Piano exams :ABRSM or trinity guildhall

[Jesusgirl]

What is the difference between these two?
Ds has recently changed piano teachers. His old teacher was teaching him using the trinity guildhall but the new teacher uses Abrsm. Does this matter at all. And is there a 'better' board?
Thanks.

ABRSM is generally regarded as the 'better' board.

To progress pass Grade 5 ABRSN on an unstrument one needs to past Grade 5 Music Theory. Often a student will switch to Trinity because of this. This is in reinforces the image that Trinity is for the less able.

I am not in a position to comment on which board is actually. I am merely putting forward the general perception.

oops. So many typos. Hopefully it still makes sense.

People used to think Abrams were better but not so much these days. There is the theory aspect with the abrsm which not all pupils want or need to do. I personally use both boards and find tg seep to have a wider/nicer choice of music to learn.

Trinity's music selection tend towards pop than classical. This suits some kids.

It all depends on the end objective. If it is just for fun then Trinity. If you hope to impress some scholarship panel then ABRSM.

I'm a Trinity Guildhall fan although I offer students the option to sit either board. IMO TG exams are far better thought out than ABRSM. Trinity is more performance driven and the exams give a lot more flexibility at the earlier grades with the ability to choose which supporting tests to sit. The supporting tests also have a direct relevance to the pieces being examined - the technical exercises exam the technical skills which should have been acquired at the level of the exam rather than the necessity to learn by rote zillions of scales and arpeggios.

Pusheed I don't agree with you that it's pop orientated rather than classical - it has a good mix which is up to date rather than stuck in the 1950s and the wider choice of musical styles appeals to younger children.

The general consensus amongst teachers is that the boards are equivalent and certainly for UCAS points TG scores at the same level as ABRSM. And an informed scholarship panel will more than likely judge on actual performance rather than whether the candidate has sat with one board or another.

Ds did ABRSM piano up to grade 7 and then did Trinity for grade 8, the main reason being that he particularly wanted to learn one of the pieces on offer at the time for Trinity, and wasn't especially taken by any of those on the ABRSM (at least those ones in the grade book) - these both change regularly, so it could easily have worked the other way around.

His comments on how they compared were as follows:

1. The pieces were very similar in standard and style for both - not sure what pusheed means by Trinity being more pop - they were all classical and v. similar in style to those on the ABSRM syllabus, although they may cater for other tastes in for example keyboard exams rather than piano I don't know.

2. There were some differences in the marking structure that meant it was probably slightly easier to pass on Trinity but slightly harder to get a distinction. (This has also been the view of several Teachers I have spoken to).

3. While Trinity is gaining in reputation and is considered equal by many (including UCAS) there is a minority of 'old-school' musicians for whom anything that isn't ABRSM is looked down on in a slightly sneery way.

4. Trinity was a little more flexible in approach in that there were some options. I can't remember the finer details of this, but I think the main one was to do fewer scales and add a (rather tricky) study instead. It wasn't an easy option, but quite appealing for someone who dislikes the 100s of scales needed for ABRSM.

5. You didn't need grade 5 theory (obviously ds already had this anyway), but theory was integrated into the exam - they asked all sorts of questions about the pieces you played to test this unlike ABRSM where you just needed to be able to play them well.

6. Slight differences in aural, but nothing major - ds found Trinity aural a bit harder, but this may have been that he was 'used' to the ABRSM format.

7. Big advantage with Trinity was that the results came same day (but the certificate took ages) whereas ABRSM is usually a 2-3 week wait.

Hope that helps

By 'pop' I'm simply saying what Shelling said about offering a wider spread of musical styles.

DSs have used a mixture of both boards up to gd 8, usually depending on which board their teachers prefer. Have found Trinity easier for the supporting tests, but roughly equivalent for the pieces.

However, when DD was choosing gd 3 cello pieces with Trinity, she had already played one of them for gd 2 with ABRSM.

works the other way, too; on one of my instruments, a piece on AB Gr5 is also set for Trinity Gr4, and several other examples going both ways. It's not just the difficulty of the piece, but also how well you play it that will be marked.

there are also several examples within ABRSM of pieces set at one grade being used again at a later date for a different grade (sometimes higher, sometimes lower).

@pusheed it really depends what instrument you are talking about, when considering the question of which board is the 'best' (or shall we say, 'better respected'). For example, Trinity Guildhall is by far the better respected board for recorder exams (at the top end. I don't think there is much of a muchness at the early grades).

Trinity Board is much more child or pupil (or adult) friendly, there are more pieces to choose from and a wider choice of genres. There are far less scales, you do Technical exercises instead and you do not need to do Theory exams.

I think ABRSM is generally better regarded not because the quality of pieces is any harder, but because of all the extras - the differences in aural tasks, the number and variety of scales, the expectations from the sight reading pieces, the mandatory grade 5 theory to progress. It all depends on why your child is doing the grades really - I did ABRSM and my DCs do ABRSM, but only because it's a board we know and I believe scales are the most important part of learning an instrument. I don't know much at all about Trinity Guildhall!

DS changed to Trinity for Grade 8 piano after having done all previous exams with ABRSM. Don't let the "less scales" thing fool you, Trinity actually ask for the scales to be played with different dynamics they specify, to be chosen by examiner on the day, which is something he never had to do with ABRSM!

Yes Trinity exams are just as difficult as ABRSM exams. The pieces I tjink are of the same standard. The scales although a lot less are still difficult. After teaching both boards I think you need to choose the board on the pieces. Also for pupils who dont want to study Theory, Trinity offers the chance to play the pieces without being held back by Theory.

Alot less scales is a huge bonus! We are drilling our head with G7 piano scales these days and to be honest it feels like we are only learning scales. We love challenged ones, these scales although are not hard...just too many awgg! It might sound cruel however I wont tell her about Trinity, we will stick with them and try to learn them...with a hope to pass.