All About ABRSM Grades & Support

[phankao]

ngl2010:

Dreamaurora:

Sacred does have a point though. I have noticed the discussion in this forum seem to involve students and parents who are in the top percentile of music learning population. If the results and achievements discussed here are treated as the 'normal' benchmark, parents may start wondering if their children or children's teacher are doing fine or worse, start to impose unrealistic expectations on the children or teachers.

When an impressive result is achieved, we do need to view it in the overall context on how it is achieved e.g. how many hours are put in, teacher's skill level, parents' musical background and commitment level, performing experience, etc. Not considering these factors and expecting our own children to achieve the same results without reproducing the proper context may lead to extreme frustration and anger.

So, I hope whoever visit this forum to peruse our thoughts and opinions understand the context of our discussions.

Agree. We (the children and the parents) really worked hard on it and we were lucky to have a good teacher. Most of the parents have no musical background other than from what we learnt together with the children. However, we were extremely committed to ensuring that our children pass the theory exam. That translates to hours of hard work for our children and ourselves.

Yikes... I must be quite lazy then. ;D

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

Yikes... I must be quite lazy then. ;D

Your kids all so big already, different mah.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

Yikes... I must be quite lazy then. ;D

Your kids all so big already, different mah.

No, bc they started learning quite late.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"phankao\"]

Yikes... I must be quite lazy then. ;D

Your kids all so big already, different mah.

No, bc they started learning quite late.[/quote]Well, anyway don't think you are a lazy parent lar from your previous postings. Personally I think you are the ideal parent for music learning children, supporting but not controlling.

[doodbug]

Dreamaurora:

ngl2010:

My son took once a week lesson (group class) for 6 months and he got 95 for Grade 5 theory when he was Primary 3 (the class started when he was Primary 2). He had never had theory lesson before and never sat for practical exam although he was playing Grade 5 pieces when he attended the Grade 5 Theory classes. His teacher, like Dreamaurora, also prefers to teach theory at one go. About 70% of my son's classmates obtained more than 90 in the exam. The oldest in the class in Primary 5 and the youngest was in Primary 2 when they took the exam. Parents must sit in the class so we got a lot of pressure to make sure our children do the homework. The children were looking forward to the lessons every week because the classes are fun as they are all about the same age and some kids really made the classes lively. Even I enjoyed the classes

So, anything is possible. Just need to find a good teacher and work hard on it.

Sacred does have a point though. I have noticed the discussion in this forum seem to involve students and parents who are in the top percentile of music learning population. If the results and achievements discussed here are treated as the 'normal' benchmark, parents may start wondering if their children or children's teacher are doing fine or worse, start to impose unrealistic expectations on the children or teachers.

When an impressive result is achieved, we do need to view it in the overall context on how it is achieved e.g. how many hours are put in, teacher's skill level, parents' musical background and commitment level, performing experience, etc. Not considering these factors and expecting our own children to achieve the same results without reproducing the proper context may lead to extreme frustration and anger.

So, I hope whoever visit this forum to peruse our thoughts and opinions understand the context of our discussions.

Thanks for helping to put things in perspective. I was begining to think my kids are slow! I started them on the violin in K1. DD is in P1 and is attempting her Grade 1. DS is in P2 and is attempting his Grade 3. This seems like snail's pace! However, I can tell that even at this snail's pace, DS is not completely prepared for Grade 3. He does not have the fine motor skills nor the music appreciation to bring out the colour of his pieces at all. And I do not wish to push too hard, or to discourage him. It takes some age and maturity for one's tone to develop, and I don't think he has reached the level of musical discernment as yet. As parents, I think we have to accept that not all children are musical geniuses, and that most children actually need encouragement and supervision to persevere through the music journey.

[Dreamaurora]

doodbug:

Thanks for helping to put things in perspective. I was begining to think my kids are slow! I started them on the violin in K1. DD is in P1 and is attempting her Grade 1. DS is in P2 and is attempting his Grade 3. This seems like snail's pace! However, I can tell that even at this snail's pace, DS is not completely prepared for Grade 3. He does not have the fine motor skills nor the music appreciation to bring out the colour of his pieces at all. And I do not wish to push too hard, or to discourage him. It takes some age and maturity for one's tone to develop, and I don't think he has reached the level of musical discernment as yet. As parents, I think we have to accept that not all children are musical geniuses, and that most children actually need encouragement and supervision to persevere through the music journey.

Well it is not snail's pace definitely! Unless of course you compare it to the prodigies. Anyway, most of music professionals I know are not prodigies; most of them took their time to do their grades and build a solid foundation.

[monmon31]

ngl2010:

My son took once a week lesson (group class) for 6 months and he got 95 for Grade 5 theory when he was Primary 3 (the class started when he was Primary 2). He had never had theory lesson before and never sat for practical exam although he was playing Grade 5 pieces when he attended the Grade 5 Theory classes. His teacher, like Dreamaurora, also prefers to teach theory at one go. About 70% of my son's classmates obtained more than 90 in the exam. The oldest in the class in Primary 5 and the youngest was in Primary 2 when they took the exam. Parents must sit in the class so we got a lot of pressure to make sure our children do the homework. The children were looking forward to the lessons every week because the classes are fun as they are all about the same age and some kids really made the classes lively. Even I enjoyed the classes

So, anything is possible. Just need to find a good teacher and work hard on it.

Has he taken the Grade 5 practical exam? where is the centre may i know? Can you pm me?

[micollh]

JMC students when ready for grade 1 (ABRSM) ?

[monmon31]

micollh:

JMC students when ready for grade 1 (ABRSM) ?

actually anytime during JMC as long as your kid is competent and confident to take it

[phankao]

doodbug:

Thanks for helping to put things in perspective. I was begining to think my kids are slow! I started them on the violin in K1. DD is in P1 and is attempting her Grade 1. DS is in P2 and is attempting his Grade 3. This seems like snail's pace! However, I can tell that even at this snail's pace, DS is not completely prepared for Grade 3. He does not have the fine motor skills nor the music appreciation to bring out the colour of his pieces at all. And I do not wish to push too hard, or to discourage him. It takes some age and maturity for one's tone to develop, and I don't think he has reached the level of musical discernment as yet. As parents, I think we have to accept that not all children are musical geniuses, and that most children actually need encouragement and supervision to persevere through the music journey.

How is that slow? ;D My elder one was doing his Grade 2 violin exam in P3.

As for the expression/dynamics of the piece. The teacher would teach right? I don't remember my son's teacher touching much on dynamics when he took his grade 2. It was like - can play fairly ok, was fine with her. But when I changed him to another teacher, I could see how the new tr pushed him technically and then worked on many little fine details

The final polishing was done only in the final weeks before exams with all the detailed dynamics emphasized. I couldn't believe the details the teacher went into.