Anyone here switched from ABRSM music exams to MTB?

[Canyoucheckonme]

My eldest has been learning piano for a few years, but was heavily disrupted by Covid and a myriad teachers due to various reasons (none of our doing/fault).

He's now going into Yr8 soon and due to be taking his Grade 2 exam, but we cannot for love nor money get him to practice these days. He really doesn't like the teacher he's had since January as apparently "all we do is sight reading and it's boring".

A musical friend of ours has suggested switching to MTB exams where you can focus more on performance (which he enjoys) and it's more relaxed.

Has anyone got any experience to share please? Good or bad?

Link to MTB for those who haven't heard of them...

https://www.mtbexams.com/

I think you need a new teacher. If he is looking more for performance and improvisation in his playing then the ABRSM Jazz grades are very good - they come with a CD of backing
tracks. Trinity Jazz is well regarded but they don’t actually publish a book for each grade, you have to buy all the music separately. Trinity Rock and Pop and Rockschool are also very performance focused and have all pieces collated in a single book with CD or downloadable backing tracks. All the jazz and rock+pop grades heavily emphasise performance, improvisation and chord theory right from the start so he would need a teacher who understands this (a lot of straight up classical teachers don’t).

Sorry, should have added, I wasn’t aware of MTB. It seems their main selling point is recorded exams. For a child who is interested in the performance aspect of music I’m not sure if this would be the best way.

You can do a performance only exam with Abrsm, four pieces on video, no supporting tests. I would agree though that you need to look at motivation and whether the teacher is the right fit at the right time. Plenty of music chat on the music thread in extra curricular. It's for parents of any level of child, no gatekeeping !

Thank you both! I knew there was a music topic somewhere but couldn't find it just now.

Re: his teacher. We live in a small rural town and she's the only one available at his secondary school. She's a classical opera singer and very strict and he's just not gelled with her like he has with other teachers. Perhaps I'll keep looking for a new one but after four teachers in three years it's a gamble. And he has sports clubs after school a couple of days a week, so fitting it in will be a problem (I have a younger child too and work).

His dad got to piano grade 5 so we wanted the same for our son, but he's addicted to Fortnite and loves playing that with his friends, being out on his BMX, he goes a martial art and has recently joined a football club so has matches on weekends now too... Something probably has to give and I'm soooo tired of nagging him to practice piano 😩

Hello, music teacher here, I use ABRSM, Trinity and MTB regularly and interchangeably. I like them all for different reasons. All the boards offer a performance exam alternative so that isn't an exclusive selling point for MTB.

It's not unusual for piano students to get into a bit of a pickle with sightreading if it isn't practised regularly rather than just done at exams times and can then feel like a slog. What books is he using? I find my students really enjoy the Blitz series for sight reading, they feel more relevant to learning music generally rather than exam specific.
Also worth considering if exams are the way forward, there are many other ways to progress and improve all skills without it all being about exams. Years ago I took a student (grade 4ish) who had had enough of exams and was on the point of giving up when they came to me. We just worked and progressed and explored techniques, styles, repertoire. Roll on about 3 years they tentatively said they might like to try an exam again, did I think they could do grd 6, I out them in for grd 8, passed with distinction! The point of that story is obviously exams are not the be all and end all, can be a motivation killer rather than a motivator. Also you can skip grades and do them when you want. Back to the original question, I have enjoyed prepping students for MTB, very impressed with it over all.

it sounds like the teacher isn’t great but tbh at that age I’m not sure I’d pursue it anymore if the child isn’t keen.

I’m not sure why you think changing exams would help, but the Abrsm do performance grade exams which are recorded so exactly like what you describe. At the end of the day though your won’t make much progress not enjoying it.

i persist with my son as it’s literally his only extra curricular activity and at least it takes a bit of time away from the screen. If he was busy with lots of other stuff that he enjoyed I’d probably let it drop.

Do MTB exams provide UCAS points

@ElvenDreamer thank you. I'll attach a photo of all the books his teacher has asked us to buy in the past six months. He doesn't like or use any of them...

That's brilliant about your student having a break, finding a way that works then getting a distinction at grade 8! I am not musical and so know nothing about all this. I do know a little about different learning styles and motivating people, and being flexible etc. I think he feels a bit stifled at the moment. I think he should have taken his exam earlier this year as they do focus him (he got a distinction in grade 1 two years ago). But I don't think his teacher has much confidence in him and seems to be a perfectionist.

@StillWantingADog Yes, we're kind of regretting paying next term's fees now (up until Christmas). When he started it was his only extra curricular activity. I think age and stage / puberty has a lot to do with it too.

Perhaps once he's done his Grade 2 and if we tell his teacher we're not looking to do exams in the near future she'll relax and focus more on the enjoyment of music (fingers crossed).

Sorry, forgot photo!

op
my son is also doing grade 2 and has the same books but instead of daily drills he has one called “a dozen a day” which is ok.

I think that sight reading one is pretty good actually, though not the most exciting.

surely if he’s actually doing grade 2 he’s using most of them? Or is the teacher working hard on the sight reading as that’s a weak point. I am getting my son to do one of the mini sight readings in that green book once a day

Also there is an Abrsm app for aural which we are using instead of the book. It’s a paid app but there is a free version- def investigate that.

@Canyoucheckonme the improve your sightreading skills books aren't too bad, I use them for my woodwind students, just prefer Blitz for piano and have had more success on it, but every teacher is different. The daily drills I don't know about honestly, I am a dozen a day fan! Why not have a chat with the teacher and if he is 'at' grade 2 standard, maybe not bother taking the exam (he can still say he's that standard) and do lots of exciting repertoire with bits of the technique and sightreading alongside for continued progression to get his mojo back. How are the pieces, did he get choice in the ones for the exam? There is nothing more soul destroying than the lengthy exam practice period if you don't like one of your pieces. Do have a chat to the teacher if you can, they may not realise how he feels. Is there perhaps a student concert he could work for instead?

I've looked at both MTB and ABRSM performance exams as a returning adult player, who didn't do exams when I learned as a child.

ABRSM has some videos I found really helpful in helping me picture how the performance exams worked here https://gb.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/performancegrades/mark-a-performance-grade-exam/ . They definitely make it feel much closer to performing than a traditional exam.

From my perspective, the advantage of MTB is that you aren't limited by the syllabus, you can have 4 free choices. You can pick pieces from someone else's syllabus or submit a piece that isn't on anyone's syllabus to their free choice approval service. However, if your DS has a very traditional teacher, I'm not sure how different any free choice she'd be happy with would be to what he's currently working on?

A different alternative to keep him playing could be one of the piano playing apps, some of them really gamify it which might work for him?

Thank you all so very much @CrabbyCat @ElvenDreamer @StillWantingADog for all your tips and support. I will be reading it all again soon and sitting with DS to decide what's best for him in the long run.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to type your replies - never underestimate the power of helping a stranger on the Internet. You have really cheered me up 😊

@Canyoucheckonme you are very welcome. Glad to have helped a little, do let us know how you get on.

The only time my DS would practice was after I’d booked an exam and he had a deadline.

Worked, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you want to encourage yours to enjoy his music!

@Knackeredandalsotired yes, that's how our ds was for his Grade 1, and also when he's entered a music festival (he's done three and come 2nd place in each - he really wants to come first!).