what grade am I???
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
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sara_mrvica
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:55 pm
what grade am I???
Vanessa, i too am in the same situation as you...i
have o idea wot grade i am coz i learnt the flute in school... and the same, my
teacher said that i hav been improving immensely on the flute and now i am first
chair flute in orchestra.. its knda hard to tell until u take exams i guess!
hope this helps! but keep practising and dont stop!
have o idea wot grade i am coz i learnt the flute in school... and the same, my
teacher said that i hav been improving immensely on the flute and now i am first
chair flute in orchestra.. its knda hard to tell until u take exams i guess!
hope this helps! but keep practising and dont stop!
~Miss
Fab Flute~
Fab Flute~
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Musicnote43
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:44 pm
[qoute] ...no... my highschool plays stuff that blows that
away. Our music is hard. In 8th grade, we were always taken for a 9th or tenth
grade band. 250 beats per minute is nothing and...b flat scale...?ooo you're
mighty now... my point is private schools don't have any musical advantage as
far as I know.. [/qoute]
I AGREE!!!!! I am currently enrolled in a Puplic School, and we are MUCH better than the private school in town. And it doesn't really matter how many beats per minute you play, for all we know you could be playing whole notes!
away. Our music is hard. In 8th grade, we were always taken for a 9th or tenth
grade band. 250 beats per minute is nothing and...b flat scale...?ooo you're
mighty now... my point is private schools don't have any musical advantage as
far as I know.. [/qoute]
I AGREE!!!!! I am currently enrolled in a Puplic School, and we are MUCH better than the private school in town. And it doesn't really matter how many beats per minute you play, for all we know you could be playing whole notes!
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Musicnote43
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:44 pm
It is very hard to determine what level you are on... I am 13, and know for sure that I am on level 4. I'm 1st chair also and have been working on some Mozart, Carnival of Venice (intermidiate version), Godard, exedra. But I seriously don't know how to determine another person's level.... But I do know that being 1st chair or not has nothing to do with it. Because you are 1st chair (best in your level) BUT, you are the best compared to WHAT kind of players? If they aren't that great.... then I'm not sure 1st chair is REALLLY first chair anymore now is it?
What grade am I?
Levels and grades are somewhat subjective. The NFA levels are a good guideline, but Britain and Canada have their own systems as well, and music publishers' catalogs ALSO have their own grading systems. About as consistent as different clothing brands' sizing lol! 
It's difficult to determine a player's skill level without hearing them play, or from titles of random concert band pieces. True flute repertoire, or serious wind ensemble or orchestral literature would be different--saying you successfuly performed the complete B minor sonata by J.S. Bach, or your band played Lincolshire Posy and you played the piccolo solos, or your orchestra played, I don't know, Firebird or something, with you playing principal, would be a bit more objective and impressive. Even still, groups play at different levels, too, so one group's perfomance of a particular piece could be great, mediocre, or abhorent, depending how the group plays, objectively. Therefore, "first chair" is a relative qualification of goodness. Example: One of my high school students (Handel sonatas, etc) has first chair in a band with five flute "holders", so she sounds amazing by comparison, though she's really only a solid-intermediate type player. At the school across town, however, two of my other (more advanced--Devienne concerto, Syrinx, Mozart, etc) students are butting heads continually, and a couple other players in their band are not bad-sounding, either. It's super to want to be competitive and be the best player in your group, but don't forget to hear other bands' performances sometimes, and solo recitals, and wonderful CDs (there's a nice list of recordings on one of these threads...), just to hear who's really out there. Listening to others can be fabulously inspirational 
, and occasionally reminds us we need to be practicing more. 
Sometimes, a student will think they're Hot Stuff, attend a festival or competition, and return with a whole new perspective lol! 
(oh, well, we all need to grow hehe...) As Penny wrote, It's not where you start, but where you finish that matters. Definately work on the basics--long tones, scales, finger exercises, etudes, everything, over the full range of your flute...PiccChick, sounds like maybe Flute World level 3? Level 4 from them might be a real challenge (college-pro literature); level 5 usually contains extended techniques or graphic notation... 
It's difficult to determine a player's skill level without hearing them play, or from titles of random concert band pieces. True flute repertoire, or serious wind ensemble or orchestral literature would be different--saying you successfuly performed the complete B minor sonata by J.S. Bach, or your band played Lincolshire Posy and you played the piccolo solos, or your orchestra played, I don't know, Firebird or something, with you playing principal, would be a bit more objective and impressive. Even still, groups play at different levels, too, so one group's perfomance of a particular piece could be great, mediocre, or abhorent, depending how the group plays, objectively. Therefore, "first chair" is a relative qualification of goodness. Example: One of my high school students (Handel sonatas, etc) has first chair in a band with five flute "holders", so she sounds amazing by comparison, though she's really only a solid-intermediate type player. At the school across town, however, two of my other (more advanced--Devienne concerto, Syrinx, Mozart, etc) students are butting heads continually, and a couple other players in their band are not bad-sounding, either. It's super to want to be competitive and be the best player in your group, but don't forget to hear other bands' performances sometimes, and solo recitals, and wonderful CDs (there's a nice list of recordings on one of these threads...), just to hear who's really out there. Listening to others can be fabulously inspirational , and occasionally reminds us we need to be practicing more. Sometimes, a student will think they're Hot Stuff, attend a festival or competition, and return with a whole new perspective lol! (oh, well, we all need to grow hehe...) As Penny wrote, It's not where you start, but where you finish that matters. Definately work on the basics--long tones, scales, finger exercises, etudes, everything, over the full range of your flute...PiccChick, sounds like maybe Flute World level 3? Level 4 from them might be a real challenge (college-pro literature); level 5 usually contains extended techniques or graphic notation... -
TennisFlute45
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:03 am
- Location: AMERICA!
