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.

IShould - donuts have a local conservatoire Ivor similar? Ours offers A level music as part of the junior dept as a stand alone course.

live.paritor.com/p_web/04_001_186/2005/Event/Course?EventID=b9277eaa-0a54-422f-acb7-6debf5973a46

In London...

Shedding,

A violin teacher can teach viola, provided he or she can read alto clef! Technique is the same except the bowing feels a bit different. A lot of us play both anyway. For some reason not many folks start out on viola, so they're always in demand for ensembles. It's also less competitive for music college which is why people switch later......!!!

I originally wanted to play cello and got lumbered with the violin because of the way the music service was structured. Viola is a good compromise - violin plus gravy.

Ishould we are abroad (France) where the post 15 syllabus is highly academic and doesn't really leave any room for music unless you opt for a specialist vocational musical education - which in turn closes other doors.

My daughter is considering her post-18 options some of which include UK courses which require A level music - but there do seem to be alternatives in most cases (audition, grade exams, other evidence). We are planning to take the conservatoire route for (probably) 2 of her 3 instruments.

It's very difficult to know how to advise them. DD is concerned that taking a music course at uni level will put her off music. She's also very academically able and all her teachers are pushing her towards science. But at the same time she obviously has a gift - her guitar teacher told me on Wednesday night that she is far and away his best student and already has the standard required for the jazz-specialized music school he attended in Paris and which he now works with - and it would be a shame not to make something of it!

RaspberryLemonPavlova we did try a local beginner's brass band but he got fed up after 3 or 4 visits and couldn't cope with it - think he's still a bit too immature.

I finally managed to chat to the school music teacher who reiterated what DS had said - and also said the examiner wasn't sure how to deal with DS because he was chatting to her! DS chats to everyone...

He has said he'd like to listen to jazz trumpet being played, so I may have to look for inspiring concerts! and put earplugs in as I loathe jazz even though I can appreciate the musicianship

Mistigri I did look at entrance requirements for University courses and many will allow G8 performance with G5 theory where A level music isn't an option. I did find one or two that didn't say that they accommodate alternatives, that might be something that you have to negotiate. I'm trying to make sure that his choices at 17 don't close off options at 18, the reason I'm thinking about it now is that if he needs to change school I want him to see it coming. I'd rather he be an accountant or a vet or something else that is a nice solid career but I have to accept that it's not going to happen. (That's not true, I still haven't accepted it and keep on suggesting other careers)

Musicmom1 JC may be an option in the future but I'm pretty sure about the reaction to a Saturday A level. Maybe he will have matured by then...

Ishould - our JD offers it as a weekday 'evening class' or a Saturday class.....

Struggling to know what to do with g5 theory here...dd really not that motivated to take it, even though her cello teacher has pencilled her in for g6 in Dec. I don't want a battle for the next few months but also dont want todo many bit exams after dec for a year as we have 6 mnths of school entrance thingsfrom autumn 16. think I will take stock over the hols.

Musicmom:

What about Practical Musicianship instead of theory? Here are the grade 5 requirements.

www.abrsm.org/regions/fileadmin/user_upload/syllabuses/pracComplete10.pdf

A To sing and play from memory a four-bar melody in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 6/84
time. The key-chord and starting note will first be sounded and named. The examiner will play the melody twice and the candidate will be required to sing the melody from memory. The examiner will then play the melody a third time and the candidate will be required to play the melody on an instrument of his/her choice.
The examiner will choose a key and pitch suitable for the instrument.

B The candidate may choose to:
1 transpose at sight on the chosen instrument a four-bar melody up or down a tone or semitone. A key suitable for the candidate’s instrument will be given.
or
2 sing at sight the lower part of a four-bar phrase while the examiner plays the upper part. The key-chord and starting note will first be sounded and named, and the pulse indicated.

C To sing or play at sight, at the choice of the candidate, a short melody including the realization of dynamics, simple ornamentation (except when the test is sung) and the more common marks of expression. Candidates will be allowed a preliminary attempt before being assessed. The keychord
and starting note will first be sounded if the test is sung, and words will be provided (but need not be used).

