June Music Thread

[Fleurdelise]

Hello all and welcome to the June thread! Waffle did me the honours of asking me to initiate this thread as she has no access to Internet while on holiday.

This thread was first initiated by Waffle when Goo was 6 and now she's 11. It is a thread for all the musicians, big and small, to share their love (and frustrations ) during the long path of learning an instrument. I first joined when dd was 7 and in the process of preparing for grade 1 piano for moral support. If you read the ending of the May thread you'll realise I am still a nervous reck here we are now, two years later, Dd is 9 and preparing for grade 5 piano and grade 3 clarinet, the exams are in exactly 13 days. I also have DS 15 who is in the middle of his GCSEs at the moment, he has no musical interest.

As I couldn't leave Waffle without an introduction, below is a quote from the May thread. The only correction is that I believe Rara has now turned 9.

I have two daughters. Goo is 11 and in her last term at primary school. She's working towards her Grade 8 Flute (some time next year) and playing from the Grade 4 Piano book (currently refusing to take any exams, and putting off the first proper performance!). Rara is 8, may or may not be doing Grade 3 Cello this term, and is approaching Grade 2 Clarinet.

Both of them played the recorder for years, starting as preschoolers. They reached Grades 7 and 3 respectively, but sadly neither has really played since the music festival a few months ago. They are obsessed with their Flute and Clarinet, and really enjoy Piano and Cello. There won't be many opportunities to play the recorder at the secondary school they will attend, so much as I love it, it's probably a good time to quietly drop it. Recorder has given them both lots of opportunities, confidence, reading skills... and festival prizes!

I try not to think too much ahead of the future especially for them. In 4-5 yrs time things might have changed massively and their learnings, ability could change. Many did well when they were young are not doing so well later on. Some does well at schools however never has a career. I usually try to build toward what I think is a right attitude.

Ealing: mine did teach herself last year from Zero to g5 and passed with a distinction within couple of months and is maths material(came second in a regional maths competition-no first place) however I always remind myself that it means if she wants to study maths she has to change her attitude as its VERY hard and fast changing even for pure maths, the higher you reach the more failures you might have. For exam, sadly nothing could beat a great quality level of revision, study hard then you usually do well in Exam, there are also tricks, info which could help massively too. Saying that I dont even know if we could get a good secondary place.

Re theory dd is taking g1 on Saturday, although she is grade 4 in her instrument. We wanted to get her used to the technique and concept before taking the higher exams.

Thank you Waffle let's hope it turns out ok. And I am also hoping she'll grow out of it, DH was exactly the same but he was lucky as GCSEs were more course work while now it is all exams.

Good luck with the theory exams

My DD is like yours Fleur, she works hard for exams and gets nervous. Her Grade 5 sax (aged11) she cried so much in the exam the examiner stopped the exam til she calmed down! I can't say she's grown out of it exactly but she's grown a bit more accepting of that is how she is.

raspberry its heart breaking isn't it? you give me hope for the future, I want dd to accept that's who she is because once you accept something it is easier to deal with it. She tells me her heart is racing so fast she can feel it in her ears. She almost described a panic attack.

How did she do in her grade 5 sax exam? I do wonder how the examiners feel about it. And would they allow a silent adult to attend the exam, somebody who literally doesn't move and sits in a corner, just to prevent such situations? It seems like the straight forward solution to me but I do realise not everybody would be happy about it.

Is there anyway we could do, like pretending that it isnt important at all so they are not worried. Just play completely down the exam especially for someone who naturally work hard for an aim. At least until they are bigger hopefully things will change after loads of exams in life.

I had to roar today for some one to sit for her piano practice otherwise she will just burry herself in books day and night.

Thank you all to answer my question and share the precious views of yours. It seems I have to be prepared to continue being an anxious mum for many years to come.... I chose to go with tutor free even for 11+, so can't imagine arranging a tutor for GCSE/A Levels but future myself may disagree! I just have to see how things go.... Ultimately I wish health and happiness more than anything...

Green I tried, the trouble with an anxious and secretly perfectionist child like dd is that it matters and it is important for her. No matter how low key I treat it she thinks is the most important exam she'll take.

If you guys want to read more about this year's maths GCSE exam there's a thread started by noblegiraffe in secondary education. It has "gove" in the title and it's not complimentary to him. I find that thread so sad to read. Considering DS got into his school on academic selection and targeted a grade 9 maths and now not knowing if he'll get a 5, I don't even want to think of those pupils for whom maths is not a strong subject. Tonight he said to me that even if he gets a 7/8/9 (equivalent of A/A/A*) he will not do maths A level as he hates maths. That's what the new gcse triggered.

So when I said I would have hired a tutor if I would have known any better it is because maybe that tutor would have taken away the panic and exam pressure from the new GCSEs. We'll never know though so what's done is done.

fleur remember 50% could end up being an A. If it was hard then it was hard for everyone.

Fleur it was Trinity and she got 83 or 84 which is a pretty good Merit. It was also the first exam in school, so I wasn't with her which she missed!

