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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

April Music Thread

970 replies

Wafflenose · 31/03/2017 13:38

We've managed to fill up the March thread, so I give you April's, around 10 hours early. Don't use it all up at once!

The music threads are for learners of ALL ages and stages, including beginners and adult learners.

My kids Goo (11) and Rara (8) break up from school today, thank goodness. Rara is off sick at the moment, in any case, but they both need a break. They did their music exams this week. Goo got a distinction for her Grade 7 Flute, and we are awaiting the results of Rara's Grade 1 Clarinet, plus a couple of my pupils. They will probably come on my birthday - the ABRSM ones often do.

Next term, we have a big community concert at the local high school - all the feeder schools take part. Goo could do Grade 7 Recorder and/ or Grade 4 Piano, but I don't think she wants to. Rara is doing Grade 3 Cello. My Year 6 Recorders have been asked to play in the local Festival gala concert, and I'm sure there will be primary school leavers' performances too.

OP posts:
PiqueABoo · 03/04/2017 16:23

My DD 'catastrophises' every time and I've never known how it will turn out based on what she says.

She did a (small) public performance of a grade piece a few days before her last grade exam which went badly because she dropped a couple of bits and really struggled to get back on track. But the grade exam went fine. That could have very easily been the other way around and it's why I always start trowelling on the ^'We all know you're grade [whatever] and if you have a bad hair day then so what?' stuff.

BeyondThePage · 03/04/2017 16:29

Pique - I do that too - My sentence of the day was : "you know you are playing at a grade6 standard, the exam is just a snapshot of one part of one hour of one day- you can't be perfect EVERY hour of every day, this was just a bad one - so hey-ho, can't do anything about it now, let's take the dog out in the sunshine"

She has gone through the marking scheme and reckons with a generous examiner she will have passed - we will see - hopefully soon...

Greenleave · 03/04/2017 18:00

Drummers: wonderful results, very well done to "mini"Drummers.

AlexandraLeaving · 03/04/2017 18:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BeyondThePage · 03/04/2017 18:43

DD's Melodica just arrived today - just a cheapish one to see if she likes it.

Piano exam is now forgotten

Gorrillaz, Of Monsters and Men, Coldplay tunes already being played- she has surprised herself how easy it is - now playing en ensemble over skype! Modern tech amazes me!

se22mother · 03/04/2017 18:58

Dd got a pass of 114 in G3 violin. After the scales debacle I'm relieved with that score and glad to put it behind us

stringchild · 03/04/2017 19:01

Waffle - def a community!

well done Drummers!

good luck to all hose waiting results now - am sure they all did brilliantly :)

new clarinet got on loan this morning after having had enough of the v flakey last one! beautiful tone so hopefully this one passes the teacher's test in a couple of weeks....

drummersmum · 03/04/2017 19:23

Bananas Grin I wish I's known that one when DS was doing ABRSM exams. Unfortunately, Trinity doesn't ask you to sing so no more bananas for us.

drummersmum · 03/04/2017 19:23

I'd known

Original poster
Wafflenose · 03/04/2017 19:30

Thanks, all!

Well done to her, se22 that's lovely! What date did she take the exam? I am obviously still waiting for our ABRSM results, as they were only taken a week ago. I expect they will arrive on my birthday. They usually do.

OP posts:
se22mother · 03/04/2017 20:08

Hi Waffle it was 23rd March

Trumpetboysmum · 03/04/2017 20:10

Great news se22 , definitely a community and 1 that I would be lost without waffle Flowers

LooseAtTheSeams · 03/04/2017 20:18

Drummers that is fabulous news - well done to your DS! He really deserves it. Star
I would always, always go with what you love so if he wants to be a professional musician he should and maybe have A level maths as a backup! I'm teaching people on Access courses who've done all kinds of interesting things and are now aiming for a degree. It is possible to do more than one career in life.
Incidentally, DH who has a sensible job in computing agrees with me!

LooseAtTheSeams · 03/04/2017 20:18

Oops, meant to add big congrats to miniSE22! Star

peckishbabysitter · 03/04/2017 20:34

Hi. I have 2DCs, aged 8 and 6 and they are learning the piano and violin respectively. I was (and still am) a keen musician. Music has always brought joy into my life and I hope for the same for my DC but am not entirely convinced by the need for endless grades.

