I have just had the pleasure of giving an adult student his first exam result.
This is a young guy, who really wants to play pop music, but volunteered to put himself through grade one. He passed with 118 marks.

His reaction - ?
he's a bit bemused I think.

I thought I'd be doing ok if I just passed.

The report is I think very fair and makes some really good points. The (nice - thank you !) additional comments from the examiner say

"a very pleasing pass and a good start; ....... could earn you the merit you deserve next time."

"I thought I'd be doing ok if I just passed. "

Now he realises that in fact a merit may be within reach and he's really chuffed.

To all you adult beginners out there - don't ever believe that you can't do it - that what you can achieve is limited.

I don't think there is a limit to what I can achieve, provided I'm allowed to play my clarinet.

But it's my understanding that in the exams you are required to sing at one point. I cannot sing - at least not if you want the paint to stay on the walls! Part of the reason I took up a woodwind instrument is that you cannot be expected to sing while playing it.

Don't stress about the singing part of the exam - it's only a few marks. Over 20 years ago I did grade 6 clarinet and got (I think) 118. This included the lowest possible mark you can get on the aural section provided you make an attempt at it and probably a few dropped marks in the other sections because of the singing cloud hanging over my head.

Nowadays I think, not sure because it's unlikely I'll ever put it to the test, but I think I just might possibly be able to scrape something approaching a pass-mark on the aural section. Not because any inherent ability has changed, but because my listening skills have improved an awful lot through practice. If you enjoy listening to and playing music then you've got a musical ear. If you ever hear the introduction to a song on the radio and recognise it then you've got the ability to recognise cadences, and if all else fails make sure your pieces and scales are as good as you can possibly get them, practice sight reading like your life depends on it and just blag your way through the aurals - you should still pass.

I can't sing either, and I never do well in that part of the aural. But I decided not long ago that there was no reason why I shouldn't learn how to sing in the same way that I'm learning how to play the clarinet. So now I go to a singing teacher to learn the techniques for singing, and my teacher is confident that she can help me "find my voice" (what a nice teacher, she says all the right things ) You may not be unhappy about not being able to sing at present, but if like me, you'd like to be able to sing, it IS possible to learn how


Thanks for the encouragement, maggie - very timely in view of the fact that my G3 exam is next week

Just to be devils advocat if you play the flute you can sing and play the flute at the same time!

Seriously though, it is annoying for people who don't feel confident although its good for the musicianship in general.

I know this sounds horrible but I terribly dislike singing! I was never aware that we have to do this in a piano or violin exam and the thought of it horrifies me this 'may' be enough to put me off taking any exams, I'll see how I feel in a few months time.....
I do though enjoy listening to some songs (depending what) and opera, but definitely NOT singing anything myself!!!

You can goof up one section of the technical tests in a grade exam and still pass - my gremlin is memorising scales , but I still did better than I'd ever dreamed I could - singing isn't even the whole aural, just a little bit of it, so don't worry.
Adult learners do tend to be more critical of themselves than kids do; I think this has actually helped me, because if I hear myself doing something badly, I'll go back and try to sort it out, whereas when I was a kid, I'd just slide past the gremlins and hope they'd go away - and as a kid I didn't get the results I have as an adult .

I've tried to improve my singing, but I don't seem to be able to do anything with it. I think there may be something wrong with my throat - I've been told by a doctor that I have no tonsils, although I've never had them removed - so I wonder what else may be out of shape. Maybe I should think myself luky I can even speak!

But my point is: why, as instrument players, are we required to sing in an exam? We could be the very best player in the world on a particular instrument, but still not get full marks in an exam because we cannot sing responses in the aural tests. Why can we not just play them on our instrument?

And I don't buy the 'it makes you a better all round musician' argument. By that reasoning someone taking a singing exam should have to play an instrument.

If you can speak without problems or pain, you have everything you need to be able to sing. You just need to learn how to use it.

Try some lessons, you might like it!

Allan

Plus, you don't *have* to sing - you're allowed to hum. It's not that different when you stop and think about it, but I'm much better able to hum-in-public than sing-in-public

It's also only a very small bit of the aural test for each grade that you HAVE to sing for - echo responses at the earlier grades, and the sight-singing in later ones (the phrases can be played back in later grades).

It's also possible to whistle the response if you're able... and it specifically says in either the syllabus or These Music Exams (I forget) that it is pitch and not vocal quality that is assessed.

good luck with the exam.




please don't say I am off-thread

That really makes me have a wry smile because at new singing lessons, I'm discovering that there's a right and a wrong way to hum


Who me? Don't know what you mean!


Thanks for the good wishes

Good luck with the Grade 3, hope everything goes well for you.