Failing Grade 1 piano exam

[sandunes]

I also think something is not right. Has your friend looked through the examiner’s report? What did it say? From there, she would be able to understand why her ds didn’t do well.


If her ds is still interested in piano, I would suggest changing a teacher/ school. Take a break from taking exams (to build his confidence). Take it when he is ready. He does not have to re-take G1. Just take whichever grade he is ready for then.

[phankao]

titank:

Wow can jump Grade where do not have to take Grade by Grade?

Like that can we take G1 then jum G4 after that straight to G8? :celebrate:

Why cannot? Not piano, but my ds took G4 and then did G8.

[joyofmusic]

Wow, it must have been very demoralising for the poor boy to have failed grade 1 after 5 years of learning.


It’s difficult to say whose fault it is. But here are some possible reasons.

1. The child has been poorly taught, which may mean that the teacher lacks the knowledge and skill herself/himself. I know that there are quite a few of such teachers that exist.

2. The child is not interested and therefore didn’t practise.

3. The child is not ready. But like what some of you have pointed out, I feel that if the child is not ready, the teacher should have let the parents know and not make him take the exam. On the other hand, I’m wondering if the parents’ insisted on the exam?

Five years may seem a long time to take to reach grade 1. But for some children, this may be the time needed for them to acquire a strong basic foundation. This requires much patience on the part of the child, parent and teacher. My elder daughter took exactly that long (5 years) to do her Grade 1. She was almost 10. It didn’t bother me if she ended up not taking exams, but her friends bothered her and kept remarking "learn so long still grade 0?". So she took her G1 and scored a disctinction. She was very motivated by her results and wanted to skip grade 2. So the next year, she sat for G3, and again scored a distinction (in fact, scored 6 marks higher in G3). I think taking 5 years to develp technique and musicality was worth it for her and has paid off. In the case of KoalaMummy’s friend’s son, it may be that he needs more time. But it’s very possible too that the teacher has not been teaching him correctly.

[happymom_aa]

phankao:

titank:

Wow can jump Grade where do not have to take Grade by Grade?

Like that can we take G1 then jum G4 after that straight to G8? :celebrate:

Why cannot? Not piano, but my ds took G4 and then did G8.

Can? DS piano teacher wanted grade-by-grade.
Even if I don't want DS to do grade-by-grade, she insisted that piano lessons to be covered grade-by-grade.

Recent G2 exam, DS did quite badly for the pieces, which the teacher said DS is ready for the pieces before exam. After results, checked with her again, told me not enough practices for the pieces ... i was :!: :stupid:

[phankao]

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[phankao]

happymom_aa:

Can? DS piano teacher wanted grade-by-grade.
Even if I don't want DS to do grade-by-grade, she insisted that piano lessons to be covered grade-by-grade.

Haha , my dd took every grade from 1 to 8, taking one grade very year, failing grades 1 & 4 and never repeated them. No big deal lah. Anyway, it depends on how you look at it. I knew my dd was not a great talent on the piano, so I just left her at her own pace.

My ds are somewhat different in their ability with rgds to music, so have skipped. He didn't cover every grade's syllabus in between. But the teacher had confidence in him. The younger ds skipped too but his tr does cover the grade-by-grade syllabus, just at accelerated pace. So for them, after 5 years, they are doing gr 8.

Now, I cannot imagine - why do teachers ask much older kids to do Grade 1 exams? Esp if they have been learning for 5 years? I thot most teachers would straightaway start their older kids (not the preschoolers) at grade 2 or grade 3 and work the kids towards it.

[MMM]

Yah it’s not necessary to do all grades.


Eg. my kids just did their grade 1 after 5 years. I feel that these 5 years were not spent on preparing grade 1 but rather, we weren’t keen to pursue grading and lso we just let them learn at their own pace and enjoy.

But at certain age when they are more pressured by friends, they would demand for grading exams. I thought it’s better for that to happen than for me to "force" them to do it.

I spoke to their teachers before and both wanted them to do grade 1 to expose them to exam environment. Most likely they will skip grade 2 and go to grade 3 next.

[chloe_javier]

titank:

Wow can jump Grade where do not have to take Grade by Grade?

Like that can we take G1 then jum G4 after that straight to G8? :celebrate:

The students need to go thru the Grade 2-4 pieces standard before they take Grade 4 exam. After passed Grade 4, then let them try Grade 5-6 pieces standard.
It's really depends on the students ability...Teacher qualification also plays important part..The higher grade students achieve the teacher/ school will be very happy coz they can charge higher fees.

[phankao]

chloe_javier:

titank:

Wow can jump Grade where do not have to take Grade by Grade?

Like that can we take G1 then jum G4 after that straight to G8? :celebrate:

The students need to go thru the Grade 2-4 pieces standard before they take Grade 4 exam. After passed Grade 4, then let them try Grade 5-6 pieces standard.
It's really depends on the students ability...Teacher qualification also plays important part..The higher grade students achieve the teacher/ school will be very happy coz they can charge higher fees.

It really depends on the teacher, whether to do grade-by-grade and not the exam, or really to skip grade and do \"fill gaps\". It's really up to the teacher to guage the child's standard and ability too. It's never the same for all teacher-student pairs, so cannot generalise what's best for everyone.

[jce]

My friend’s daughter (my friend is a piano teacher) jumped straight to grade 8 (no, did not even take grade 1, only took grade 5 theory which is necessary). She passed with a good distinction.


It takes both hands to clap so it’s not just about having a good teacher but it’s also having a student who is willing to put in the effort and have a good heart to learn.

I’ve had my fair share of students who are musical but no willing to practice or not willing to change their bad habits accumulated from previous teachings.

Sometimes teachers really ought to take a stand in having the last say of whether to send a child in for exam or not. Parents can have a say, but not the last say.