After grade 8 flute?

[GeneralMusings]

Hello

My daughter (15/yr 10) is sitting her grade 8 this summer.

Her teacher has floated that she might want to stop lessons. I think she knows we are fairly low income and we've been having an hour a week (!!). She has also just got into a regional youth orchestra that required an audition and grade 7/8 and her music teacher thought that might be enough (3 hours a week plus school orchestra).

She isn't going to make music her career but I know she does love her lessons. However we are struggling financially at the moment and it is her final year for gcses and she is now committed to her orchestra for 3 hours a week and going for her lesson takes an evening a week as well.

Any thoughts? I know proper music people will say to keep learning but just wondering compared to coat/time if it's a natural time to stop?

How about having a lesson every 2-3 weeks rather than weekly? At that age/ability she should be able to practice independently, but would still be beneficial to have input from a specialist teacher to give some direction for her playing.

I stopped lessons after grade 8 but continued to play in various ensembles. I also taught and entered students for ABRSM exams. I've continued to play as an adult for fun. Like your daughter, I knew I wouldn't be making a career from music, but it's always been something I've been glad to have in my life.

Look into grant funding for the lessons. Grade 8 at year 10 might qualify her for 'young&talented' support. Sources could include local music hubs, local county charitable foundation, musicians benevolent fund, benslow trust, local family trusts for deserving young people - and many more. She could go on to study for a performance diploma after grade 8. You may find that the youth orchestra fuels her enthusiasm.

I did grade 8 in y10 and my teacher aalso said no point having lessons but when I looked very sad he agreed wit my mum to see me once a fortnight for 45mins. I only did that for a year, at that point I bought a cheap second hand piccolo and joined a concert band - best fun I ever had ! 😂

I also taught myself new repertoire eg loads of South American style music a
with flutter tongue techniques and circular breathing.

I also made some friends I could “jam” with

So yes, I’d say just find what she loves and lessons are less necessary now

i still love playing, over 30 years later, though I’m nowhere near as good as I was!

Any flute choirs near you at all ?
I guess the big question is does she want to continue ? With any instrument grade 8 is not the end, just the beginning of higher level study. It's the end of the beginning iyswim, she could explore a diploma or make her own programme, maybe she might like to explore jazz or alto flute or a piccolo. But she may find the orchestra will satisfy her enough.
is she doing music GCSE ?

She will learn loads just playing in lots of different groups. You can drop the lessons, but keep her going with wind band, orchestra, playing in the pit band of musicals, school ensembles- and it's lots of fun for that age too

To answer questions -

Oh she absolutely is continuing with flute- she's so excited to have got into the regional orchestra and as it's audition only she is one of 3 flutes and very keen!! She also plays in 2 school orchestras and the mixed flute group at school. There are other opportunities outside of school but she hasn't got the time.

She has started another instrument at school and has got to grade 3ish in a year but that's just 20mins a week.

Yes the orchestra would like her to pick up piccolo but she's only just started with flute so wants to get established first but it's a possibility.

She will practice at home. Its so tricky isn't it to balance all the demands of school and orchestras and having another night a week for a lesson (we drive there) is a lot but equally she wasnt quite expecting to give it up.

Bursaries - I'm not sure she's gifted enough (we applied for aym last year and got their basic 100 rather than the bigger award) and she's had some local funding towards summer school but as we're no longer on benefits there's a couple we're no longer eligible for and it was costing us an hour a weeks lesson.

But she has loved it! I wonder if less often is a possibility or if that's not helpful for the teachers timetable. Again I guess "one more term" has the same issue with messing up her timetable.

I think if she was going on to audition for a degree we'd keep it up but she's looking at sciences.

Yes she's doing music gcse. She will ace the performing part but no idea about the rest of it!

You could try something ad hoc with the teacher. Maybe do lessons when another of their regular pupils is on holiday etc?

An hour a fortnight works well and keeps up enough momentum. Your daughter sounds committed, it would be a shame to stop the lessons and bad habits creep in.

Could you cut to half an hour a week - or second that fortnightly would otherwise work, if the teacher is happy to hold a slot for that? DD2 is a similar age and working on her ARSM diploma thing on flute. She only has half an hour a week - it isn't enough for her teacher's liking, but with the ensembles as well she is still progressing. I get that it is all SO expensive. If that won't work, just keeping up the orchestra for GCSE year and then rethinking I'm sure would work too I reckon - she's done so well to get into that and will learn loads from it.

I suppose the other thing is, if the teacher is talking about stopping, are they someone who likes to teach above G8? If not, they may not be the right person going forward I guess. I don't know - maybe everyone does on flute, but I certainly know teachers on other things who don't really know what to do above this level.

It's quite standard at higher performance levels to drop to an hour a fortnight.

My son is a musician - did a music degree. He had a lesson a fortnight after leaving school. His degree offered an advanced performance option which was also once a fortnight,

The presumption is that you can practice largely independently and the lesson is for new ways of playing /corrections etc.

