Grade ten exam preparation

"I'm curious as to what you expect of students who want to go on and take Grade 10. What are your expectations of the student, e.g. amount of time to practise, where they should be musically, work ethics that you expect of the student and so on." Greg

Successful students at this level exhibit many qualities including:

1. They love to practice, lots of practice. They don't need to be nagged.
2. If they want to go on to the associate level, they practice a lot. (One adult of our acquaintance practiced and studied about 5000 hours in 4 years. Two year for grade 10, two years for ARCT.)
3. They love theory, history, and harmony.
4. They have support of their family and or spouses as the case may be.
5. They go to concerts.
6. They have classical music preferences.
7. They are competitive.

Cheers,

David

5 Benefits of Music Lessons

By Mrs. Treasures Takeaways

First benefit is the ability to handle pressures in life. Music students become proficient in handling stress as a natural part of learning.

Second benefit is the ability to respond to criticism. Music students learn to work under the close scrutiny of a mentor, in this case, their music teacher.

Third benefit is the ability to cope with victory as well as setbacks.

Fourth benefit is the value of hard work and perseverance in long term goals. Music study is incremental learning as student goes from primer level books to book 1, 2, 3, 4 and so forth. Students recognize that as they advance from one level to the next level, they are not only getting better but enjoying playing as well.

Fifth benefit is to get accustomed to the feeling of achievement. Studying a musical instrument is about learning how to become good at something.

New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the importance of student attendance of concerts.

I took a student group to NYC this past week for a musical festival competition. As part of the trip we attended a performance at Lincoln Center of “The Great Symphony” of Schubert.

All of us were in awe.

Musical vision: check
Phrasing: check
Articulations: check
Dynamics: check
Balance: check
Tempi: check
Note releases: check
It was a revelation to the students.

From the New York Times review
“Mr. Muti’s conception of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony was grand but never ponderous or overinflated. The performance was almost surprisingly propulsive; jollity outweighed pensiveness by a considerable margin…”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/arts/music/17muti.html?_r=1&ref=music

Cheers
David
　

Resources for Teachers and Music Students

Classical music for study

The following site has thousands of scores for all instruments and combinations; 1000 years of European “Classical” history. Perfect for the curious and intrigued.

From the home page:

Welcome to the Petrucci Music Library! Our goal is to create a virtual library containing all public domain scores and/or sheet music, as well as scores from composers who are willing to share their music with the world without charge.
　
http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page
　
Cheers,
David
　

Music Study and Adolescent Maturation

I heard on the new today that 55% of first university students are ill prepared for university. Professors feel that this large group are immature, rely too much on internet sources such as Wikipedia, and expect success without effort.

Well…

I’d hazard to guess that music students who have completed exams, competed in festivals, and attended concerts will not fall into this group.

Music students learn first hand the relationship between preparation and success early. Putting together a polished performance requires real effort and commitment. It can’t be delegated, faked, plagiarized, or rushed. Success is genuine.

In a microwave world, music study is a truly authentic experience which helps Adolescents along the road to adult maturity.

Cheers,
David