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Extra-curricular activities

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Original poster

ABRSM, Trinity etc Spring session exams - who's on the bench?

218 replies

Floottoot · 06/03/2018 09:32

DS is taking grade 5 cello ABRSM next week, and I have a flute pupil taking grade 5 this week ( both dates different exam centres).
Pupil is destined for a merit, I think. Her pieces are pretty good, scales could go well if she concentrates, aurals should be fine as she's already passed grade 7 piano, but sightreading is inexplicably weak; she really struggles with rhythm, despite my best efforts and her piano experience.

DS's pieces are great, his scales are pretty secure but he's finding legato arpeggios a bit of a chore ( made harder by changing from a 1/2 size to a 4/4 size cello this term), his sightreading has the potential to be good ( he does well when I'm standing over him, cheering him on!) but he's prone to forgetting the last sharp/flat in the key signature and making the odd silly rhythm mistake, and his aurals are ok...IF he would just sing!
He's taking the exam at school, which is very convenient but does mean I won't be able to hiss last minute reminders at him!

So, what grades are other people's children/ pupils taking, and how's it all going?
As a parent of an exam child, I can now fully empathise with my own mum, who had to endure 2 of us taking exams in 3 different instruments, plus theory - much easier to be the child doing the exams! 🤣

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Trumpetboysmum · 09/03/2018 13:40

We haven't done the trumpet jazz exams though I know others who have and I think they are really useful if you or your dcs are into jazz and want to know more about the specific jazz scales and improvisation techniques etc . Ds is using the Abrsm jazz book as a resource though he won't take the exam . If you pass grade 5 jazz it also means you don't have to do the theory exam

PissedOffNeighbour · 09/03/2018 13:47

I’m late joining too. DD1 did grade 5 theory last week and DD2 did grade 1 piano (they are both preparing for grade 6 flute too - DD1 in the summer and dd2 at Christmas). Fingers crossed for all of them!

MomOfTwoGirls2 · 09/03/2018 14:52

No music exams for us this year or next year. Back to Suzuki method for 2-3 years before trying for G7.
But DD2 just did her RAD Intermediate ballet exam this morning, and the piano player was her accompanist from last year G5 violin exam! Small world.

LooseAtTheSeams · 09/03/2018 15:03

Back from G5 cello - pieces went well, he seems happy with sight reading and aural - and let's not talk about scales!
Relieved to have that one out the way! Good luck to those about to do theirs!Smile

Japanese · 09/03/2018 19:00

Our results are in! 136 for Grade 1 - DS and 133 for Grade 2 - DD. So pleased for them! Smile

Good luck to everyone still to go!

Original poster
Floottoot · 10/03/2018 09:53

Congratulations, Japanese - fantastic results! Hope they're chuffed with themselves!

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Original poster
Floottoot · 10/03/2018 10:01

Nice to hear DCs coming out feeling positive. As a teacher, it's lovely when students feel happy about the experience, even if the reality is they made mistakes and could have done better. Exams are such an unnatural format for performing, it's not surprising things that were perfect before going in suddenly start to unravel.
Fingers crossed that the results come in quickly and it's all good news, Mad and Loose.

My grade 5 pupil seems happy with how her exam went. Bit of an odd one for me, as I was reluctant to enter her this session ( not where I wanted her to be, playing wise, when the entries had to be in) but mum insisted and entered her herself. I didn't accompany her this time either, so no idea how she played. I ran through everything with her the night before and was a bit shocked she just could not do the singing back - she has got grade 7 piano but said the aural tests this time were challenging.

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Original poster
Floottoot · 10/03/2018 10:03

Pissed off, fingers crossed for your 2 too. How lovely to have 2 flautists in the house! (I'm a flautist and flute teacher). Are they learning the same pieces, or different ones?

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Radiodependent · 10/03/2018 12:43

Hello, I’ma late joiner too. Ds has double bass G2 next weekend. It was supposed to be a confidence builder exam as he’s played harder stuff for auditions and things but he has lost the plot a bit and one of his pieces unravelled rather in a concert this morning. He’s good at aural and sight reading so will pick up marks elsewhere but am feeling a bit fed up about having to remotivate him with it this week... Lovely to read all the stories on here though.

Original poster
Floottoot · 10/03/2018 14:52

Aw,Radio, hopefully him having a bit of a moment now means he'll play it fine in the exam. It's good that he's confident in the other parts - lots of kids focus on the pieces and hope for the best with everything else.
Good luck to him!

