piano teacher insists my son to choose another three news exam songs after he failed Grade 6, I want DS to stick to the 3 old songs, what to do?

[jessie2004]

My 10 DS failed the Grade 6 exam in June with a score of 92. We are fine with it and think of resitting Grade 6 exam in Nov/Dec 2014, however, his piano teacher suggested him to choose another 3 new grade 6 exam pieces and take the exam in June 2015. She said it is the best practice to go for three new songs based on her more than 30 years teaching experiences. She said there are two reasons: 1. my son will get bored with the three old songs if he does them in Nov/Dec again. 2. he will lose confidence if he does the three old songs.

I respect her professional opinion, however personally I could not agree with her. Both the piano teacher and I know DS is not well prepared for grade 6 as we moved overseas last summer and had 3 different piano teachers in the past 12 months . DS started Grade 6 preparation with his school piano teacher last October (DS did Grade 5 theory this February as well). DS feels that the school teacher does not give enough critical and constructive suggestions as she always says he is good etc. Therefore in APRIL, he started to go to a private institution for piano class. Sadly, his new teacher said he was badly taught by his school piano teacher and suggested DS to postpone the exam to Nov/Dec. I had a discussion with DS and decide to continue with the exam in JUNE (anyway his school teacher has enrolled him for the JUNE exam already.). Also DS is a tough and confident boy and he thinks it will not hurt him even if he fails it in June (which his new teacher is strongly against as she thinks it is not good to fail a grade exam as children will lose confidence).

DS had one lesson with another teacher in the same music institute the week before the exam as his teacher is on sick leave. That teacher said he is fine and could pass (she has been an examiner for long time). Anyway DS got only 92 (he always got merit or distinction before) with very low score in sight reading and oral (less than 1/3 of the full mark), even though he always tells me he is best at sight reading (but immediately after the exam, he told me he did very bad in sight reading as that specific piece is really hard with huge jump) and oral.

DS wants to do more songs outside of the exam pieces. He loves to play new songs by himself. I am thinking of letting him take a break from the exam pieces and practice other new songs. Then he could retry the three old pieces later this year and go for the exam in Dec. From now to Dec, he could do other songs and pays more attention to sight reading, oral etc. I just do not want him to always do exam songs; if we follow the teacher's suggestion, three new exams songs are still exam songs...I am thinking of letting him do the Grade exam in Dec with 3 old songs rather than 3 new songs in June next year. However, I do not want to offense or piss off the teacher? I have had quite a few disagreements with the teacher since April. She is against digital piano and was suggesting to buy an upright piano. However, I bought a new Yamama digital piano last Oct and have an upright piano back home in London, so not in the mood to buy another upright piano as we are not even sure how long we will stay overseas. She suggested to delay the exam to Dec, I insisted my son to go for the exam in June and he failed... Now, 3 old songs in Dec or 3 new songs next June? Do you agree with what the teacher suggests? I have to admit that I know little about piano and could be totally wrong, but I know my son and I want him to rise where he falls...

Sorry for the long post, any suggestions are highly appreciated.

Two months off the piano after an exam? that might be part of the problem.

Or two months off exam pieces? I'd expect far longer off doing specific pieces for an exam, a couple of terms really, and just working on lots of pieces at a particular level, not having any decisions made until much closer to the exam date.

A useful comment someone once made was that the sight-reading level is about two grades below the exam level. If children have been pushed through exams too quickly, so that they're only learning 3 pieces at each level, for example, and not doing anything else - and they have to spend so much time, effort, practising etc to get those three pieces right - then they won't have the breadth of experience to play lots of other pieces at that level. And thus when it comes time for sightreading, it will really show up, because they've rushed through grades 4 and 5 so superficially.

I wouldn't give him any time off after the exam. The idea is that he enjoys playing the piano, so giving him time off practising sends the wrong message. But yes to not practising specific exam pieces for a few months at least. Lots of other stuff though.

Jessie I can see that you really want your son to do well, but I do agree that you are not following the most effective path for this to happen.

In the lower grades, you can get through without a great deal of personal musicality, and by will-power, but as you approach grades 6-8 and beyond, interpretation and really solid technique are needed. You are not going to get past this grade barrier unless your DS is playing for himself.

That means doing the spade work on his scales and so forth. It also means having some personal interest in the music he is playing. Drilling him for another six months in stale old pieces won't do that. In any case, a good student should be playing lots of things, and then using what he learns to prepare for an exam at the right time. I was at music college from age 12 to 16 and we were not actually allowed to take grades at all.

I agree on the Yamaha piano. Put it in store and rent a proper one.

I think the best motivation is having a real concert to play and music to play which you are excited about, also having pieces to play with other people, a first piece of chamber music to work on.

I feel strongly that learning music in order to get a grade from an examiner is not always an inspiring motivation. Sometimes it can be extremely destructive. Some children like the competitive aspect of taking exams, but I think in the long run the whole culture of taking exams can poison people's love for the music.

Music is intrinsically satisfying to practise and play, and performing gives children the opportunity to communicate and give joy to others. Instead of taking exams, I would look for performance opportunities, maybe at school, at an old age home, in a church (even if you aren't religious, a child's performance is often a welcome addition to a village service), and so on. My daughter used to organise little concerts in our house, make programmes, bake cupcakes, get dressed up and she and her friends who played instruments would perform for a couple of neighbours. My children also all busked on the street and at a local fete, sometimes raising money for various causes, sometimes for pocket money. They had an absolutely wonderful time.

