Where to take Trinity music exams

[MusicMaker1]

My DS is taking private cello lessons and his teacher has suggested he should take Trinity Grade 6. He hasn’t done any exams before but is keen and involved in 2 orchestras outside of school. He doesn’t take any lessons in school so they are not able to let him take his exams in school or provide assistance. I am struggling to find out where he can take this exam. We are in Glasgow.

I’ve been on the Trinity website but find it hard to navigate. Their list of centres seems to only show a venue or two in Scotland ie. Dundee and somewhere else East Coast. We’re also not sure what to do as far as having an accompanying pianist. We’re not a musical family and are a bit out of our depth navigating this. His cello teacher doesn’t have any other pupils and is brilliant but not plugged into the exam scene so is suggesting we just contact Trinity. We’ve sent 2 emails to them via their website and have received no reply.

Can anyone advise or offer any tips?

Hi there. I think Trinity have exam centres in Ayr, Paisley and Bishopton - so hopefully one of those would suit? If you go to this web page:
www.trinitycollege.com/site/?id=3172 you just need to find the 'Classical and Jazz 2019' link. Scroll down that document to page 22 and you should get the info you need!

I would suggest talking through the pros and cons of Trinity versus ABRSM with the teacher. I would also be asking how much support they are able to provide in terms of sourcing accompanists and making sure all elements of the exam are covered.

By Grade 6 it can make a big difference to performance to have 4 or 5 practice sessions with an experienced accompanist you will be using on the day. My DD went from a marginal pass at grade 5 to a distinction at grade 6 the following year thanks to her accompanist (now she needs to work on playing her scales consistently and developing some confidence in the aural). I would also recommend grade 5 theory to get the most out of the practical exams (I think it is a requirement for ABRSM but not for Trinity).

The other points to bear in mind are that it is perfectly possible to sit grade 8 with none of the preceding grades and exams can build confidence (or destroy it if ill prepared) but it is always performance in auditions which will matter.

Thanks howabout and autumn especially for the navigation to page 22 of that document 😊 Have established contact with the coordinator for Glasgow so major progress made! I think his cello teacher is suggesting Trinity Grade 6 precisely because his theory is lagging behind. He plays the piano but really struggles to sightread but has a good ear and is up to about Grade 5/6 standard in practical terms (again, no exams).

His reading on the cello is good though. I hope that if he gets his Grade 6 he’ll get a confidence boost. He’s doing Nat 5 music and will probably do Higher Music.

We’ve just had to change Piano teachers because of a house move and he’s not as motivated to learn. He’s actually stopped his lessons but we’re hoping to get someone else that can teach him. We need someone experienced who can take him back to basics on theory/sightreading but keep his motivation/interest going by still playing the more advanced complex pieces - a bit of a tall order!

Do students ever mix and match ie. do Trinity for the practicals and do the Grade 5 ABRSM? Am completely in the dark and it’s hard when he doesn’t learn either of the instruments in school. Thanks again.

Mixing and matching is quite common as I understand it. Might be worth having a sift through the long running music threads on the extra-curricular education board.

Especially if he is looking at doing Nat 5 and / or higher in school it would also be worth speaking to his school music department. They will have lots of contacts and experience.

I would also recommend grade 5 theory to get the most out of the practical exams (I think it is a requirement for ABRSM but not for Trinity).

Yes, that’s correct. Students must have passed grade 5 theory in order to take ABRSM grade 6 and above.

Proud parent reporting back to say my son got a Merit in his Trinity Grade 6 on Cello! First grade exam he’s ever taken. We managed to get him to play with an accompanist twice before the exam and then a few minutes before the exam. His cello teacher was brilliant and put in so much time and effort. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to teach him the aural aspects of the exam and his school wouldn’t help because he is not learning cello through school so he did his best looking at YouTube videos but that bit definitely let him down. But he got 22/22, 21/22 and 20/22 on his 3 pieces which is great I think? He was 5 marks off a distinction. So proud of him and he is so pleased because he knew he did poorly in the other areas. Thanks to those that replied to my original post particularly autumncolour and howabout The Trinity coordinator for Glasgow was a lovely woman and so helpful too