Junior guildhall kindergarten course

[mummyof2boy]

Hi, we have just received an offer for my son to join the Reception year (4 year old) of Junior Guildhall Kindergarten course (Strings) in this coming September.
My son has strong interest in music and that was the main reason why I applied for it. I would be keen to hear your thoughts about this programme from parents who currently have young kids in this programme. Do you like it? If your child's School already have music / instruments lessons as extra curricular activities, is it still worth signing him up for Guildhall?
Thank you!

Hi there, congratulations on the offer.
Few things to consider. 1) Attendance is mandatory so you have to commit spending every single one of term Saturdays hanging around Barbican. Classes initially are short, but scheduled in the middle of the day. 2) The kindergarden programme does not automatically give you a place on the Strings or Brass programme starting in year 2. We did not make the cut, and no feedback or reasons were provided. We only missed one class throughout the past two years (due to her being sick with Covid). 3) Kindergarden instruction is fully based around Delhaize and Kodaly. I still do not really understand what they actually do in those classes and how assessments are carried out on the basis of something so unacademic. We did not have a single teacher parent consultation throughout the year, so it's very hard to figure out how your child is actually doing. 4) The programme is rather disorganised. Communication is patchy. All of this said, they seem to have a great reputation. Hope this helps !

My DC (string player) attended junior guildhall from age 11. There were a number of kids who had been through the kindergarten / strings program and they were all very good musicians. Most parents were very enthusiastic about it.

You may already know about Dalcroze and Kodaly methods but they develop innate musicianship and general musical skills rather than specific technical skills. My child has benefited from both throughout their training (they are now at a specialist music school).

If we were to do all this again and an offer from JG kindergarten were on the table, personally I'd grab it. If your child is really musical that's going to be a long term commitment, whether you start now or later! (Says she about to do 2x130 mile round trips in 2 days for concerts and school pick up!).

I loved hanging out at the Barbican- it's really cool and you meet some nice people.

Previous poster is right though- the kindergarten course is not a guaranteed ticket through the rest of the program and quite a few don't make it. Go into it accepting that and happy to enjoy it for the experience it is and see what happens.

Just to add to my response. The whole two years will cost you around £1,500 over the two years, which is quite a bit of money given that there is zero feedback on the child, which i think is rather surprising. I found 6 weeks of traditional piano classes much more helpful in terms of musical development of my child (pitching, rythm, site reading, singing and disciplined practise) than the two years of the programme. More reserved children do not seem to do be noticed or do well in that environment, at least this is my observation. And as i have mentioned before some transparency on the decision making process might be helpful.

My child is in reception and currently on the Kindergarten course.

We are only 2 terms in so experience is limited to that. PP is right that as parents you have very little insight into what goes on and there hasn’t been much communication, though I had been expecting something perhaps at the end of the year.

We’ve been invited to sit in on one of the Dalcroze classes so far however and I can absolutely see how the teachers would be able to assess the kids from their participation over the 2 years. They are in small groups (about 8 kids), the teachers know them all individually, and it was possible for me to see just watching that one class that some kids had much better concentration/interest than others, some were singing in tune or tapping/moving in time and others weren’t. That was obviously just a snapshot but I’d imagine the teachers get a pretty good idea over the course of 2 years.

For me the downside is the uncertainty about whether DC will be selected for an instrument and what instrument it will be. DC has been obsessed with the violin since tiny and is begging to play it now. Another 18 months seems quite long to wait given the keenness and if they are assigned eg trombone instead after 2 years it will be a little annoying! But I’m confident that in the meantime it’s an excellent grounding in general musicianship and more importantly it’s really good fun for the kids. Highlight of DC1’s week. And fwiw they are not a loud, outgoing child.