I just received the latest Libretto and noticed lots of syllabus news and also some useful information regarding the new clarinet and flute exam pieces books.

Apparently the new lists will be available online from July, and recorder players have new Time Pieces books with lots of syllabus music in them, which I am sure will be a potentially useful resource and a saving for students...

I also have a leaflet about the new clarinet and flute books; the flute/clarinet+piano part are available from 5.95 at grade 1 up to 10.95 at grade 7. Not cheap but should represent quite a saving in comparison with how expensive much music is to buy separately... they should be available in September.

Very interested now to see the new lists, (and what is/is not included in the books) it's a shame we still have to wait two months! And still no news that I've seen as to whether list C pieces are included in the books or not.

I agree with David. I know it will save money for students and their parents, but it will have the effect of halving the syllabus for many teachers and their pupils. Many teachers seem to ignore the rest of the syllabus, as though the three pieces given for each list are the only ones possible. I have even heard an examiner say how pleased he was to hear a (piano) piece from the alternative lists. They must get so bored of hearing the same few pieces all the time.

The Time Pieces for recorder might be interesting, but I don't use the flute ones very much at the moment.

Being a poor student with no finacial help from the parentals, I think the combined books are a fantastic idea!!

As I have said before, I am going to use the opportunity afforded by the introduction of the flute books to ensure my students play other repertoire from a wider choice of material other than the books they might just have bought for an exam. At the moment, if they've paid out £20 or so for three separate books, I feel I can't ask them to fork out for more books besides.

It might save money for people with other financial priorities, but I have to agree with David, salrec and others. Music is not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, plus they are already paying for their instrument, lessons, and not to mention the exam fees . Yes there are people who genuinely can't afford everything you want them to have and for those people why not lend things out or photocopy?

I'll be interested which pieces go into the exam books, like if it will include the Music Through Time, Time Pieces, All Jazzed Up etc. or the harder to find ones. If the latter then all to the good, but if too many familiar ones go in people could be reluctant to buy the exam book AND a book with a duplicate piece. Supposing 'No Dice' or Music Through Time 1 (popular book) or some of the 76 Graded go in the books, for example.

Let's wait and see.

I think it'll be useful for those who really can't afford it, but personally I'd much rather buy the whole pieces once you get to the sonatas, concertos etc. I like to (try) to look at the whole thing. I am interested to see the new lists though!

I think there are good and bad points, and which will out depends a great deal on what is in the books, and a great deal on individual teachers. If the selection in the books is all from stuff that's easily or cheaply available, it'll be very annoying, BUT they could potentially be a godsend, and they do look to be very affordable. As Andante points out, having got a student to spend £20 or more on 3 books for an exam, it's difficult to then say "oh, and now get this too": but if a student can buy a book for grade 1 that's £6, or £10 (and that's cheaper than many of the albums available) then even a selection off the alternates list to go along with the book won't break the bank.

Just for a specific example, June In Paris on the current G3 list sounds really pretty, but unless a student was dying to buy it I'd feel a little bashful asking a parent to spend almost a tenner if they'd already got, for example, 50 for flute for the study and one of the Baroque albums for list A, just to pick at random... they've already spent £13... and neither of those is a particularly expensive book, and both reasonably good value in terms of the amount of music you get. (When it comes to French publications and buying one sheet of music for a tenner ) If however, the child has a book which covers two lists for which they have paid £6.50, or potentially just £3.25 if the teacher already has a piano part they're willing to loan, then £9.95 suddenly looks a lot more affordable - or a new non-syllabus book after the exam that will really bring the student along... and so on and so forth..

Yes, I'd prefer to buy a whole work, wouldn't we all, but it isn't always possible.

I think, as with anything, it depends partly on the person using it. Yes, for some teachers, it means they will effectively ignore half the syllabus, and it could probably lead to more of the parent buying the next book as soon as the child has finished one exam, etc etc ad infinitum. But that happens anyway, and plenty of teachers are very unimaginative when it comes to the syllabus anyway. (My just-passed-grade-3 student was inherited from a teacher who clearly was getting her to work on pieces that the teacher knew and liked, despite my student really loathing one of them and not liking another, without even making very imaginative use of the music said student already owned )

Sure, there are drawbacks... but there are potential benefits too. Which side wins out surely depends more on individual teachers than on the publications themselves. Here's hoping that the AB have also done us proud by sourcing some of the more expensive or difficult-to-find pieces in the exam books *all digits crossed* and we won't find they're full of things that are readily available and which students are going to end up buying eventually anyway or already own from previous exams I'm deeply ambivalent about the prospect, but I'm willing to hope that it will be a good source of affordable music at the right level for prospective candidates, and a good starting point (I devoutly hope) if not necessarily the be all and end all of exam music.

(if the books turn out to be full of studies from the 76, and pieces available in good value albums that I'd be asking someone to get anyway or buying myself anyway - then I shall be disappointed! But it is going to happen, so we're better off trying to work out how to make it work than moaning about it! )

well, I too read that article and was gutted to find there was no mention of an update to the brass syllabus. Come AB - we have had these pieces for 4 years now, they weren't changed last time round either for cornet, trumpet, baritone, euphonium or trombone. The grade 5 options are DULL - especially after 4 years of it!

Lend anything you are willing to lend. Think very carefully before photocopying anything. It will only be legal in a very limited set of circumstances, none of which has anything to do with whether you own the original or not. It starts with "has the composer been dead for 70 years?" (in the EU music is in Copyright until the last day of the 70th year after the composer's death).

No you aren't! I love getting new clarinet books for exams and exploring the other pieces that are in them. In one of the books, I ended up playing some pieces that weren't for the exam at some concerts. I'd rather buy them seperately.

