Ask The Chief Examiner, What would your question be? Options

[andante_in_c]

I've begun to teach a sixth form student this term who received 119 for her last exam. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

[janetmaryparker]

I'd also ask why sometimes the comments seem to bear no relationship to the marks awarded e.g. There were some moments of really lyrical playing....and then 13/30!!! (from a friend's Grade 5 flute)

[notmusimum]

I would like to ask why it takes so long to get a result for a practical exam....

I take my exams with Trinity for two reasons, (having had children that went through ABRSM and Trinity)

1. I get the results the minute the examiner leaves the centre, meaning I learn from the feedback, as I can still remember what I have done! This is the most important reason, (as the longer the time the less clearly I remember what happened).

2. Despite the fact that I am learning theory for myself I think the fact they insist on having taken a theory exam before you can take a practical exam is not on. You are marking a practical exam and the ability to play.. (It could penalise people that have real acaedemic problems who can in fact play instinctively brilliantly).

When my Girls took their Trinity exam it took 3 weeks to get the results and 5 months for the certificates to arrive. You've been very lucky!

[jod]

I'd also ask why sometimes the comments seem to bear no relationship to the marks awarded e.g. There were some moments of really lyrical playing....and then 13/30!!! (from a friend's Grade 5 flute)

This is precisely why a transparent mark scheme is so important. At present there are some vague criteria an then a mark is pulled from the air (apparently) if the criteria were more specific then :
1) It is easier for the teacher to assess the appropriateness of entering that candidate for that exam
2) The grounds for appeal would be more obvious thus helping to prevent unnecessary appeals and conentrating the appeals process to those who really need it.

However, when special considerations were made for my son's Grade 1. The ABRSM were very helpful, abided by the regulations and offered him a free resit that session. If there is a good reason why your candidate messed up during their exam, it really pays to contact the board immediately. The staff may be busy, but I have always found them courteous and helpful.

It always pays to read the small print of the regulations they are there for a purpose.

[KixMusic]

I's like to ask if we can have some newer and more interesting pieces on the brass syllabus PLEASE! They haven't really changed much in the last 4 years and some of the pieces i played for my G7 and G8 "way back when" are still on the lists! I do like the look of the new TG repertoire and if those sort of pieces were on the Ab lists I'd be delighted.

I'd also like to ask for separate lists for cornet, trumpet, flugel horn and soprano cornet at G6 and above as the most of the pieces on the lists are considerably easier to play on a trumpet than on a flugel horn for example as they don't suit the flugel horn (or soprano)

[jod]

I's like to ask if we can have some newer and more interesting pieces on the brass syllabus PLEASE! They haven't really changed much in the last 4 years and some of the pieces i played for my G7 and G8 "way back when" are still on the lists! I do like the look of the new TG repertoire and if those sort of pieces were on the Ab lists I'd be delighted.

I'd also like to ask for separate lists for cornet, trumpet, flugel horn and soprano cornet at G6 and above as the most of the pieces on the lists are considerably easier to play on a trumpet than on a flugel horn for example as they don't suit the flugel horn (or soprano)

It appears the ABRSM can learn a lot from the new TG syllabus. Personally I find ABRSM easier to deal with, but I prefer their singing syllabus so tend to enter pupils for TG singing exams ( currently the Trinity ones).

If you are reading this Clara Taylor there are some really good suggestions being made. Maybe you would like to form a focus group and use their ideas as a way of revamping the syllabi.

[janetmaryparker]

I've always liked the TG idea of expecting the candidate to know a little bit about the pieces they are playing e.g. if the piece is called Minuet, they should have some idea of what a minuet actually is, or if the piece is clearly binary, what does that mean/how do you recognise it? This sort of background knowledge deosn't seem to feature in AB exams, other than in the discussion of a non-prepared piece played by the examiner in the ear test section of the higher grades............and yet suddenly for diploma they expect progamme notes and in-depth discussion in the Viva. Surely it would be a good idea to work candidates up to this gradually? I would like a Grade 1 candidate to be able to say why they like/dislike a piece; a Grade 5 candidate to be able to give some basic reasons for saying that a piece is Baroque; a Grade 8 candidate to be able to place a piece within the context of the composer's output (e.g. is this typical of Chopin's Waltzes?). This would also encourage people to explore repertoire beyond the set pieces and take a wide interest in the composers.

[chocolatedog]

I would like to ask him on B3 in Grade 6, Vals Poetico by Grandos. Why they insist on us having pedals when there is no pedals mark there? That lost me many many marks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) If they indicated that in the first place then maybe! Possibly maybe I wouldn't have to retake the exam the second time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Because composers often took it for granted that the pedal would be required and that players would use it and know how to use it......sometimes they would only put the odd pedal marking here or there if it deviated from what would instinctively be used by the pianist......you can almost take it for granted that a lot of music if not most from the romantic period of music would need pedal to make it effective......

I'd also ask why sometimes the comments seem to bear no relationship to the marks awarded e.g. There were some moments of really lyrical playing....and then 13/30!!! (from a friend's Grade 5 flute)

Do you think the examiner forgot to write next "unfortunately all the notes were inaccurate, but you played the wrong notes very lyrically"???????!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[sbhoa]

I would like to ask him on B3 in Grade 6, Vals Poetico by Grandos. Why they insist on us having pedals when there is no pedals mark there? That lost me many many marks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) If they indicated that in the first place then maybe! Possibly maybe I wouldn't have to retake the exam the second time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

I wonder whose idea it is that taking the same grade exam three times is a good use of time or money. Actually there are very very few situations where you have to take grade exams at all.

