Rockschool guitar grade 3 in two weeks and not going well...

[wordassociationfootball]

I knew she was coasting her practice and I'm familiar with things all falling apart a bit before the exam as it has happened twice already but DD (11) hasn't fully mastered - for which I mean is a far way off having ever played them fully - two out of the three pieces.

Has she got any chance of passing? I'm going to sit with her and be a fan/roadie/coach at practice time, but she was very tearful tonight and 'I'm going to fail' and I did say (in amongst a billion 'one foot in front of the other' type things) that yes, if she doesn't pull her finger out and work, she WILL fail.

What to doooooooo... DH is unwilling to pull her out and I don't think it is right either. Failing having worked off arse is acceptable of course. Failing having whinged and wailed every night for a fortnight makes me want to skewer out my eyeballs.

Advice from those who've been there please.

[musicalfamily]

Hi there
what's her teacher saying? I think it is a bit unfair to expect a child to master a piece in 2 weeks time tbh. I don't know if it is just my experience but I would have expected to be using the last 3 or 4 weeks just polishing rather than learning. If I were in your shoes I would frankly pull them out at the last minute if I felt that they were being set to fail. If they are finding it that hard to learn the pieces then maybe they need a bit more practise before taking Grade 3 - but I think the best person to advise is the teacher..

[wordassociationfootball]

Thanks musicalfamily

[BrigitBigKnickers]

How is she doing with other areas of the exam? There


are sight reading/ rhythmic/ aural tests and general musicianship too in the Rock School exams ( some people are rather sniffy about Rock School but I think they are quite hard!)

I think it's possible for her to pass if she works really hard for the next two weeks so long as the other parts of the exam are secure.

[wordassociationfootball]

Hmmm. The riff and scales and power chords and aural tests aren't bad. General musicianship could scrub up. Sight reading ain't great.

We are going to chat to her today about what she would like to happen.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

This happened a year ago with dd's piano exam bro ge fair it wasn't entirely her fault. She spent two months during December & jan in panto then a week away on school residential so just wasn't ready.

I pulled her out of the exam with 2 weeks to go. She took it again in the summer and passed with merit.