Piano grade 5 theory Abram

[Mummythehammy]

My DD wants to go for ABRSM grade 5 theory exam
Piano .. any advice please?
She has started solving some grade 1 paper how many of each year does she need to do?

I really don't like the "plough through all the grades" approach - total waste of time. One of mine did grade 2 theory when in year 3 just as practice then grade 5 in year 5. The other just did grade 5 in year 6.

For some of the stuff, like scales for instance there is no point in creeping through adding a few scales each time. Easier to just teach the basic concept and framework which applies to all and they have the lot all at once.

I really liked "take grade 5 and pass first time" (but note it dates from before the changed the syllabus (it is now easier I think) so not every detailed explanation of what they will be asked is right anymore but the teaching material is , with the pink Abrsm boom (by Eric someone I think) to look up points for clarification as more detail (but don't work through the whole thing as is v dry and far too much detail, along the website mymusixtheory.com. Use a practice paper to test each topic and then do quite a few more as proper papers.

Both children I went for the sprint technique ie work through it all in about 5 weeks, including some half term work.

I really don't like the "plough through all the grades" approach - total waste of time. One of mine did grade 2 theory when in year 3 just as practice then grade 5 in year 5. The other just did grade 5 in year 6.

For some of the stuff, like scales for instance there is no point in creeping through adding a few scales each time. Easier to just teach the basic concept and framework which applies to all and they have the lot all at once.

I really liked "take grade 5 and pass first time" (but note it dates from before the changed the syllabus (it is now easier I think) so not every detailed explanation of what they will be asked is right anymore but the teaching material is , with the pink Abrsm boom (by Eric someone I think) to look up points for clarification as more detail (but don't work through the whole thing as is v dry and far too much detail, along the website mymusixtheory.com. Use a practice paper to test each topic and then do quite a few more as proper papers.

Both children I went for the sprint technique ie work through it all in about 5 weeks, including some half term work.

I agree with Michaelahpurple. You don't need to take all the grades. If you play grade 5 standard, you probably know quite a lot already anyway.

DS did only grade 5. He was 9 at the time so not familiar with exam setting at all. I think he could have benefited from taking a lower grade as a practice rather than jumping into grade 5 from zero, but anyway he started preparing after summer then took the exam in Oct or Nov.

I bought 'take grade 5 and pass first time', but I am not sure how much or if he actually read it at all. He did some of 'all one way to grade 5', then did practice papers. You certainly don't need to go through all the material of each grade (waste of time as Michaelahpurple says).

Good luck!

DD has been doing a few grade one and two say 12 individual she has now started grade 3
How different in the new style paper can I get a sample from
Anywhere?

The syllabus has only just changed, so they're not available yet. But it has been simplified a bit - no composition, and some multiple choice questions. I don't think the amount of practice papers is relevant - it's more a case of working through the topics. I'd get the workbooks for grades 3-5 instead, and some of grade 4 can be missed out. I worked through all the books with my DD1 and she sat Grade 3 as a dress rehearsal and then Grade 5 when she was 9 or 10. We started gently when she was 7, and did a bit during each school holiday. Older children go a lot faster.

There are some free practice materials on the Abrsm website which includes exam papers and model answers for the new style paper. DD has been doing the workbooks over the summer then taking the sample exams to check understanding. She’s aiming for the November exam. Good luck.

As well as the sample papers on the abrsm website, if you buy the books of past papers, they have re-issued them to include the changes to the syllabus, and are now called Practice Papers.

I found the more papers they went through, the better - particularly if they’re not doing the earlier grades

The musical terms benefit from some solid memorisation and you can find stuff online to help with that (or could a few years ago when my two were doing it).

If you are just aiming to pass, and maybe get a merit if the wind is the right direction, you can skip learning all the musical directions. There are very few marks for them (as I recall about 3, max 5 percent), and if the child already plays an instrument to a decent standard she will know a reasonable core anyway so can expect to pick up about half the marks on that and light browse. The german seemed totally inefficient to learn. Better to use the time to perfect scales - there is no reason to lose a single mark there.