Summer Term Music and Music Exams Thread

[Wafflenose]

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.

Hmmm.... ISTD dancing exams start on Sunday (I mention as I'm the accompanist for the ballet here)... but then, practical musicianship on Wed for me. Still not got the theory results, ABRSM take forever.

Fantastic - just do a little every day. The aurals singing part gets more complicated. Dd has started doing grade 8 aurals practise. Singing the bottom part of a three part. Sight singing a fairly complicated melody against a countermelody performed by the examiner - all fine if you've done lots of singing and interval work. We start aural practise as soon as the next exam is on the horizon.

Fantastic, Trinity exams don't have singing in the aural.

Without getting into the merits or otherwise of each exam board, I thought it would be useful for you to know that, especially if it becomes a dealbreaker for you, which in the case of one, possibly two of my DC it certainly would. DD did ABRSM Grade 2 and 4 for Sax, Trinity for Grade 5 and 6 and the Trinity exams suit her much better.

I used to play them back, but as Julie said, it's quite bonkers.

And the singing is a tiny part. They do not mark the voice whatsoever, just the shape and pitch of the melody.

Raspberry is right - no singing in Trinity (except one note in Initial Grade, which DD2 has just done - she had to provide the final note of a tune, and I think she hummed).

Breathe...... grade 4 piano exam for DD(13) done yesterday.... she is upstairs playing Harry Potter tunes now, enjoying her piano playing.

What is it about the 3 pieces that drags the joy out of it?

Thanks all :)
DS did his grade1 yesterday and was happy with how he did (though we have no point of reference for this!) I could hear the 3 pieces and they sounded fine so just a question of waiting now

Hello I have been lurking on this threat quite awhile. My DD has just sat her Grade 3 piano and Grade 2 flute and we are waiting for results. Her piano teachers wants to jump her straight to Grade 5 and also play lots of other things apart from grade pieces which I am glad about. She also has her Grade 3 harp and Grade 4 singing next term.

For those of you who have children who play more than 1 instruments how do you fit in all the practise? DD does some in the morning and some in the evenings and is managing quite well. (I am also a music teacher). However all her music teachers want her to give the others up and just concentrate on one instrument! We're aiming for music scholarships in Year 9 so thought it best to keep them going until she goes to secondary school, then drop something. (She's in Year 6).

JustAShopGirl - know exactly what you mean...mine doing the same, with the addition of Pink Panther...must be something about G4 that sucks some of the pleasure out of playing!

Mrs Fox - sounds like he aced it, if he felt good, then that in itself is a great result!

Hi goldenlillie - will leave the feedback to some of the others with multi talented young musicians. I have a DD that plays 2 - our juggle (and fights) are more with the swim coach and ballet teachers that require 5/6 and 3 weekly commitments respectively per week (minimum 1.5 hours each session) and don't fully understand my resistance to pigeon her into one discipline only. Yes, the music teachers also think she should 'prioritise' with comments like 'it's such an important grade' but I have learned to be thick skinned. I am thankful that at this stage I have a 10 year old that likes to do more than sit in front of the TV, and that sport is actually a good de-stresser for her more academic/musical interests. Just entering Y6 so she may change when in senior school...

one point I forgot to add goldenlillies was that one of my DD's teacher's did state that for scholarship/music auditions, there is always a good bias towards children that play the more unusual instruments, even if at a slightly lower grade than that's required.
Again, those that have got their children through the system may be able to validate.

My DD sings and plays 3 instruments. I've also had people saying that she should drop one of her instruments. I understand the argument, but she's not aiming to play with the Philharmonic or whatever, and playing contrasting instruments means that she can play lots of different types of music. I'd hate her to only play classical, and miss out on jazz and folk. I think that as an adult it must be great fun to be grade 8 level plus in a range of instruments, so that you can then join in with all sorts of bands and orchestras. But if a child is hoping to become a piano soloist, or to play the flute in a professional orchestra, I guess they can't allow themselves that luxury.
I'm very glad that she's not particularly good at sport. Sport and music would be too much. Plus on the few occasions when I've been to a match or swimming gala it's been pretty boring, whereas going to concerts, after your child gets past a certain level, is genuinely fun.

