Every year my daughter's cello teacher takes a really long summer break. Last year it was a full 3 months and it looks as though this year will be the same. My daughter is taking grade 5 in 2 weeks time, and the teacher is leaving for foreign parts after next week's lesson. so, it seems very likely that the final lesson will be devoted to last minute exam preparation, and nothing will be set for the holidays.

So... I would really appreciate suggestions of pieces to work on and things to do over the summer. We have a chamber music course booked for one week of August but there will be lots of time left to fill... She's almost 12, by the way.

How about something 'fun' like jazzy tunes.. or film/tv themes? She could even try playing them by ear and then try to write them down for herself? I wrote my first clarinet duet when I was 12 although it sounded very Mozarty

Playing with friends is good fun too. I used to have a friend who played the church organ and he used to accompany me on the clarinet - an unusual combination but really effective (we were both about grade 5).

Or a little concert for family - it means bringing out old favourites to play again and is great for moral!

Have fun!

What lottie said!

Son's previous teacher did this a couple of times in the run-up to her daughters' auditions.

* Music Minus One - try something new or in a different style. Books include CD (separate backing track and full recording) and sheet-music

* For violin, fast passagework starts to become an issue after Grade 5 - might be worth hammering the etudes and building up speed with lots of scales and arpeggios?

* Make a project out of listening to all sorts of music (especially cello!), making notes and collecting info about the composer, type of music, period etc. Would make a lovely hardbound journal to look back on in years to come!

* Take up piano or another instrument! It was in one of these 3 month breaks that son started classical guitar.

That's a great idea too: there are lots of pretty notebooks to buy and you could fill it with drawings. A Mozart project (e.g) could be a visit to a museum of the time, a concert, choosing a favourite CD etc...

(would love to do some of these things myself actually! )

Concert going is a splendid idea, nothing like hearing a live performance. Look for chamber music so that she can really hear the cello. The Proms in London are an absolute adventure for children and I highly recommend them.

Have you tried contacting the teacher to see if he/she can set something for the summer? A mixture of fun peices and perhaps a challenge or two.
Are there any friends she could play duets with?

My commiserations!
My 11 year old daughter plays the cello (and trombone) and our music school shuts for 11 weeks over the summer. This year her teacher is (very) pregnant and has cancelled tomorrow's lesson. Daughter is hopeful that she will be back for the remaining two before the holidays but I have my doubts.

Previous years I have bought some music cheaply from e-bay and my daughter has spent the summer playing whatever she felt like out of the books. Sometimes she just played a piece once through but if she liked it she would practise it until she felt she could play it satisfactorily. This lacks any sort of method but it does do wonders for sight-reading, allows her to explore different styles of music and to make up her own mind about how well she is playing a particular piece, what needs to be improved and why. Towards the end of the holidays I got her to choose her favourite two pieces and to perfect them to play to her teacher in her first lesson.

I will probably get her to do something similar this year but as we are going away for 6 weeks and then she is going on a trombone course for a week, the non-lesson period won't seem as long.

Thanks for your suggestions!

My daughter has been with this teacher for some years now, and from previous experience, I don't think we can expect much guidance other than, "Keep working on the tenor clef book", which, of course, she will do!

I think the project idea is a really good one. I'd love to do it, but fear my daughter will think it's too much like school... We'll see!

Starting a new instrument? Well, my daughter would love to learn French horn, but it's probably not a great idea as we are already struggling to fit in cello, clarinet, recorder, singing and piano lessons and practice... However, the idea of composing something for her instruments might appeal, I think. Unfortunately her friends are not a very musical bunch so I can't see much duetting happening...

We have one of the Music Minus One books but they seem a little difficult to get hold of here. In a past summer I bought a couple of Cirri sonatas from Dowani with play along CDs. I loved them. Daughter didn't! Don't know why; it was probably because I liked them .... Can anyone recommend any jazzy collections with CD. or any other play along you've particularly enjoyed and which is about grade 5 level? Jazz or baroque would probably go down best. The Disney book she had got sold to one of her teacher's other students as daughter didn't like that. Again, no idea why as she is quite happy to sing Disney songs!! Maybe High School Musical would go down better...

I will visit our local Amnesty bookshop in search of 2nd hand music..

Summer courses or music summer camp.

There are lots around, and the repertoire is always different from what they are working on normally, and your child has fun, something new to learn and meets new friends.

You can't lose.

If you can't find cello specific ones, then ones to expand her musical knowledge - putting on a show of some sort is always good.

--- edit
I see you mentioned this in your original post, so this is not a new suggestion - sorry. However they are very good for motivation. Also in her chamber music course she may get the music ahead which will give her something to work on and work for ...

Pirates of the Carribean and High School Musical were very successful here last year .

Any possibility of fitting in another course?

Many of my private students (teenage and younger) are the ones who take three months off! Paying my bills relies on me continuing to work throughout the summer, but many of the wealthy parents don't even consider that.

When lessons start again - with kids not even having taken the violin out of its case during the summer - the parents then expect me to perform miracles and have their little darlings ready for an exam in just 7 or 8 weeks.

Yes, I realise this is a problem for many teachers. I have read many complaints to this effect here. In our case, only my daughter's singing teacher has ever offered any lessons over the summer, and we were very pleased to accept the extra theory lessons she provided. Otherwise her teachers (clarinet, cello, recorder, piano) take at least 2 months holiday over the summer, and her cello teacher will probably take 4 weeks at Christmas and 3 or 4 at Easter as well. It does get rather frustrating!