I'm pretty sure the teacher could go higher, she's quite accomplished and her child also went on to be so but she is probably aware of our financial situation and that my child isn't going to persue this academically and maybe was sounding her out as she probably knows many do.

I dont really know as she spoke to my child not me. The teacher has been amazing and really my child has come on so much but yes it's been an hour a week for a couple of years.

I think I was curious whats normal and if they do lean more towards independent practice. As yes not having to drive out a night a week and the money would be useful from my pov. I suspect my daughter would carry on with the lessons forever but in her mind she would learn /own lots of instruments and has endless time!!

Grade 8 is the beginning of the whole wide world of repertoire! She's done brilliantly to get into a competitive orchestra too. Have a look at NYO inspire, it's for state school kids grade 6-8 and does a couple of short courses, all free with amazing tutors. Sometimes there are other opportunities too, like a day or two as a visitor on actual NYO courses which is a fab opportunity. It's not auditioned, you just have to explain why you'd benefit. I would try to keep some kind of regular if lessons frequent lessons as it will help her prepare for orchestra etc as well as helping her choose repertoire to work on etc. music is a gift for life.

She should get started on playing for paid gigs. Flute might not be the most marketable (although look for weddings and suchlike as you never know) but her second instrument is probably pretty good and if it's piano she could clean up. This is the best part of being musical as a teenager.

Thankyou. We looked at inspire and nyo last year but she hasn't really got time for all the travelling it involves and now she's in her gcse years she wants to focus on the orchestras she is in! I think it's partly she knows people/has friends etc and does get to perform in a reasonable venue with her now current one.

Really appreciate people's thoughts. Financially stopping would rwlaly help but even going 1 x a fortnight would soften the blow a bit.

You can apply for bursaries to go to a junior conservatoire. My daughter loved Birmingham on the flute.

Oooh your daughter sounds ace!

We're several hours from anything like that and it's not going to be her degree choice so we are going to stick with the regional orchestra she's just joined as she's so excited to be doing that.

I'm not super fussed about her taking any more qualifications just want her to enjoy it.

Its more whether to stop or reduce the lessons now so still thinking. May go to once a fortnight?

My DD is still a way off grade 8 but I have never thought about it as a moment for then stopping lessons. Surely there is still lots of learn. Though moving to fortnightly lessons does sound like a good plan if it suits you both. Thinking back to my childhood, my brother carried on with lessons on violin and piano after grade 8. For one instrument I think he switched teacher after grade 7 and stayed on with her post-grade 8.

I don't think we would have thought about it if money wasn't so tight to be honest, and it also takes an evening out of the week which might be easier to be home for yr11. I know in an ideal world she could have lessons forever.

However her goal was to make it into the regional orchestra which she had to be grade 8 for and she's made that. So she will be playing 3 hours a week there and 2hours in school orchestra. It isn't like she's quitting music!

We're still mulling it over tbh.

She will still have the shorter oboe lessons in school most weeks.

Its the hour a week we are contemplating reducing.

I've realised that fortnightly may well mot suit the teacher as it's a place another pupil could have (well 2 as its an hour).

She'd love to stick with her and develop her piano but there's limited time and money. I wish there wasn't as this might be ideal.

Well done to your daughter! I also have flute as my principal instrument and then took up oboe - although much later in life!

I would actually advise that your daughter stops weekly lessons and focuses on orchestra/ensembles, including in her practise time, and school exams.

I agree that fortnightly lessons work much better post grade 8, and if her current teacher doesn't offer them then another teacher who works with adults very likely will. But dropping the lessons for a while won't do any harm - she can come back to it at any point in the future when time allows. Doing the ARSM diploma after uni would be a great way for her to get back into it in a few years.

Plus, the oboe is addictive and beautiful, but needs a lot of stamina and practise to sound as good as it can, so realistically she's going to need extra time for that. And there's a limit to the hours in the week... It is one of the worst instruments to pick in terms of money though, everything with it is so expensive, especially trying to find those damn unicorn reeds! (But worth it).

Can you see if there are any local funding streams. For example I am in Staffordshire and I fundraise to provide instrumental lessons for low income/disadvantaged youngsters and I know there is also another charity set up in memory of a child who died who does the same for all aspects of performing/sports. In the North East there is the Chloe & Liam charity who do something similar in memory of two Manchester Arena victims.

I know that one child I currently sponsor is looking at applying to something called Future Talent funding. https://www.futuretalent.org/

We looked at future talent last year but earn just just over their income limit (I upped my hours and we didn't before that. I do occasionally wonder if me upping my hours "paid off" but that's a different story!)

We're not on UC anymore since I did this.

But also with cost of living were struggling.

I was hoping perhaps it wasn't so much a necessity to prioritise but maybe it is.

(the other big drain is school lunches. Both are autistic and fussy about what they eat/don't like sandwiches) and are facing a huge battle limiting their spending here.

I feel for you there as the mum of a child with food sensory issues.