Need to come up with a stress free schedule, sorry to bore! Options

[madbassoonist]

Shepherds' Hey ? Surely that is worse than the teddy bears? I think daughter 1 did it for a clarinet exam. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Steady on. That's a FINE morris tune. Rubbish on bassoon I would have thought. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

NOTHING is rubbish on a bassoon.

Interesting perhaps, but not rubbish!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
off topic - whoops! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

[sbhoa]

Just had a thought!

If the pieces are in a certain key/s is it unlikely that the scale or it's relative be asked for?

I doubt it would have much bearing.

[tonedeafmum]

Sorry to hijack MusicalNitWit's stress free thread (she's in gin-soaked in London anyway and hopefully won't notice (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) ) but here at Tonedeaf Manor we are still battling the evil Grade 5 aural (Paul Harris notwithstanding).

Dreadful Daughter has now announced that she will be playing piano rather than singing back - she assures me this is easier for her but it fills me with dread. Under stress she has the musical memory of a goldfish with a hearing aid and now presumably she will have to keep the melody in her head while circumnavigating the piano and swapping seats with the examiner!

Should I encourage her to sing instead? - she has very good pitch.

ExHusband is right - we should have got ferrets instead. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

[andante]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) I'm sure ferrets come with problems of their own.

Two of mine announced to the teacher tonight that they don't want to sit their grade six exams this term. (Well that's saved me a packet!) Alarmingly the teacher was heard muttering something about doing the same as another pupil who went straight from grade 5 to grade 8 in a very short space of time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) Son is already working on grade 7 work, so missing grade 6 out will probably prevent treading water this term and give him something meaty to work at over the summer.

[Roseau]

Dreadful Daughter has now announced that she will be playing piano rather than singing back - she assures me this is easier for her but it fills me with dread. Under stress she has the musical memory of a goldfish with a hearing aid and now presumably she will have to keep the melody in her head while circumnavigating the piano and swapping seats with the examiner!

Should I encourage her to sing instead? - she has very good pitch.

I'm not sure how much time you have between now and the exam but how about proposing the following arrangement. You will teach her/ let her practise playing it back on the piano for the next two weeks (or longer if you have time) provided that after this time period is up she will then have a go at singing and for the last two weeks before your exam alternate one day playing back, one day singing back.

I was older than your daughter but my piano teacher did something similar with me when I refused to sing as a teenager. In the past you used to be able to do keyboard tests for grades 6 to 8 instead of singing. I was so paranoid about singing that I didn't even want to do an exam. In the end he said that the keyboard tests were harder than singing but that the would teach me to do them provided that when I could do them satisfactorily I would then let him teach me the aural tests, including the singing and that he would leave me to decide the day of the exam what I wanted to do. Even when I went into the exam room I hadn't decided what I was going to do, but when the examiner asked me I opted for the aural tests and got a much higher score than any of my previous exams. I think the fact that I knew I had another viable option removed some of the fear and that I subconsciously realised (even if I wasn't going to admit it) that my teacher was right and the aural tests were the easier option.

[Flossie]

I'd do arpeggios and scales in the same keys consecutively - they're kind of reinforcing. so when I just give a key, that's scale AND arpeggio, and tongued AND slurred if time, otherwise alternate each one.

These scales seem harder than when I did my G5, by the way! How about this for groupings?

G maj, E maj, B min, chromatics, D dom
F, Bb, Bb dom, Eb, Ab, Fmin, C dom
A, A min, C# min, F#min, Bb min, diminished 7th

This is sensible, but make sure he doesn't always practice the scales in the same order. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The examiner can ask for the scales in any order, so you don't want him to be in a position where (for example) he can only play F#minor if it follows C#minor.

[Roseau]

I'd do arpeggios and scales in the same keys consecutively - they're kind of reinforcing. so when I just give a key, that's scale AND arpeggio, and tongued AND slurred if time, otherwise alternate each one.

These scales seem harder than when I did my G5, by the way! How about this for groupings?

G maj, E maj, B min, chromatics, D dom
F, Bb, Bb dom, Eb, Ab, Fmin, C dom
A, A min, C# min, F#min, Bb min, diminished 7th

This is sensible, but make sure he doesn't always practice the scales in the same order. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The examiner can ask for the scales in any order, so you don't want him to be in a position where (for example) he can only play F#minor if it follows C#minor.

I had a similar 3 day schedule years ago for a piano exam. I was supposed to play each group 2 days during the week and on the 7th day pick them out of an enveloppe at random.

[sbhoa]

I'd group scales in related pairs as far as possible to help in learning which share the same key signature.
you make a good point about order Flossie but I tried for some time to follow this advice in the run up to my clarinet exam and it just didn't work for me. I needed a more ordered approach.

[MusicalNitWit]

I'd group scales in related pairs as far as possible to help in learning which share the same key signature.
you make a good point about order Flossie but I tried for some time to follow this advice in the run up to my clarinet exam and it just didn't work for me. I needed a more ordered approach.