I chose teachers for my DC with a similar ethos but sometimes doubt my choice (as a child I ploughed the exam route). I just stumbled across this thread and wanted to put the question to you - hope you don't mind. Why all the exams?

Icouldbeknitting · 03/04/2017 20:37

Not everyone is doing exams, it just feels like it at the moment because it's that time of year.

Trumpetboysmum · 03/04/2017 20:42

Not sure I'm not a big fan of exams but I suppose it adds weight if you or your child are applying for an audition or place on a course/ in an orchestra. Though often it states you don't actually have to have sat the exams. Having said that ds likes having things to work towards, it makes sure they polish pieces, learn scales and think about aural etc But it definitely needs to just be part of a bigger picture with lots of other pieces learnt as well .

Kutik73 · 03/04/2017 20:59

We don't do exams neither. DS did 3 piano exams + 1 theory exam but that's all. He hasn't done any exam with violin yet it's the instrument which took him to the challenging auditions for NCO, JDs and a youth orchestra, and none of those organisations cared about DS's inexperience in exams. Only when I wished he had done an exam was more for myself to understand his standard. But I have a rough idea now so don't feel the need any more, so no plan to do any exam in near future at the moment. I think it's purely a personal preference/choice whether you do or not. Some children get motivated by having a goal like that, then I think it'll be a positive experience.

violinandpiano · 03/04/2017 21:02

My DD has learned both piano and violin 8 terms. Only the fourth term she did violin grade 3. Now violin teacher let her prepare another exam, but she has not passed theory exam, she did very bad aural result at last exam, so we worry her aural as well. We really have no idea if we should do exam this year.

Kutik73 · 03/04/2017 21:06

I understand exams can motivate DCs to cover the areas where they may miss out otherwise (such as scales, aural or theory). However, in my DS's case, he benefited to focus on the areas where it's not necessary covered in exams by totally ignoring the system! So I suppose either way will work as long as they are on a right track for them?

se22mother · 03/04/2017 21:08

Exams are more,in my view, to quantify the standard of your child's playing - both to you as a parent/ and the child themselves to gauge progress, and to the outside world- dd actually started life as a Suzuki child big for various reasons we transferred to traditional- her school music teachers, holiday music camp organisers etc can instantly tell approximately what she can do

Original poster
Wafflenose · 03/04/2017 21:24

My DCs need an incentive to practise. But that's not an exam at all times - they also have to practise for their various orchestras, and for concerts too. Goo aged 11 has been playing the piano for a year and her teacher wants her to take an exam, but she has told me she absolutely won't, and we will both respect that. She's feeling a bit exam-ed out and can see the end in sight with flute and recorder grades (she DOES want to complete those) but I think she's hoping it's a chapter she can close in a year or two and move on to something more exciting.

OP posts:
onlymusic · 03/04/2017 21:46

OMG! You write so quickly it is impossible to keep up! It is almost 200 messages in 3 days, do you plan to fill up the thread by mid April??? Grin Then poor Waffle will have a problem to name it - it cannot be called April II surely! Grin

Greenleave · 03/04/2017 21:57

If you are fortunate enough to have a good teacher who structure a learning plan for your child well, who plan to stay and help you for some (long) time def there isnt a need to pay (loads) extra for exam. I only went to a festival this year and I think its way better than an exam because here is a beauty of...seeing your child performing infront of adju and audiences and be able to compare with others and receive feed backs straight away. In fact, this is my plan to try to tick all exam very fast then do various festivals until she doesnt want to do it any more. Its so much cheaper as well(£7/class or something, we did 2 classes). I always think if we have learnt a g8 then we will play g6 with a completely different level. This way it keeps mine learning to play and have audiences and play anything she likes. Abrsm although ticks most of the boxes in minimum(scales, sight reading, aural, 3 pieces in different category, different type of technique, requirement then its very easy to follow and gauge where the child is from the result.

Piano lessson today went well! I received an email saying positive things(which doesnt happen very often), we did 2 things on Sunday practise: only focus on dynamics and phrasing and practised them separately. Having a violin lesson latter on this week, I will try to catch the end of the lesson to understand our new teacher's plan for her vibrato practice and report back(tks Only and Kutik).

peckishbabysitter · 03/04/2017 22:11

But Greenleave why do you need to compare with others?