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> Old Exam Books
susiejean
post Apr 21 2007, 02:05 PM
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This is not very exciting I guess, but I just got a pile of old AB exam books from my bother -in -law. They go from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and range from 1969 to about 1976. It's quite fascinating to see how some things have changed and others have stayed the same. The 1969 Grade 1 book has Purcells Rigadoun in it(minus ornaments) and one of my pupils played it for her Grade 2 exam last year!
Wonder if many other people have this age of books kept in their archive?
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Lisa-Guitar
post Apr 21 2007, 02:11 PM
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QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

This is not very exciting I guess, but I just got a pile of old AB exam books from my bother -in -law. They go from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and range from 1969 to about 1976. It's quite fascinating to see how some things have changed and others have stayed the same. The 1969 Grade 1 book has Purcells Rigadoun in it(minus ornaments) and one of my pupils played it for her Grade 2 exam last year!
Wonder if many other people have this age of books kept in their archive?


Gosh, it must be really interesting to compare how things have change and levels of pieces have altered!
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maggiemay
post Apr 21 2007, 02:29 PM
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QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

This is not very exciting I guess, but I just got a pile of old AB exam books from my bother -in -law. They go from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and range from 1969 to about 1976. It's quite fascinating to see how some things have changed and others have stayed the same. The 1969 Grade 1 book has Purcells Rigadoun in it(minus ornaments) and one of my pupils played it for her Grade 2 exam last year!
Wonder if many other people have this age of books kept in their archive?

I've got a similar range of old AB books, most grades, passed on to me by an old friend who used to be an examiner. Quite a treasure trove.
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sneekymum
post Apr 21 2007, 04:09 PM
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I've still got G2 1973 and G3 1974.
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New Pianist
post Apr 21 2007, 04:23 PM
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i wonder where can i get those books? What i have are those of 1990s. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
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chocolatedog
post Apr 21 2007, 04:32 PM
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You can sometimes find them on Ebay if people are clearing out their attics and cupboards etc. I still have all my music from when I was learning - I kept every single book!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
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SparkyMark
post Apr 21 2007, 04:34 PM
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QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

This is not very exciting I guess, but I just got a pile of old AB exam books from my bother -in -law. They go from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and range from 1969 to about 1976. It's quite fascinating to see how some things have changed and others have stayed the same. The 1969 Grade 1 book has Purcells Rigadoun in it(minus ornaments) and one of my pupils played it for her Grade 2 exam last year!
Wonder if many other people have this age of books kept in their archive?


1969 was the year that I took my grade 1. I remember playing the Burgmuller Arabesque (op 100 no 2) as my first piece, this was also used in last year's Grade 2 syllabus!

If I remember right in those days the marks for pieces represented a smaller proportion of the total than they do today, only 27 marks each rather than 30.
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BusyBee
post Apr 21 2007, 05:39 PM
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I actually phoned the AB last year when trying to off load some old exam music (storage problems) We have AB exam books going back to 1933 up to about 1946 left to my husband by his piano teacher auntie.

Its interesting how there was a different book for each List A, B and C.

Cost in the 1930s - two shillings

I have one from 1970 - 6/- (is that a shillings sign)?

After decimal day (I wrote the date on the front of one of my piano books) - 50p!

Not sure what to do with them all! They could be useful for finding Graded repertoire for teaching diplomas.
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Cyrilla
post Apr 21 2007, 05:49 PM
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QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

my bother -in -law.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

(Sorry, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/offTopic.gif) but it made me laugh!)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
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maggiemay
post Apr 21 2007, 05:54 PM
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QUOTE(Cyrilla @ Apr 21 2007, 06:49 PM) *

QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

my bother -in -law.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

(Sorry, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/offTopic.gif) but it made me laugh!)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

yes - me too actually !
Reminded me of when I used to take my toddler son ( now 24) to something called mothers and toddlers - it was known in our house as bothers and muddlers
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
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Cyrilla
post Apr 21 2007, 05:55 PM
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(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif)
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willobie
post Apr 21 2007, 06:15 PM
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I have quite a large collection of old AB violin exam books. The oldest is 1949 but I have several from the 60s & 80s - and surprisingly few from the 70s when I was taking them (I only had the violin parts in those days). I love looking through them and seeing how many of the pieces have come up more recently... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

W
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susiejean
post Apr 21 2007, 07:38 PM
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QUOTE(maggiemay @ Apr 21 2007, 06:54 PM) *

QUOTE(Cyrilla @ Apr 21 2007, 06:49 PM) *

QUOTE(susiejean @ Apr 21 2007, 03:05 PM) *

my bother -in -law.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

(Sorry, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/offTopic.gif) but it made me laugh!)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

yes - me too actually !
Reminded me of when I used to take my toddler son ( now 24) to something called mothers and toddlers - it was known in our house as bothers and muddlers
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Funnily enough about 99% of my typing errors are caused by a toddler distracting me. This, though I have to say, is a fairly accurate description of him! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
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bevpiano
post Apr 21 2007, 07:59 PM
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I've got quite a lot of old piano exam books from a variety of sources, from about 1920s onwards. I've either kept them or been given them or bought them from 2nd hand shops, festivals, ebay etc.

It's interesting to see how the grades change - it often seems they're getting easier as I've got quite a few examples of pieces now cropping up in higher grades than previously, but it can work the other way, too. I recently bought a grade 3 book from the 90s which has one of this year's grade 2 pieces in it.

I think it just shows how pieces don't fit comfortably into grades - I'm always saying this to pupils who ask me, "what grade is this piece?", when it's not something on the exam syllabus. Some of them get very anxious that they're working at the next grade level after they've taken an exam. I'm always telling them that Bach, Mozart, Beethoven etc. had never heard of grades & certainly didn't write pieces for them!
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Minstrel
post Apr 23 2007, 10:22 AM
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I did a Lennox Berkley prelude for piano Grade 8 (ABRSM) that I recently found in my daughter's Guildhall Grade 6 book (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
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