Er... MNW doesn't know what that means, does that mean relative minors so Db major and Bb minor for example? What about the ones that don't have a relative as a requirement, where should they be grouped?

And being totally thick, can someone write out a timetable for me and post it on this thread as I'm going round in circles with all this excellent advice...and, ahem, gin...

Tonedaftmum, was that should of had ferrets instead of children? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[anacrusis]

I'd stick to the gin, and let son deal with the tonic (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

MNW I think you really need to devise your own timetable - because it needs to fit in with whatever else you have going on - and the other thing I'd say is this - normal life, with normal kids, involves the unexpected, again and again. Timetable too rigidly, and you end up very very frazzled indeed - it's a recipe for feeling inadequate, and will almost certainly lead to you missing out on enjoying what kids bring to life.

Typical unexpecteds in anacrusis' household - kid one breaks bone in foot and two hours spent in A/E waiting to be xrayed and sorted, ballet put on hold until metatarsal mended, unfortunately this though co-inciding with the time kid one wanted to audition for Scottish Ballet Junior associates: kid two, unexpectedly sociable considering the parental genetics, expert at producing last minute arrangements which need to be worked round and reworked round: spouse needing to go off on recce to the other end of the country to see a man about a harpsichord, week of visit changed with very little notice because of some other gremlin in man-about-harpsichord's life, resulting in multiple rejigging of childcare, collection times, music lesson times even: self trying to meet requirement to do thirty hours' study for annual appraisal, having to squish in four evenings at the local hospital and a weekend away because so many other events got in the way the rest of the year.....it's normal family chaos in other words. We growl and grumble a bit, and try to get most of the stuff done we wanted to, but a formal timetable would drive me scatty: since you find timetabling useful, it's also best of you put that together on the basis of the advice given, so that it best suits your needs. And hopefully also your son's in the process.

[SueHM]

29 scales/arpeggios to do over 3 practice sessions: Square brackets = related keys

1st session - concentrate on 'flat' keys (10 items)

Bb major, Eb major, [Ab major and F minor] scales and arpeggios, Bb minor, plus Dominant 7th in Bb

2nd session - concentrate on 'sharp' keys (10 items)

G major, A minor, B minor, [A major + F sharp minor]

3rd session - remaining sharp keys and other bits and pieces (9 items)

[E major + C sharp minor] Dominant 7ths in C and D, Diminished 7th on E, Chromatics on C and A

Don’t think I’ve missed anything out...

Alternatively,

Session 1 : major scales and arpeggios taken in a logical sequence (14 items)

F Bb Eb Ab

G A E

Session 2 : minor scales and arpeggios ditto (14 items)

A B F sharp C sharp

C F Bb

Session 3: Other patterns (6 items)

Dominant 7ths in Bb C D

Diminished 7th on E

Chromatics on C and A

Perhaps worth doing different combinations on different weeks and then doing the random selection thing once he is more confident?

EDIT : I can’t count, but you get the general idea….

[MusicalNitWit]

Anacrusis! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Thankfully (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) two out of three men are not around until each weekend so apart from potential cycling into car with blood everywhere scenario we are usually not too bad with our timetable. We lead a dull life... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

SueHm - you need a pay rise! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

I will go an practice now in gratitude! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[Dulcet]

29 scales/arpeggios to do over 3 practice sessions: Square brackets = related keys

1st session - concentrate on 'flat' keys (10 items)

Bb major, Eb major, [Ab major and F minor] scales and arpeggios, Bb minor, plus Dominant 7th in Bb

2nd session - concentrate on 'sharp' keys (10 items)

G major, A minor, B minor, [A major + F sharp minor]

3rd session - remaining sharp keys and other bits and pieces (9 items)

[E major + C sharp minor] Dominant 7ths in C and D, Diminished 7th on E, Chromatics on C and A

Don?t think I?ve missed anything out...

Alternatively,

Session 1 : major scales and arpeggios taken in a logical sequence (14 items)

F Bb Eb Ab

G A E

Session 2 : minor scales and arpeggios ditto (14 items)

A B F sharp C sharp

C F Bb

Session 3: Other patterns (6 items)

Dominant 7ths in Bb C D

Diminished 7th on E

Chromatics on C and A

Perhaps worth doing different combinations on different weeks and then doing the random selection thing once he is more confident?

EDIT : I can?t count, but you get the general idea?.

I like both of these! You can tell I'm not a proper musician, I tried to be systematic but I don't know enough :-(

[MusicalNitWit]

DS has been picked to play cricket so that's Wednesdays out!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[Arundodonuts]

I'd group scales in related pairs as far as possible to help in learning which share the same key signature.
you make a good point about order Flossie but I tried for some time to follow this advice in the run up to my clarinet exam and it just didn't work for me. I needed a more ordered approach.

I agree with sbhoa. I did attempt pairing "parallel" scales at one point (e.g. Bmaj and Bmin) but decided that, for me at any rate, it was necessary to embed the key signatures. Relative scales help in that respect. Now with exam time approaching and scales up to a reasonable speed I am going for a random selection with a view to reducing the thinking time between being asked a scale and actually producing it.