Fantastic! Where will she go from here?


Well done to your daughter, clarebear. It's all great experience and 128 is a very useful mark. Onwards and upwards!

Hopefully a good long period of consolidation and repertoire building now. Up until November time I taught her and she has just started to have some regular (once every 2/3 weeks) lessons with a trombone specialist rather than a general brass teacher such as myself so I am sure that her teacher has spotted lots of things to work on and develop. The beauty of having now passed her G8 is that the desire to "get my g8" has been sated and she can now explore so much more than just the exam rep etc.

More performance opportunities and festivals/competitions and recitals are probably what she needs now to gain more solo experience. She was a Regional Finalist in the Texaco Young Musician of Wales 2009 competition and yesterday competed at the Lions National Music Final in Birmingham but other than that she has not got much experience of performing 12 minute plus recitals/programmes under such conditions so looking for more of it really.

I kind of see getting your grade 8 a bit like passing your driving test - you only really start to learn about driving once you have got your bit of paper and are out there doing it.

How did the Lions final go in the end? I remember you agonising over that about a month ago, but it's such good experience for your daughter to perform to a large audience.

All the best to you both. I hope your daughter gets much pleasure from her playing for many years to come.

Hi

It was a great experience and she defintely didn't let herself down - she played very musically and had the chance to work with a fabulous accompanist so was definitely worth doing.

Hi I am a new mum to the forum, and just want to say thanks, have been reading some comments which have helped me with my daughter.
She plays piano and got her grade one in June 2007(aged 7) with 122 merit and has just recieved her results for grade 2, 140 distinction. we are really chuffed for her.
She has just started learning a brass instrument too and this seems to be going well.

Thanks again for all your useful advice.

Hi melodymum, I was the same,and decided to register too,my daughter got merit for grade 1,distinction for 2 and another high merit for 3, so similar to your daughter ,mine turned 10 yrs old in January.Although your daughter is taking another instument,thats fantastic ,well done to her.

Great to have some new parents around. Hope the Brass goes well.

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Good to hear Jamie likes playing in groups - I played for the Amington band in the 1st section in about 1995. A great bunch of people and some really good times.
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I'm sure many of the people you knew are still there. And yes, they are a great bunch of people. They are in the 3rd section this year and have their sights set higher.

Welcome to new members, and glad to hear that the new exam season is off to such a good start here on the Forums anyway.

Totally agree with Kixmusic about Grade 8...even just the process of selecting G.8 pieces is a wake-up call to the big, wide, world of MORE awe-inspiring music out there!

How long has your daughter played trombone? I am 11 as well. Although I passed my grade 5 piano exam when I was 10 last year with 138/150 and got 94/100 for my Grade 5 theory last week, your daughter is still much better than me because she got distinction for grade 8


Congratulations!

Well done on your results. They are fantastic.
While it is tempting to compare yourself to other people it is much harder to do than you might think. Instruments vary very much. For example with the piano you have to read two lines of music while with the trombone you need to develop physical skills to get good tone.
People's circumstances vary. One person might play only one instrument while the next person might play more than one instrument.
The most important thing is that this is just a step along the way. Of course the journey is very important but it doesn't tell you everything about the future.
The best musicians in the world are not necessarily the ones who got the highest marks on an exam at the earliest age. It just doesn't work like that.
My understanding is that the best musicians are the one's who practiced well in their early teen years and who maintain their interest in music.
Your results are fantastic. Stick with that.
Dora

Hi there

My daughter has been playing for 3 years and 3 months. She took her Grade 2 which was her first exam 3 years ago. It is important to remember that it is not a race to G8 - many things can be missed out along the way if the desire to reach G8 quickly takes over - it just so happened that my daughter reached the required level for G8 after this length of time playing and was happy to take the exam. We have a plan to consolidate all techniques and enhance repertoire for at least a year before thinking about any more trombone exams (ie diploma etc). She will continue to take her Euphonium exams and is currently preparing for her G7 in june but it feels like we have reached a milestone now and she can enjoy "just" playing now with the trombone.

I just had my daughters grade 2 piano exam result She had a distinction with 132 I am so happy for her, she came out of ther saying she played the best she could, but I was worried that she wouldn't do as well as she hoped - seems Iwas wrong and should have more faith!!

Congratulations to your daughter and to you as I know how much parents go through it with them.

Brilliant result, Rhian - congratulations to your daughter.

Well done to your daughter! I hope you all have a lovely treat prepared for the team effort!

P.S. Can I ask how the sight-reading went?

I have no idea yet how the sight reading went (you've got a good memory though, lol)

She result was online, so I think her teacher only knew the total mark, her piano lesson is next Wednesday so we should know then!!

I've jst had the breakdown of my daughters scores.

A1 - Rondo 28
B1 - Mazurka 27
C2 - Mozzie - 29 (she made a slip on one of the chords for this, so who knows if it could have been a 30!!)

Scales - 20
Sight reading - 14 so just a pass!
Aural - 14, teacher isn't sure quite what happened there, comment was errors in clapping and musical extract questions partially correct. Other tests well done.

So, very pleased with the marks, now we need to really work on the sight reading to bring it up to the same standard I think!

Thanks to everyone for all the help and advice you give, it really does help, and as she came home from school with a flute this week, expect more questions!!

Rhian, congratulations to your daughter!

Had to chuckle, that distribution of marks looked rather familiar!

I know someone who would be very similar except the higher mark definately for sightreading and lower for scales.

We've begun the wait all over again....

G7 Oboe bordering on disaster as Emsoboe had a really bad virus. Her first piece wasn't too effected but she just about managed to cough in all the right places on her second(in the rests). Had difficulty with the sightsinging.

Not sure how Piano will be as she did G5 in a term skipping G4.

