Spring Term Music, Musicians and Music Exams Thread

[Wafflenose]

Hi all, my children go back to school tomorrow, so I thought it was time for a new one. Who's doing what this term, and how is practice going?

Our main focus is the local festival next month - we're all doing loads, as are my pupils! My girls have just started practising for that.

MiniWaffle (9) is doing her well-overdue Grade 4 Flute this term, and hopefully Grade 3 Theory (to keep her on track) in the summer, and Grade 6 Recorder in the autumn. She also has some SWMS and NCO commitments, although not too onerous yet! She plays the trumpet for fun, and dabbles with piano, ukulele and singing.

BabyWaffle (6) will concentrate on repertoire and technique for a while. I think Grade 1 Cello is supposed to be in the summer. She can play a coupe of the pieces and some of the scales. She plays the recorder too, but won't be doing another exam on that for at least a year.

Fleur my daughter doesn't play classical guitar - just jazz, folk and rock, which is much more sociable than classical. She picked it up just for fun almost exactly two years ago aged 11 and initially she was self-taught - the beauty of guitar is that a self-motivated and musical older child can get quite a long way without much formal input as there are excellent on-line resources (not so much for classical). She doesn't take exams but she's a pretty competent guitarist now, she reckons she could turn her hand to almost anything. So as second instruments go it is probably an "easy" one although having said that I reckon she's put in well over 1000 hours practice in the last two years so she has a right to feel competent!

She also plays piano and sax, and sings.

I don't know much about classical guitar though - it's quite a solitary instrument. It really depends on what your daughter wants to play and why. DD's very much into instruments that lend themselves well to composing and improvisation.

Thank you for your answers! To be honest Dd changes her mind every day, one day she wants a second instrument but she doesn't know which one, another day she wants violin and then guitar. I was asking about guitar because it tends to be a reoccurring one so trying to look into it more.

I think I may go to the local music school and let her try a few instruments see what she wants exactly.

Nowhere else to boast so I hope it is ok to do so here, dd has been really struggling with her dad leaving, today she got up at the school musical evening and played her solo piece absolutely perfectly. There were lots of instrumentalists there as it is a very musical school but most were older and all had been playing for a lot longer than her.

So proud of her, and a little wry smile as it's the only time I've heard her play it perfectly despite practicing every day.....

Lovely news on your DD's performance woolleybear, she's an absolute star for digging deep to do that in spite of what's been going on in her life!

Well done to her - that's excellent!

Just back from Mini's flute exam. It was a bit of a mixed bag. She played well, but perhaps not quite as well as she can do - she stressed herself out with a lot of what-ifs and the new flute probably wasn't a great idea right now. Anyway, I heard the scales because she did them first and I was waiting to go in and accompany. She had to do about 10 and they were mostly the sharp ones. It was obvious she knew them well - just one or two nervous slips. The two pieces I accompanied went well - not perfectly, but pretty good. She said the third piece was her best, but that she thinks she messed up the sight reading (unlikely) and aural (which is possible). Oh well, it's over now, and I have rewarded the effort by taking her out for lunch. She's back in school now.

Lovely news Woolleybear, there's nothing wrong with being proud of your children's achievements. I'm glad that she nailed it when it mattered.

Wafflenose We've often found that what the examiner writes bears little relation to what DS/DH thinks they'd done so I'd wait for the marks. It's done now, time for some new pieces and the Easter holidays.

It's the last week of term chez Ishould, we are two concerts in with two more to go. We did a sterling job of getting lost on the way to Sunday's performance as someone (me) thought that someone else (him) was taking the satnav and the venue was just off the edge of the blown up city map that I had in the car. The atmosphere in the car was icily polite for the last fifteen minutes and I really thought that we were going to miss the start (we didn't). I felt slightly better when I found that the coach bringing the ensemble from their residential to the venue also got lost at just about the same point as we did.

Well done to her waffle.

In my times of frustration I often go back to your earlier threads (2011) where there is great advice, particularly from the likes of raspberry and theas with older children where actual results are so often more positive than the DCs' perception of how the exam went!

Thank you both, and I'll do that when I have time (tonight) ealing. It definitely went better than she thought - I'm a realist when it comes to exams, and she's unduly pessimistic! She just doesn't quite sail through in the same way she did when she was tiny - she seems to feel there's more at stake now, and is worried about her first "just a pass". I'm happy for it to happen sooner rather than later, so she can see that it's not the end of the world!

Woolleybear you boast away hun, that's a fantastic pick-me-up your DD has pulled off in front of an audience - I hope she came away buzzing with her accomplishment and that you are holding your head high with pride.

Wafflenose, ealingwestmum yes, I also go back and look at that initial thread - such a wealth of information and it has really guided the way I behave with my DS in terms of practice, nerves and exam prep. Fingers crossed for Mini Waffle, she has done so very well all the way through.

IShouldbe I'm not entirely sure how you manage your family's busy music performance / practice / exam schedule on top of everything else that happens on a daily basis - let alone throw in some ad hoc navigation into the mix!