And at grade 6 you might be expected to be able to make some of these decisions yourself.
Absence of markings doesn't necessarily mean don't use pedal.
(would such a small thing cause a fail without many other problems?)

[Dulciana]

I wonder if it's possible that unrelated comments and marks stem from the fact that appointments are so precise and timimgs are so short...? I f things are running late - perhaps due to a few very slow sight-readers in a row - I can imagine that an examiner will be pressed to be eloquent in the comments he makes, with regard to making them relate to what he feels is a fair mark for the performance he has heard. This is not just a comment on AB exams, but on them all; I feel that a little more time should be allowed for the examiners to give carefully considered responses before having to face the next candidate. It is bound to be the case that if a mediochre candidate follows an excellent candidate the examiner's reaction is certain to be coloured, and a merit might become a pass - or worse.

Financial considerations are obviously a factor in this, but let's consider what has already been spent in the run-up to the exam, in the form of lessons and books. To make each exam, say, £7 more expensive, in order to feel that the examiner will be able to really think about the performance, I feel, would be worth it. And money is not the only issue - the time that goes into preparing for exams is something that cannot be measured in fiscal terms. An offshoot of this would be that less candidates would be entered before they were truly ready.

[La_Chopiniste_]

On behalf of a friend , I'd ask if examiners are so accurate that some students - including this friend - may fail with 99 marks , just one mark from a pass ?

An examiner told me that they weren't allowed to give 99, 119 and 129 in practical exams.

I've begun to teach a sixth form student this term who received 119 for her last exam. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

That's strange .

I'd also ask why sometimes the comments seem to bear no relationship to the marks awarded e.g. There were some moments of really lyrical playing....and then 13/30!!! (from a friend's Grade 5 flute)

That's also strange !

I've always liked the TG idea of expecting the candidate to know a little bit about the pieces they are playing e.g. if the piece is called Minuet, they should have some idea of what a minuet actually is, or if the piece is clearly binary, what does that mean/how do you recognise it? This sort of background knowledge deosn't seem to feature in AB exams, other than in the discussion of a non-prepared piece played by the examiner in the ear test section of the higher grades............and yet suddenly for diploma they expect progamme notes and in-depth discussion in the Viva. Surely it would be a good idea to work candidates up to this gradually? I would like a Grade 1 candidate to be able to say why they like/dislike a piece; a Grade 5 candidate to be able to give some basic reasons for saying that a piece is Baroque; a Grade 8 candidate to be able to place a piece within the context of the composer's output (e.g. is this typical of Chopin's Waltzes?). This would also encourage people to explore repertoire beyond the set pieces and take a wide interest in the composers.

Can't agree more .
I was once sitting with a grade 6 candidate when I realised she didn't know what a sonata is . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Another question has just came now.
In aurals , sight singing:I think the gap between grade 5 and grade 6 is really huge. In grade 5 there's no tempo , no accompaniment , etc. In grade 6 there's this shock .

[sbhoa]

Another question has just came now.
In aurals , sight singing:I think the gap between grade 5 and grade 6 is really huge. In grade 5 there's no tempo , no accompaniment , etc. In grade 6 there's this shock .

I think that for sight singing the grade 6 test is the easiest because of the accompaniment.

[dacapo]

I've always liked the TG idea of expecting the candidate to know a little bit about the pieces they are playing e.g. if the piece is called Minuet, they should have some idea of what a minuet actually is, or if the piece is clearly binary, what does that mean/how do you recognise it?

I'm not sure if the Guildhall exams always included a viva voce section, but the Trinity ones certainly did from about 30 years ago when I was using them regularly. The viva (worth 5% of the total marks) started with simple factual questions about note names and values etc., gradually introducing keys, form, knowledge of composers etc. I always felt it was an excellent idea and more demanding of the teacher in a good way than the AB syllabus. I haven't looked at the new combined TG syllabuses yet but hope they have kept the best of both.

[sbhoa]

I've always liked the TG idea of expecting the candidate to know a little bit about the pieces they are playing e.g. if the piece is called Minuet, they should have some idea of what a minuet actually is, or if the piece is clearly binary, what does that mean/how do you recognise it?

I'm not sure if the Guildhall exams always included a viva voce section, but the Trinity ones certainly did from about 30 years ago when I was using them regularly. The viva (worth 5% of the total marks) started with simple factual questions about note names and values etc., gradually introducing keys, form, knowledge of composers etc. I always felt it was an excellent idea and more demanding of the teacher in a good way than the AB syllabus. I haven't looked at the new combined TG syllabuses yet but hope they have kept the best of both.

It will be called 'Musical knowledge' and is optional up to grade 5 but disappears completely from later grades.
At grades 1 - 5 for supporting tests you have to choose 2 from Musical knowledge, sight reading, improvisation and aural.
For grades 6 - 8 sight reading is compulsary and the choice is between improvisation and aural for the second test.

[purple viola]

I would like to know if it would be possible for the ABRSM to publish (on their diploma resources page) lists of pieces for different instruments that have been set at grades 6, 7 and 8 in past years as these give the only indication of the level of the diploma quick studies. For some instruments it is easy to find out which pieces have been set for different grades as ABRSM publish books of exam pieces, but for less popular instruments it can be difficult to find out if you don't have old copies of the syllabuses.