Autumn Term Music and Music Exams Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hello everyone. My children went back to school today, so I decided it was time for an Autumn Term thread. Please jump right in!

I have DD1 (MiniWaffle) aged 8, who loves music but knows her own mind!! She is currently playing Grade 6 and 7 Recorder pieces and trying to get her Treble up to scratch. Her second instrument is Flute and she's been hovering around Grade 4 for a while. I have no idea when her next exams will be, or what grade, but none this term that I'm aware of. She is auditioning for the NCO in October though. DD1 also sings, tinkers with piano and ukulele, and has just started the Grade 3 Theory book. I tend to find this one the biggest jump, and if you can do this one, you can manage Grade 4 and 5 easily. Usually. I hope.

DD2 (BabyWaffle) is 6, enjoys music and is going at a completely average pace. I can say this with some confidence, as I have about 120 pupils of my own. She's been playing the recorder for about 18 months and the cello since March. She wants to do Grade 1 Recorder and Initial Grade Cello this term.

Looking forward to hearing about how everyone else is getting on.

Congratulations to your DD Shakyisles!

Don't know how you music teachers do it Julie. If you asked a parent is it acceptable for their child to turn up to school without doing homework, they'd say no. So why don't they have the same attitude with music learning??

I absolutely do not have the disposition to be a music teacher! (smile)

..and also blind as a bat without my glasses on (hopefully hits correct keys this time)

We stopped recorder lessons when it became obvious that DD wouldn't practice unless forced to (and I'm not interested in turning leisure activities into a battle of wills). She picked up music again a bit later and is much more motivated now.

In fairness though there are times when fitting in practice is tough - sometimes homework or family events or life in general just have to take priority.

Icing on the cake was she received an invitation to the high scorers concert. She's more interested in the birthday party she has been invited to! Lol. Eight is a great age.

My 15yo DS is about to go belly-up in his Grade 7 saxophone exam. We encourage, cajole, support WRT practice but can't do it for him. He insists he wants to do the exam and has been working towards it (interspersed with other repertoire) for a year but he is nowhere near at the required standard. He's a talented lad but just won't engage with practice. I (cruelly) hope he fails rather than just scrapes a pass but it's a harsh lesson to learn.

That's even harder when they have the talent choirmumoftwo. I have my own mother still telling her now 47 year old daughter that she had the talent, but I know I did not have the passion...then, and did give up to pursue other interests.

So conscious not to repeat history, I tell my DD she had made her instrument choices, so do them to your best ability and enjoy them, or don't pursue them, as there are plenty of other things to do.

Often children don't know now and can regret later which is why we encourage them to go on, but with so much extra curricular juggling sometimes stopping is sadly the best option. And yes, coming back to an instrument on own terms with a different motivation (even if it's I'm not getting just a pass again) is a great thing.

Choirmumoftwo, I think it gets hard after grade 5. My daughter prefers jazz and noticeably ABRSM starts to go more 'classical'. She is thinking of following trinity repertoire but she actually plays classical, borrowed repertoire really well. Maybe your son is not enjoying the pieces? Plus the aurals get much harder and the scales list gets longer!

I agree you can't do it for them. Those teenage years much be hard - and we have a wee while to go before we hit them yet.

Pressure off here for a while.

How soon are the exams dates looming for the rest of you?

DS2 is under 3 weeks away for cello exam. DS1 has also decided he wants to do G4 drum kit in March so we need to get the form in this week. DS2 should be fine with his cello pieces and scales and practises well but if anyone has any advice in how to improve the singing part of the aural I would be grateful! It's only grade 1 but he really needs to get some singing practice and stubbornly (and frankly that's an understatement) refuses to join the choir as advised by his teachers and even his G1 piano examiner! Is there an app? I use the ABRSM CD but he isn't keen on that, either although he can do all the clapping and time signature parts perfectly well.

DD will take a sax "exam" in the summer term but it's not like UK grades as the French conservatoire system doesn't have independent exams with a fixed syllabus. It consists of a performance of several pieces in front of a jury of examiners. I suspect her teacher will aim to have her take the test required to enter "cycle 2" next year which means she will need to play pieces around grade 4/5 standard. Although this is her first year of sax, she previously played recorder (same fingering which helps enormously) and she plays jazz guitar to a high standard, so this is quite achievable.

She'll probably have to take a theory exam too (no idea of UK equivalent but she is in the top class with students who have done around 8 years of theory). Nothing planned for piano or guitar although we are still investigating UK guitar exams (she didn't like the Rock School exam pieces at her standard).

I might have to find a piano teacher for her brother now. He's been teaching himself Christmas carols all week while I've been away for work, and his progress is surprisingly good (he's much less musical than DD and I really didn't expect much). A friend brought round the first 3 John Thompson beginner books this morning and he's gone straight to book 2. If he keeps it up to the end of book 3 I might even be prepared to fork out for some lessons.

Looseattheseams- if it's the ABRSM syllabus the singing component just gets harder. I think candidates can fudge their sight singing at grade 4 but not grade 5 and above. Choir IS important and is the reason my children have done so well at sight singing. In fact, I considered it so important, when I couldn't find a choir here suitable, I ran one!

Aside from the ABRSM aurals app, which is not that great, I didn't find anything remotely worthwhile. There is certainly no fudging grade 6 sight singing, a melody with only 15 seconds preparation. It's not the sort of thing you can leave until a week or two before the exam, so I would try and find some way to get him to join choir. If he is a teenager, maybe you could appeal to him as a 'way of meeting girls'? Maybe you could run your own, like I did - with repertoire more appealing to boys?

