Determining piano grade level Options

[ian2234]

Hi all, my first post!

I have recently started learning the piano again after a few years, I had a few lessons a couple of years ago and was working on grade 1 pieces.

Anyway I have been working through a few easy pieces for about 6 months now, but I am trying to gauge my grade level. Just a couple of quick questions really! that I would love to have some input on.

Say for instance I was to look at grade 2 exam piece, how would I know if what I was attempting was too diffiuclt or too easy ? ( I have already learnt one of the pieces in its simplest form i.e without working on dynamics e.t.c , just the correct notes and rythym, which took me about 3 hours a day in about a week ), does this seem to be good progress?, or should I be looking at grade 3 pieces?, or maybe get a piano teacher!!

I know everone learns at a different rate, but would be interested in hearing other peoples views on exam pieces.

[dolce@piano]

The easy, glib answer - but also the best answer - is to get a teacher.

It's very hard to judge your level otherwise. The trouble is - are you A1 sure that the notes and rhythms are right of the G2 piece you've learnt ? Equally, maybe it's spot on but you've got some major technical issues that you can just about get away with in this piece but will cause you huge problems later on unless you address them now. Or maybe this sort of G2 piece you can manage (because it's slow or is in a certain style that suits you) but most others will cause you grief.

If you're dead set against a teacher or can't afford it or whatever, then try and learn a range of G2 pieces, choose ones where there are good youtube versions available so you can listen and compare and enjoy playing a variety of pieces that will certainly cover a lot of aspects.

I wouldn't go on to G3 pieces yet - far better to play G2 ones well and given your last actual lessons were on G1 pieces, it's a big jump.

(PS you didn't say whether you were a good level musician in another instrument - this might well change the equation a bit).

Good luck and welcome to the forum !!!

[ian2234]

Many thanks for the informative reply

I really would love to have a teacher, unfortuantly I just cannot afford one at present!, but totally agree would be of enormous benefit.

The notes and rythym of the grade 2 pieces I have learnt sound pretty good against the youtube versions, but I might be a little bias in that respect!. My sightreading seems to be relativly good compared to the TRaK books I have been using for sight reading skills for grade 2.

I do agree with certain pieces that cause difficulty, for example I found the jazz piece in the abrsm exam pieces 2011/12 - Bdbd - relativly easy to pick up, but did find the A2 piece more difficult.

Im thinking as a rough estimate a year and a half per grade, say up to level 5, but like to make sure my skills for the grade I am on is solid before moving on, dislike vewing it as a race! just enjoying the journey!

Only instrument I ever played was the recorder at school! about 15 years ago now!, oh and thanks for the welcome to the forum!

[Juan Carlos]

Many thanks for the informative reply

I really would love to have a teacher, unfortuantly I just cannot afford one at present!, but totally agree would be of enormous benefit.

I'd consider having one lesson every so often (once a fortnight or once a month) so that it does not become too expensive but would not leave my performance unassessed. It is quite easy to acquire learning vices or to check on hand position, rhythm, and so on by oneself and also, the odd wrong note may creep in every now and then and then stay in your memory without you realising.
All the best.

[GrantM]

I have recently taken up the piano again in middle age, after many years without regular practice. Not having a teacher I decided to play it safe and enrolled in Grade 1, although in theory my abilities ought to be far above that level.

However... I had the exam on the 23rd and received the results today: 126. Reading the examiner's comments I see that although in general I played well, I was not nearly as polished at this level as I ought to be. Long decades of the occasional thrash through all sorts of music without a teacher have left my playing a bit rough, so that even at the elementary level there are more slips, hesitations and inaccuracies than there ought to be.

I also see the dangers of relying on my own ears and judgment for all my feedback. For example, the examiner wrote concerning my performance of "Late at Night" (G1 piano, C2) "the melodic line could have been more clearly defined, with a little more sense of rise and fall..." I thought I had defined the melodic line very clearly, with appropriate dynamics. So you see the advantage of a second (expert) pair of ears.

Still the piece earned 26 marks. All three pieces were in the "merit" band. As I expected. Quite good but lacking that final polish. I may have to think about finding a teacher before I tackle the higher grades, or I may be in for a nasty shock before I go much higher.

[dolce@piano]

GrantM, many congratulations.

That's a very creditable score and don't knock yourself because you didn't get a distinction and certainly don't think that you need a distinction in order to go on to the higher grades, or that you've got problems waiting in the wings because you didn't get one.

If you got merit marks for each piece and simlilarly consistent-ish marks for the other areas, then you are doing very well.

26 is actually a distinction mark (equates to 130) so the examiner was only pointing out what would have made it EVEN better.

Of course a teacher would be very helpful and the best solution in most cases but i know that it's not always possible. Lessons aren't cheap.

My question would be - how long did it take you to learn the pieces adn what level were you as a child ?

My point being, if your basic technique is sound (thanks to a few years of lessons when young) and you have no trouble learning the pieces, then - when you're ready - learn the grade 2 pieces and then see if you can find a teacher just to give you a couple of 'master classes' for the exam. Also, to maybe give you an 'assessment' so you know when you're going to need more regular help. If you're free during the daytime, finding a teacher to do this should be quite easy (more tricky if you work full-time).

Well done again . . .