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mamaslatts · 10/03/2018 14:54

My DS has his grade 3 violin next week but the teacher won't be there - is this normal? He only did grade 1 before with a different teacher who came with us

Japanese · 10/03/2018 15:04

Thanks floot! Smile

Must be odd to have parents entering their children against your recommendation?

SE13Mummy · 10/03/2018 15:17

Madcat, DD1 started on the ABRSM jazz exams after taking G4 - she prefers playing jazz so it seemed sensible. She took G3 then G5 and has decided she might not take another exam until G8. I loved hearing her practise for the jazz exams as each piece has improvised sections so they were different each time she played them. Some of the supporting tests are different too e.g. being given a key and having to improvise a response to a phrase played by the examiner. DD plays a Bb instrument so had to transpose and then respond.

BeBesideTheSea · 10/03/2018 15:31

DS is taking G1 theory on Monday and G3 recorder on 19th or 20th (both via school). He got 99/100 on his practice theory paper so not worried about that at all. He really loves theory.

He is bored with his G3 pieces now, as per usual. He is planning on giving up recorder for flute next school year (has not been strong enough to get correct positioning before). I am worried about him going back to the beginning on an instrument - he hates not being able to do something. Hasn’t really grasped that practice is how you get better!

LooseAtTheSeams · 10/03/2018 15:54

We've only had a teacher at the exam if they're playing the accompaniment! Otherwise they never come with us.
Radio oddly enough sometimes a wobbly performance means it'll be fine on the day. It's great he's learning double bass!

Madcats · 10/03/2018 18:35

Excellent results Japanese and thanks everybody for the "good luck wishes".

Thanks for the comments re jazz flute too (I found a Youtube video by a Dr David Klee who explained the beginner principles well enough for me to think it looked a bit of a challenge, but quite fun if you are that way inclined). Maybe I'll buy her the grade 1 book for a holiday project and see how she gets on.

Loose I wouldn't worry too much about switching instrument. Once DD got the hang of actually getting a noise out of the flute (it took her a good 3-4 months before it stopped scaring the cat) she did well.
He'll have a head start because he can read music and knows some scales and theory.....

Madcats · 10/03/2018 18:36

OOps, I meant Bebeside. Sorry

Radiodependent · 10/03/2018 19:04

Thanks Floot and Loose. His concentration just seems to zone out and it’s like he doesn’t care what he plays. I’m getting him to make videos so he can learn to listen to himself.

Interesting to read about dcs doing jazz exams - if we can stick with piano long enough I think that would be an good area for ds in secondary school. (For some reason I don’t think they offer jazz bass exams which seems odd.)

BeBesideTheSea · 10/03/2018 21:24

Thanks Madcats (how many do you have by the way). That is reassuring. I love the sound of jazz flute. DS is more into folk music at the moment Grin

Madcats · 10/03/2018 22:40

@Bebeside Are you talking about cats or kids?
We are down to one sociopath siamese (14 next week, his brother died about 2 1/2 years ago) and DD is 10 (yr6).

This is the video that might explain beginner jazz (flute)

I think I might do a bit of homework/reignite my very rusty music brain before I get DD too excited (and email her music teacher/school dept to see if this might be a goer).

Taffeta · 11/03/2018 09:04

Joining in a little nervously, as these threads sometimes strike me as just for the high achievers.

DD taking ABRSM G3 flute in two weeks. Pieces are great, scales & arpeggios not so much. She’s doing Trinity G4 recorder next term, new board for recorder as recommended by her teacher, as she finds memorising scales very hard. Be interesting to see how it suits her.

catkind · 11/03/2018 10:11

Hey taffeta, from where we're at grade 3 is a far distant objective!

Original poster
Floottoot · 11/03/2018 10:37

Taffeta, definitely NOT just for high flyers! All our DCs on here are different ages, started learning at different times and are at different stages. I'm a professional flautist, teacher and mum to DS who is 12 and taking grade 5...so absolutely NOT a prodigy! 🤣
I just love hearing about children learning instruments and enjoying playing.

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Taffeta · 11/03/2018 10:44

Cool Smile DD loves playing. She plays in lots of different bands, which I’ve encouraged from the start as I’m keen for her to love it with others and for it to become hopefully something she cherishes for life.

I wasn’t keen on her doing grades really, as I worried it’d be just another thing to get competitive about, and for her to feel less. But she really wanted to do grades, so here we are!

Radiodependent · 11/03/2018 11:09

Taffeta I had a student who found scale memorising very hard - she had other problems with memorising too and saw an ed psych about it, the result of which was that she got a report which led to her being allowed extra time and a glance at the book before each scale in the exam (Still book shut for the actual playing). Slightly extreme solution but it gave her a lot of confidence.