How Long...., ....between G8 and Performance Dip Options

[Misterioso]

How long a gap do people usually leave to reach the required standard for the Performance Diploma after Grade 8?

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[Mad Tom]

How long a gap do people usually leave to reach the required standard for the Performance Diploma after Grade 8?

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Well ... some people are already beyond the standard of the Performance Diploma when they take Grade 8!

I don't know if there is a "usually" (as in a mathematical normal distribution) or even if any statistics have ever been gathered to begin to find out.

But what would such a statistic mean? What is behind the question? It certainly would not tell you how long it "ought" to take a typical candidate to reach diploma standard. That is entirely down to the individual, their strengths and weaknesses, the time and facilities they have available, their reasons for doing it, ...

The range is from those that take the diploma exam at the next available exam session after grade 8 to those that never take a diploma. And of those that go on to a diploma there are those that work flat out to get there ASAP compared to those that are happy progress more slowly and in a leisurely way. And then of course there are those that take the diploma when they can just about scrape a pass, and those that take it when their playing standard is well beyond the minimum required.

In my case the gap between Grade 8 and first diploma was 12 years - but I was in no rush.

[Stephie]

I'm certainly not an expert, as I am wondering the same thing, but I did my grade 8 in March and I'm hoping to have my diploma done at the start of 2011. I'm trying to think realistically, because although some of my diploma pieces are the same as my grade 8 ones, there's a lot more to do and to learn.

However, as Mad Tom said, it's different for everybody. One person might be beyond diploma by the time they come to do it, or - like me - they might want a little more time to readjust.

[zypianist]

A reasonable time will be 2 years.
because
DipABRSM performance standard=1st Year in a Music Conservatory. (:

[Lucid]

A reasonable time will be 2 years.
because
DipABRSM performance standard=1st Year in a Music Conservatory. (:

It's actually equal to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree module - but not one at a Conservatoire. People always seem to think that it means Conservatoire standard which would be significantly higher than that of a music student on a degree at a standard university, but it never actually says anywhere it refers to Conservatoire standard. Check out the information on this post and you'll see how I know it's not Conservatoire standard:

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/index.php?s=&am...st&p=681565

Basically the NQF levels don't refer to specialist institutions like Music Conservatoires.

Lucid (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Robodoc]

How long it takes to get from A to B depends on how far apart they are and fast you travel.

In this case since a standard equivalent to grade 8 may have been passed some time before the actual passing of point A, not only is the speed going to vary but so is the distance. The question is impossible to answer: The journey is a matter of acquiring skills not of doing time.

[Appassionata]

I personally think the level at Dip ABRSM is higher than first year undergrad level as I've know of a few first years music students who have failed the Dip ABRSM. Also isn't LRSM meant to be equivalent to the standard of a final year music student? A friend of mine who is an amazing post grad musician only just scraped a pass in her exam.

[Misterioso]

In this case since a standard equivalent to grade 8 may have been passed some time before the actual passing of point A, not only is the speed going to vary but so is the distance. The question is impossible to answer: The journey is a matter of acquiring skills not of doing time.

Yes, I know it's impossible to answer - it's one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. I was merely hoping for a few people's thoughts and / or experiences. And it can sometimes be helpful to have an approximate goal in mind - even if it has to be readjusted several times (within the remit of the syllabus, of course! - I don't know how often the diploma syllabus is changed.)

[Louise H]

Yes, I know it's impossible to answer - it's one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. I was merely hoping for a few people's thoughts and / or experiences. And it can sometimes be helpful to have an approximate goal in mind - even if it has to be readjusted several times (within the remit of the syllabus, of course! - I don't know how often the diploma syllabus is changed.)

I've taken at least 2 years working towards DipABRSM but I have been teaching and working at some other things as well so fitting in practice around all these things isn't always straightforward. I took Grade 8 piano in 2003 but didn't start working towards the dip until sometime in 2007. I had plans to take it by the end of 2008 which needed to be changed and now I'm going to take it in December. The outcome will be decided then but having the fixed date means that I am very focused on working towards that goal now, more than at the beginning of the process, and other things have been given up to make space for the necessary input to polish everything.


Louise

[BerkshireMum]

How long a gap do people usually leave to reach the required standard for the Performance Diploma after Grade 8?

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Are you having regular lessons, Misterioso? If so, your teacher should be able to advise you as to your current standard, which might give you more idea of how much improvement is required before taking the diploma. Then, how long it takes to achieve that improvement will depend on the time available for practice and your own determination.

[RoseRodent]

I've never done the diploma and have no interest in doing it. I did another 2 years of serious lessons on viola after my grade 8 (dist) and passed a number of university exams. I was preparing for the old "Advanced Certificate" but I went off to uni before doing it and the new teacher wanted to concentrate on the in-house examination. I don't like the current syllabus much, so have decided not to take it. I'm going to go for a teaching diploma, as that is an entirely different thing, but definitely on the hunt for a post-grade 8 specific goal that is not a diploma. I reckon about 18 months to 2 years I would have been ready to do it, though.

[Dulciana]

I think there's something to be said for maintaining the practice momentum once you've got it going. The sheer volume of stuff to be perfected at one time for a performance diploma meant for me that I was better to do it in a short time but with as many hours in the day as I could find. It's hard to quantify standard as many people's standards would zoom up very quickly on four hours' practice per day (piano), which is what I was doing in the last few weeks before ALCM performance, which I did it just over a year after Grade 8. If I'd taken longer, some things might have started to slip while I perfected others, but everybody's different in that respect, and some might be better than me at holding repertoire at a high level without being constantly at it! This is why I've never done a licentiate diploma - or at least not yet. I can't find enough hours in the day now to get it all perfected at any one time. If and when I do ever do it it will be the same as before - in a short time but with lots of hours per day. When I find a cook, cleaner, stand-in teacher for my own pupils, taxi driver for my kids, dog walker, etc,etc,etc.... In short, my advice to anybody young and single is give it all you've got while you have the time, because you may not always!

[Andantino]

It took me a couple of years..

[anacrusis]

It really does just take as long as it takes.
Part of it also depends on the level one has reached before sitting grade 8: part on efficiency of practice, on available time and energy, on how good the teacher is.... a host of things.

If you were collecting stats, then I did my grade 8 in summer 2005 and ATCL in summer 2006 - my teacher had let me be cautious when tackling my first grade - 7 - in 2004, so all we can really conclude is that I was ready at the time to do them, since I passed them all. I took longer to do LTCL/LGSMD (tackled one, got awarded the other, but they're the same exam anyway), and passed it but not as well, suggesting that I was finally catching up with myself. Or reaching the glass ceiling (I hope not: still have suuuuch a lot I want to learn!).