mity88 wrote: Firstly, im curious as to how i got an A++,(thats 90percent and up) for a grade 5 piece when ive never been graded before?im not in school,but my brother needed me to play in a duet with him,we did rodygabs Tamacun with me doing rodrigos part...
Secondly,i was expecting a high standard of musicianship,but instead i was amazed at how unprepared and unpractised alot of the pieces were...i know theyre stil learning,but c'mon
so,im realy disappointed in the so called music teachers at schools that expect,or rather dont push the musicians of tomorow hard enough...
Your thoughts?

Well there will be, at least in the early age groups, a large number of pupils who are there not because they have the fundamental inclination towards music but because their parents think it is a good idea. Or because they think it would be so cool to be a musician but they lack talent and/or application.

There's nowt as queer as folk. People, including adults, get themselves enrolled for all sorts of things that they are not going to put any actual effort in to. I have seen people come to TJs Open Mic nights with the aim of performing. Now you don't expect professional standards here, but you would think that it would occur to everybody wanting to perform that maybe they should have enough pride in themslelves to practice what they are about to perform. You'd be wrong.

Wow,thanks for that,i didnt realise it was actualy global too...hmm,so that could mean we are actualy just creating "stupider" kids with a 'higher' education...thats backward

Just for interest sakes

Did your brother pull off the Gabby parts with the hectic rhythm and percussion ast the same time, That would deserve A++ on it's own ?

mity88 wrote: Wow,thanks for that,i didnt realise it was actualy global too...hmm,so that could mean we are actualy just creating "stupider" kids with a 'higher' education...thats backward

Mity is referring to a particularly bellicose rant from me about how politicians, not just ours but everybody's, are dumbing down education systems. I had a cup of coffee, decided that my rant was more about bees in my own personal bonnet than about the actual topic, saw nobody had replied and typed up something I hoped would have more relevance.

In the meantime the rant got noticed.

Drat!

Full marks to Mity88 for being alert so early in the morning ?

Squonk wrote: Just for interest sakes

Did your brother pull off the Gabby parts with the hectic rhythm and percussion ast the same time, That would deserve A++ on it's own ?

Pay attention Mity! There is always the possibility that you guys actually put in the hard yards and fully deserve that mark, even if you weren't expecting it.

You'll be continuously amazed at how many people don't practice.
I could never get around why people would pay me to teach them something, then come back the next week, having done no practice, and expect me to be happy with that. Yet they still come back and pay, like some miracle is going to happen and they will get there with no practice.

Even a little practice beats none.

I'd like to approach this from a different angle. Now I was doing the classical thing a couple of years ago, and I went to one particular event, name escapes me now... oh yes, eisteddfod ( although that was what my guitar teacher called it, the name seems pretty generic to me now ) ...anyway, the reason why she encouraged her pupils to take part was to develop experience playing in front of people. Most of the folk taking part were youngsters between the ages of 5 and 15 and I must confess most sounded pretty mediocre. However, it's not to say they had not prepared enough. Heck, I had put in some serious hours on my 5 pieces and I came unstuck once or twice. The influencing factor that I discovered that was mainly at work was stage fright. For many of the kids that were there it was only their first, second or third festival that they were partaking in. My teacher had a number of students who could run through their pieces without dropping a note when they were doing it in their lessons with her, but on stage it just did not come together. But that was fine, because that was the whole point, to get used to playing on stage. After a couple of these events, the kids start becoming more comfortable. There were however a couple of kids who were pretty awesome. So, I don't think the standard is all that low. I think you're always going to get the rookies up there who are taking their first tentative steps in playing live. Obviously there will be the odd couple of guys that are unprepared, one finds that in everything.

Mity, you're in Vanderbijl if I recall correctly. Where was this event you guys took part in?

+1 I think you've got it there Sean. My wife teaches ballet and Spanish dancing and enters her pupils in these things. Some of the dancers are like super hot and some not but all get the opportunity. So, I get the impression that people may be expecting some real maestro perfomrance when the event possibly just providing an opportunity to perform.

Ha ha, Sean you remind me of something....
My Mother in Law teaches piano and violin etc. She has a student who is horrible in lessons. But come exam the guy is as cool as a cucumber and pulls it off. She says it drives her insane cos he sometimes can't play a note in the lesson before the exam, and then gets an A.

Donovan Banks wrote: Ha ha, Sean you remind me of something....
My Mother in Law teaches piano and violin etc. She has a student who is horrible in lessons. But come exam the guy is as cool as a cucumber and pulls it off. She says it drives her insane cos he sometimes can't play a note in the lesson before the exam, and then gets an A.

Yeah, the guys with BMT, now that's something useful 8)

lol, thanks Bob

it was called the Vereeniging Art Festival and was adjucated by a lady, Belinda Latsky-Campbell, who i thought gave excellent advice and never had harsh but rather encouraging words.

i understand it was for rookie musicians looking for some stage time, i just thought the standard would be high, and i kinda thought i play mediocre, which i do, but among them i looked much better, good for the ego, but bad in other ways.

no, my bro cant do the Gabby bit yet, but i am teaching him coz weve been asked by his music teacher to do it at his school showcase later this year.