i finally got my results from my grade 6 violin
i got 122
quite pleaseddd
apparently the examiner was really harsh too... i was the highest result of my teacher's pupils - she usually gets all distinctions!

i wish i got a few marks more...! but not bad after a year and a bit of playing violin

looking forwards to grade 8 now will work like crazy for it!

WOW!!!

Congratulations

That's a great achievement for such a short time - well done you, you must have worked very very hard

Are you going to study music at college?

Well done, that's great!

That's fantatsic..... well done....

Thanks guys
And yes Lottie i'm hoping to study music at college Violin hopefully. I'm taking a year out first though!

Well done!

I remember you just starting and it seems like only yesterday! In fact, it wasn't that many months, was it? You must have really taken to it, good on you!

I reckon I'd take to my viola better if I practised more..... But I do intend to take Grade 1 before I leave for Taiwan and, if we don't go until 2010, I plan on taking Grade 2 as well - plus theory up to Grade 5. It's good to have goals, no?

Thanks And it's been like a year and 4 months now It actually genuinelly seems like i've been playing forever, it's soooo weird to imagine that i didn't used to play violin infact i used to hate violin >_< weird. i could never live without it now!!!
And those are some good goals, i think you can do it!

Yup, I think I can do it too. All depends on time and timing. Learning is a bit more complex after school/college/uni days!!

So, have you got a place at music coll/uni yet?

Juggling a job with practice is a real test of good time management and committment. I don't think anyone in full-time education realises just how much time they've got to themselves, until they leave and start a job.

I agree that it's so much easier to find time at school age. Even though i have loads on school, 3 or 4 orchestras, a job and 10 hours a week of gymnastics training - and i still manage to fit in like 2 hours practise a day!! No time whatsoever for a life mind O_O I'm lucky that i can find the time to practise - it must be impossible with a full time job, family or whatever

And nope i haven't auditioned for music college/uni yet cause i'm taking a year out first I'm in my last year of school now, then i'm staying on for an extra year to do another A level.

Yup, Amanda is SO right! It's funny, but when I write down how much time I have, there seems to be almost as much as when I was living at home with mum etc, but the reality is quite different! Domestic tasks really swallow up a lot of time and you can find more stuff that needs doing without even trying that you would never notice or bother about as a 'child of the house'. In my experience, it's not the work time that makes the difference, it's running the home as well as the secular time.

Well, my music plans can now be worked towards as I found out that the Taiwan scholarship that I was interested in is out of reach. The kind Ministry of Education have added in the condition that anyone who's been learning Chinese there before can't apply - even if they weren't on a funded programme the first time, so we're not going for the foreseeable future, until we save up enough to pay for it all ourselves. So, this time next year, I hope to be the proud owners of theory grades 3-5 and viola grades 1&2, preferably all at at least merit level!! Might as well get on with other nice things, huh?

I'm out of the house from 8 til 6 and I find plenty of time to practise It's a matter of prioritising. Playing the viola and the flute is more important than doing the washing up, for example. It is also more important than writing my thesis

True I'd imagine it depends on your priorities.
If you're a professional musician obviously practise comes before most things! But if you just play sometimes for fun then there are other things that could come first i guess. Totally depends on where you put it on your priority list
Violin comes before eeeverything for me
I sound a bit weird

Though once i asked a teacher if i could leave his lesson (religious studies) to go to a music lesson. He said i couldn't go. I was prepared for an argument I said that it's against the rules for him to stop me going because i've paid for my lesson so am entitled to go. He was like 'ok so which is more important, music or lessons?' i was like 'music '

Obviously lessons are still immensely important But music is my main priority.

Yes, it's a fine balance of priorities and common sense. Obviously, in certain situations, there are times when things we don't like have to come before things we do. If we have much of our non-work time to please ourselves, then we can do so, but if we haven't, then if we were to please ourselves then, we have a problem with balancing priorities.

Mercifully, I have a sensible teacher who recognises that music is a hobby for most adult learners and doesn't push or nag. Wonderful woman!

Whilst I think that prioritising is important in finding time to practise I do think that having children changes the amount of time available. I often leave the washing-up until later but don't feel I can neglect my children in the same way as the housework.

Jolly good point! Children must come before all hobby things. I don't have any though, (kids, not hibbies - I have lots of hobbies!!), so that's one thing that's easier at least.

I just don't feel free to enjoy and really concentrate on my prac or any other 'fun' thing if there are outstanding chores to do. Dishes, at least, only take a few minutes, but a dirty kitchen will spoil my fun - I canNOT imagine it away!!! Dishes must be done and so on, then I can practise with impunity.

First of all a big well done to ffliwt. That's a fantastic acheivement and you should be really proud and pleased with what you've achieved.

I love playing the violin but the one thing that always worries me is the amount of time I have to practise - I always think I could do more but I do not have time to do more than 4-5 hours a week. Here's an average day - leave house at 7 to go to work get back between 5 and 6. Cook dinner and general household jobs - 1 hour (ish) another 1-2 hours work for next day then I can get on with some violin, but generally only till 9pm because I don't want to disturb the neighbours. That's before I try to have any quality time with husband, friends etc.

I'm willing to do it because I love playing the violin but I won't pretend it's not hard to find the time when I really do have limited time!