DD has just told me that her Grade 5 Trinity Jazz Sax exam last year did have singing in, she was given a note and had to sing a phrase I think, so I stand corrected re no singing in Trinity exams.

Goldenlilies, we just constantly juggle, prioritising whichever needs it the most. DS2 is just finishing Y6, is a chorister, plays piano (passed G5 last November), trombone (G5 standard but no exam yet) and clarinet. He also plays in groups, in and out of school.

After the session he did Grade 4 piano and Grade 3 trombone we decided to try and avoid 2 exams in a session if at all possible, as it was really difficult to fit in extra practice for two.

Very true about swim galas - I lose the will to live when they stretch over whole weekends :)

Hurrah - gr 7 violin (ds2) and gr 2 trumpet (dd2) done today. I can celebrate my birthday! Alas, dh has a gig so is out for the rest of the day. Oh well more prosecco for me.
Ds2 actually thought it went well. Dh said ds2's playing was beautiful and dh didn't mess up the accompaniment either Dd2 focussing on playing a couple of wrong notes in the sight reading, but pieces were the best she'd ever done.

Well done Schilke's DC.

Happy Birthday Schilke.

Just finished packing for DS1 to go off on band trip tomorrow.

Test B in jazz grade 5 aurals for trinity both require singing.

I agree it is hard when your child does music and sports and other interests. Fortunately we have only had a couple of clashes with gymnastics and music and cadets. As a music teacher, I tell her usually that music wins - although in reality we try to be honest and go with the thing she agreed to first. She has a a diary as most of the time I am not there when they discuss concert, exam and competition dates. I rely on her to make sure she isn't double-booked!

I see, thanks Shaky. Another reason she will have against jazz exams then, she went back to 'standard' exams for Grade 6 as she hated the improv.

DS1 had grade 5 violin today, I think it was a pass but no higher(was accompanying the pieces). He is a fantastic sight reader, and aural was fine, having done it all before for piano, but his scales were appalling! Shame for him because he wanted a third merit to go with piano last November and theory last March. But the programming ate into practice time - we are beginning to feel the time constraints with two instruments, three hours a week taekwondo (he is a black belt) and lots of computer programming, which is his real passion.

DS2 was quite philosophical about his exam, and us currently playing music from the Hobbit. Just my eleven pianists to get through next Tuesday now......

I just suddenly realised I have an exam tomorrow. Ooooooooops. What's in these musicianship exam thingies?

Good luck Julie!

^ Totally unprepared and hasn't even looked at the syllabus.

Isd not usii

Excuse that, tried to correct typo, tablet froze and then posted the above two hours later! Not as good with technology as DS1!

Hope today goes well Julie - your intuitive musicianship will come to the fore!!

Look at this way Julie, it's far better than the sudden realisation that you had an exam yesterday.

Well, I went into the exam with the examiner knowing that a) I'm an adult and b) I have a degree in music, which may have affected the results - no idea, it shouldn't but it can (I'd entered myself, but my BMus is on my teacher profile so...). And the whole thing was totally relaxed and quite fun, a much more positive experience than the grade 6 theory I took last month. The examiner hadn't done it for ages (probably some lower grades but not grade 8) so it was all a bit random. I opted for sightsinging and improvisation rather than transposition and figured bass, and used voice, violin and piano as I deemed fit.

There was also a grade 5 practical musicianship candidate, who studies viola with a colleague (I don't know her too well, think she was teaching when I was a kid). Said colleague has taken the grade 5 for the same reason I did the 8 - to find out what it's like. All three of us agreed that it was much more relaxed!

At the higher grades, you more or less need the same skill and knowledge sets (composition = written down improvisation, after all), but it's much more spur of the moment and quite fun.