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Extra-curricular activities

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Original poster

Absrm performance exam

38 replies

dandelionsticks · 30/09/2020 07:08

Hi there, I see that Performance Exams have been introduced by ABSRM. Is anyone opting to do this instead of the Practical exam? It says on the ABSRM website that performance exams have been introduced to "complement" the practical but it also offers another way to progress. I read this to mean a student might choose a performance exam only for their level and skip the practical with the dreaded sight reading and aural test! As a video is submitted, it seems like this would be an advantage too.

I feel like I must be missing something here. Or is the performance exam truly an equal alternative to the practical?

Does anyone know?

Ps have asked our music school but they aren't sure as it's new and haven't had a response from ABSRM.

OP posts:
DorotheaDiamond · 11/10/2020 16:43

I read it as whole exam (pieces scales etc) in one take...

blueblueblue4 · 11/10/2020 15:50

But are pieces all in one take as with Abrsm (continuous video like a concert) or uploaded one at a time?

DorotheaDiamond · 11/10/2020 14:12

Yes it’s pieces, all the scales for that grade (that’s quite a lot), technical exercises and some sort of aural test too...

blueblueblue4 · 10/10/2020 21:05

That's interesting - def makes it harder!

DorotheaDiamond · 10/10/2020 19:25

My reading of mtb rules was you had to upload all pieces at once...

blueblueblue4 · 10/10/2020 19:16

Both boards are regulated by Ofqual so it's a choice of whether to do mtb or Abrsm. Abrsm is four pieces in one take, which is quite a challenge and believe Mtb you only have to upload one at a time? I don't think you can compare as they are different qualifications and suit different children.

Yippeeforme · 10/10/2020 09:19

*regulated

Yippeeforme · 10/10/2020 09:18

MTB do a far better job. They're Ofqual related and have an app that you record the exam into. They made this demo video for lockdown:

onemouseplace · 08/10/2020 08:35

DD's teacher has just suggested she takes the performance exam next term - it'll be her first exam (Grade 3 piano) and I think doing the recording from home will work well for her.

Her teacher has her first tranche of pupils trying it out this term, so hopefully we'll get some feedback on how well it works/ how well the marks reflect ability first.

lunar1 · 01/10/2020 14:03

My children are doing the performance exam this year, just to consolidate the grades they should have done in July. They have actually both moved on to the next grade and are just maintaining the old pieces until we have done the recording.

They have continued to learn all the other skills with their teacher. I suspect they will go back to the standard exam, covid permitting next year.

blueblueblue4 · 01/10/2020 14:00

Should say they were different instruments, he didn't do two exams in the same subject at the same time!

blueblueblue4 · 01/10/2020 13:59

My son did one performance exam and one normal exam recently (normal exam in summer hols, perf one now to submit by half term. In all honesty the performance one was harder as getting four pieces in one take without too many flaws is a lot more tricky than it sounds and you can't regain marks on the aural/sight reading if pieces have slips. He has done the aural for the grade and sight reads a lot in orchestras so I don't feel that he has missed out by not having those elements, and actually he learned a lot doing several takes of the performance grade. I believe Trinity have now launched a performance grade style remote exam too.

horseymum · 30/09/2020 13:33

I'm not totally familiar as we are not doing any this year ( apart from grade 5 theory). I understood it to be you could do either and swap between them. Eg Grade 1 performance, grade 2 practical, grade 3 performance. Or if you don't like the sight read, look at trinity instead as there is a choice of technical exercises, it seems more people are moving over after bad experiences.

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