teachers immediately. This teacher should know the rules backwards, should have made sure she was ready for the exam. She should definitelt not have been entered unless he knew she would pass. Good teachers will do mock exams and can tell you within a few marks what the pupil will achieve. Sight reading is another part of the exam which needs to be studied the same as aural and scales.

ImNotaCelebrity · 03/07/2012 20:43

morethan - the failure was from the beginning of the thread, which is very old. The more recent posts are because Honeymum was updating her dd's successes since changing teacher. She's now doing brilliantly.

HoneyWithLemon · 06/07/2012 05:21

Dunlurking it is a great thread, isn't it? It helped me enormously and I'm glad it's helping others Smile