Wow, reading all of these replies really can make a girl feel juvenile. Well, I came here hoping to find out what my level would be as well.... but after reading all of these posts, I'm guessing that that would be nearly impossible. 
Just saying thank you to all of the people who have posted facts, and tips and such. Like Lizard. THANK YOU! reading your post was VERY helpful. I think I might be a 2.5 or 3..... not sure. lol, but thank you all anyways.
Well, I came here hoping to find out what my level would be as well.... but after reading all of these posts, I'm guessing that that would be nearly impossible. Just saying thank you to all of the people who have posted facts, and tips and such. Like Lizard. THANK YOU! reading your post was VERY helpful. I think I might be a 2.5 or 3..... not sure. lol, but thank you all anyways. "Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, thereby always remain music." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
What grade am I???
Aw, Tennis, don't feel juvenile!! Levels of skill are personal and relative---I'm sure if some of my students had heard me 20 years ago, they might have chosen a different teacher! But as has been posted before, it's not where you start... Due to economic and other challenges, I was unable to study flute privately before college. Fortunately, there were some GREAT school band directors and unbelievable players in my bands, truly outstanding musicians, in my public school years. I at least knew what I was working toward ! Needless to say, I zoomed through quite a lot of etudes and stuff in my freshman year of college, thanks to a solid grounding in theory and basic music skills, scales, etc. Handel sonatas to Ibert concerto in six months--not sre how many levels that is lol 
! Happy fluting!
But as has been posted before, it's not where you start... Due to economic and other challenges, I was unable to study flute privately before college. Fortunately, there were some GREAT school band directors and unbelievable players in my bands, truly outstanding musicians, in my public school years. I at least knew what I was working toward ! Needless to say, I zoomed through quite a lot of etudes and stuff in my freshman year of college, thanks to a solid grounding in theory and basic music skills, scales, etc. Handel sonatas to Ibert concerto in six months--not sre how many levels that is lol ! Happy fluting!-
TennisFlute45
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:03 am
- Location: AMERICA!
:)
Lol, alright, I feel better now. Hopefully I will end up like you! Cause right now I think I have a lot of practicing to catch up on.
Happy fluteing to you to!
-Nicole
Hopefully I will end up like you! Cause right now I think I have a lot of practicing to catch up on. Happy fluteing to you to!
-Nicole
"Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, thereby always remain music." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
wow I can't believe people are still posting on this!! that girl who asked the question was me over a year ago. I have changed very much musicaly and have improved to all of you who replied thatnk you I havn't been on this site for ages and when I came back I desided to read all the replys which I just did so thank you all.
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And to the two girls (or guys lol) that said privite schools aren't as advanced I was sorry if I came across as snoty but that was over a year ago and I have learned from all of my mistakes but as for the advancedniss (sp) im sorry but our privite school is advanced ,maybe not all privite schools are advanced but compaired to the local school we have a way better teacher who our band director has been teaching music for over 30 years and is very nowledgable and is a wonderful teacher who pushes us all to our limits.
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Thank you all for all of your comments!
~Vanessa~
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And to the two girls (or guys lol) that said privite schools aren't as advanced I was sorry if I came across as snoty but that was over a year ago and I have learned from all of my mistakes but as for the advancedniss (sp) im sorry but our privite school is advanced ,maybe not all privite schools are advanced but compaired to the local school we have a way better teacher who our band director has been teaching music for over 30 years and is very nowledgable and is a wonderful teacher who pushes us all to our limits.
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Thank you all for all of your comments!
~Vanessa~
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SilverwindWicca2007
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:51 pm
- Location: Kentucky
- Contact:
Let's see, I've been playing for almost six years now. But that's not really a reflection of anything, is it? My Highschool's program for last year's concert band included Armenian Dances, La Forza del Destino, and Beetoven's Symphony no. 6 in F Major. That doesn't have anything to do with the students' talent or level, it's just the determination of one crazy band director to have the best band in the Nation. Because of him, we all work harder than we normally would, even if he IS forcing us to, and we're better as a whole AND individually.
I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace.
-- Helen Keller
-- Helen Keller