It appears I was wrong re DS and grade 2 trumpet - he will be doing the exam towards the end of next term. He must have progressed rather faster than I thought - four terms to get to grade 1 standard and then 2 terms for grade 2. I have not been asked for my views (as a virtual novice on all things music related that isn't exactly a bad thing) - apparently his brass teacher asked if he wanted to be put in for the exam and my son said yes. Guess my job is simply to pay the exam fee!

Woolleybear - I am glad it so well.

Waffle - also glad flute went ok; dd had her g3 yesterday - and last night she and her teacher announced she is doing g4 next term....think i might have been consulted! Was quite hoping for a break and possibly doing g5 theory in June

Well done and good luck to everyone - cant believe how fast this term has gone x

Well done to MiniWaffle, wow Musicmom, that's quick (and expensive I've noticed).

Tonight's concert turned out to be far larger than we had anticipated, I thought just the windband and the senior equivalent would be playing but it was combined with the school orchestral performance of the secondary school it was performed in so there were hundreds of people there. Walking in for rehearsal was pretty hard but dd absolutely loved it, even the last number where they combined all the orchestras/windband and she hadn't seen the music before. She came out absolutely buzzing. Going to have one very tired 8 year old in the morning!

Suspended, well done to your son as well, that is quick! And as you say expensive! Grade 1 for us next term, I'm hoping that means she gets to play non exam stuff over the summer!

Woolleybear - sounds fantastic. I can honestly say dd would lose all interest if she didnt get to play in lot of ensembles and groups frequently; exams for her are def a means to an end - being able to join in and perform x

Just here for a handhold among all you experienced exam mums! DS is currently in his G1 cornet exam and it's the first exam he's had in his life. I am nervous enough for both of us!

Moonbells I would have held your hand but I was out with the dog. It's all over now bar the waiting and the next one will be easier because you'll both know what to expect. I remember our pre G1 briefing which included the phrase "remember the examiner does not want to chat about guinea pigs". I lost my composure early in the process when I found out that I had to arrange an accompanist. It was so far out of my comfort zone that I waved the white flag and handed that part of child wrangling over to my husband.

Thanks. Agony of wait commences! I don't even know if he was OK as he's at school and won't see him till later.

Woolybear that sounds amazing, very well done to your DD!
Moonbells I know how you feel about being nervous enough for two. I remember worrying all through the first few exams! Sorry I didn't see your message earlier but I am sure DS did really well.

Waffle I am sure Mini did much better than she's letting on! Well done to her for getting so far so quickly. I think DS1 might do his grade 4 flute in December. Unfortunately for my bank account, he wants to do either grade 4 or grade 5 percussion in December as well.
DS2 is hoping to join a samba percussion group - they might be able to start one at school if enough children show an interest. Unfortunately, some of the boys appear to be very confused and think it's a dance class!

He's only 7 and tends to silliness, fidgeting and not listening so I'm just hoping he didn't muff it. When he concentrates he's actually not too bad.

The lack of top teeth doesn't help!

Thanks all, I will be going postal until I get feedback from his teacher. How long does it take for the results to come out? (It's ABRSM.) It's been several decades since I was personally in this position.

Wooley well done to your DD, you must be very proud!

Waffle I am sure Mini Waffle did well and she will not be disappointed.

Loose you seem to have such a busy diary.

moonbells our grade 1 result took 9 days I believe. So not a very long wait but it felt like forever. The good think is that DD seemed to forget about it and moved on pretty quick.

DD is in her school concert today, she'll play one of her grade 1 pieces (which to be honest I am a bit sick of) but I am happy she gets the opportunity to perform to an audience.

Hope all went well Moonbells! Dd will have her first music exam next term and I'm sure I will be exactly the same. Fortunately she has had the experience of LAMDA exams previously which she has really enjoyed so I'm hoping she looks upon her music exam the same way, even if I am a nervous wreck!

Fleur just be warned - they start with a simple request for piano lessons and then the whole thing gets completely out of control! It took one visit to the school from a cello teacher to start DS2 on that (actually, it is a very appealing instrument and he loves it!) The good thing for DS2 is that he does all his music lessons at school so as long as he and I can remember what is happening when, it's not too bad. DS1 has gone beyond a joke with the number of instruments. I rely on a planner in the kitchen to keep track of lessons but I still nearly forgot he was in a concert last Saturday! We are not anywhere near IShouldBeWeaving's schedule, though!

Reading all the exams everyone here is doing is quite amazing! Don't think we're quite up to the same level of musicality!

Moonbells just to reassure you - DS1 is a serial skipper of exams, especially in percussion but actually across all the instruments he plays! I think the exams can be very useful - especially if you need to prove a level to join a group or something, but breadth of repertoire is so valuable. I don't know if it's the ensemble playing or just the variety of pieces he works on but his sight reading is very good and doesn't seem to suffer from him not taking all the exams.