To paraphrase one of Mr Bouffant's more memorable quotes: Oops, I seem to have entered myself for Grade 5 Practical Musicianship.

Helpful advice / Suggestions of resources to prepare for the exam / Experiences of preparing for and taking a Practical Musicianship exam / Advice gleaned from teaching others with a view to taking the exam / cheap jokes welcomed.

And, for the record "you must be crackers" does not count as helpful advice

Cheers

Katyjay

I did it when it first came out (a long time ago), did no preparation - and found it rather harder than I expected. My downfall was the singing - i don't suppose you'll have that problem

W

Fantastic katyjay, I'm planning to do mine in March too! Have you got the Musicianship in Practice books and the specimen papers?

In no particular order:

Yes, I'd imagine I'll sing as much of it as possible.

May well use the piano and will probably use a recorder or two as well.

Yes I've got those books and the specimen tests.

Noodle, anything you can suggest would be welcomed.

Are you allowed to mix and match instruments?

I find some of the instructions not so clear.
The Musicianship in practice book refers to 'an instrument' in test 5A and then to 'THE instrument in the other tests which are played rather than sung.

The syllabus has a similar distinction for test A and B.

Something I need to check then.

Thanks Sbhoa

Just looked at the syllabus. It looks to me as if you have to choose one instrument to take in with you.

So I think I'll prepare both for piano and recorder, and judge nearer the time which one I do.

And, of course, I'll prepare all the singing options too.

Thanks for clarifying that, Noodle

Well done KJ, you've inspired me.. shall we do it together?

If you care to join Jazzywench and me, you're welcome to do so

For Practical Musicianship?

Exactly so.

I am starting Grade 5 PM next flute lesson. So depending on how I get on with it I may have a bash in March

I've just clocked the price of PM on the online form, what is their justification in charging that? Surely it's an even shorter exam than the equivalent grade of practical? Is it because the higher grades are a substitute for gr5 theory, so they are effectively rolling up the price of that into the exam as well?!

It's nearly put me off doing one "for fun"...

On the entry form as far as I can tell it's the same price as for a normal practical exam, (it's marked "practical exams, including practical musicianship) and according to the supplementary information (well insofar as I can tell, it doesn't have a separate list of timings that I can see...) it's supposed to take a similar time to an "any other subjects" exam (keyboard exams are slightly shorter, singing varies, and harp is given the longest allowance - presumably to allow for the need to tune 30-odd strings). I take it one is paying for the expertise, presence, and attention of the examiner, not the subject examined.

I have been toying with the idea of doing a PM exam, time will tell if I get round to it!

I was toying with the idea of doing a PM exam this session too.... I have the books, and past papers, and have looked through them, but I think the prices put me off really.

In the spirit of a new-found forum harmony, I've just put meself in for a PM exam too.. Now to order some books on how to do it... Any suggestions?!

Question's not long ago been asked in the Teacher's forum. This was the reply.

Thanks. Just before I saw your reply I found similar stuff on the ABRSM publishing website too...

well i did it when it first came out about 3/4 years ago and i failed! I don't know why but maybe it was because the examiner wasn't used to it?! Well it doesn't matter cos i did the theory instead anyway.

I enjoyed it - it's like one big aural test so keep testing yourself on stuff like singing bck a tune. Put the radio on and if you hear a song you've never heard before turn the volume off and try and sing the melody back o something! I hope that is useful because I can't actually remeber what else you have to do!

well i remember my teacher telling me it was new. Perhaps she was wrong because she'd never come across it before. So what was different about the general musicianship?

How much is it to do practical musicianship? I was planning on doing it sometime soon. Where did you find the price list?

I think it's the same as corresponding practical grades.

Well, after nearly two months of alternating dither, panic and resignation, I'm just about to go and face the consequences of that oopsie.

See you all later.

Cheers


Katyjay

Good luck!

Good luck KJ! Do tell us how you found it since I have mine on Monday and I haven't a clue about it!

I hope it goes well KJ

Well, I'm back.

Singing and playing back was OK. Then singing the lower part was OK except for one silly slip. Maybe I should have done the transposing.

Sight-reading was another silly slip - shame really as it wasn't too difficult.

The improvisations went OK, but then I could only spot 3 of the 5 differences. That test was much harder than the practice ones I'd done - and my memory wasn't sufficient under stress. I found myself pointing to a fourth place on the score where I'd spotted a difference, but couldn't for the life of me recall what it was when she finished playing....

Best of luck for the result katyjay.

Just got the result. Passed with B.

Well done KJ

Thanks Ben

Well done!

Good result KJ, glad you did well!

Well done to you!

Well done.

Well done

That's terrific KJ! I haven't heard back from mine yet. Did you sing or play the majority? I sang mine and the examiner was decidedly rusty about giving me starting notes, telling me the key in test A, etc nearly gave me the wrong test twice until I pointed this out. Slightly concerned to enter my own pupils as they might be too afraid to speak up. Have been considering writing to the board to ensure that examiners are clear when setting out each test to candidates. He was very polite and played well though.

What exactly is PM and what is it useful here (being stupid!)?

Sang the sight-reading. Played the improvisations on a recorder. Had to point out at one point that as I was playing a recorder it had a limited range of notes and I'd have to put the start of the tune improvisation up an octave.

Well done KJ, that's very nice. I've not had mine yet.. grrrr...

Patience, Mr B. I did mine a couple of days before yours. I'm sure you'll get your result in the next few days.

Well done Katyjay. Why haven't I got my recorder pupil's result? He went in just before you. Hope it's in tomorrow's post.

Have you looked online Suepea? I haven't had the notification e-mail yet, let alone the paper documents, but I looked on the system on the offchance it had arrived - and there it was.

Thanks Katyjay - I hadn't thought of that. He has passed with a merit.

Congratulations to him!

Well done katyjay, and well done to your pupil Suepea.

Thanks barry-clari.

Just found out I managed to get an A in my recent prac mus exam. That was rather surprising!

Woo, well done, mrb!