She did Grade 6 and 8 after that but it took her a while to do it. She only really did Grade 8 last year because her teacher was leaving, and also because she didn't want to let the fear beat her. (She got a Merit).

But, she is a lovely sax player and loves playing in groups, hopes to carry it on at uni, which is the main outcome.

Don't you despair at the "a week before the exam lets forget everything we know" they pull every time to send parents into a panic?!!! Her sight reading is usual fantastic.... not today....

Oh yes, Mini... but if it makes you feel better, everyone does it! I have a pupil who was DIRE last week, but she passed her exam on Monday!

I forgot to say actually... my recorder results were: Initial Grade (8 yr old) Distinction, Grade 3 (14 yr old re-starter) Pass, Grade 4 (10 yr old) Merit. A few more to go (and 21 music medals) but I'm happy with those.

So this Saturday is theory exam? Good luck to all who are taking them!

DS has a birthday party today - he goes straight after school so I'm free till 7pm! Time to give the house deep cleaning I guess (only to get messy and dirty again this weekend...).

Great news waffle . Good luck with the theory those who are taking it. Oh yes mini ds had the worst lesson in a long time ( well since he last did a mock exam) on Monday and usually his pieces are excellent , then had a complete meltdown on Tuesday because he was overthinking it. Think he's back on track now these next two weeks can't be over soon enough

I'm reassuring myself with the fact she did with her clarinet then went and only dropped three marks in the whole exam! trumpet glad he's back on track now! We've got festival 10 days after exam so i will relax a bit after that's over with....

waffle well done to your pupils! I don't know anything about the music medals? (Sorry I am learning on the fly with this music lark!)

kutik enjoy the time out!

Feeling shattered as DD1 had to be up at 4am for a school trip departure. DD2 will be on her knees when she gets back this afternoon after an overnight school camping trip, so she will be missing her two bands tonight in favour of a bit of last minute theory practice and an early night.
Not even thinking of bassoon practice until tomorrow afternoon sometime, but she had a mixed lesson earlier in the week with the teacher saying she was making a great sound, but that she needs to get her cues right with the piano. Not easy when she hasn't had a chance to practice with the piano to date. There is only so much you can get from listening to it on YouTube - it's different when playing it yourself and one of them is a pretty complex piece. Look up Hurlestone Bassoon Sonata in F major - she's playing the first movement. Two weeks today.....

drummers yes it could be a high mark overall but he's been put off maths for good now. They were saying on the other thread that in the November mocks 3/4 of pupils nationally only managed under 50% in the exam. They have been made to feel stupid across the board.

Minimama dd always does that, forgets everything before the exam. She then goes in and manages to pull it off. This time she didn't forget it all though as the exam date was so soon so I was more hopeful thinking we managed to catch the peak time and she then messed up in the actual exam. So forgetting it all the week before the exam seems to be a good sign somehow even though I haven't got an explanation for the phenomenon.

I was always aware of that primary school maths is not the real maths if you know what I mean. I saw quite a few people who was so good at maths started hating it at senior school. So I never hold any high hope that DS would continue to be a math child like now.

But his comprehension is so hopeless. He is not a book worm neither. If he starts having a trouble with maths also, it doesn't look so bright in his future (well, at least within the system)!

But, as someone mentioned, there are many paths for out of box thinkers and talents. I hope DS will find something that can keep him going however he turns out...

Oh, music! He has music!!

Mini don't worry about music medals - they are for children taught in large groups, and your DD is now almost at the level of the top one.

Back to piano lessons today for us I am dreading it a bit, I hope the teacher will move on quickly and not question dd too much. Dd was a bit anxious this morning asking if she'll find out her result. I said no and she replied "good".

Fleur, would it be possible for you to ask the teacher not to talk about it too much before taking your DD to the lesson? I suppose she knows your DD well so I'm sure she wouldn't make any conversations that may make your DD feel anxious or anything. But just in case...?

Good luck with the lesson Fleur and hopefully your teacher will be a very calming influence and spur DD to enjoy the new repertoire! I am slightly worried about DS2's piano lesson today as he practised once this week, partly because he's been revising for a French test today and partly because, well, he just didn't!
On the subject of maths, I'm so sorry to hear your DS has been put off doing A level by the rubbish way the new GCSE spec was rushed through. Maybe when he sees his result, he'll reconsider? I wouldn't agree with tutoring just for the sake of it but when it's done to boost confidence or to avoid the dreaded resits that plague a lot of students, I think it's a good thing; sometimes it clears up a misunderstanding and a whole lot more becomes clear. A lot of schools struggled to finish the new syllabus as well after it got changed again at short notice.

We are in the state system so don't know how private schools work. I naively thought you wouldn't need to look for learning resources outside of school if you are in the private system. Don't they look after each child, especially if anyone is struggling...? I hope no one need to pay for extra tuition outside of school on top of the enormous school fees!

Kutik if only that were true. Tutoring is rife at most London independent schools. I'm currently hunting a maths tutor for the summer.