Hello everyone.

I want to ask a few questions and i hope you can answer them...

During the Diplomas exam, there will be a section which we have to chat with the examiers, what is that really about? What questions will the examier aim to ask?

Also my teacher asks to find some background information about the composer and the pieces, what do i need to find out specifically?
The works of the composer and his/her life etc?

Generally what is the preparation time for diplomas you would say? about 2 years?

Thank you~

Hi Sharon

Firstly, yes you have to chat about your pieces. This is the viva voce section. There have been threads on this in the diploma forum so you can try searching through. The syllabus also has good advice. Generally you need to know biographical, historical, circumstances of composition, some analysis etc. It's quite broad.



How long is a piece of string? Depends how good you are at passing grade 8 (you could be well above at the time) and how much time you have, and how you practise. Generally though, you need at least a year if not two. It's equivalent to first year recital at conservatoire level. ie, you have to be distinction grade 8 to apply, even higher to get in, then a year of really intense training that you couldn't fit into a normal working week.

Sharon,

You'll find a very useful guide to programme notes on the Diploma section of the ABRSM website.
Anything in the notes is fair game for the Viva section of the exam, plus the wider context of the piece in the composer's work, and other works of the period and idiom.

Two years is not unreasonable. If you're already familiar with some of the repertoire you can bring that down. I did it in a year, but two of the five works I played I was already well along the way with when I decided to do the exam in January. I failed an attempt taken in July, but scraped a pass in December. I would recommend allowing longer than I did.

1. Yes, if it's an ABRSM diploma you will have a section of the exam dedicated to 'chatting' (though it doesn't feel like 'chatting', more like 'grilling'...) I think their aim is to discover whether you really wrote your programme notes yourself, so you just need to be clued up on the pieces, the composers, where the piece sits in their output, what the conventions were at the time of composition, anything about the first performance etc. There should be guidance on this in the syllabus, have you checked?

2. Difficult to say about preparation time - some people will take longer than others, and it depends how much practice you can manage too...

Thank you for the answers... I will check the syllabus. ^^

I have just finished my grade 8 exam in x'mas...
so now i'm preparing to do the dip~
but just wanna get a general feeling of it.

I'm 15 at the moment, so i hope i can cope with it well~

Thanks again for all your replies

Hi Sharon

Do you have the results of your grade 8?

haha yep...
my results --> 121

Well done! I guess as you're only 15 there's no rush to get it done ASAP, so don't worry over taking your time to prepare - all time spent in preparation will be worth it!

yeap... i still have quite a lot of time to prepare, so that's quite good ^^
Thx for your advice.

Hey Sharon, I did my grade 8 in December too and I just turned 16 yesterday. I've been told that with my level of practice (average 3h per day) I can expect to do it this year. But then, I think the DipABRSM plays to my strengths.

Which strengths are they, bohemian? I'm curious!

average 3 hours a day~
wow! i can't possibly do that every day, haha
well done in your grade 8 exam ^^
I bet you will have good results in dip as well~

I have too many things to do for my GCSE,
I use most of my time for study instead of music... haha

So I would keep your Diploma prep long term!

Whereas it can be quite nice to work towards GRade 8 as well as do your school work because they are very complementary types of work, for the Diploma you will need to do a fair amount of "book work".
You may find leaving this until after your GCSEs (which will hopefully teach you a little more about how to research effectively!) a more sanity-preserving course

Sharon, I find it really hard to balance school with violin too, I don't do much of my homework at all.

Benjaminja, I know quite a lot about the music I play which isn't something you can show in grade exams, also although I suck at sight-reading I can make a lot of progress with it after 5-10 minutes, so I reckon Diplomas will suit me better.

oh really... i see~

Nevermind... i will start my way to dip as well as school work.
I will try to balance them, haha... hope it will be fine ^^

dip is not really in a hurry and i koe it takes time to prepare.
But i would like to do it before university, coz i'm sure there will be lots of work to do during uni.