Support group for parents of children taking music exams!

[Wafflenose]

Hello, I'm feeling excited, nervous and wobbly because my daughter is taking her first music exam in three weeks. I'm a music teacher and am very used to getting children through the exams, keeping the parents informed, helping to focus practice, etc, but this is my first experience with my own child doing an exam and for some reason it's more scary than putting other people's children in! I think she will be OK (and the other thirteen I have entered this term) but I'm not!! Any tips for the 'other side' (parents rather than music teachers) for how to keep us both calm on the day would be gratefully received! Does it get easier as they become more experienced? Am thinking not...

She is taking part in the local music festival tomorrow, to gain performance experience. She's wildly excited, and I've got the jitters!!

Anyone had a marks sheet through for current ABRSM session instrument exams and if so how many days from sitting the exam until the mark sheets arrived? DC sat exam on Sat Jun 23 but teacher now away for the whole summer with no online access and DC forgot to say to him as had to rush away after exam. However the marks sheet might yet reach the school. Just wondering what timescales were at the moment or whether we'd be waiting until after the summer holidays.

Well done to dd hulababy!

Sight singing is just practice: singing in a choir can help a lot, especially one that sings a lot of new repertoire. Church choirs ace for this, if that's your cup of tea.

these books are good. Your teacher will advise what method to use. When drilling sight reading ds2 would sing the "number" of the note on the scale; eg one, five, flat three, two, one, seven, one.

He's fab at sight singing now: much better than I am.

Thanks.

We did look at a local church's church choir but at present dd can't commit to the amount if time it required due to family stuff at weekends and her drama during the week.

She does a lot of singing with the school choir but not sure what form that takes.

We got DD2's flute exam result today - she got a merit which she is a bit disappointed with but since she has only been learning since February I'm delighted. She's comparing it to the distinction she got for recorder though, I think. Josh she did the exam last friday week - so, 10 days ago.

She just has her grade 3 singing tomorrow. DD1 was supposed to be doing Grade 7 but she has a dreadful chest infection/cough and has no voice at all. So she has ad to defer till next term. Which is a right pain. :(

Thanks Metabilis3. I subsequently found ABRSM's own comprehensive website over the weekend which was very enlightening on many music aspects but i didn't feel inclined to enrol there just yet. Ten days' wait appears to be pretty much the case for results online with the exam sheet following a few days later.

This is DC's third exam in successive years so I sort of know how it goes but it was booked originally via school but amended later to our teacher and another date because DC was participating elsewhere on the day of the school visit. I've no doubt our result is ready but we'll just need to ferret about and see if the mark sheet ends up at school.

Good luck tomorrow with the singing for DD2. I'm sure that DD1 will gain another few high end marks by delaying a term even if it is a bit of a pain for her to 'park' her finished pieces for three months when she was ready to wave goodbye to them.

We have the exam sheet. Our teacher doesn't hold with the Internet.

Thanks for the kind words. :) the problem with DD1 doing her grade 7 next term isn't so much the boredom factor but the fact that she is supposed to be doing her grade 5 piano and grade 7 flute before Xmas. She wants to get them out of the way before her GCSE mocks. None of these are her first study and she is only 14 so it won't matter if she has to shift some back but she had plans she was comfortable with and now they are a bit mumped.

Yes I see why you are hacked off especially if you need to factor in two or three auditions come October and November.

Never mind, on the positive side just think how high her aural marks will be... and she can use all her pieces again for the music festival circuit in March. Obviously a very capable and willing musician who feels passionate about what she does. You must be proud of them both.

Any idea when the music theory marks are likely to come out for those who took exams on June 20th?

In Oct 2011 it took 33 days to come through... we have family birthdays on the day we sat and the day the results arrived...

When ds2 did his theory in March, the website said results would arrive 4 weeks later. They actually arrived 2 days before that deadline.

HTH

Just checked and the website now says 6 weeks after theory exam.
here

Well done to all! Hope Meta's DD1 feels better soon and that the singing goes well for DD2.

ABRSM usually say 2-3 weeks for practical results and 6 weeks for theory. The longest I've ever waited for practical results is 31 days, and the shortest is 8 days - this session (thanks, AB!). That was a pleasant surprise, because on their web site they suggested it would be a 3 week wait this term. I think it helped that we had an early week. As the term goes on, they have more of a backlog generally.

