Hi and sorry sorry sorry if this has been asked a thousand times, but I am having a hard time fathoming out what the theory exam (grade 5) involves. I have downloaded the PDF file with the requirements from the ABRSM site, but how is the exam structured? How long does it last? Where can I get past papers and how much do they cost? The website is kind of unclear in certain respects (that's putting it mildly ... or is it just me??? )
Unfortunately my teacher is no help - I'm here in Italy and he is not familiar with the ABRSM or the syllabus. Can I order the set pieces (so I can make an informed decision) - seems he can't be bothered. Sorry, feeling a bit cross. Sorry for all the questions.

Have you done any of the earlier theory papers? You will probably need to build up to Grade V.

You can order previous years' papers easily from Musicroom, and you will probably need to get a copy of a theory workbook - there are several on the market and you can get them from the same place. Surely your teacher will help you if you need Grade V? It is possible to teach yourself though if necessary, and everyone on the forums is quite helpful if you have any specific questions. Good luck

I have ZERO theory. Actually, less than that Thanks for your super-quick reply though!! I will certainly check out MusicRoom.

Can anyone recommend a single title which would cover all the requirements from grades 1-5?

Hello again. I think most of what you will need is contained in 'The AB Guide to Music Theory, Book 1', by Eric Taylor, but in my opinion it is not set out in such a way to make it easy to study from. You really do need the workbooks - a good one for Grade V is 'Take Five and pass first time', which has some great tips in it.

Erm...I don't think you can buy this book in Italy...but you can try, maybe:[A Handbook Of Music Theory by Loh Phaik Kheng, grades 1~5]--based on the new syllabus of The ABRSM.
It helps me a lot...

slightly off the topic of the thread but are the past papers exactly like what the real exam will be? I don't want to think "oh these past papers are easy" then go into the exam and for it all to be a hundred times harder...

The past papers should be very similar to the real exam, although I remember that the format of one of the questions was slightly different in the real exam.

The past papers are just what they say they are... they are real exam papers from previous years.
The format stays pretty much then same but the more past papers you manage to work through the more variation in the way questions are asked you will have expereinced.

Its also good to make sure that you've been through the past papers for more recent years (do older ones just for practise), as the recent ones give you a better insight on what the exam will be like.

Yep, in the last couple of years the format of question 1 has changed slightly so it's a good idea to get the 2005 papers to give you the best idea of what to expect.

sweet. it's just at school we've been doing past papers to prep us for our GCSEs and there's quite alot of difference between different years... ah well. thanks for that!

you should do lots of past papers...they really help!!!