[GrantM]

dolce@piano, thanks for the encouraging reply. Actually I'm very pleased with a merit pass overall, including merit for each piece (according to "These music exams" the merit band is 24-26). The examiner himself was very encouraging, writing in conclusion that with a little more "polish" I should get "an even better mark" in the G2 exam.

The exam has woken me up to a few things: I need to discipline myself to spend more time REALLY practising, as opposed to playing for myself for fun. In the exam I somehow managed to foul up a left-hand F major broken chord, which should have been a walk in the park. So- discipline myself to spend more time on the "boring" stuff, scales, arpeggios, slow-motion repetitive study of those difficult spots, close attention to fingering etc.

I'm being cautious because of my history: I began lessons at the age of 15. When I was in my early twenties, my teacher suggested I try the ABRSM pianoforte examinations (now the piano exams). She ambitiously suggested Grade 7- a bad idea for a university student already involved in study, drama, tramping and the social whirl and living in a student flat without a piano. After I failed, I shrugged my shoulders, went overseas and for the next 25 years only played the piano occasionally in a couple of churches, where I learnt to keep the pulse and melody going at any cost, even if a few notes on the page had to be sacrificed. You can see this approach has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to exam time.

It's only since 2007 that I've had regular access to a good piano and have started to brush up my technique. But this year when I realised I had unfinished business with ABRSM, I decided to begin at the beginning. I have the G2 and G3 books (valid till the end of 2013 in NZ) and have played through most of the pieces and begun to work on the three G2 pieces that I will probably present. I find that I tend to reach a plateau where the pieces sound quite good, but not "polished", and then they stay like that. But maybe with more careful slow practice I can get past that.

[jod]

I would suggest that both of you get a teacher as a teacher will be able to spot the things you can not.

It is one thing when you are working as a teacher not having a regular teacher and relying on regular contact from other musicians to keep you on the straight and narrow, it is another when you are at the grade one-two level.

Even at Diploma level and teacher level, it is feedback from other musicians that help us keep that focus. Enjoy playing pieces and learning for the sake of it aswell. Grades are useful targets, but they are not the be-all and end all of music making.

[dolce@piano]

That's very interesting Grant.

I think G7 as a starting grade was rather ambitious by your first teacher, even if that was your level, so to speak.

By the way, I know the booklet says 24-26 = merit but, mathmatically, if you make convert 26/30 into a mark out of 150 i.e. 26 divided by 3 multiplied by 15, you get 129.999999999, which is 130 and a distinction as far as I'm concerned.

And yes, as was said at the beginning and reiterated by Jod, a teacher would definitely be the best bet but I quite understand Ian's situation where it's just too expensive.

Happy playing . . .

[GrantM]

I would suggest that both of you get a teacher as a teacher will be able to spot the things you can not.

It is one thing when you are working as a teacher not having a regular teacher and relying on regular contact from other musicians to keep you on the straight and narrow, it is another when you are at the grade one-two level.

Even at Diploma level and teacher level, it is feedback from other musicians that help us keep that focus. Enjoy playing pieces and learning for the sake of it aswell. Grades are useful targets, but they are not the be-all and end all of music making.

This sounds like good advice. I can probably get away with putting myself through G2 and (maybe) G3, but after that I will need a teacher who notices (as did the ABRSM examiner) the things I didn't. And yes, I know grades aren't everything: I've managed happily without them for most of the time. But I enjoy the sense of having some external discipline, a set target to meet, and the challenge of learning to play a simple piece of music as accurately and as beautifully as I can.

[Pixie*Porsche]

My teacher has done lots of good things for my piano playing, so has my OH (who is really an organist but plays piano very well).

It's a cliche but get a teacher and you'll progress much more quickly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I couldn't even contemplate being at the level I am at piano wise this time last year.

[VH2]

I can probably get away with putting myself through G2 and (maybe) G3, but after that I will need a teacher who notices (as did the ABRSM examiner) the things I didn't.

You can probably "get away with it", but you prbably shouldn't. It is at the lower grades, where very basic movement patterns and skills are learned, that you most need a teacher.

[dolce@piano]

I can probably get away with putting myself through G2 and (maybe) G3, but after that I will need a teacher who notices (as did the ABRSM examiner) the things I didn't.

You can probably "get away with it", but you prbably shouldn't. It is at the lower grades, where very basic movement patterns and skills are learned, that you most need a teacher.

Yes, but as he learnt up to about G7 standard previously, those basic technical points should be in place.

'Real' beginners most definitely need a teacher's help (as far as they can afford it).

[Pixie*Porsche]

I think it is essential to get imput int your playing from one source or another be that a formal teacher or a peer (someone else who plays the piano but isn't a formal teacher) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[GrantM]

I can probably get away with putting myself through G2 and (maybe) G3, but after that I will need a teacher who notices (as did the ABRSM examiner) the things I didn't.

You can probably "get away with it", but you prbably shouldn't. It is at the lower grades, where very basic movement patterns and skills are learned, that you most need a teacher.

Yes, but as he learnt up to about G7 standard previously, those basic technical points should be in place.

'Real' beginners most definitely need a teacher's help (as far as they can afford it).

Yes, I hope the basics are still in place.

I know 'real' beginners need a teacher more than anyone: I'm thinking of taking up the violin (my brother has a violin which he no longer plays and is willing to let me use) and I have a beginner's book, but I'm resisting the temptation to pick up the violin and bow and 'give it a go' before I find a teacher, or I'll just present my first teacher with a lot of bad habits which first have to be eradicated.