Anyway, good luck!

Thanks, Shaky, tried to reply before but our internet connection is dodgy! Think my post disappeared but you have strengthened my resolve to send him to the choir, which is an excellent one and I am sure it would help. He is only 9, so still time!

Loose

A good choir is worth its weight in gold for encouraging musicality and you never know where it might lead. DD has a red carpet Premiere with hers tomorrow and features on tv a few times over xmas.
This all came about on a chance audition where she just went for the fun of it, now she's in her second year and lives for it.

Congratulations Shakyisles - I've been reading this thread but have been dealing with family drama and haven't had a minute to add to the discussion lately.

LooseAtTheSeams - We did Trinity so there was no singing requirement. I think singing-avoidance is more likely to be a boy thing. DS (14) is a choir refuser, he will not sing in public. I am told that "singing is for girls" (don't jump on me, I know it's sexist rubbish) and the school choir reflects that as the m/f ratio is about 1:20. It's a vicious circle, boys won't join because there are no boys in it so then boys don't join. I've seen the music centre junior choir and that's not quite as skewed but it's nowhere near a 50/50 split.

I knew his residential week with a national ensemble had a singing component and I didn't tell him, it's not my problem if he doesn't look at the timetable. They had half an hour choir every day and that was fine because everybody sings, no exceptions. It's possible that if I could have got him singing before the move to senior school he might have stuck with it but for me that ship has sailed.

Yes, We have definitely had some muttering about singing being for girls - in fact the music centre choir isn't as skewed as the school choir here, either, so no excuse there. to the residential week and not reading the timetable!

Thanks everyone for the advice, we are going to tell DS2 to at least try the choir before he dismisses the idea. Maybe I should do the same with DS1 but the older group meet at the same time as another of his music activities so I suspect not much chance there! At the moment he seems to be OK with auras, though.

Aurals, obviously, not auras!

Lovely to hear about musical experiences! I'm a newbie piano teacher (facing the rather terrifying prospect of preparing a Grade 1pupil for her exam) and facing the even more terrifying prospect of taking Lcm Rock and Pop theory on Saturday. Yikes

Hello all! I am so glad I found this thread! I am new to the forum and I have created an account just for this thread.

My DD (7yo) has been having piano lessons for a year now and she is preparing for grade 1 in the spring term.

I know this thread is about the autumn term but I thought I will join you and say hello.

Any other little pianist preparing for grade 1 on the new syllabus? And a question for the piano teachers, what is your opinion on the new syllabus? Thank you!

My students go a lowly with exams so will probably be summer - we do lots of early repertoire, duets etc. rather than focus on exams. Last grade one pieces were really hard, this year more normal. But there's an alternative piece I really like, the cuckoo one.

DD2's long- dreaded awaited cello grade 2 is on Friday. She's been practicing a lot, and I think is sounding good. Or at least good enough

However this is in spite of her dear mother trying to sabotage her Monday evening I was trying to help her tune, was v proud of myself for downloading a tuning app and everything, and managed to snap the A string. Cue DH dashing to the cello shop on Tues morning, got a new cello (rental) but ack! No finger stickers! And cello teacher not to be seen in school until Friday - the day of the exam!

Anyways it's all sorted now, DD2 had orchestra this morning and the lovely Head of Music stuck some on for her. Oh the drama.

At least with DD1 and her saxophone I can help somewhat. Wind instruments are in my comfort zone. Strings are NOT.

why couldn't the cello shop just change the string?! That would be the usual solution.

I've certainly learnt a lot about strings since DD1 started violin. I'm a flute player so dd2 's sax is more my thing.

Still practising like crazy here for concerts and towards grade 8!

Is it hard to change the strings on a cello? (I honestly have no idea).

I've found youtube an invaluable resource for routine maintenance of musical instruments - I am a whizz at changing guitar strings now (far easier than I expected, hence my question about the cello) and have even fitted a pick-up.

Thank you for your reply JulieMichelleRobinson. My daughter started on the grade 1 pieces last month as her teacher decided she is ready but she has been waiting for the new syllabus to be out as she had the same opinion that the old grade 1 pieces were pretty hard. She said she'll see where she is at by January when she enters the students for exams but feels quite positive as DD is progressing pretty fast.

She works on additional repertoire also, beside the two pieces for the grade exam that she has started she always has some other piece on the side.

She is practising A2 B6 and C6 as these are the ones she liked.

To change strings on a cello...

Stick non-nobbly end of string through hole in peg. Wind clockwise a bit. Try to cross it over once, but no more than once, to hold it in place. Wind until approximately the right length. Stick nobbly end of string (or loop) into slot on tailpiece (or hook round). Tighten slowly, making sure string fits into grooves on bridge and fingerboard. It will keep on going out of tune for a few days.

(That probably sounds harder than it is).

Alternatively, get random guys in music shop to do it for you. If they don't know how, they shouldn't be selling cellos.

JulieMichelle you mentioned a few pages back that you were using an adult piano book with your 10 year old student - would you mind letting me know what it is called?

A friend has lent my DS the John Thompson books (1-3) but they go much too slowly for an older beginner - he wants to skip big chunks because the pieces are way too simple but this means he also skips a lot of the basic theory that is presented on those pages. He's gone through book 2 and most of book 3 in a week, so probably something for beginner/ pre grade 1 adults would be about right at this point. He is having much less trouble putting the hands together than I expected.