Practical or performance grade for grade 1 violin?

[Bearyinlove]

My child's violin teacher has asked if we would prefer our child to do the face to face practical exam or the virtual performance exam for grade 1. I am not sure which way to go. Is one better than the other? Is one easier than the other? Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks

I think the practical one is much better as long as you will not need to travel far. It is good to have the scales, aural and sight reading in addition to 3 pieces, it is also a good experience to have an actual exam. For the performance exams, it is simpler to just be playing 4 pieces in a row while the parent films, but it doesn’t feel like as much of an achievement when the mark is received.

Thanks @Paperpenguin that's interesting to hear. DC is only in Year 2 of primary at the moment so it's difficult to know how they would react to an exam but it could be worthwhile getting used to exams at a young age I suppose!. Also I worry that a parent filming at home could be even more stressful for all of us!

There is absolutely no reason to do any music exams of any sort unless you want to do them, and find them fun or useful. None of the many musicians I know (my husband, daughter, and myself are all professioanal string players) did exams.

@PurrBox thanks for your message. I think we are quite keen to do exams as I think it will encourage them to practice. Also, they love receiving badges or medals in their other activities so I think they will enjoy passing exams, I hope so anyway! If that turns out not to be the case after grade one then we can always reassess whenever or not to continue doing exams. The performance and practical grades seem to be quite different so it is more just getting my head around which is best for my child.

Of course! Different things work for different people.

I have just seen kids put off music by associating it with the goal of doing exams, when the real goal (if there is a goal at all) should be performing in a fun, exciting way: playing for people who are there to enjoy hearing the music (not to judge you), playing with friends, communicating with an audience, and all those things, which can get lost in the world of Grade 1, Grade 2, etc.

I think some teachers and schools present the exams as the goal for kids because organising recitals and concerts in a fun way takes a bit of trouble and is not really in the culture in the UK.

I think I was reacting to the idea that it is important to get used to doing exams at a young age, and that it can create stress. I think for young kids, little concerts can be hugely fun, motivating, and exciting. I don't mean to imply that exams are all bad or that they might not be fun too, just that they are not a necessary part of learning to play and perform.

My children have skipped various music grades over the years (including violin grade 1) and I agree that they are not at all necessary. For my children, a big benefit of taking several exams in music or dance has been the resulting nonchalant way in which they approach all other tests, whether 11 plus, entrance exam, auditions etc. I have found exam results to be an indicator of my child’s progress playing an instrument that I am not familiar with. One of my children’s teachers likes entering pupils for the performance exams so we go with that, but it does seem like paying £50 or whatever to faff about having to record some pieces just for some comments and a certificate. The practical exams have been more fun.

My boys both play violin and always did the practical exams. Both did grade 1 in year 1 and it was fine. Performance exams have only been around for a couple of years (I think). I want them to know their scales and sight read too, the pieces they were always fine with anyway. Some kids don’t like exams, but if you don’t put too much pressure on, most are fine with it. I don’t see the point of videoing and paying 50 pounds. I only did that once during lockdown for one of my daughter’s piano exam because it was the second exam that had been cancelled.
Also practising with the accompanist makes a big difference so when you video that becomes more complicated. Playing to a track is not the same.

Thanks all, your comments have helped. I think we are going to go for the practical over performance then.

For those of you who have had kids doing the grade 1 violin, how long does it usually take to get ready to take it? At the moment my child is doing a 20 min individual lesson at school and also a weekly local council strings ensemble for beginners on the weekend for an hour. She normally practises about 4 times a week for 10 to 15 mins outside of the lesson and ensemble and I can see she is definitely improving week on week and really enjoying playing with the ensemble too. I suspect the answers may vary hugely but there must be some sort of average! :)

I don't know about violin but woodwind from beginner to grade 1 is probably much quicker, fewer things to think about initially. Piano seems to take ages to grade one, doing both hands together is tricky.
Coordinating the bow and fingerings is quite tricky. Depends if they already read music too.
I think the performance exam is stressful, we did so many takes. The practical has been better for us but just be prepared for a bit of a dip in performance from lesson to exam as nerves kick in. They get better at coping with this though and it's good practice for performing and vice versa. Try to get them playing to people as often as possible eg neighbours, relatives, at school. There are lots of friendly folk on the music threads each term, don't be out off by what grade people s kids are doing now, they all started at the beginning.

Fucking hated music exams, absolutely sucked the joy out of music and gave me massive anxiety about the whole thing. Do not use exams as a stick to beat your children with to get them to practice. They are supposed to enjoy it.

We definitely don't do all exams, with three kids and several instruments, it's just too expensive. Done piano 1 and 4 with one, straight in at grade 5 for her woodwind. Other one done 5 and doing 7 on woodwind, piano did 2, 4, 6 and 7. It's good to maybe get a lower grade in to have the experience but to be honest, for us it detracts from teaching as the hyper focus bon three pieces isn't that fun. For woodwind they have done the exams when already playing several pieces at that level so it doesn't take months to learn, can be done in a few weeks alongside other stuff. It's so dull only doing exam pieces.

I was totally put off music by the aim of exams and practicing pieces I didn't enjoy. My 7 year old loves piano, and practices! But I've bought her appropriate musical theatre and other pieces she really enjoys playing alongside the set texts.

