Spring Term 2020 music thread

[squintsoftheworldunite]

Thought I would start the ball rolling on the first 2020 music thread since I’m awake. Happy New Year all of you and your lovely little musicians. Carrying on the long tradition of music threads here begun moons ago by wafflenose .... hoping our threads continue to be a place that’s welcoming to all, whatever standard, experience, backgrounds or situations of music bring you here.

2019 brought incredible music experiences for us, our biggest year to date. Exhausting but incredible. We said goodbye to the year with a final music lesson to end what has been an amazing first year on a new, and now first study, instrument. We’ve had a year free from practical exams but full of auditions and performances and so much to look back on with gratitude. I certainly couldn’t have predicted 2019 this time last year! I hope we can say the same of 2020 this time next year. Happy New Year xx

Very impressed with your dedication to theory minisnowballs!
We have g3 cello happening at the end of this term. Nothing planned on the piano although DD’s teacher’s prepping her for her g5 theory for November (trust me - I won’t be doing it!!). She has a couple of g5 pieces but we’re unsure if she’ll take the exam or just go for g6 sometime next year.
DD has a school concert just after half term. She’ll be playing with the string orchestra and also her chamber music group - Shostakovich’s Five pieces for two violins and piano (just the first one thankfully!) so that a getting most attention at the moment.

Can I join in?

DD (sixth form) has rather suddenly announced that she's doing Trinity Grade 8 singing this term -- in about 4 weeks, in fact. She doesn't have grade anything in singing, nor does she have grade 5 theory, so this is out of the blue.

Two young cellists here G7 and G4.

Was wondering if anyone has received their a Junior Guildhall audition date yet? I’m not sure when we should expect to hear given auditions start before the application deadline finishes.

Thanks so much Bimble. That is a really helpful tip. She is able to do the echoes and the clapping but the question about the difference between 2 pieces is a little too difficult for her in terms of the language used. I will get her to listen to the words used in the questions and see if she can give a one word answer. This will be pure chance if she gets it right or not but perhaps is better than no answer given.
I’ve been unable, so far, to find a you tube video of a grade 1 clarinet exam. Does anyone happen to know of one?

Thank you everyone. Still floating on a cloud of relief that she's got somewhere!

DS2 is entered for Grade 5 organ this term. We have had many other exams with the DC, but this has brought a whole new level of hassle!

You can't book organ as part of a public visit and the new system doesn't differentiate between special and private visits. DH has had to get venue approval for the church we are using, including photos of the set up and measurements! It's done eventually. However I don't think we get confirmation of our requested date until a month before.

alakazam8 best of luck to your DD. My DS has some additional needs and we did grade 1 clarinet last year as well... he got a solid pass. The only tip I have is make sure you actually get the additional time that has been allocated... DS struggles with transitions so really needed the time to go in, get settled etc. but we ended up rushed in by the invigilator as the person before had cancelled. With hindsight I should have said something but was a bit taken aback and didn’t want to make a fuss. He was out after the normal time, no breaks in the exam either. He was a bit sad not to get a merit as his teacher felt he deserved one, if it happens again with grade 2 I will speak up..

@Lotsofmilkonesugar thanks for posting, glad to hear of someone else who has been through it and carried on to do further grades. We have got the extra time and she isn’t doing sight reading and is doing an extra aural part instead.
How long after the exam does it take for the results to come through?
Doing grades in organ sounds like hard work, measuring etc. . Glad her instrument is more portable!

Alakazam and Lotsof i am so impressed by your children's resilience doing stuff like this when it's particularly hard. I think the grades are tough for anybody, no matter throwing additional needs into the mix.

Well done to hiding's dd - amazing stuff. QueenMabby - sounds like your DD is busy - she's the same age as mine I think? Mine is bogged down with pointless SATs prep - such a waste of time, but no-one in Y6 gets to do anything interesting. essentially at this stage we rely on music to give her something challenging to do - as she is a nightmare when bored.

Hi GuppytheCat

Does she not need Grade 5 theory to do grade 8 Trinity? I don't know all that much about the Trinity exams.

No, you don't need Grade 5 theory for Trinity exams.

That's right, no need for grade 5 theory (hence the choice of Trinity over ABRSM).

I'm somewhat worried that she has bitten off more than she can chew, given a lack of previous exam experience and a shedload of A-level work to get through.

minisnowballs - yes, year 6 for my dd too. No sats for us (indie school) but she had entrance exam etc last term which like sats came after a term or so of repeated exam practice etc so I understand the frustration! Music definitely a useful outlet at those times.
Guppy - wow on your daughter heading straight in there with the g8! Props to her - a challenge I’m sure but what an achievement to be able to do that!
My DD’s much younger but I think will be starting singing lessons in school in September (she loves singing and it’s a compromise to stop her asking about a third instrument!!) and it’ll be interesting to see how that pans out grades-wise as she already does choral singing and obviously her two instruments.

