How feasible is it to teach your own children for music exams grade 1-5 ?

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My DC (aged 12 & 9) already each learn an instrument with a music teacher.

I have a musical background, and have grade 7 in singing and an instrument from about 20 years ago However I still play & sing these days in local music groups & ensembles.

DS2 is very into his drama, and already goes to a musical theatre school on Saturdays. He is beginning to audition for things, and I think it would really help him to have some singing exams for his 'CV'.
But I really can't afford don't want him to have yet more formal music lessons at school.

I've had a look at the ABRSM singing syllabus and feel that I could probably teach him, at least for the early grades?

I just wonder if I'm being realistic though? I don't play the piano well enough to accompany (can bash out the meolody OK though).

Anyone any experience?

No idea, though I would imagine it would be possible for the lower grades. Accompanying shouldn't be too much of a problem, many exam boards have contact details for accompanists who you can hire, or why not ask at one of the groups you are in? (For my flute diploma my MD from my choir accompanied me.)

I teach my son. (I have a music degree.) It's often hell and he argues alot, but he's making great progress (7 and doing grade 3 on 1st instrument). I could teach beyond grade 5, but I don't plan to. The problem I find is that all the 'technical' things I nag about, he doesn't see as important - it's just 'Mum going on' as usual. I wouldn't want him to develop any bad habits, so I'll pass him on once he's beyond grade 5. In the meantime I'm smug in the knowledge that he's doing well and it doesn't cost a bean!
Accompanying while he practises isn't a problem - there are CDs to go with the exam music if you can't accompany him yourself.

Good luck. Dh is a musician and he taught ds1 trombone for a while. That was ok, but it's a bloody nightmare when he tries to help ds2. Fortunately he is learning violin so has lessons with someone else, but when dh offers advice or help with theory then ww3 breaks out. They clash big time. Exactly as ImNotaCelebrity says - ds2 thinks dh is nagging and being overly critical when he tries to help with the finer points. It usually ends with ds2 storming out and dh with his head in his hands in despair!

If your ds2 wants you to teach him then that should be fine for early grades.

If you get the music exam book, it comes with a CD for them to practice with. I would think you could teach him if he's willing. I always find they listen better to outside teachers than me, but you could give it a go.

Nightmare.
Also, we never seem to find the time to give lessons on a regular basis. We tend to favour paying pupils over DC!!!!
DC1 (age9, trombone and piano) apparently knows better than us = arguments/head in hands
DC2 (age 6, piano and recorder) just wants to do whatever she wants = arguments/head in hands.
Maybe it's just us.
Good luck.

If you can sing, singing exams are pretty easy.

ds2's singing teacher starts students on grade 5, as the pieces for the earlier grades are so dull.

If their breathing is OK, aural good and decent sight singing they should be fine.

Like sloppyjoe though I couldn't teach my own: it's easier to keep the roles separate.

DH has taken two of our DC from grades 1 to 3 on the piano (despite never having learned properly himself - he is irritatingly musical) and has just started again with the third. Results were good, but the process of teaching them was sometimes pretty stressful, even though he is patience personified. Lessons ended up being a short stint in the evening most days, and as a result they have all made very quick progress, and we have saved a ton of money. And he has spent one to one time with them which is always hard to do in a large family.

I agree with other posters that any problems are more likely to be caused by the family relationship rather than your ability/suitability as a teacher. My dad taught me to read music and the basics of playing the piano, but it was unthinkable long-term. FIL says the same about teaching DH, BIL and GC.

Is it really necessary, though? Unless you think that you can teach your DS good singing technique, I don't really understand why him having passed some low level exams will help him in an audition? Is it a question of being invited to auditions in the first place based on a CV application?

That probably sounds harsher than I mean it to . I just dislike the emphasis put on exam taking and I think doing exams just because you can pass them is not necessarily sending a worthwhile message. Singing, playing music and doing drama should be satisfying and fun. Children can learn how rewarding working at something for years and years can be, but they should be intrinsically motivated by the enjoyment of making progress, of taking part in plays and concerts, of getting to know great works of art.

You are clearly getting all this yourself from your continuing involvement in musical activities, so your kids certainly will be getting the "right" message. I don't even want to say that you coaching your ds through these exams is definitely the "wrong" thing to do. But maybe it is a unnecessary stress for you both and maybe long-term membership of a choir would be just as good on his CV?

Silken - you raise some good points.

DS already sings in a choir and at his weekend drama school. And of course you're right that experience will ultimately count for a lot. However I've noticed that the children he auditions alongside tend to have 'full' CVs with music/ drama exams, so it's almost the entry criteria even to be considered for audition.

I also think it would just give us some 'goals' to work towards, with a benchmarked level of achievement which will help him feel confident that he is good at his music/drama.

Part of the reason I'm keen to teach him myself is so that we can work at our own pace and fit it in around other homework/extra curricular activites, rather than having a fixed lesson every week. It means we could do more in school holidays for example, and less during termtime.

I think it's the difficulty of teaching someone very close to you anything that's the issue, not your skills or knowledge as a teacher.
My dh is a scientist, and has helped a few people through GCSEs ans A-levels, but there is NO WAY IN THE WORLD ds and he could sit down over a science book together. People say the same about teaching a loved one to drive., etc., etc.

I teach my DD. So far, we have got to grade 2+ recorder (I put her through the Grade 1 exam successfully, but she is not going to sit Grade 2) and Prep Test level on the piano. She does show some potential, but we really can't afford to send her to someone else at the moment. I'm a music teacher and it's working for now, although I know there will come a time when she will need an objective opinion from another teacher. She will probably start arguing with me at some point too. We did try when she was younger and it ended in tears, but last March she absolutely begged me to teach her, and we haven't looked back. So far!

DH teaches DS first instrument, piano. Second instrument is taught by a teacher outside. Currently preparing Grade 4. Going well partly due to the truly calm and good nature of both of them. It is affordable, flexible, teacher is always at home during practice, lessons do not have to FINISH after certain time, etc. But DH says Grade 5/seconday school will be the watershed. No more. He will be taught by an external teacher.