Music exams - where can I find out a bit more about what these entail?

[maggiethecat]

Am trying to find out what these involve and when a child can expect to start preparing for grade 1. DD has been doing violin for under a year and I want to get an idea of what these involve before even bringing it up with teacher.

There is no requirement that Grade 5 has ro have been passed just that standard has to have been reached. The school will determine that themselves via an audition.

You don;t even have to have passed Grades for music college entry, it is all done on audition (though they used to accept Grade 8 practical and theory in lieu of an A level)

Yes, they tend to word it that they expect to hear "Grade 5 level pieces" etc, but that doesn't mean you have to have done the grade exam, just be able to play pieces at that standard.

That's good to know. Who knows, we may not even do the exams.

LilyBolero, thanks for your info - it's good to be able to put things in context - she's just added her third finger so it gives me some reference point.

Ds is playing grade 1 cello pieces and his teacher does tell us that they are/were on the syllabus. He has grade 1 scales and a grade 1 learn to sightread book.

But at just 6 I don't want him to go into a room with his teacher, and then his teacher leave him with a total stranger (and the examiners are lovely and ds very chatty), so I have never asked the teacher about exams.

I have been into loads of exams as accompanist. I teach in a school that has music scholarships and am deeply suspicious of children that can play 2 contrasting pieces wonderfully and then tank the sightreading. I always ask how long they have been playing the piece for.

I know one boy who can play one piece amazingly, but cannot learn another one to save himself.

In some countries they have no such thing as music exams and the ABRSM. They just learn to play for pleasure and fun.

ds2 was really keen on piano playing and making fantastic progress. But when he started preparing for the ABRSM exams he just lost all interest and passion in the instrument. In the end we contacted the teacher and said please could we just forget exams: we weren't particularly interested in them and it clearly wasn't helping ds2 in any way.

thirtypence - totally agree.

I hate the way some teachers teach for the exam and don?t take time for a holistic approach to the tuition. Learning an instrument is different from learning an exam syllabus! I used to find it so frustrating when peris would lurch from one group of 3 pieces, exam, then next three pieces. Never any real exploration of genre, style, technique, musicality, etc etc etc to turn the child into a knowledgeable and able musician.

Some kids "know" x, y, z, scales are at grade 5+ and have no concept of the relationships between keys, how and why they are linked, chord progressions etc etc. Astonishing. Inability to sight read easily is a dead giveaway too. Same with aural tests. If they can?t "hear" the concepts in their heads and understand at a simple level, then the music is just robotic repetition and stops being "music" and creativity.

I think exams are a brilliant way to support and accent a learning curve BUT should act more like discreet scaffolding rather than the main building blocks of the progress. If your child is having lessons and they never step away from the syllabus and are never given any different pieces other than the syllabus pieces, I would talk to the teacher and question them about their teaching style.

There's an online copy of "These Music Exams" on the ABRSM website here that is worth a read.

It is certainly not essential to do all or even any exams, although grades 6 to 8 do give extra UCAS points these days. However, they may be of limited worth as offers in unrelated subjects can specifically exclude them or be in terms of A level grades rather than UCAS points total in many instances.

I know children who have take all exams; others who have done just a few (sometimes just launching in for grade 8); and others who have done none and have no intention of doing any (but still play in National Childrens Orchestras etc). What suits one doesn't suit everyone.

They can be stressful - moreso for some children than others. I've worked as a music exam steward & have seen the whole range of reactions to them from breezing in and out, to full-on tears on the way in, or worse, out (rare, but it happens). Normally, they come out smiling.

I've found these comments to be extremely useful. Unfortunately I never learned to play an instument and don't consider myself to be musical but have tried to support my 5.5 yr old dd whom I've been told is very able musically. So when she says that when she sees the notes she hears the music I cannot relate to that.

Instinctively, I've been feeling that I don't want exam focus to detract from how her music develops.

Lemontart - I think you've given substance to my intuition, thanks for that. Sorry, but I don't understand one thing - how would a child at the more advanced stages learn to play pieces if they cannot sight read?

She's only a wee thing - the exams are roughly designed to be taken one a year for 8 years. She has loads of time.

I have no idea how these children learn the first piece - they come already able to do it - and then I try to teach them something else and they learn about a bar a week. Basically someone has to show them every single note and then they imitate it. They have great memories.

Your dd seeing the music and hearing the notes is wonderful. Ds says this happens for him too - and he has learnt books and books of pieces in the two years he has been playing. 3 or 4 a week would not be unusual, and that's sightreading, self correcting and memorising. He has been known to say "is xxx still playing that piece?"

I'm really trying to figure out how I think her music should develop generally. So I may decide that exams are not for her but understanding what they entail and how they can influence her enjoyment and progress is all part of the decision process.

Certainly if we do decide on the exam route we would not want to subject her to that for a few years even if she were capable of doing them sooner.

Thanks for info on how some children are taught - I suppose that there are many different methods.