MiniWaffle had her sixth flute lesson at the weekend, and has now covered 15/16 notes she will need for Grade 1, can obviously read the music and do all the tonguing and slurring, and do the aural, and was given some of the scales to learn, which she has done already faints. I've had the odd teenager who's gone that fast before, or adults who've learned an instrument before and gone fast on a second one, but a six year old? Seriously? I have shown her videos of some AMAZING kids on YouTube (playing Grade 8+ at not much older than she is) so she doesn't get a big head. I do hope she won't be doing Grade 1 next term though, as I don't think her sound is anywhere near ready, and she's doing Primary Ballet and Grade 3 Recorder. We also need to start on the theory really, although because of the cost we'll probably wait until Grade 5 before actually sitting one. I expect it will take her some years!

You must be so proud of her!

DS2 did similar on trombone (but he was a bit older at 8, is 9 now), getting to G1 standard in about 2 months (he was a Grade 2 standard piano player at the time), but like your DD his technical expertise didn't match his tone. He will do Grade 2 or 3 in the autumn, depending on where he is after the summer. Although as he is like your daughter, given that challenge he will be sure to be at Grade 3!

All three are coming back from their last lessons for the year with scales and pieces to practice over the summer. They moan now, but from experience they enjoy practising over the summer as they have more time. What are other people's experiences? Do your DC have the summer off?

My DD is currently enjoying a school band trip abroad, a reward for all the hard work!

DD2 had 11 lessons before she took her Grade 1 exam. Her teacher suggested entering her for Grade 2 not Grade 1 (this was after about 4 lessons) but I didn't want to push her. Also, she is still a bit little to actually have the puff for some of the longer pieces and for two octave scales. She is now playing some grade 3 pieces (well) but I think the scales would be a real stretch for her at this point. She also lacks the puff to do produce decent dynamic variation in the higher octaves - she has to play the high notes loud to get a decent tone.

She sounds very good, Meta. How old is she?

I think my DD1 will step it up and do loads over the summer. She also tends to do lots of story writing, drawing and reading in the holidays. She enjoys those kinds of activities, but is tired during term time and just wants to come home and fight play with her little sister.

Help. Ds2 did g5 violin the other day. He is an anxious boy. He came out in tears. He puts so much pressure on himself. I'm sure he'll have passed, but his previous exams have been merits & distinctions - he will be devastated if he doesn't get a merit.

Dh accompanied him and said his pieces were great, especially b & c. Ds2 said he fell apart in scales - normally perfect - and sightreading - again he is usually very good at this. Dh is puzzled. Ds2 really gets nervous and I don't know how to go about solving this. He deserves a merit - has worked hard and plays musically - just can't believe he fell apart on areas he usually strong at.

Waiting is certainly the worst part, especially for anxious kids who impose exacting standards on themselves. We have one in our house.

(We've been waiiting since the 23rd and haven't found out yet but our lack of result isn't because of the examining board. Apparently the results this session are coming out in record time so he should know more quickly than in the past.)

As others have said further up this thread most children only remember the bits they got wrong but there will be huge amount he did well and your dh obviously backs that up. The examiner will be able to see the work he has done but whether he gets a merit or a distinction is sometimes just down to luck on the day with the examiner you get. Our experience of sitting two exams previously and being closely involved with other children sitting at the same time is that some examiners are certainly harsher than others but you have to roll with that as that's what life is about...

I think sitting occasional formal music or formal ballet exams is in fact a very positive thing for this type of child because they are getting relatively early experience to what will happen in senior school. It exposes them a little and they don't like it but I think it better equips them to find tools to cope.

If music is to be their thing then they have to contend with the rigours of performance and auditions and so an exam in context isn't really that bad so why get so worked up. That's what i've been saying .... frequently. However we all get sucked in to their anxiety and that's why I'm posting on here.

My DD has had a good day today. She got both the results for her grade 1 trombone ( trinity) and grade 1 theory( ABRSM) today. She got distinctions for both so is very proud of herself. :)

Well done to your DD! That's brilliant!

well done her! :-)

DS had his G5 theory results - he did very well ! Horrai !! What a relief.That was the longest wait ever. No more exams until November now, time for a nice or two..

Excellent! Well done him.

Fantastic news Pianomama!Well done your Ds!
I have been waiting for our practical exam for over 2 weeks already.

Thanks! Should be out any time CURIOUS - will keep an eye for updates!