Kids music lessons - (merged)

MickKnipfler

Is that 30 mins or an hour?

cheekymole

My DD does violin at school and is ready to take her Grade 1 exam.
It is going to cost £52 and involve a lot of travelling.
My question is...

Does she need to take exams to progress or can she continue to thrive without them?

Thanks in advance

CMx

Gabriel-Ernest

Depends how serious she is about it - I did all 8 Grades on the violin while at school. It's an excellent way to measure progress, will stand her in good stead if she goes on to choose music as an option at school, and will open the door to playing in youth orchestras. Without Grades, she'll have an uphill struggle to prove her violin ability.

looneyleo

This is difficult when you are on a budget. I played two instruments when I was younger - the electric organ and clarinet. I got to grade 8 on the organ, but didn't take any on the clarinet - probably down to money although only my mum would know! I have to say, I always wondered how good I actually was on the clarinet because I had no gauge and yet on the organ I felt a massive sense of achievement when i got the grade 8. You aren't just paying for a certificate, it will give your child a sense of achievement and pride and something to work towards. it will also give them confidence in themselves because these things are very nerve racking having to play in front of a stranger in a test situation. I would if at all possible advise you to go with your child's talents and help them achieve their potential. You could maybe ask if they could miss the odd grade...I know I missed grade 3 and grade 6 just jumping to the next one. good luck

Justie

she doesn't need to do them and below about a grade 3 there's not much point but it will depend if they'll let her opt in at a higher grade later or not. If she wants to continue playing it's a good way of encouraging her as she can see her progress and if she ever wants to do music at A Level or uni then grades will be looked at. As you go further on in grades you have to do theory too which is a good skill to have. £52 sounds like a lot of money though it's a long time since I did any grades but it wasn't very expensive then and there were various places locally where we could do them.

chrisw2k

I remember our music teacher in school recommending we skip grades 1 and 2 and work towards grade 3...

themaccas

I echo what has been said above, anything below grade 5 isn't really worth the expense. My music teacher used to put us into that one if we wanted to take music exams. At the end of the day though I reached grade 8 and most of what I had to learn for it was complete rubbish and I never use it now(scales and things)! I just play!

Sus1e

I did music lessons and started doing the exams at grade 3.....

I know that Universities etc look on having "extras" such as music exams favourably in the applications as it shows the applicant can apply them selves and has interests outside of school etc.

I would wait until grade 3 personally

Sensemaya

cheekymole wrote:

My DD does violin at school and is ready to take her Grade 1 exam.
It is going to cost £52 and involve a lot of travelling.
My question is...

Does she need to take exams to progress or can she continue to thrive without them?

Thanks in advance

CMx

£52 is an awful lot of money to sit G1.I presume the teacher is charging you an accompanient's fee. The ABRSM rate is £27 for the practical. The other music schools, like London College and the newly amalgamated Trinity and Guildhall are comparative.

Why is there a lot of travelling involved? If the exam centre is too far away the teacher can phone up the ABRSM ( I tend to stick with them ) and rearrange another appointment at a nearer centre...but then you have the accompanient's needs to take into consideration.

To answer your question:

IMO ( and to echo the other replies ) I would skip G1 & 2 and aim for G3. Please remember theory must be taught alongside, and again, I only enter pupils in for G5 which is classed as an alternative to GCSE...preferring to work through past papers for lower grades ( and trusting parents to make sure the pupil sits each paper under exam conditions at home ) and then I mark the exam in the lesson.

I would have a word with the teacher.

http://www.abrsm.org/?page=home

cheekymole

Thank you ALL for your help.

Yes the exam is £27 and £25 for the pianist athough I still don't know why this is a requirement.
The travelling involved is that the exam can only be taken 10 miles away and she is required to go there 2 or 3 times beforehand to practise with the pianist.
Also the exam is during school time which I'm not keen on and the practise sessions are not known yet which means she could miss other things i.e. dance, swimming etc
I am going in to see her teacher on Thursday (the only time he is there) to see what he says