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Original poster

Autumn Term Music and Music Exams Thread

388 replies

Wafflenose · 01/09/2014 11:03

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.

OP posts:
Shakyisles · 07/12/2014 00:36

Poor miss 8. She can't play at the high achievers concert because she broke her arm yesterday. Not great timing - but at least it didn't happen before the exam. It is summer here - so no slipping on ice - but on a tennis court!

Take care you people who haven't done your exams yet!

Shedding · 07/12/2014 09:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ealingwestmum · 07/12/2014 10:06

Ouch Shakyisles! Hope her spirits are not too down, and that she can enjoy the summer even in cast!

Ishouldbeweaving · 07/12/2014 10:28

Sorry to hear about the broken arm, it is a pity she missed the concert but what can you do? We were really lucky when DS broke his at 9, when we went back after three weeks for the Xray and a cast change everyone was surprised to find that the fracture had healed. We were expecting six weeks in a cast but it was only three.

I'm feeling a bit grumpy this weekend because I've had to write That Letter to school. I didn't think we'd get this far into the year before his peri lesson became a problem, usually the teacher affected kicks off after a few weeks. If he were in a school that had a performing arts specialism then this wouldn't be an issue but that wasn't a choice that we had. It will all come to a head on Monday, I'm hoping that things settle down to a simmer and we get through to July without any more challenges. I know they'd like me to take the lesson out of school but if I did I'd be looking at least an hour's travelling time on top of the lesson time.

I've kept a copy of the letter so I can tweak it when I need it again next year, the year after and the year after that.

LooseAtTheSeams · 07/12/2014 11:33

Oh, no Shakyisles, so sorry to hear about the broken arm. I can believe it was tennis, have been worried each time DS2 heads off for a lesson! Good luck for a swift recovery.
Ishouldbeweaving, hope it all gets sorted and good luck with the letter!

End of music term fast approaching here. dS1 was too sick to make the music centre concert but DS2 had a lovely time with the string group and looked very sweet in his reindeer antlers. DS1 passed 'mock' grade 3 flute with flying colours (we couldn't make the one exam date they offered and too late to book independently when we found out) so is eligible for intermediate band and concert orchestra next term, which will do him the world of good, or rather his flute playing! Just school Christmas concert and cello exam to go now!

Viewofthehills · 07/12/2014 14:00

I haven't looked at this thread for a while; great to see all the good marks; not so good to read about broken arms.

Anyway the effect of reading has been to make me start biting my nails as Piano grade 8 result is due any day, as is DD2's grade 1 clarinet.
DD1 was playing beautifully, but didn't play her pieces so well as usual in the exam, although i think everything else was good so we shall have to see!
DD2 played well apparently. She had DD1 accompanying her, which was really lovely and may have helped.

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Original poster
Wafflenose · 07/12/2014 14:35

I have 6 doing Initial tomorrow, and 6 doing Grades 1 and 2 the next day (including DD2 - Grade 1 Recorder, and she is doing Initial Cello on the same day). I'm a bit worried about some of the so-laid-back-they're-horizontal Grade 2s!

Good luck to everyone with their results, and sorry to hear about Shaky's DD's broken arm!

OP posts:
JulieMichelleRobinson · 07/12/2014 22:12

Grade 3 pianist thinks he scraped a pass. At least he's being realistic! We've agreed not to repeat it if he fails and probably to change exam boards. Fingers crossed, though. I did warn him and he's 13 so his own fault for not practising.

I may be entering some initials and a grade 2 with Trinity next term.

janet41 · 08/12/2014 15:41

Shakeyisles - what a pain! Hope recovery is quick.

G5 done today; dd very happy with it which is great but I expect that our lack of aural work will be very obvious in the marks. We need to find a way to do more work on this and theory; but no exams for a while now.Three concerts still to do this week so getting the poor child enougth sleep is my current priority!

earlychristmas · 08/12/2014 18:50

ha, got online results of dd2, distinction for her grade 1 piano. Few concerts here and then holidays hurree.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 08/12/2014 19:02

Well done to her!

My 6 Initials seemed to go through OK today, without any major catastrophes. Grades 1 and 2 tomorrow, including DD2, and she's also doing Initial on Cello.

OP posts:
Mistigri · 08/12/2014 19:16

Good luck to all those waiting for results :)

We just have the one Christmas concert now, although DD was invited today to support a popular local band at some gigs in the New Year (will be solo guitar/ voice). First one would be 2nd Jan, if it happens, but we need to wait to hear from the venue owner first that her age will not be a problem.

JulieMichelleRobinson · 08/12/2014 22:52

Dodgy grade 3 passed. Just. Spoilt my track record of merits rather, but I'm relieved!