Firstly, exams don't have to be part of the path for learning an instrument so although a lot of teachers assume this is what's expected I'd only go with it if your DD will find it a positive experience over all.

I'm a teacher and both I and my pupils feel strongly that we're only interested in the face-to-face practical exams. One of the pros of doing an exam is the opportunity to do a performance in a venue to an audience (even if it's only an examiner!)

Definitely add other styles of music as well eg fiddle music, musicals etc whatever they enjoy. Duets are great too. It's good they are in an ensemble already too.

I do feel that up to Grade 5 practical exams do have benefits in learning scales, how to sight read and developing a good ear as well as having to perform to a stranger. At the higher grades I'm not sure that the differences are so important. Having done practical exams all her life DD2 did performance for Grade 8 singing. At that level it is all about being "recital ready" and that becomes increasingly important as they move towards diplomas. Having said that the recording was made at school and they weren't prepared to let her have lots of takes so it did put her on the spot.

@Bearyinlove- that kind of practice is fine. My year 3 is taking grade 4 next week, he practises 20 minutes a day, 6 times per week (most weeks) plus 30 minute lesson. For grade 1 and 2 his lessons were also 20 minutes. I recommend the smart scales app and the Abrsm practice partner app. There is a fee but they can practise along and also lots on YouTube. When they are young, parental encouragement makes a big difference.

It is interesting to hear everyone's opinions about grades. I couldn't do the exams when I was a child as my family couldn't afford the fees and I desperately wanted to do them, this may have coloured my view a little. My child is quite confident and so I am fairly sure they would be fine with exams and I think having a solid reason to practice would incentivise them, but like I said above, I am willing to change tack if it doesn't work out. Fully take on board making sure it's not just exam prep and they do lots of different styles of music though.

Wow @workisnotawolf that is incredible. He must be amazing to be doing that at such a young age! Really appreciate the app recommendations. Any other tips would be very welcome 😊

There's an aural trainer app which is useful. Also Paul Harris who is a senior ABRSM examiner has a series of books which help with sight reading scales and aural which might be useful.

I would be tempted to go for the live one. My DD did her first music exam before Christmas and though it was very nerve wracking - for both of us! - the venue was incredible (ancient chapel) with amazing acoustics, and the examiner was very kind. Overall, it was a positive experience, though we both said never again to scales in an exam! Agree with everyone else that there is no joy in doing to death three pieces for the exam but if you are playing a varied programme in lessons and at home, exams can be a great way of refining a number of pieces and pulling together your music theory. The moment they become too stressful, is the moment to reconsider them.

@Bearyinlove - my DS is not amazing. There is a group of 10 children in his class who started violin at the same time at the beginning of Year 1/ end of Reception and they all encourage each other and go to orchestra together. The teacher is very good. It is a state primary but there is a music hub on site so lessons are allowed in school from an early age. Some children who can’t afford lessons get them for free so that is great. There are also children of musicians at the school and that provides further drive. There are 4 kids taking Grade 4 in Year 3 and one in Year 2. Some on piano too - my DS is still Grade 2 piano. He is musical rather than sporty and enjoys it, but he is definitely not amazing. I think peer group is really important. He could be going to a 3 hour orchestra on a Saturday morning, but he is not that committed yet. Some kids are at that age already.

My children love doing the exams for their instrument piano. No pressure to do them. They choose to. I agree with previous pp - it’s great practice for GCSEs etc. my kids teacher suggests they do their first exam with the scales, aurals etc and then gives them a choice. I would have loved a choice, as I’m rubbish at sight reading and aural but enjoyed learning to play a piece of music well but gave up after grade 5 as my sight reading and aural skills put me off.

@workisnotawolf that sounds like a fab set up. Unfortunately my child is the only one doing violin in their year group which is a shame but understandable.

I would be interested to hear how quickly other children progressed when starting with just a weekly lesson in a state primary school. I have no idea what to expect really.

Weekly lessons are fine - it’s how much practice they’re willing to do between hand that influences progression IMO. For the piano - 5-10 mins every week day is plenty for the earlier grades. If you ask your teacher they’ll tell you what it would be for the violin.

Re progress for lower grades, both my DS’ were doing an exam every 2nd term. Some kids take 3 terms to get to grade 1. Some teachers will only do 1 exam a year so it does depend.
Grades 6-7 we usually leave one year and 18 months for grade 8.
Before taking grade 6 Abrsm you need to do grade 5 theory so that can delay things too.
My kids practise more in the summer holidays rather than less so that all makes a difference too. If you live in the London area there are holiday orchestras which are stretching too eg SLYO in South London etc.

DS (piano) did practical exams for G1-3, skipped 4 because of lockdown and ended up doing G5 as performance, due to a combination of lockdowns/new teacher. He's going to continue with performance exams for 6-8. The advantage of practical exams in the early years was that he knows his scales well which is a huge help. However, sight reading always threw him. Now he's older I think performance exams work better for him. He'd hate doing aural now because his voice is breaking and he does a lot more sight reading for fun now that he doesn't have to do it for exams. Teacher has been able to spend much more time on his technique and he's made huge improvements in his playing. My preference would probably be the practical exams though. Videoing is MUCH more stressful than taking him to an exam centre and giving him a cheery "good luck"!