Practical Musicianship Exam? Options

[Violinia]

I have a pupil who's working on Grade 6 violin. She needs Grade 5 theory or Grade 5 Practical Musicianship, and doesn't want to do the theory exam. I've taught her a lot of improvisation and she's keen on doing Practical Musicianship as it involves some impro; she's also very good at aural. So - does anybody know anything about it?

All I can find out so far is what's in the syllabus booklet, which describes what you have to do but not in very much detail. I went to my music store today and couldn't find any books about it, neither was there anything in their AB catalogue.

Can anybody help? Anybody here had any experience of it?

Violinia

[sbhoa]

There are ABRSM 'Musicianship in Practice' books, similar to the Aural training boks and you can get specimen tests too.
The books aren't quite as helpful as the Aural training ones as they don't iclude the wording the examiners will use and I don't think that they are very clear on how some of the tests are administered.
I haven't used the exam so can't fill in the details.

[sarah-flute]

There have *definitely* been fairly recent threads on this, I think Liz (elidatrading) has done one and Margaret maybe? but certainly worth doing a search. General consensus was that they were good, I think.

[Watermelon sugar]

The syllabus looks interesting and more 'in the scene' than the equivalent theory exams. I've no idea what the expectations are standards-wise but they look as if they'll test musicianship better than grade 5 theory.

Ws

[sarah-flute]

they look as if they'll test musicianship better than grade 5 theory

...which is logical as the theory exams aren't designed to test that ;) but yes, I agree they look good, and probably a very good alternative (and possibly more useful in many ways) to the theory exam. :)

[noodle]

Yes, I use practical musicianship exams. There are examples in Musicianship in Practice and there is a specimen ABRSM book. In addition to that, I use beginners tutor books for examples of transposition. Yes, Sarah. I agree it is more useful in many respects than grade 5 theory, but I make my students do both theory and musicianship.

[sarah-flute]

Yes, Sarah. I agree it is more useful in many respects than grade 5 theory, but I make my students do both theory and musicianship.

That's a great idea, though I imagine it makes for a lot of work. They get both practical and theoretical knowledge, and are tested/have to prove they can use both sides.

One of these days I'm going to get organised and have a go at one of the musicianship exams. They actually sound like they could be fun.

[margaret]

Hi, Yes Sarah-flute is right, I have taken a Practical Musicianship exam myself but have never actually had a pupil take it. I actually took Grade 8 which I found easier than grade 5 because you could do an improvisation based on a poem given in the exam, rather than finishing off a melody. Generally I think the Practical Musicianship exam is a good deal more enjoyable than preparing for theory. As the others have said you can certainly buy books that help you prepare for these tests. Have you looked at the AB publishing website, I am sure they would be there. There is a little bit of sight singing but most of the tests are with your instrument - transposing, realising ornaments at sight, that sort of thing. I would advice you to look at the grade 6 syllabus as well as grade 5. Having a little bit of knowledge about how you teach from your posts, Violinia, I would say your pupils would find this a very accessible exam.
I would be interested in your views once you have explored the syllabus.

[sbhoa]

Hi, Yes Sarah-flute is right, I have taken a Practical Musicianship exam myself but have never actually had a pupil take it. I actually took Grade 8 which I found easier than grade 5 because you could do an improvisation based on a poem given in the exam, rather than finishing off a melody. Generally I think the Practical Musicianship exam is a good deal more enjoyable than preparing for theory. As the others have said you can certainly buy books that help you prepare for these tests. Have you looked at the AB publishing website, I am sure they would be there.  There is a little bit of sight singing but most of the tests are with your instrument - transposing, realising ornaments at sight, that sort of thing. I would advice you to look at the grade 6 syllabus as well as grade 5. Having a little bit of knowledge about how you teach from your posts, Violinia, I would say your pupils would find this a very accessible exam.
I would be interested in your views once you have explored the syllabus.

so, one question which is not too clear from the book....
As a pianist how does the play from memory on your instrument test wiork?
If the examiner plays and you have to cahange places you are at a disadvantage because a short term memory test will require longer ter memory.... <_<

[jo.clarinet]

so, one question which is not too clear from the book....
As a pianist how does the play from memory on your instrument test wiork?
If the examiner plays and you have to cahange places you are at a disadvantage because a short term memory test will require longer ter memory.... <_<

Yes, it's quite amusing seeing them dive for the piano as quickly as possible! I always move out of the way as promptly as I can, and I imagine that the examiners do the same for the piano candidates.

The musicianship is a really good syllabus - I've been using it with a lot of my pupils since it came out in the early 90s, although they don't all go on to take the exams.

[lynne]

Hi violinia,

if you have the cash and the time available, why not take the exam yourself?
When I first started teaching I was seriously tempted to take grade 1 piano again, simply because I had been out of the exam loop for so long.... in the end I didn't, but I would be very tempted to take this one if I was really unsure and had a student very interested :)

[sbhoa]

Hi violinia,

if you have the cash and the time available, why not take the exam yourself?
When I first started teaching I was seriously tempted to take grade 1 piano again, simply because I had been out of the exam loop for so long.... in the end I didn't, but I would be very tempted to take this one if I was really unsure and had a student very interested :)

I was thinking along the same lines as you lynne.
Maybe next year some time.