How Long?, Period of Time To finish each Grade Options

[jimmybvilla]

I am a new teacher and I want to know the range of time period for a student to finish Grade 1 and each grade.
Does it follow the academic year? That is one year for each grade? How about for gifted students? I am talking about children below 10 years old.

[maggiemay]

Nothing so rigid as that. It depends on the student (and on the instrument). There is no need for it to follow the academic year.

Most of mine take around 2 years to get to grade one. Not all students take all grades.

[Belinda]

A good youngster can easily do more than one grade a year. I know a boy gifted at flute and piano who will be taking grade 2 violin after 6-7 months, from scratch. Started flute 4 years ago, did grade 5 after less than 3 years, about to do grade 8 (aged 12). Always gets distinction. Depends totally on the child.

[petrat]

Don't you just love the term from scratch when applied to learning the violin? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) It depends on many things and there is no hard and fast rule for how many grades should be taken and how often. A pianist will usually take far longer to get to the first grade than a singer or a woodwind player, but if the piano is a second instrument the progress is often faster. Let the children enjoy learning and enter them for an ocassional exam if that if their wish, and yours of course, but don't let grade exams be your only course of study. Exams should be introduced at the end of a course of study and if a pupil has learnt to sight read and has a good basic technique, is fluent in some scales and arpeggios and can learn pieces of the grade one standard quickly then they will be ready to begin the exam work and not before in my opinion. Very good luck with your teaching and welcome to the forum.

[barry-clari]

I am a new teacher and I want to know the range of time period for a student to finish Grade 1 and each grade.
Does it follow the academic year? That is one year for each grade? How about for gifted students? I am talking about children below 10 years old.

Don't time it as rigidly as that. It depends on the individual. Some will progress quickly, some less quickly.

Agree with posts above that say that a pupil should be entered for a grade when they can comfortably cope with all that the grade entails. Chasing after a target can be stressful (ie entering someone for, say, grade 2 when they're not quite there yet).

[Dulciana]

Parents who have a child learning an instrument for the first time are always very keen to know when he/she will be 'ready to do grades', and there isn't really an answer. Some could almost tackle Grade One a few weeks after starting, but it's not the norm, and others may never be able to polish three pieces and all the rest of it at once at all. And there's always the question of whether doing every grade is the best thing anyway. I agree with those above, whom I know don't think it is the best, but in reality it can be exams that motivate children to pull out a few extra stops with regard to practice, so we have to be pragmatic.

About sightreading - I have a few pupils who would never have done any exams at all if I'd waited till their sightreading was up to the standard of the grade at which they were playing otherwise, but they have none the less got very good marks for all the other sections of the exam. We've had numerous discussions on whether people are natural readers, improvisers or memorisers, and I don't think the memorisers should be held back or made to feel that their abilities are 'below standard'. We don't watch concert pianists sightreading - or playing scales for that matter. I have a pupil whose other instrumental teacher seems to belittle him a bit because of his poor sighteading ability, and doesn't enter him for exams because of it. As a result he lacks confidence in his playing ability generally in that instrument, whereas I try to make him see that his ability to memorise is something that is superior to mine and to make him understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. He can be an erratic practiser, but the mention of an exam usually means that he will do wonders in a few weeks. Meanwhile I live in hope that the sighreading will kick in at some stage, but I wouldn't hold him back because of it.

[carol*piano]

About sightreading - I have a few pupils who would never have done any exams at all if I'd waited till their sightreading was up to the standard of the grade at which they were playing otherwise, but they have none the less got very good marks for all the other sections of the exam.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

[pianodub]

About sightreading - I have a few pupils who would never have done any exams at all if I'd waited till their sightreading was up to the standard of the grade at which they were playing otherwise, but they have none the less got very good marks for all the other sections of the exam.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

I also agree! I have the first of the students I started taking grade 6 this term (very pleased and also quite nervous!). She is very musical and should play very well as well as doing well in scales and aural tests. Sightreading on the other hand is not a strong point. Possibly because she plays by ear a lot in her spare time. We keep working on it, hopefully it will click eventually!

[jimmybvilla]

Parents who have a child learning an instrument for the first time are always very keen to know when he/she will be 'ready to do grades', and there isn't really an answer. Some could almost tackle Grade One a few weeks after starting, but it's not the norm, and others may never be able to polish three pieces and all the rest of it at once at all. And there's always the question of whether doing every grade is the best thing anyway. I agree with those above, whom I know don't think it is the best, but in reality it can be exams that motivate children to pull out a few extra stops with regard to practice, so we have to be pragmatic.

About sightreading - I have a few pupils who would never have done any exams at all if I'd waited till their sightreading was up to the standard of the grade at which they were playing otherwise, but they have none the less got very good marks for all the other sections of the exam. We've had numerous discussions on whether people are natural readers, improvisers or memorisers, and I don't think the memorisers should be held back or made to feel that their abilities are 'below standard'. We don't watch concert pianists sightreading - or playing scales for that matter. I have a pupil whose other instrumental teacher seems to belittle him a bit because of his poor sighteading ability, and doesn't enter him for exams because of it. As a result he lacks confidence in his playing ability generally in that instrument, whereas I try to make him see that his ability to memorise is something that is superior to mine and to make him understand that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. He can be an erratic practiser, but the mention of an exam usually means that he will do wonders in a few weeks. Meanwhile I live in hope that the sighreading will kick in at some stage, but I wouldn't hold him back because of it.

That is certainly true. I have a niece who has taken 6 years of piano but cannot yet sight read. She has very good ears and can memorize hard pieces quickly.

I am sorry I did not indicate the instrument but it is a violin. I have heard of teachers who put emphasis on position or posture and sound and will not let a student proceed until it is satisfactory to her standard. I have also a friend who took viola lessons and spent 3 months just on bowing. My first violin student have had piano lessons for a year and can sight read in 6 months.

For my second and third student I plan to spend time on producing good sound and correct position, correct bowing. Since my students are 6 and 10 years old, they get tired easily-10 minutes in the correct position and they drift to their own comfortable position. That is the scroll pointing down, palm of left hand on the neck, violin perpendicular to chest. bow hold changed. Yet the sound seems better in this bad position. It is frustrating. How long should I be patient? Why are some kids their age playing concerto pieces in Youtube?