Spring 23 music thread

[thirdfiddle]

I saw some sunshine today so it's officially spring! Here's a new thread for all things musical.

With a nod to those who started the series, well before my young folk picked up an instrument or I braved the vipers of MN. This little corner is for support only, and bragging about your young folk's musical achievements is positively encouraged.

How are things looking for new year? Anyone new want to join us for a chat? Any lurkers want to delurk? All welcome from pre beginners to music college and beyond.

Has anyone's child done grade 4 ABRSM piano recently? My DS did his grade 3 exam eight days ago and was so pumped afterwards that he has ploughed straight on to the grade 4 pieces even though his lessons have now finished for the summer. He's found a B and a C piece that he likes and is getting on well with but all the A pieces in the ABRSM book don't really work for him. I was wondering whether to try him on one of the alternative A pieces.

Congratulations to all the exam takers! And particularly to MargaretThursday's DD for the grade 8, how lovely to end on a high before uni. Is she planning to take the trumpet with her?

StuntNun, that is a stunt indeed, is teacher on board with handing him grade 4 pieces? It's usually nice to explore some different stuff between exams. Generally I'd go on the theory that if they are really ready to move straight on to the next grade, then the exams are probably slowing them down and best to have a break anyway and skip the next one. Different teachers have different approaches though.

Two of four teachers making exam-ish noises here. It seems our reprieve may be over. I haven't missed the things. Maybe now they're a bit older the responsibility for making them learn scales will fall less on me...

@thirdfiddle I think he found grade 3 a bit of a slog of work work work, especially on sightreading. He did his exam and came straight out of it and started trying the grade 4 pieces and had one learned in two days - just needs to be got up to speed. Then he got his result on Tuesday and it was a distinction so he started another piece. After doing one exam each summer term for the last three years, he's now saying he wants to do grade 4 in Autumn and grade 5 next summer so that he's got his grade 5 before he starts high school. It may well be unachievable but his teacher seems inclined to let him have his head if that's what he wants to do. She'll only put him in for the exam if he's ready, obviously. He's gone from having to be dragged to the piano to practice... to not being able to stay away from the piano.

Thank you!
She's doing musical theatre with focus on music at uni, but she's not sure about taking her trumpet with her because she thinks they'll all be much better than her!
I've suggested to her it might be a good idea, if nothing else she has to do a term on guitar and piano and she's missing her left hand, so I suspect reasonable adjustment might mean they suggest a different instrument, so having her trumpet might be a good idea.

I have a sneaky suspicion if she doesn't then I might get a desperate call about 2 weeks into term to deliver it! At least it would be feasible, unlike dd1 who was about 6 hours drive away!

I think he found grade 3 a bit of a slog of work work work, especially on sightreading.
In that case, I'd really advise against going straight into a fixed set of grade 4 material. Doing an exam is a slog, you play the same pieces for a long period of time and try to perfect them. In between exams you can learn much more pieces and progress quicker. That's better for sight reading in particular, but also musical understanding, knowledge of different styles of music. And having fun.

If he's already got one piece more or less learned after a week, perhaps when he's got three down he'll realise it will be more fun to carry on and learn some different ones rather than sit on them till November. Maybe at an appropriate point you could tempt him away with some 'this is a bit harder but if you can learn a grade 4 piece in a week you could give it a go'.

I really think he's more likely to get to his grade 5 target if he plays loads of pieces at grade 4 level and skips the exam than if he plays three and sits it.

Hi All, I used to chat on here a while back, I haven't posted in a while. My dd plays violin and has decided to go for ATCL, having done her g8 a couple of years ago. She's also a reluctant pianist having just done her g3 for the sake of helping with music GCSE and composition. It took about 5 days to get the result. The pieces were relatively ropy but the scales, aural and sight reading pulled her through with a decent merit. Certainly not pumped by the experience, unlike your dc @StuntNun ! She will plod on with it at some point but plans to spend the summer on the violin and with friends. Well done to all with recent music exams.

@StuntNun if he does want to continue with exam pieces on grade 4, I've heard a junior school age kid playing the Pescetti Presto and think its nice and looks accessible with smaller hands. Is there something in particular about that one he doesn't like - or just not keen? I'd agree with @thirdfiddle though that just doing one exam after another can end up being a little joyless, and can also leave things like sight reading as a challenge as they don't get used to doing it as part of learning lots of new music. Also if he's picking it up so quickly then maybe he could get it to an appropriate standard and move on to Grade 5 without sitting 4. Obviously depends if he finds the exams motivating, some kids do, in which case it makes sense to go ahead.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I'll leave him to play what he wants over the summer and we can revisit it in September. He'll be getting a keyboard in the next few weeks so he might want to go back to playing by ear and improvising once that arrives.

Results in first thing this morning - super speedy as the exam was at 4.30 pm on Friday. 127 for grade 2 piano for DD. She's a bit disappointed as she was hoping for a distinction. I feel her pieces were marked quite harshly - around 25, but she got full marks for scales. Sight reading and aural were always hit and miss for her so not going to grumble about those. She managed to play her left hand an octave too low, which she's never done before, so I guess you can't practise for everything!

The left hand an octave too low in sight reading, I should have said.

Well done to @TheLemon , that's a very good pass, 25 is excellent for pieces- means she knows that if she works on the aural, a distinction would be achievable in later exams. After all, playing the pieces is the most important part, the rest are ' supporting tests'. You should both be very proud of that.