Jessie,

There are two approaches. One is to start the exam pieces before you're really up to standard, in which case it can take a good two terms to perfect them. The other is to do lots of repertoire, build up to the standard required for the exam and then beyond it, and then go back to the pieces for the exam. Frankly, I prefer the latter approach, but some of the kids and parents here just want exam, exam, exam and would be happy with 101. However, for grades my students would start preparing from the term before they will take the exam - i.e. spring term for summer exam - beginning with the scales, and we've been starting the pieces around the half term mark. Realistically, if the candidate is really ready and practises well he or she could learn them in the exam term, but I'm not terribly experienced at this exam stuff so would rather be cautious! It also depends how much the student practises.

FWIW, I have a grade 1 with 127, who took it before I wanted. She worked hard and deserves her mark (second term of learning), but I've vetoed grade 2. Instead, we will be doing lots of pieces at between grade 1 and grade 3 level. When she's ready, it will be either grade 3 or the lowest Trinity certificate exam (recital, no scales etc. - though she'll be working through the scales). Otherwise she'd only ever do exam pieces.

"DS was not happy sometimes that she is very strict with fingering and he thinks his hands are not big enough yet and prefers to use his own fingering"

Your son's piano teacher is quite capable of deciding if his hands are large enough, and she will have given him fingering according to that.

Fingering is really important to be able to play a piece properly. It sounds like your DS, and you, need to afford the teacher a bit more respect and listen to what she is saying. She knows a little bit more about it than your 10 year old son

I think that focusing strictly on the exam pieces is much like kids being taught to take tests in school. They learn that particular bit very well, but overall they don't learn nearly what they would if the scope was more broad and varied. I agree that working on other things, bringing it up to a bit higher level, then moving to the exam pieces, is a much better way to go. Otherwise you risk him getting bored, peaking too soon, getting frustrated with exam pieces.

Also, if your child was playing football, would you go in and tell the coach how to do it?? (okay, some parents would but a majority wouldn't) Piano is really no different. LISTEN to the teacher. That's what she is there for - to provide instruction and expert advice. If you're not going to listen to her and follow her advice, you may as well quit now. And every time you argue or counter her advice, you are undermining her authority and expertise with your son. Not a great thing IMO to do.

Also, 92 is a VERY low mark. It's really quite difficult to fail a music exam if you do any work at all, and that is a very bad fail. So it's not as though his pieces just need a bit of polishing. It sounds as though a new approach is needed - eg playing lots of pieces.

You sound like a difficult parent, I'm not surprised you haven't bonded with the piano teacher! You are not taking her advice at all, and now your son has failed. That's not the end of the world, of course, but it's a confidence-shaker.

I think you should respect the teachers opinion - everything she says makes perfect sense to me. Where's the rush? Do new pieces and do the exam in June. You cannot cram for grade 6, it's not just about learning the notes of the 3 pieces. If you're not willing to follow the professional's lead then perhaps you shouldn't attend her lessons anymore.

You sound like a difficult parent, I'm not surprised you haven't bonded with the piano teacher! You are not taking her advice at all, and now your son has failed. That's not the end of the world, of course, but it's a confidence-shaker.

I think you should respect the teachers opinion - everything she says makes perfect sense to me. Where's the rush? Do new pieces and do the exam in June. You cannot cram for grade 6, it's not just about learning the notes of the 3 pieces. If you're not willing to follow the professional's lead then perhaps you shouldn't attend her lessons anymore.

Thanks for all the criticism, especially many professional suggestions on the approach of teaching/learning piano. I do not want to be a difficult parent. I understand some ppl on the forum think I am, or DS piano teacher may think I am, I do apologize for that. It is not my intention and I do not want to make any piano teacher uncomfortable. It is just that when we are overseas, there are many personal circumstances and uncertainties we have to take into consideration as well. How long will we stay in this country? Will DS miss the next exam here as there are only two exams each year, or will he miss the entry in UK if we go back? Or will we sent DS back UK for boarding school next year? Scholarship? Anyway, I agree all these concerns should not affect/damage the right approach the teacher implements.

I feel the second approach really makes sense. Great thoughts, thanks! If we go for that approach, even if we go back UK before DS's next exam, he will not be bored with the new three pieces.

Why retake it? I would get your son playing other pieces of a similar level, do more fun pieces, sight reading etc. When he is ready, then move on to the next grade.

Marking criteria changes at grade 6 so what might previously have passed muster at grade 5 now won't. I'd agree that you don't have to take every exam. It seems to me that with a score of 92 he was nowhere near ready and needs to consolidate a lot - especially with the aural and sight reading as these scores suggest that he got the lowest possible mark. They award you 7 points just for attempting the exercise, so nothing further was gained!

If this was a transfer student coming to me then I wouldn't even suggest sitting an exam until the aural and sight reading were considerably better. How well does he read music? Has most been learnt by rote or ear previously? He must have passed grade 5 theory so obviously understands how to read music, but can he put it into practice competently? That requires work - he should be able to sight read music approximately 2 grades lower than the grade he is sitting, and if that isn't the case then taking things a step further back would be a good option. You could look at the Paul Harris Improve Your Sight-reading series as a starting point.

If you're not certain where you will be in the future there's nothing to stop you working through the syllabus and then moving on if you don't get to sit the exam.