Hi I thought I'd introduce myself here. I am Rhian, I am 36 and live in South Wales.

I have 4 daughters aged 10, 7, 3 and 1. My eldest two daughters are doing Grade 1 piano next Tuesday.

I am nervous for them, especially for the 7 yr old. She is having particular difficulty with the aural part, especially where she has to clap a rhythm and say whether the count is 2/4 or 3/4 time.

I learnt a bit of piano as a child, but didn't even do Grade 1!! Although I feel I am learning a lot as I am able to sit in on their lessons which helps me a lot with their practice at home!

Well I think thats enough about me now!!

Hello and welcome.
Good luck to your girls for their exam.
Maybe you'll get back into learning for yourself some time.
There's an active Adult Learner board on here.

Welcome.

Make sure your daughter knows whether to say "two time" or "three time" rather than give a specific time signature.

I presume they're doing a few different pieces between them. What are their favourites?

and good luck to your daughters for their exams

They're doing one piece the same - Allegro in F. My favourite is Mini Rag which the 7 yr old is doing she's also doing Banges Herzion (sp!) which I think is quite difficult, she can only just reach the peddle, lol! The 10 yr old is also doing andante and The Old Cuckoo clock - that is my least favourite piece, lol!

I really don't think it would matter much at Grade I - full understanding of the time signature usually comes later. 6/8 isn't included, so if it did happen to be 2/2 or 3/2 for example the examiner would know what was meant.

Welcome to the forums Rhian

Hope your daughters do well in their exams!

Hello, and best of luck!

The Forums are a good place for uneasy pre-exam parent moments that you don't want to show your kids...I'm sure I wandered in here before my son's first exam, because he wasn't too keen on reading music (hence my forums name)...

Hello Rhian and welcome.

Some of us thought the grade one pieces were - um - on the hard side this time - so well done to your daughters for tackling them. I had one pupil doing it last term - she did Mozart, Andante and Cuckoo Clock - although she had learnt Mini Rag too which I like. Good luck to your two !

ps - apologies for originally mis-spelling your forum name .

Thanks all of you for your replies!

I do feel really nervous for them, more so I think because I never got this far!

It is quite comforting to know that these pieces are quite difficult though!

Will it be taken into consideration that one daughter is only 7? Do they take the age of the candidate into consideration?

Thanks!

I'm pretty certain they don't take age into account, but on the plus side, I think it's fair to say that the examiners are normally a pretty understanding bunch and they know people of whatever age can be nervous and try to put them at their ease. I'm not in this situation myself, but I gather that children are often less nervous about the exam though than their parents, and as all ears said, it's good for parents to be able to come on here and get their nerves off their chest so to speak - it must be very difficult trying to maintain a calm and confident exterior in front of the children! Glad you've found the forums, and hope you find them useful

Hi there

Good luck to your daughters!

The board doesn't take age into consideration but don't worry about it, as your daughter's teacher wouldn't enter her if she didn't think she'd meet the standard

No age isn't taken into consideration I'm afraid - or else grade 1 wouldn't be a universal standard. If someone is too young to play in an exam, then they are not at the necessary standard to have the label of "grade 1".

Still I'm sure your daughter will be fine, it should be a fun experience for her, especially if she's too young to realise that she 'should' be afraid, and I'd think that most examiners would be especially kind to very young/nervous candidates, although their age won't have an impact on the results.

Welcome to the forums! Maybe in a few years your daughters might join too!

Thank you so much for the warm welcome all of you, I'll certainly keep popping ing here as the further they go on, the more I am left behind! I would LOVE to have piano lessons myself too though, but can't afford it I am thoroughly enjoying thir lessons, lol

I'll definitely keep coming in here and asking for help, and keeping people up to date on how my daughters are doing!

Hello and welcome and good luck to your daughters.
Ben again.

Welcome to the Forums, and the best of luck to your daughters.

I often say to my pupils' parents in the exam waiting room that I've sat there as parent, teacher and candidate, and the parent role is the hardest by far! It's because as parents we are one-removed from the action: the teacher knows what his/her pupils can do; the candidate just has to go and do it. But all the parent can do is wait, hide our nerves and be ready with a big smile at the end.

, and best of luck to your daughters!

Welcome!

Welcome, and good luck to your daughters!