Well done to everyone who took an exam! My DD is also getting quite bored with her Grade 7 piano pieces, so has found some fun pieces and some challenging ones. I think she could start learning Grade 8 pieces, but our teacher advised not to just yet, she needs some more Aural practice, which she dislikes. My DD is excited to be trying out viola though - means she can finally play in ensembles

Merit here! I'm so proud of her, a month ago she wouldn't have passed, and it took a lot of work from her and a lot of support from several people including her teacher to get her there. I supplied rescue remedy and encouragement.

I so wanted her to do well with this, because she needs to believe she can do it. Singing comes so easily to her that she assumes that's how music is, and it hit her confidence very badly that viola is different and harder. Hoping now she'll be encouraged and keen to do more!

Sincere apologies @TheLemon I meant a very good merit, she should be proud. I think our kids set themselves really high standards for themselves.

Result in here this morning too. Distinction for grade 1 piano! Delighted with the full marks for sight reading and scales. One of her pieces went pretty wrong in several places in the exam and as she kept going she even got 24 for that piece which was a pleasant surprise.

We want her to just learn lots of different fun pieces over the summer so have got some disney tunes for her to try. Has anyone got any suggestions for a good piano book to work through in the autumn after grade 1 piano? A lot of the book sets seem to be geared towards then and not so much for afterwards. 😊

DD's result out and she's passed grade 7 piano. I'm delighted that she has passed but I'm honestly a little bit disappointed that she only got 117 overall. I know it doesn't really matter but think she was expecting a higher grade. Particularly disappointed with one of the pieces that her piano teacher always made her play slower than the metronome mark was marked down with the first comment of 'this was played very slowly' - can't help thinking thats been seen as a negative!

Anyway - onwards, and I am obviously very proud of her. She's only 10 and so to pass grade 7 now is amazing. I think i was 17 by the time I did mine (though have learnt from this to make her get on with it before she discovers booze and boys).

congratulations @Bearyinlove to your DD. In terms of something else, the upgrade series is pretty good for something else rather than starting the next grade. Even 'easy piano' versions of disney are often around grade 2 level so can be a little frustrating, so something like this might help:

Pam Wedgwood: Up Grade Grade 1-2: Piano Solo | Musicroom.com

Also congratulations to @TheLemon and @NotEvenSlightlyReasonable on exam results - lots of celebrating.

Thanks. She's had a lot on her plate this year too as she's been working hard for her 11+ and also hasn't had a proper teacher for the last 6 months so I've been muddling through teaching her myself (and if homeschool proved anything it's that I'm not a natural teacher!) I know she's done really well, and I high merit is brilliant. It's just hard to see her disappointed.

Wow, some amazing results and really high grades in such young musicians!

Thanks for upgrade piano book recommendation, that looks perfect for some summer tinkering 😊

My daughter is going on her first music residential (strings) at age 8 in a few weeks so we have that to look forward to next. Its a bit nerve wracking but i am confident she is the sort of kid who will love it.... i hope!

@Bearyinlove I'm sure she will love it, surrounded by people who get why they like playing, what's not to like! My dd is off to a woodwind ensemble course for two days this week, non residential, and hoping to meet some more young bassoons. Thankfully sharing lifts with a friend. I did have a sudden panic when I was nearly there that I would be driving my old car into the low emission zone and it would be £60, making it a very expensive trip! However, we swerved it thankfully.

Huge congratulations for all those passing grades exams - fantastic results all round.

@northerngoldilocks - I understand the disappointment on the scoring. Dd got a pass at her g4 cello and it was gutting. They work so hard and you just want them to fly through. A pass is a pass though and your dc was v close to that merit mark and at 10 that's a very challenging grade to do.

It's been so exciting reading all the exam news! Well done everyone!

There really are a lot of gifted young people out there if the exam results are anything to go by.

Does anyone have any experience of performance exams with instruments that required accompaniment?

I don't think everyone is necessarily 'gifted'. Some are but my dc work very hard. Even her teacher says she's diligent, well prepared etc not ' a prodigy, or naturally talented. I think some children could pass higher grades if a few things came together -if they wanted to, and had the support of experienced teachers, a nice instrument, parents who thought it was worth spending time on, friends doing similar things. That's not to belittle anyone whose dc has not been ' successful ' - they are still making music which in my eyes is success even if on one day they didn't get a set mark.. However, I think it should give people hope that you are not just musical or non musical but with hard work, you can make significant progress and enjoy increasing proficiency, not necessarily to become a professional.

I agree that whilst there is a little bit about finding an instrument you have an affinity with and enjoy playing - most of it comes down to hard work. 1000s of hours of practice, turning up, being consistent etc. The right teachers are important as is parental support for many. There are examples of kids who are great at music even if no one has a clue - but usually even in non 'musical families' its those where children are encouraged to practice and parents are engaged that do the best.

I failed my grade 7 piano back in the day. Objectively I wasn't a massively better pianist when i eventually passed, but i was a lot more prepared, my playing was more consistent and the supporting tests were more secure. The good thing I can say about this is it helps me know what my children need to do to pass in terms of being as confident as possible going in and by that being prepared. At lower grades you can definitely 'pull it out of the bag on the day' - but as they progress it gets harder.

At this stage neither of my children have expressed any enthusiasm for music being more than a hobby, but i'd like them to get to a stage where they can get lots of enjoyment from it, especially as orchestra courses are such a good thing for teens during holidays as most holiday clubs stop before secondary age.