Ishouldbeweaving · 09/12/2014 08:43

JMR - It's a pass, it's better than a fail and it backs up all you've said to him. Better that he scrapes through this time, has a fright and bucks his ideas up for next time. If he didn't put the work in and still got a merit he would learn a different lesson altogether.

School breaks up a week on Thursday and as I haven't heard anything about a Christmas concert I'm assuming that we're not having one this year. That just leaves thirteen performances between now and Christmas Day (assuming that they are all written on the calendar and we're not having any surprise concerts this year). My supporting role is keeping up with washing and ironing all those white shirts.

JulieMichelleRobinson · 09/12/2014 09:34

Quite. I think sometimes we're in danger of not recognising that a pass is a real achievement, though, and thinking that only a merit or distinction is "good enough".

My prediction is that he'll have scored between 20 and 23 on each piece - he said he'd rushed them in the exam, which was something we were trying to NOT do, and I'd be surprised if dynamics happened - failed the sightreading completely, scored around 14 or 15 for aural and probably got a pass mark for the scales. If we'd taken it last term as per the plan, he may actually have done better, but the poor lad was off sick for about six weeks. I think by now he was sick of the pieces etc. to be honest.

Moving on, I'll swap him out of the classical route for a bit and we'll be looking at jazz and contemporary piano... and his grade 4 will possibly be with RockSchool. I'll also be planning his lessons carefully as I want to work towards my teaching diploma or potentially licentiate with someone or other so a series of lesson plans is not a bad idea. They will include LOTS of sightreading ;)

ealingwestmum · 09/12/2014 11:07

Well done for getting a pass out of him Julie, sounds like he had a bit of a rough ride. Great to see how a teacher adapts a teaching schedule to meet the needs and personality of a child too...

ChessParents · 09/12/2014 16:17

Just got email from piano teacher, DS2 8 pass G5 theory with 95/100. He can prepare his G6 piano now as it has been postponed from last month to sometimes early next year as he hasn't had G5 theory.

Original poster
Wafflenose · 09/12/2014 20:41

Well done to him, that's a fab mark!

We were at the end of a session, so I have results already. 12 recorder exams, all low grades (Initial, Grade 1 and Grade 2): 3 Passes, 6 Merits and 3 Distinctions, ranging from 71% to 95% (Trinity). Adding those to a successful Prep Test and a Flute Merit from ABRSM, that's a fantastic season, and I'm really pleased with them. The three passes weren't sounding very good a few weeks ago, but put in some work at the last minute.

BabyWaffle (6 year old) got a Merit for Grade 1 Recorder (76) and a Distinction for Initial Cello (90). We knew she was way past the standard for Initial, but the profile is so weird! She got full marks for scales, aural, sight reading and one piece, then lost 2 marks on one piece and 8 on the other!! If she hadn't messed her last piece up, who knows what score she'd have?! Anyway, I told her that two passes would be fine, (because she is dreamy and erratic, ha ha) and secretly thought she might get two merits. This is better than we all expected!

OP posts:
Viewofthehills · 09/12/2014 21:12

DD1 has a merit on piano. Was distinction level playing beforehand, but fell apart a bit in the exam and had to restart one piece. Already has grade 8 merit on the flute, which could also have been a distinction, but wasn't!

Really wants to do music at college/uni. Currently year 12, so would have time to resit if that is for the best, but we clearly have some issues with performance anxiety and have to ask whether she would do better or whether the end result might be the same?

Any advice please wise people?

Viewofthehills · 09/12/2014 21:15

Well done BabyWaffle and Waffle's pupils and Chess's DS!

ealingwestmum · 09/12/2014 23:16

Great results from all!

Only anecdotal feedback from parents with kids your age viewofthehills is that often retakes can deliver even lower marks than the original exam, unless learning completely new pieces to avoid boredom/overcooking. Most move on with the merit obtained and don't get too hindered by the uni application process.

However, not able to give any 1st hand knowledge I'm afraid!

Viewofthehills · 09/12/2014 23:32

Thanks Ealing. She gets so bothered by exams, whereas she can produce other performances which are better than playing at home!

JulieMichelleRobinson · 10/12/2014 00:04

Won't make a difference as conservatoire will audition (my vln grade 8 only merit but 4 years before auditions I failed) and uni won't be fussed whether it's a distinction or not. However, audition situation similar to exams, so maybe resit or do another board as a way of practising dealing with that anxiety? Remember conservatoire entrance is competitive so no matter how good you are there might be 30 better auditioning!

JulieMichelleRobinson · 10/12/2014 00:05

Fwiw I went to KCL instead and it suited me much better. I think music college may have driven me nuts.

JulieMichelleRobinson · 10/12/2014 00:07

Or, jazz flute exam?