Dear Notmusimum,

Is it an all fingers and toes crossed situation??

I hope it doesn't affect the mark too much.

Have to keep positive so hopefully it won't be too bad

I'll keep everything crossed. I guess sometimes stuff just happens. At least she has plenty of time to either take it again or move onwards and upwards if the result isn't what she wants.
Dora

Hmm. I seem to remember you thinking her grade 7 recorder had been a distaster - and if I remember rightly she got around 127 for it. She's probably done a lot better than you're thinking.

Grade 7 Recorder was worrying as the Recorder was flat. the examiner picked up on it in the exam but I suspect the only marks she lost on this was due to playing back on the instrument during the aural (there's a reason that I won't go into that I think this).

I'm not worried in anyway that she will fail Oboe, it's probably the strongest of her instruments just now. Recorder was a much bigger concern, mainly because she didn't have any specialist Recorder tuition at all before taking G7. This in itself was always going to effect the mark to some degree.

Her Oboe teacher is a specialist so I know she was on the right lines with the pieces. The examiner was very sympathetic towards her situation which I am very grateful for. Will just have to wait and see the outcome. Being an old hand at exams she played her best piece and the one with no rests first as she knew the longer she played the worse it would be. In the second piece she coughed in all the right places (during rests). The examiner looked at her study both before and after she played it, just hoping he hasn't heard that particular one before and there's nothing wrong. We have got the Cd and she used some ideas from there so it can't be wildly wrong.

She really wanted to get a distinction as we are applying for bursaries for a Cor. At the end of the day she'll just have to take what comes.

The last exam she did earlier this session ended with a conversation with the examiner I wonder if things will run smoothly next time.

It sounds as if it won't affect the mark too much. On of my Oboe keys filled up with water and affected the performance a bit in my exam but that (probably) didn't mean less marks. The piece affected still got 28 and the overall mark was a distinction so it's possible as long as all the other stuff was good.

The examiner was very nice about it though. I needed to go out of the exam room to get my pull through and my teacher sorted it out in the end but he didn't hurry us up or anything.

Finally got Beth's Grade 3 Piano Result. She got 123.
I don't have the breakdown yet but it compares well with the 124 she got for Grade 2 last year.
We are pleased.
She has decided to try for the Grade 6 Sax in July. She can do it at a special visit at school, I didn't think of that earlier, which means it will be about 20th July which is just as well.
She has two pieces sorted and is on her way with the third but the sight reading looks much harder than the Grade 5 and I don't suppose the aural will be any easier.
A pass will be an amazing achievement.
This does mean that we have had a practical exam at every sitting since Autumn 06 and Grade 4 piano for both children is likely in the Autumn so there is no let up in sight just yet.
Dora

Congratulations to Beth on the Piano result.

Hope G6 Sax goes well. Emsoboe is looking at doing G7 Sax in July and G8 recorder in autumn. Your post made me work out when her first exams were, July 05, and she's had more than one every session since. I think we must be mad!!

How many exams has emsoboe done in total?

Well you didn't ask me but I just totted it all up.
Beth has done:
Piano 3
Flute 4
Sax 2
Theory 2
Which is 11 and I think she has 11 more to do unless she takes up another instrument which I don't think she should. Beth was 12 in mid April.

Jamie has done:
Piano 3
Cornet 4
Theory 1
I don't know how many more he will do. He is 13.

Do you want to share how many you have done?
Dora

Gosh! The cost of ABRSM exams in Japan makes that kind of schedule out of question...for Viohazard, the total over about 5 years is:
1 theory
2 violin (grades 5 and 8)
2 guitar (grade 5 and about to take grade 8)

Maybe a piano or higher theory exam in future, if needed for tertiary studies.

Do you really expect me to work that one out

I think that would be much easier on the nerves. I only go along with what teachers and children want to do. I would vote for Grade 5 and Grade 8 only.
I particularly would appreciate much more breathing space for aural work.
Dora

I think this is the best way to do it but unfortunately too many instruments and choice of teachers means it hasn't worked like that for us. I suspect this has mostly happened because lessons were through the Music Service - so few take higher grades or more than one exam a year, age and speed of progress.

On the other hand, I think that being familiar with exams helps boost the marks (Though there's always some unaccounted for ups and downs anyway).

I don't know that having fewer exams has reduced the stress, unfortunately - that uneasy feeling of not knowing quite what's involved or expected isn't very relaxing. I guess if you are with a teacher who is very familiar with the exams then doing just one or two might be ideal.

Wow - that's a lot of exams Well done to Beth and Jamie

I've done 2 and I'm 23

Hi Dora,

My son is 7 and is just about to have a few trial Cornet lessons. We're very excited at home as no-one plays any Brass. My late Father was very accomplished on the Cornet and my Mother is convinced that my Son has the same shaped mouth !!?? Just wondered whether you think he might be too young to start? and whether you have any advice. He is just stopping violin as he didn't take to it and so we're really hoping that Cornet might be his thing! I also wondered how hold Beth was when she did Grade 5 theory? I am assuming that she has done it to be planning grade 6 sax.

Jamie and Beth started with cornets/flugal horns aged 5. But at 7 (Beth) and 8 (Jamie) they were thrown out of a brass band as lacking ability and committment. Got to love people.
7 is not too young but it is pretty young. If he is keen go for it. Both mine wanted to play.
Beth was just 11 when she did the Theory. She has a serious learning disability which is largely language based and still managed to do it.
Younger children pass Grade 5 Theory.
My real advice is to find a group to play with.
Have fun.
Dora

i have done:

violin - 1,2,3,4,5,7,8 (7)
piano - 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 (7)
recorder - 2,3 (2)
theory 5,6,8 (3)

so thats 19 and one more (grade 8 viola) to come.

Good luck
Dora