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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

Autumn 23 Music chat

995 replies

horseymum · 31/08/2023 11:30

It's autumn term already! I'm sure there's lots of music going to happen this term. Welcome to anyone who wants to chat about your child's music activities, whether current or things you hope to do. It's a friendly group with experience at many different levels.( I've learned so much) No question is a daft one and don't be put off by chat about higher levels, all our children couldn't play a note once.
Come and ask about starting music lessons, which instrument to choose, exams, music festivals, specialist schools, orchestras and ensembles. We love talking music.
We also love to share music exam successes or struggles etc ( you can't always shout about these on FB!).
Feel free to do a wee intro if you want, although it's still public so only share what you want to.

OP posts:
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chickentikkasalad · 16/09/2023 21:10

It's his first ever exam (never done any violin grades and won't be for a while). I was just relieved he didn't come out with tears. He was very pleased when he came out of the room and told me he might get distinction but I tried not to read too much from his words as a 6 year old can be extremely confident Grin. Actually all the young kids came out of the exam room feeling pleased and confident! I wish I had half of their confidence in my violin playingConfused. Then I was over the moon with the news of the distinction but he was so cool and didn't even appear a bit surprised!

minisnowballs · 17/09/2023 07:48

Great news @chickentikkasalad - wonderful that his first exam was really positive. Congrats to him!

Original poster
horseymum · 17/09/2023 08:08

It's great he's had such a positive first exam experience, he must have been well prepared by his teacher and worked hard. I find as they get older they are more self critical and tend to underestimate how they have done!

OP posts:
northerngoldilocks · 17/09/2023 11:40

Great news @chickentikkasalad - the initial grade really is a way of getting use to exams and building confidence for grades so it sounds like it's worked really well for him.

Alsoplayspiccolo · 17/09/2023 12:53

That’s a fab result at 6!!!
well done to him. I love his ambition, though! It will stand him in good stead, going forward.

Bunnycat101 · 17/09/2023 14:10

hoping I can pick the brains of the more experienced parents here…

We need to decide whether to enter my 7yo for her g1 piano this session. Both me and her teacher are in two minds. She’s very determined when she wants to be but has only really just started the g1 exam book. She’s got one piece in a good place, one hands together but not brilliant and one not started, scales are looking, sight reading ok and aural good. Our teacher is in two minds as normally she’d want everything sorted before entry but she’s learning really quickly and is worried she’ll be bored if she’s still covering g1 material for the spring exam. We’re both not sure what to do for the best. We’d only look at last week of exam window if we did it this time round but not sure if it is just putting a bit too much pressure on when she’s still quite young.

Any words of wisdom?

thirdfiddle · 17/09/2023 14:26

Congrats chickentikkaDS! The perfectionism is sweet but in all seriousness those last marks are hard to find. You only need to drop one or two in each aspect.
Bunnycat, there's always the don't bother with the exam option if the timing's not quite right. Or there are recorded exams which you can just enter when you're ready. Grade 1 piano really isn't necessary to a student with good momentum though. That said, DD's teacher did put her in for very late exams several times and got away with it. Despite her also giving DD exams a level up from the music she'd been playing before. I didn't like it, it was a very hurry up and wait way of learning, but DD did okay.

Original poster
horseymum · 17/09/2023 14:53

I'm generally of the view that they should be well above the standard when they do an exam and have been playing pieces at that level for a while so they come at it from above. ( DD first started playing the odd grade 8 level piece probably a couple of years before doing her exam, and hadn't even done grade 7 at that point) It's harder with the lower levels to time it right as they are often making lots of progress quite quickly. It might make sense to pick up another piece and do the video exam as it can be done whenever, although four pieces is a lot to do. It might be worth working towards a mock exam with the teacher instead? Such a hard balance as the exam can be really motivating for some and really stressful for others. We have had the odd one where the teacher just got the timing slightly off and the exam was a bit too soon but they pulled it out of the bag.

OP posts:
northerngoldilocks · 17/09/2023 15:14

I think that no one 'needs' grade 1 piano, but if it's the first exam you ever sit it needs to be one you feel ready for otherwise it starts them off on the wrong footing. Ideally grade 1 would give her confidence for future rather than being stressful.

My view (not a teacher) is that to enter they need to have 3 pieces together and all the scales broadly or almost there and then the time between now and the exam is to improve on things. If the pieces aren't close then I'd say it's too much of a stretch at grade 1. If she makes amazing progress though, as others have said she could do a performance option, or just skip the actual exam and move on. I am however not an 'every grade exam' enthusiast.

