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Original poster

Summer Term Music and Music Exams Thread

584 replies

Wafflenose · 22/04/2014 11:50

A new thread for a new term!

If you're a music parent, or music teacher, please introduce yourselves here. It was getting hard to keep track on the old thread.

I am a music teacher (woodwind, 90% recorders these days) and I have:

DD1 (aged 8) who is taking Grade 5 Recorder this term, currently working towards Grade 4 Flute, and also sings, plays the piano and one tune on the ukulele (no lessons on these three). She has completed a video audition for the South West Music School, but we won't hear yet, and quite honestly, I don't think she'll get in this year.

DD2 (aged 5) who is taking Initial Grade Recorder this term, started the cello a month ago, and can play a few tiny, baby tunes on the piano and ukulele (again, no lessons on these).

I only have one pupil doing an exam this term, other than my girls - a Grade 2 Recorder player. I'm doing 11 Music Medals though.

OP posts:
TheFantasticMrsFox · 01/07/2014 13:57

Hello all, after a little advice/ arm patting about DS and his upcoming grade1.
He's been ready for a while but due to teachers illness was not entered until now (exam on Friday) He has his three pieces off pat, knows his scales off by heart and now we quite frankly just need it over with.
The last few days however he has quite frankly been awful :( I assume this is partly nerves as I know he knows the pieces and scales inside out. I haven't mentioned a thing (most unlike me!) except that he needed to slow down on one piece and that was just a light comment.
Am I right in not mentioning it and just leaving it to him to sort it out for himself? Anything constructive I should say to him?
We will take him out for dinner on Friday as a way of praising the work he has put in rather than praise hanging on the result. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated :)

ealingwestmum · 01/07/2014 14:47

Hi MrsFox - I am not a teacher but have been a 'music' mum of DD (10) for 2 years now - the only advice from personal experience is now to stop playing the grade and switch to non exam pieces for the remainder of the time to get him to relax (with occasional play-through). It sounds like nerves, over cooking, and boredom of waiting for the big day. Even if you think it's all going wrong, he knows his stuff and the frustration of the wait makes matters worse.

The examiner will do their best to make him feel at ease on such a big first grade, tell him they are rooting for him to succeed!

Dinner treat always works with us - the relief after the exam is enormous - all the best to him!

Sleepytea · 01/07/2014 16:20

Mrs fox, my ds has his piano exam this week and is much the same. He is now rushing everything and keeps playing without looking at his music. I figure it was his choice to sit the exam so the outcome doesn't matter too much. We will reward him however it goes just for putting in the effort.

teabiscuit22 · 01/07/2014 17:07

Mrs F....I don't know how old your DS is but my 7 year old acts in pretty much the same way. I have learned to let her just practise in her own way and try not to listen in to keep the nerves calm. Think it is v difficult being a parent at this time as you want the best for them and they seem to be doing things all wrong ....The exam is just the thing at the end of the journey and I think the journey ie the learning and practice counts for more especially with younger children or first exams.

Ishouldbeweaving · 01/07/2014 17:19

Mrs F, I'd play it low key, if he needs reassurance then my lines would be that Teacher wouldn't have entered him until she knew he would pass and that it doesn't have to be perfect. I personally found G1 nerve wracking because I've never done a music exam myself and I was clueless. Once we'd seen that examiners were normal people and we knew the process the ones after that were less fraught.

singinggirl · 01/07/2014 18:26

DS2 just failed his Jazz grade 2, by two marks.Sad It would have been fine if he hadn't just got back from a week away, but there it is. Still have to tell him, not sure how to break it since DS1 has just got in from school with the news that he has won first prize in the school computer programming competition, so DS2 will feel it all the more with his brother doing well.

My other student passed, missing a merit by one mark.

ealingwestmum · 01/07/2014 19:46

ouch singinggirl, that's tough on him. Good for your DS1 on prize, difficult evening managing good and bad news in the family!

JimBobplusasprog · 01/07/2014 20:34

Ds has exams on both instruments on thu. He doesn't seem to be able to practise his scales slowly. If he makes a mistake he speeds up the next time. He has been like this since he started. I have explained gently that he won't get extra marks for speed but he just doesn't seem to have a slow setting.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 01/07/2014 21:02

So sorry, singinggirl. I expect he will be upset however and whenever you tell him... but 2 marks is a close thing. It would be well worth another go next term, maybe with one or two fresh pieces - the scales, aural etc won't change! The best thing he can do is get straight back to playing - perhaps some new fun books for the summer, with no exam on the horizon for now.

Good luck to everyone taking exams this week.

OP posts:
RaspberryLemonPavlova · 01/07/2014 22:36

I'm sorry singinggirl, that's really hard for both of you. So close too.

Shakyisles · 02/07/2014 06:48

I'm sorry, singing girl. My daughter us preparing for jazz sax and I have been watching your threads with interest. Now I feel bad for your son and still in the dark about what they're really looking for in jazz exams.

Ishouldbeweaving · 02/07/2014 08:23

You must have had a really bad evening Singinggirl, what terrible timing.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 02/07/2014 11:36

I have just discovered that the NCO is launching a new Under 10s Orchestra (I think this means they have to be 9 or under by 31st December 2014?) I rang them to see if it's worth DD1 having a go, as it would have to be on her second instrument (flute). The person I spoke to said flute will be very competitive, although perhaps less so than in a year or two. They said Grade 4ish would be good enough to apply, at least. So I think she is going to have a go!