I'm extremely relieved and grateful that the AB have at long last decided to publish grade books for woodwind as a large number of my students are unable to sit graded exams due to the (rapidly ascalating) cost of books and exam entry. It's totally unrealistic to expect early grade players to purchase the entire syllabus before deciding on their exam pieces, and, I have to say, quite offensive to suggest that a pupil isn't serious about playing if they're not prepared to buy them. Most of my pupils are quite serious about learning new repertoire for their instrument, and quite frustrated at the prohibitive cost involved in attaining grades.

When the books are introduced, I will be teaching each student every item in it before asking them to select their chosen exam pieces - so most of the time they'll actually have more choice than they had with the 'old' syllabus. I've spent hundreds on books in the past, in a futile attempt to cover all options in the syllabus, so that I can then lend the pieces out to students to prepare for exams, so I'll also be financially better off!

All that's needed now is for the board to reduce the cost of exam entry, and then perhaps more people might be persuaded that instrumental playing isn't reserved for the middle-classes!

They don't appear to be doing so just yet for the oboe, but given the cost of an oboe and the price of reeds that's hardly going to make a difference!

Music exams are not cheaper than dance exams... in fact I think it might be the other way. I have just paid £40 for Grade 4 flute and £20-30 I think for a Grade 4 dancing exam. HOWEVER, in my girls' dancing school, it is usual to have extra lessons in the 5-6 weeks coming up to an exam and we have to pay for these.... which come to about £20 which then makes an exam cost £50 ish. The increase in price as exams get higher in dancing seems to be less dramatic than in music.... but I may be wrong.
This music exam however, I have no extra music to buy (we already have the books and it's flute so the new books will make no difference to me as a parent) and my dad is accompanying... so no additional cost.



I just looked it up... a ballet Grade 8 is £43 with RAD.... a lot cheaper than a music Grade 8

In an ideal world, yes. However, as a peripatetic woodwind tutor I find it quite difficult to cover the cost of all of the pieces from Grades 1-8 on Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax and Bassoon! I think the composers will also benefit from increased royalties as pupils will now be more inclined to buy the relevant grade book rather than use borrowed music (which doesn't earn them any money at all).

It is about priorites, I agree, but in the South Wales valleys where I teach the parents' priority is understandably to feed and clothe their children, rather than spend ever-increasing amounts of money on a seemingly endless supply of books and exam fees, not to mention tutoring costs and instrument accessories. Anything that can be done to reduce this cost, thus enabling children from underprivileged backgrounds to experience the sense of achievement of progressing through grades, is most welcome.

Does anyone know what the breakdown of exam costs is? For instance, the duration of a Grade 2 and 3 exam is 14 minutes, yet Grade 2 costs £32 and Grade 3 £35.90. I wonder what one gets for the extra £3.90

Not every teacher will have (unless they're very well off!) copies of every book used on the syllabus. (Let alone if they teach several instruments! )

And as for composers only getting money on one piece - again, as previously mentioned, sometimes they may well be getting more, because the cost of buying some books for exam use (ie the Lyons one) can be offputting... if the cost of the book is prohibitive and the parent has already spent a good wad of cash, chances are the book will be borrowed or the piece just won't get chosen... in which case, the composer gets nuffin. I would not be at all surprised if more people used his piece if it were in the exam book, or if the exam book were available for a cheap price so more was "left over" for buying extra music.

And come on, the whole "composers won't be getting royalties" applies only to some studies and half of list B give or take. Chances are, having spent less money buying the music of composers long dead, students will have more money to spend on living composers.

As I have said, I am ambivalent about the books, but they could be a huge boon, and yes, I'm sorry, but there ARE people who couldn't afford to buy £20 of exam books on top of exams. And in some parts of the country it isn't at all unusual.

Sarah - there's also a leaflet about the new flute/clari syllabus books inside my Libretto, and that says that three pieces from list C, as well as three from lists A and B, will be included in each book.

I guess if the books are used sensibly they could encourage wider study of music instead of restrict it. It could work both ways. I see too many people who apart from the tutor book own only books that have exam pieces in. They may be good books, but I often wonder if teachers are just trying to save people money rather than assume what is on the syllabus is the best out there. As andante picked up on, it means teachers can use more books leading up to the exam in the knowledge only one book will be needed for the exam itself (though may restrict choice for the exam but not the rest of learning.

I often think reluctance to buy music is not usually they can't 'afford' it, so much as not wanting to spend so much on music. That's understandable when you are just starting out, it may not be a huge priority. If for whatever reason one only ever bought the exam books then that is hardly a good way to learn anyway. When you consider the cost of instruments, lessons, exam fees and sundry, music is not that expensive in the scheme of things.

There is more to music than exam repertoire and when you look at piano which has these books, you see it working both ways. It really depends on how the books are used.

Thanks Barry - I have that leaflet, but clearly have not read it as thoroughly as I should've!

I'm looking forward with about equal apprehension and interest to find out which pieces have gone in the books...


Indeed - but it can be just one thing too many, when so much money has been spent out already. (And some students start of with an instrument provided by the LEA etc - sometimes lessons too... some people wouldn't be able to learn music otherwise - this applies to fewer these days with the provision being cut so much in most places )

I'm fortunate in that my only pupils at the mo are all in a position to buy music for themselves (adult occasional students) or have reasonably well off parents (my young flute student). But for many that just isn't the case.


It does indeed depend on how they're used. They could prove a blessing, and I think it's up to individual teachers to choose to use them wisely. Many won't, but as you say, often exam pieces end up dictating which books are bought/used in between exams, so it may not make that big a difference. At least flute and clarinet teachers are used to having a wide choice so maybe won't be as tempted to just stick with the book pieces as the path of least resistance.

Fact is, they're coming whether we like it or not. Finding ways to use them wisely is the best option we have!