Alakazam8 maybe try contacting abrsm to see if they can help with a video of the grade 1 exam? Or maybe your clarinet teacher has a colleague who can run a “mock” exam to help?

Y6 DS here too. He says he doesn't mind SATs prep as he finds the practice tests more varied than normal lessons. He resents the work on writing standards though. Wind band is the only thing he has expressed actual enthusiasm about this year that doesn't involve a screen, so definitely thankful to music for that!

Guppy, that's brave! Has she done a lot of singing? Does she have a singing teacher on board? And has she done instrumental exams or anything so the aurals would be familiar? But at the end of the day, what's the worst that can happen? It totally fails to come together and she decides not to actually turn up.

Hi everyone
Looking for a bit of advice. Does anyone have children attending junior conservatoire? What are the auditions like and what are they looking for. Is it for only for the very talented.
My daughter plays the violin and we are looking for another teacher or going to a conservatoire instead. She is 8 years old and got grade 5 at aged 7 and is in the Nco under tens. Do you think she is at a suitable standard to try out for junior conservatoire? Interested in your thoughts and experience thank you

@Mickey33 absolutely on standard! Probably above minimum expectations for her age for most of the JDs. We are at GH, they say that they expect G5 distinction level playing at 11 but in reality it's probably tougher on violin. Most of the Y7's come in at G7 or above. They will be looking for potential, good sound, solid technique and also commitment. However technique can be fixed if everything else is there. Now is the time to apply! I'd suggest going to look around those you are considering as the feel/atmosphere is very different at each college. You'll get a high standard of teaching at any of them so it's important to consider all the rest of the stuff...

Thank you folkmamma. She did get a distinction for grade 5 but struggled a little with aural got a 12 so just passed. I’m not musical at all so struggling to help her in this area.
I know they test them on aural skills so a little concerned this we let her down.
Thinking of applying for Birmingham Conservatoire, Guildhall and Royal School of Music in London. Not sure if she will get in as you never know what they are looking for and I imagine it’s very competitive in the London Schools. But I think it may be worth doing as you never know and if she doesn’t get in, we will just look for another teacher.
The teacher we have at the moment just keeps cancelling lessons and rearranging them so it means we may go without lessons for over a fortnight and it’s getting a little annoying. But it so hard to find a really good teacher And I feel so stressed with it all! . It would be great if she could get in as I know she would have a really good teacher and regular lessons each week.

Hello Mickey. I know what you mean - constant cancellation is such a nuisance! JD's holiday breaks can be rather long but at least reliably scheduled lessons are guaranteed.

I wouldn't worry about the aural bit. It's not an exam so there is no pass/fail. As your DD is only 8, potential, commitment and eagerness would be what they are interested more than attainment. On paper, she is safely at expected standard, though grade is just a rough guideline so grade 8 holder can be turned down while grade 4 holder could be offered a place. But as your DD is in NCO, who would look for something beyond 'grade' like JDs, I'm certain that she's a right kind of child for JD environment. I think they'll love her and she'll swim through all the auditions. x

Yes, good point! You don't actually need grade anything, my own DD hasn't done an exam since G3 when she Auditioned but was playing around G6/7 standard (y6/aged 10). She was also in NCO/Pro Corda. It's quality of playing and a certain something else that they look for. The trade thing is definitely just a guideline!

Grade not trade...

DS2 started JD this year at 16. He was Grade 7/8 on the instrument he wanted to be First study, although last grade done was Grade 3. He had a higher grade on piano, but other instrument had emerged as favourite. I appreciate violin is different to brass but I would have thought your DD had a great chance.

Just popping on here to say dd did 30 mins of practice on the piano this morning WITH THE METRONOME! I hadn’t even reminded her to use it! I’m winning! For now... 🤣🤣

QueenMabby! Your music parenting job is done, from here on your role is chauffeur.

Mickey, don't know anything about JDs but your DD sounds super talented. Good luck finding the right teacher JD or otherwise. I can sympathise on the cancelled lessons. We had phases of that, fortunately looking better now and DD is still not at a particularly serious stage so it doesn't matter so much.

Dd1 was just asked in her lesson if she had practised with the metronome. She said yes..... and after a stern enquiring look from her teacher added .... once last week 😂

😂 mending fences
thirdfiddle - still battling with the metronome for the cello so I’ve a way to go! Got the taxi driving down pat though - four hours today and tomorrow!