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Original poster

Music exams - where can I find out a bit more about what these entail?

36 replies

maggiethecat · 09/03/2009 21:13

Am trying to find out what these involve and when a child can expect to start preparing for grade 1. DD has been doing violin for under a year and I want to get an idea of what these involve before even bringing it up with teacher.

OP posts:
MargaretMountford · 09/03/2009 21:33

thanks for that...was curious - ds is in yr 7 and has been doing singing as his first instrument since September - was wondering when it might be time for exams, if he's up to it. My friends dd has only been doing singing for a short time and is doing grade 4, but she plays piano and trumpet too,so I guess gets fast-tracked.

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:31

DD went straight to Gr3 on sax from Sept-Mar -lots of experience reading music already and of course had played recorder in school too so had some familiarity with fingering (so I understand).

AB still do a good guide.

Download link on this page

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:28

Interesting POV.

DD has done TG to now - except piano - but senior school mostly does ABRSM exams. She's just taken Gr5 AB Theory - it is still required to go further - and we thought she might as well get it out of the way whilst she doesn't have much on and there's no pressure IYSWIM. She's Y7 at school so no other external exam pressures.

seeker · 09/03/2009 21:27

The associated Board used to produce a brilliant booklet called "Those Music Exams" which told you all about it in a very readable way.

Ask her teacher - I know in some instruments teachers don't bother with grades 1 and 2 and wait for the child to be ready to go straight in at grade 3.

MargaretMountford - if it helps, my dd did her grade 1 singing after 3 terms of lessons - but she was 12, rather than a littly.

mrsdisorganised · 09/03/2009 21:26

Voice was my first instrument, Piano second....took exams when I was ready to take them.

mrsdisorganised · 09/03/2009 21:25

Hi, I studied classical singing up to grade 8 and would say that if you are putting your child through exams go for the ABRSM rather than Trinity. I did Trinity as my theory of music wasn't great and at that time (don't know about now) you had to have grade 5 theory to take any further practical exams with the AB, wish I'd stuck with the ABRSM for all my musical exams, looks better on UCAS forms!

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:25

I'm not a music teacher by the way, but an administrator for music dept and mother of a child who has Gr3 piano (ABRSM) and violin (TG) and is about to take Gr4 saxophone (TG). It's always been DD and her teachers who decide when she is taking exams.

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:21

Voice isn't usually done as a first instrument in our school. Most of the pupils who do it already play an orchestral instrument or piano (latter outside school)

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:19

ABRSM info here

Trinity Guildhall here

MargaretMountford · 09/03/2009 21:19

is this the same for singing do you know SueW ?

SueW · 09/03/2009 21:17

YOu should prob allow the teacher to be the guide.

At the school I work in pupils have lessons for roughly 5 terms before they take an exam (usually Grade 1) on their first instrument.