D The candidate may choose to:
1 improvise with voice or instrument, at the choice of the candidate, an extension to a melody over an accompaniment played by the examiner. The implied harmonic scheme will be confined to chords of the tonic, dominant, subdominant and supertonic of major keys of not more
than two sharps or two flats. The candidate will be given a part showing the melody in different keys and with different clefs to accommodate the full range of instruments. A second attempt will be allowed. Keyboard candidates should be prepared to play an octave higher than written.
or
2 improvise at the keyboard an accompaniment to a given melody which will be annotated with chord symbols. The harmonic scheme will be within the limitations stated in test D1 above. A suggested (but optional) opening will be provided. The examiner will play the melody, if requested to do so, while the candidate plays the accompaniment, or the candidate may incorporate the melody in the accompaniment. Candidates will be given credit for the effective use of inversions of the chords. A second attempt will be allowed.

E To perform a short free improvisation based on a given motif or interval chosen by the examiner.
The examiner will look for imaginative use of the given material, effective use of the voice or instrument and a sense of structure.

F To recognize, from the printed score, the five changes (which may include pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation and phrasing) in a short piano piece played twice by the examiner.
Changes to notes and rhythm will be confined to the melodic line. The candidate will be required to point to and explain the differences.

6/8, obviously, not 6/84!

How about a different exam board, or missing out AB exams until theory/ Practical Musicianship catches up?

Mini's flute teacher is working on Practical Musicianship with her, and they are on Grade 4 currently. I have been doing Theory with her for a year and she is still within Grade 3 for that. I'm hoping she'll do Grade 3 next term, so that if she does do Grade 5 eventually, it won't be the first written exam and she'll know what to do. She is not very motivated either though! Not sure yet whether she is just going to take Grade 5 on the first one she gets to, or both. Grade 6 Recorder is lined up for the autumn, but is with Trinity, luckily.

Update. Result in - a pass but she doesn't know the actual mark. Given the circumstances ( and tbh lack of practice !) that's fine.

We are definitely having a term free of exams as its gcses for dd2 now.

Well done to your DD Theas, can't have been easy given what's gone in her world...hope she enjoyed Cambridge weekend!

I think she did well even to turn up for the exam given the circumstances Theas18.

Well done to your dd Theas, she has done amazingly well.

THanks all. the Cambridge jolly isn't till the end of April . I expect she'll love it!

Hi there, may I join you all to ask when Theory Gr5 results will be out? I can´t believe we´ve been waiting since March 4th!

Up to 6 weeks (it always used to be 6 weeks), however my pupil re-took it this term, and last time I got the online result after 4+ weeks and the mark sheet after 6. So if the board can manage the same again, any day now. Delaying entering DD1 for her Grade 3 Theory until I know that this young man won't have to do his Grade 5 again!

Thanks Waffle! That´s speed!

I meant your speed not abrsm..

ABRSM website says results online in approx 4 weeks and certificates/mark sheets posted in 6 weeks. We are hoping for before Easter!

Theas, well done to your DD!

We're waiting for grade 5 theory result too!

We had the calendar out this afternoon to demonstrate that four weeks was in fact where I said it was. That was my husband who couldn't add a month to the first week in March, my son is done with it and couldn't care less.

Can I jump in to ask a question pretty please?

My DD(8) just got the result for her grade 2 violin - she got 117 - which given that her teacher was looking for a distinction seems a surprise. The teacher accompanied her so heard all the pieces (and apparently some of the other bits) and is also very surprised that the mark was so low. According to the organizer apparently all the marks from that test session were on the lowish side. And while I am willing to accept that maybe DD isn't as good as her teacher said, I am slightly less likely to believe that is true for all the candidates!

Is this just something that is par for the course and we all have to accept lower marks than perhaps would have been correct? Or is there any way to query the examiner's decision? And would that be best done by the organizer on behalf of all the candidates or by the individual teachers?

Oh and any suggestions on how to handle telling her the result without her getting really disappointed would be appreciated! I have (prior to the exam) explained to DD that the actual marks don't matter as long as she passes as examiners do have good/bad days, and we hadn't told her what her teacher was expecting, but she is going to be terribly disappointed as she is at a hyper competitive school where all her friends have been boasting about their distinctions....I just don't want her getting fed-up at getting low marks when her playing has come on leaps and bounds this year!

I know of a few people who had been expecting distinctions and received lower marks than expected. I think they appealed the result,took the exam again (they had to pay the exam fee again I think) and got the distinction they did deserve! I don't know if that is something you'd want to do though as your dd might prefer to move on to the next exam instead.