Angelkid · 17/09/2023 15:48

@Bunnycat101 I don't think it is necessary to sit every grade exam. My older DC never sit grade 1, then sat for grade 2 or 3 then grade 5, then grade 6 or 7 and finally grade 8 and diploma. My youngest 10 years old DD, she sat for grade 1 and grade 3, then going to sit for grade 5 by Christmas. The advantage is, DC have more time to explore and practice other pieces rather than only exams. My youngest one got so bored for just keep practicing 3 of the exam pieces and scales. Her teacher didn't like the ideas of skipping grade exam initially and reluctant to teach her something else different. When over-practice the same pieces over a period of time, the performance will only go down hill. Finally, I refused to buy the grade 2 exam book straight after the grade 1 exam, again, I refused to buy the grade 4 exam book straight after the grade 3. I sent other books in my DD school bag the lessons. My DD will go to other teacher outside school on year 7 next September.

Bunnycat101 · 17/09/2023 15:54

Thank you all for advice: i think it echoes what I’ve been feeling that I’d be inclined to err on the side of caution. If she is ready in late November I might look at a late entry slot if there is one but I’d rather her go in and be confident rather than stressing to get things ready. Also really reassuring that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we skipped and moved on if that was the right thing for her at the time.

chickentikkasalad · 17/09/2023 18:19

Thank you for all the lovely words. He is indeed very ambitious and determined on things he chooses. He is well prepared, teacher is quite strict and very experienced. Maybe a little too late me and his teacher both think. His pieces were getting worse as he's not reading the music anymore just relying on muscle memory and it's easy to have finger slips!

@Bunnycat101 I agree with your thinking - there's nothing worse than going to an exam not prepared enough. You can skip a grade if the timing wasn't quite right this time. Is this going be her first exam?

minisnowballs · 19/09/2023 13:20

A first from DD2 yesterday - a day in which she felt she 'may' have had too much music. To be fair it was two individual lessons and four ensembles, as well as a woodwind performance class and a reasonably full day of school GCSE classes (though including a practice period).

They did let her off half of the performance class so she could have dinner...(not sure how she had either lunch or breakfast) but even so.

Suspect the timetable still needs ironing out...

northerngoldilocks · 19/09/2023 13:56

Interesting to see that there is a point where its too much music then @minisnowballs . Suspect when she opted for specialist school she wasn't expecting so much of it to be crammed into a single day!

Hopefully they can work out moving some of the individual lessons around so there isn't quite so much all at once. Imagine not having time to be bored is quite important at this point too though - so at least they have that covered!

minisnowballs · 19/09/2023 14:02

@northerngoldilocks it may not be too much music when it is a bit more spread out - but given most of it happened between 3pm and bedtime after a full school day and with no breaks at all, I can see why she was a bit weary. Especially since this morning then started with Early Morning Practice.

georgedawes · 19/09/2023 19:28

Gosh that is a lot @minisnowballs ! Appreciate music school will have a lot of music, but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day surely for that amount?

How do you think she is settling generally?

chickentikkasalad · 19/09/2023 21:28

@minisnowballs wow that's a lot of music hours in a day. Hopefully as she settles in to the new routine she won't feel as tired...

minisnowballs · 19/09/2023 22:02

@georgedawes she seems really happy and busy thanks. We are going down to see her Saturday so might get more of a proper feel for things then. Tried to call her this evening but apparently it is rehearsal for the house drama cup- so at least it’s not always ensembles!

@chickentikkasalad being somewhere new is always tiring isn’t it- so much to take in! I’m imagining it is like starting a new job and then some. Sure it will settle down.

Coruisk · 19/09/2023 22:21

(It's me George btw under a name change)

That's good she's happy! She clearly is coping with all the demands, in fact sounds like she's thriving. I feel a bit exhausted just reading it tbh!

chickentikkasalad · 19/09/2023 23:31

Silly question - I've got the link through the teacher to view DS's exam marks on Abrsm website. Do you still get a paper certificate these days? Or is it just the online link? Thanks!
He had nearly full marks on scales and sight reading and full marks on aural. Some sections in the pieces were rushed/hurried. I hope he'll grow out of it naturally Grin.
Teacher just booked him in for grade 1 in Nov! Hurray - I was hoping it was before xmas as I don't want to drag it till his pieces get worse like last time.

northerngoldilocks · 20/09/2023 07:11

@chickentikkasalad you still get certificates. They take a few weeks to arrive. You don't get a print out of the comments any more though because as you've seen, they can be viewed online.

georgedawes · 20/09/2023 07:11

Yes you get a certificate, gets sent to the person who entered the candidate, a few weeks after the result. The way he is going he'll smash grade 1!

minisnowballs · 20/09/2023 08:13

@chickentikkasalad definitely a certificate- get your A4 frame ready!

chickentikkasalad · 20/09/2023 09:07

Ah that's great - it'll go into his special box!
Thank you!

thirdfiddle · 20/09/2023 09:29

Ah, rushing. The curse of the younger pianist. So much easier for single line instruments as they have an accompaniment to anchor to. DD's current thing is she tends to take slow pieces too slow and fast pieces too fast. Which I guess makes a change from the other way round...
Good to hear mini-minisnowballs is settling in to her new world. Sounds even more like going off to Hogwarts with the touristy cobbles!