Violin normal progression of learn for grade's?

[lexcat]

Dd has just started violin and has a friend who has been learning for 1 year. Dd has got in her head she will be doing her first exam in the summer as this is what her friend did. But friends mother told me, that the teacher said "I'm so pleased with your dd as they don't normally do primlimary in the first year."
I have googled voilin grade's and the exam boards say 2-3 term are the norm.
What is the norm as I don't what dd pinning all her hopes on that first exam or the fact that she may get a grade a year (which is what she thinks). Plus friend had the upper hand in the fact she learn recorder for a year before the violin.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

Is she doing individual or group lessons? DD1 didn't do prelim, her first exam was grade one, which she took after she had been learning for three years (but in group lessons, one to one would probably have been quicker). However, her teacher is very methodical and a perfectionist and doesn't put them in for exams until they are very, very ready. It does tend to be a grade a year after this.

[ShrinkingViolet]

not violin, but the DDs are doing a grade a year in woodwind(but both had been forced to spent a year teaching themselves recorder beforehand).

[ShrinkingViolet]

that's individual 20 minute lessons btw.

[AMumInScotland]

It very much depends on the teacher. About a grade a year is common, but not all teachers want them to do all of the grades anyway, and some aren't keen on the grade exams at all so don't push the children towards them.

[lexcat]

The lesson is 2-1 don't really know the teacher it's all done at school. DD is very keen at the monent and I can help her a home as I did learn the violin many moon ago.
She what's to play like Vanessa Mae luckily she does understand that takes years and a lot of practice and even then not many can play like that.

[snorkle]

It varies hugely between individuals. Some have more aptitude and some practise more and some do both so there's a huge range of how long it takes to get to a given grade. Also generally, older children progress faster than younger ones (so if your dd is 8 she will be more likely to make faster progress than if she's 5).

What I'm trying to say is: you can't make guesses about your child based on what other children have done, all you can do is encourage her to do her best.

[lexcat]

I wasn't try to compare just want to know if it's a silly goal she set herself or not. It's seems possible so I will let her keep thinking it's possible if she's prepared to put the work in.
I would have tried to put her off the idea if if was not the norm.

[snorkle]

Well it might be a silly goal if she doesn't take to it or if she takes to it like a duck to water (when it might be too easy): there are plenty of people who get to grade 1 faster than that, but also some who take much longer. I'd try to steer her towards trying hard & seeing where she gets to and above all enjoying it, rather than setting herself exam goals. There's a great temptation with music in this country to get on the ladder of grade certificate collecting and seeing the exams as the goal rather than the music making imo.

[georgimama]

A grade a year? No chance (unless she's Vanessa Mae). I started playing the violin at 7 and did grade 8 at 18.

Try to get her to enjoy it (but also learn her scales, v v v important and I didn't grasp just how fundamental they are until about grade 5, thought they were just something to thump out for the exam - violins don't make those notes of their own accord). That will help her progress more quickly that anything else. Being in a children's orchestra, even just at school with really make her feel that she is achieving something, because en masse kids tend to sound better than solo!

[asdmumandteacher]

A grade a year is about right at the lower stages depending on ability - some don't bother sitting prlim and gr 1 and 2 and go straight to grade 3 (woodwind usually) and then around grade 4/5 upwards i would say it takes 4/5 terms to do it really well. i am music teacher btw

[asdmumandteacher]

A grade a year is about right at the lower stages depending on ability - some don't bother sitting prlim and gr 1 and 2 and go straight to grade 3 (woodwind usually) and then around grade 4/5 upwards i would say it takes 4/5 terms to do it really well. i am music teacher btw

[asdmumandteacher]

A grade a year is about right at the lower stages depending on ability - some don't bother sitting prlim and gr 1 and 2 and go straight to grade 3 (woodwind usually) and then around grade 4/5 upwards i would say it takes 4/5 terms to do it really well. i am music teacher btw

[sadbarratthomeowner]

Similar here - started viola at around 9 and did grade 8 at 17. The first grade I did was 3, then 5, 7 and 8! No need to do them all really...

[asdmumandteacher]

oops don't know what happened there!

[georgimama]

See, I must be a muggins, only one I skipped was 6 (and cheated really, switched to Guildhall after 4 - although they do say the Guildhall pieces are harder than college grades - as I didn't do Grade 5 theory or GCSE music).

[asdmumandteacher]

I did piano - prelim (aged 8), grade 1 (9), grade 3 (11), grade 4 (12), grade 5 (14), grade 7 (17)

Oboe - grade 3 (13 the same year i took it up), grade 5 (14), grade 6 (15), grade 8 (17)

I was better on oboe than piano and that became my instrument at Uni

[snorkle]

You simply can't say 'no way' just because you didn't. I know several children who did 2 grades a year up to about grade 5 and while they are very good and not typical they're still way off vanessa mae standard. At the other end of the spectrum you'll get kids who take several years per grade.

[lingle]

I think the OP is at risk of encouraging her daughter to "play to the exam" (equivalent of "teaching to the test"). Beware!!

Could you switch her (and her friend's) attention away from the exams and towards duets? After all, if they aren't communicating through music, what's the bloody point?? (as the famous cellist said in that groovy X-factor type program where the virtuosic violin player got booted out because she played as if she was practising for an exam).

Yours discordantly,

lingle

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

Do you mean Victoria, Lingle? Her mum was SCARY!

[fortyplus]

Practice is the key! If she practises 20 mins per day then a grade a year is achievable. Ds2 hardly practised at all at first so was learning for 2.5 years before he took grade 1. He enjoys it more now and makes far more rapid progress. I think grade 1 is the hardest to work towards but by then they've laid the foundations iykwim and it's all down to whether they actually want to play & learn.

[flowerybeanbag]

Depends totally on the individual. I started the viola quite late, about 12 I think I was, and did my grade 8 when I was 17 iirc, with various grades in between starting at 3, didn't do all of them. Skipped 4 and 6 I think.

[flowerybeanbag]

Oh, and I'm definitely not Vanessa Mae by any stretch of the imagination/ear!

[lingle]

Victoria! that was it! played much better than the blonde girl, but non-musicians felt the blonde girl was better because she played TO people rather than AT them....

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

I liked the blonde girl because she had to work in a pub to pay for her lessons and was clearly really self-motivated, whereas Victoria was completely driven by her mother's expectations.

[singersgirl]

It took DS1 (just 10 and not particularly musical in terms of pitch and rhythm) nearly 2 years to get to Grade 1 trumpet, but that was because for the first year he didn't really practise. His v. musical friend did Grade 1 in a year and Grade 2 two terms later. Once DS1 started doing 10-15 minutes 5 times a week or more, he improved massively. He's now preparing for Grade 3 and has missed out Grade 2. So he'll effectively do 2 grades in 3 or 4 terms, without taking one of the exams.

DS2 (just 7)has been playing the piano since February and is doing his prelim this term.