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Extra-curricular activities

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Original poster

Scales

11 replies

Happypiglet · 09/01/2014 19:53

Hoping someone can help. DS1 did G1 cello (Trinity) in summer. He has moved schools and cello teacher and will be taking G3 cello at Easter this time ABRSM.
Are scales cumulative that is will he have to know all the G1 scales (different between the Boards slightly) and all the G2 ones as well as his G3 scales eg could he be asked a G2 scale in a G3 exam. at present he has not learnt those scales.
I know some are the same or go up to 2 octaves but not all.
Any help greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
richmal · 09/01/2014 20:32

Dd is doing G3 cello also at Easter. Reading the ABRSM book for scales and arpeggios, it seems to imply only the grade 3 will be tested, but I too would be interested if anyone else knows for sure.

One thing I would say is it is always worth checking changes on the ABRSM site. Dd had an older book and only found G minor was in the grade 2 when the examiner asked her to play it.

Good luck to your ds with the grade three exam. Smile

LilyBolero · 09/01/2014 23:28

You will only be asked scales that are listed in the Grade 3 syllabus.

Clobbered · 09/01/2014 23:30

Agree, only the ones that are listed for the grade will be tested. You can check the syllabus on the ABRSM website.

Original poster
Happypiglet · 10/01/2014 08:19

Many thanks. He can play the G2 ones but we won't bother perfecting slurring them etc!!

OP posts:
FastLoris · 15/01/2014 20:25

Careful though...

I don't know about cello, but in the piano syllabus you do some scales in grade 1, others in grade 2, others in grade 3 etc.... and then, just to make sure you haven't played them once and forgotten them, you hav to do them ALL for grade 5! Then you need to keep knowing them all as you do different things with them in the higher grades.

I would think this is probably a general ABRSM policy, although you could check by downloading the pdf of the whole cello syllabus from the website and looking.

The ABRSM scale requirements are much more onerous than Trinity, it seems.

FastLoris · 15/01/2014 20:26

Apart from which knowing all your scales is an important part of proficiency on an instrument and musical understanding anyway.

Metebelis3 · 16/01/2014 19:25

ABRSM scales are more onerous in that you have to do them, and you don't for trinity (not on all instruments anyway). But on the other hand, trinity introduce things like dominant 7ths, pentatonics etc much earlier.

morethanpotatoprints · 17/01/2014 00:07

As Far as I know it is only piano where the scales are cumulative.
Strings, woodwind, brass etc definitely aren't.
There are always a lot of people complaining about piano scales for this reason.

LilyBolero · 17/01/2014 17:42

piano aren't cumulative either, you just do the ones in the syllabus.

Of course, ultimately they are cumulative in effect, but that is the same for all instruments as you go up the grades.

But for all ABRSM exams, you just do the grades as listed in the syllabus for the grade you are doing.

boogiewoogie · 17/01/2014 22:08

You need to know all of them in grade 5 though so you'd still need to revise scales from previous grades.

GampyWabbit · 26/01/2014 07:11

My dd did grades 2, 4 and 5 on violin and will do 7 next year. She learnt the scales from each grade syllabus and they are what she was tested on.

Similarly, dd has gone straight to grade 4 on the cello and while she has looked at grade 2 scales, she will now move straight to grade 4.

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