Grade 5 theory-how long/how many lessons?

[Floppysphonics]

Dd, 14, needs to get grade 5 theory under her belt. She's got grade 5 piano and grade 3 singing.

Does anyone have a ball park idea of how many lessons she might take to get there? I can't remember having specific lessons-just filled in workbooks my instrument teacher gave me! But then that was 30+ years ago...

How long is a piece of string, it depends on the child. Mine took for ever as has learning difficulties, despite being at a renowned specialist music school.
Little and often seems to be the best bet, filling in the books but also learning and understanding the concepts.
Start with grade one to address any bits previously missed, then two and then do a recap before going on to grade 3 and then do the same until reaching grade 5. Then obviously revise the whole 5 grades.
Good luck

This is possibly not helpful but it really depends on how much your DD knows already through having played music, as it can vary hugely depending not only on the music grade reached but also what her music teachers are like. So we have one who is completely painstaking about theory as well as the instrument, and others who encourage just playing a lot and kind of getting the theory by osmosis! And then it also depends on what kind of learner DD is. It's possible to be really musical but get in a bit of a flap over theory - or vice versa. I'd have thought it would help having more than one 'instrument' so that may make the process shorter.
Maybe get some 2nd hand books and you'll get a better idea after a couple of lessons of where you're at.

Virtual none at all, but her singing teachers talk about music theory in every lesson so had probably been busy covering it prior to it being necessary.

I'm thinking of getting a couple of workbooks to do some with her over the summer. I have just been quoted £50 per hour for theory lessons, which isn't standard for where we are, but even with a less expensive teacher, I would rather they were supporting bits she and I found tricky rather than teaching stuff we pretty much know already. I just have to brush up on my own knowledge!!

Ds took his last year aged 15. We bought the workbooks at the start of the summer & he took the exam in the November. We taught him ourselves but dh is a music teacher.

older son took it in year 10, I think. We did no specific preparation, but he was doing GCSE music and was confident he'd covered most of it (result bore this out).

younger son took it in year 9? Was considerably less confident and we found a website - mymusictheory.com which has online exercises. I should have sat and done it more with him (and made more of a push on the Learning Terms) but he got through with a respectable pass.

Thanks-all very helpful. Found a teacher we know to do a few lessons and will fill in with workbooks. It's a bit like me helping with homework in a subject I did fine in at school-good to have teacher on board but reasonably confident with the content. Def not worth £50 per hour for us!

There's a very good book called 'Take Five and Pass First Time' and abrsm has an app for practice too. The exam is going online this summer and will be multiple choice which hopefully will help.

The Blitz your theory books are good, there are answer books available online. There is a free app called muso that someone recommend on here, it's not well known but seems useful so far. We've not sat it yet but hopefully in November.

I know someone who did a group theory intensive course; I think it was a few hours one sunday afternoon (or maybe two), for children who already had the basics, and it covered all the remaining topics, exam practice, etc. I think there are courses online now via zoom

That take five and pass first time book was fab. DS used it age 16 to get his grade 5 theory test for college. Probably took around 4/5. Months and we did it at home and arranged the exam privately.

Can strongly recommend these courses:
www.soundscool.org/about-us

Or do Trinity and don't do theory.

We have no connection with them, but DS passed (with high merit) after attending a soundscool course. This was despite his music teacher refusing to teach him theory as he apparently had ‘no chance’ due to his dyslexia.

With luck, your DD has already been learning a fair bit of theory having already passed G5 piano. I think most music teachers are mindful that a lot can be dripfed.

DD12 and her friends did Theory as an after school club over 2 terms with her instrument teacher (so I imagine she had about 15 hours of tuition). I think she did 3 or 4 practice papers.

There seem to be quite a few online tutors that offer a free taster (or try Youtube for videos), Maybe give a couple of those a try before getting help from the music teacher to cover the bits that she doesn't quite understand.

really interesting thread. Any more app recommendations?

As an aside, for anyone with an SEN, I found ABRSM excellent at putting reasonable adjustments in place. Ds had his own room & invigilator & was allowed rest breaks where he could move around.

My DD taught herself over the summer with the take 5 and pass first time book plus a few past papers. She did the online pilot and got a merit. She isn’t particularly musical.

My 14 year old is doing 5 hours with her piano teacher - an hour a week and will take online test at end of it in November.

DD (9) is revising with her composition/theory teacher. I would say that in total she will have had about 10 lessons dedicated to grade 5 theory by the time she takes it in November.
She is quite young though...