OP posts:
morethanpotatoprints · 02/07/2014 12:29

Hello, have just read the jazz exam posts with interest.
My dh is a jazz musician and educationist of some repute and although he teaches jazz and impro won't touch the jazz exams and our dd is doing gr 4 sax next week.
His main problems are the marking criteria and how they aren't really looking for jazz players, iyswim.
He believes there are enough jazzy pieces in the normal syllabus anyway.
Not sure if this helps anyone, just another opinion.

DD is in her singing exam atm, so I am killing time before pick up and taking to her audition for x choir.
There is so much on atm, but at least that's 2 important things done.
just sax, violin, 2 concets another audition and 3 workshops to go Grin

Anybody know the turnaround for results atm?

JulieMichelleRobinson · 02/07/2014 13:35

Jazz folks...

I've been pootling around with the jazz syllabi for piano and I think the LCM one is the best. Downside: can't get an LCM examiner here. Upside: can still do performance assessments by DVD. If you haven't looked into LCM, take a peek.

For piano, there are small moments of improv. in the set pieces from grade 1 up; at higher grades there are options between playing pieces as written, with or without embellishments; playing from lead sheet; playing your own composition/improv based on given chords; playing iconic vamps (effectively jazz comping).

For flute (and it's the same for all winds I think), because I've been playing the syllabus for my own benefit, the technical requirements of the pieces at the higher grades aren't up there with the classical grades but it really seems to assess the jazz performance. The same thing applies - you can improvise over a backing, or play a set piece as written, but the improv. expectations are higher than for piano as you only have the melody line to deal with.

There are options between studies and scales - and the scales used are useful ones for jazz, not just random scales.

There are jazz "step" exams too for piano, so it's really treated as a separate syllabus not an addition to classical piano, and grade 1 is grade 1 and doesn't require you to already play to about grade 3 standard (which the ABRSM seems to).

Shakyisles · 03/07/2014 06:12

Thanks. We seem to be tied in to AB and trinity here. I do think for sax the idea of learning the pentatonics, blues, modal scales et al are more beneficial than grade 5 theory for jamming.

Hedgehogsrule · 03/07/2014 10:33

Hedgehog Junior has her results - distinctions (just) for both practical exams and for gr 5 practical musicianship. Phew. Can now move on to take a gr 7 next term.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 03/07/2014 10:37

Well done to her! That's brilliant!

I am gearing myself up to crack on with DD1's theory - call me mean mummy, but I'm going to get her to do some every day in the summer holidays. Just a few minutes at a time - but she's so far behind with it now that she really has to. Her flute teacher is doing Practical Musicianship with her, but I'm not holding my breath - it requires quite a bit of theory knowledge, after all (particularly scales, chords and ornaments) and I'm not sure which she'll be ready for first. I'm aiming to finish Grade 2 Theory with her over the summer. I'm sure she has a totally different agenda.

OP posts:
ealingwestmum · 03/07/2014 10:50

Fabulous results Hedgehog - she must be chuffed to bits!

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 03/07/2014 11:22

That's great Hedgehogs.

Waffle, I'm going to do similar with DS2, There is no rush from the point of view that his piano teacher uses both Trinity and ABRSM, but he will need it at some point. He is nearly at the end of his Grade 3, so am aiming to get a good chunk of Grade 4 out of the way. DS2 is happy in principle with this, we've agreed a bit every morning when he is fresh, and I think it will be so much easier that fitting it in round the term-time activities. He will also do his choir Voice for Life Red Book to get that out of the way too. (More theory).

there are some My First Theory workbooks around, DS1 had a nice one aged about 6 that he liked doing when DS1 was doing theory, would it help if DD2 was doing some work too?

Ishouldbeweaving · 03/07/2014 11:37

Congratulations Hedgehog junior, what a lovely clean sweep. Three distinctions in one sitting must take some doing.

Our holiday challenge will be daily practice (apart from Sundays where two band rehearsals is quite enough), he's plodding through G5 theory papers and we should be able to tick that one off soon. He should go back to school in September being tuneful on trombone.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 03/07/2014 14:17

That's a great idea, Raspberry. I'll get something for DD2. One day, they will thank me!

OP posts:
JimBobplusasprog · 03/07/2014 20:51

Ds did his exams today. Came out in tears because he thought he'd messed up his aural. He should be okay as his pieces sounded fine. Just the wait for the results.

Wafflenose I will pm you re theory

TheFantasticMrsFox · 03/07/2014 23:03

What... wait.... but......
DS has just gaily informed me that his teacher has said he will be fine tomorrow but in future will need to practise his singing. As a musical Neanderthal I genuinely had no idea that music exams contained any form of singing and DS cannot carry a tune in a bucket Hmm
Presumably his warbly, wavery voice will do for tomorrow but what the hell am I supposed to do about future exams? Please don't say there's more music lessons ahead to pay for?! Shock

JulieMichelleRobinson · 03/07/2014 23:43

Fantastic,

The singing is worth a maximum of 4 marks, don't sweat it. I have a couple of not-up-for-singing pupils. They can hum or even whistle their responses if it's likely to be any better, or I think they can technically opt to play it (which is 100% bonkers as it's way harder).