I have passed my grade 5 exam and now i am working towards grade 5 theroy. I have to start all the books starting from Grade 1. I have never actually done theroy before and my first attempt at it did not impress my teacher at all, i was soooo upset about wot she had sed and thought, that all the way home i was crying and really scared to go back the next week. i know its only grade 1 but now i feel embarrased at any minor mistake i do in that book. Has anyone been like this before? has any1 got any tips?

Queen of Sheeba xx

hiya!!

theory is really important.... to grade 5 at least!! dont stress too much over it though or you wont enjoy it, and the key part to learning is enjoying what your doin!!! just keep revising what youve done, keep a clear mind!! let the information stick. (if your anythin like me youve got a concentration span, or maybe haven't) you just have to try!! you will be very happy when you come across something theory related and you can comment on it, you'll be soooo proud of your self!! theory is very worthwhile. just remeber don't worry!!

QUOTE

worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair, backwards and forwards........ it's something to do but gets you no where!!

bless my english teacher!!!

RELAX........

jaime

just relax and u'll be fine...don't worry...i'm about to start my grade 6 theory...though i desperately wanna to do grade 8..

what exactly did your teacher say?? is it a private teacher?...keep working on it , I stated not too long ago and I am working on grade 5 ...just so you will get there at one point I didn't think i would understand any off it as I am teachign myself... am a very mature student so don't get disheartened

It is good that you have started with the grade 1 book. That way you don't miss anything out as grade 5 is all the stuff from grades 1 - 4 PLUS the extra things in the grade 5 book.

I think that once you begin to look at it you will find that a lot of things you really know already if you have got as far as passing grade 5 practical. You will know the note names, time signatures, many performance directions, key signatures, how major and minor scales and chords are made up. All these things, and others I can't think of right now, you will have come across in your playing. Try to see the connection, it is not a different subject but only emphasising things you will have already come across.

Hey queen, don't stress over it!!!!!
I really hate/d theory I have just passed my grade 5 after two yeahr os learning it and i found it really tough especially since iv only been playing an instrument for 3 years. I f I can pass believe me anybody can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like Jaime said when your doing something and you come across something theory related you'll think to yourself 'yay I know what they're on about!!' lol but yeah it's definately worth doing and I think I am a better player now after learning the theory I need.
I don't understand why you crazy people go on and do higher grades though I find it really boring!!!
Alex
xxxx

I thought theory was soooooo hard when I started. I needed it to go on and do Grade 6 piano. I had a really brilliant teacher in school and she started me off on it. I went straight in at Grade 3 and seriously, all my attempts were APPALLING. I was ashamed even to let anyone see my work books because everything was marked with big red X's. Then my teacher got married and moved away but as she is a star, she let me post my theory to her and she would mark it and send back wee notes. I started theory last September and was working towards doing the Grade 5 exam in March. I did about three hours of it every day because I so badly needed to push ahead with it if I wanted to do my Grade 6 piano in June. So basically, I worked my butt off and my teacher was fab and I did the exam and got 85 out of 100!!! I was so shocked - I had expected to scrape a pass with one or two marks. And I was even MORE shocked when i discovered I liked theory!!! See?? You can do anything if you put your mind to it. I felt like I was so stupid and that I would never be able to get anywhere near Grade 5 standard but I did and I felt great!! So, there's some inspiration for you, I hope!!!

I hate theory! But I will get there eventually, I'm hoping that it will be at least by November, because I am taking the exam then. I'm up to the composition in the Theory in Practise books, and the stuff afterwards isn't too difficult either. I think I have passed the worst like irregular time signatures and the like. So just keep an open mind and don't get too stressed about it. You will soon get there. Anyway, if you have already taken grade 5 practical then you could probably start your theory at grade 2 or 3, you will know the stuff before that from your playing. I started at grade 3 theory when I was at grade 3 and I have had no trouble, so I don't see why you should. Good luck!

Im a little shocked that you passed GrV practical i presume and youre now starting from GrI theory anyway, for what it's worth, your teacher should be there to help you - not to tell you every single thing, but rather to guide you along a discovery path as an enquiring student.

It saddened me to hear that you left in tears... most unflattering I would say. Keep a positive outlook and do your reading. Try to relate what you are now reading in your Theory to what you would have played. by the way - what instrument are you?

Chin up mate

Don't worry!

Just work hard on your theory nad impress her!

I started my theory about 1 1/2 months ago, and im grade 4 now!

Its not hard to tackle thoery up to grade 5

Hi,

Don't be too disheatened. Theory is, as many people put it, important, and count yourself lucky from working from grade 1 upto 5. I did it this way, and yes it may be a bit of a struggle, but at the end, it will all be worth it. I have seen many people who have skipped straight to grade 5 theory and have failed numerous times because they did not have a complete knowledge of stuff from lower theory grades. We all make silly mistakes. After all, we are only just human.

Good Luck with your theory . I have really leart to love theory.

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please don't be upset you're in exactly the same situation as i was. i had done my grade 5 piano exam and had to do theory in order to do higher grades. i know theory seems (well, is!!) difficult and tedious at first but believe me, it's worth getting your grade 5 in the end! In December 2003 i got my school report and my theory teacher said that it would be a hard task for me to get grade 5 by march. but i did it!! i was doing theory in my instrumental lessons instead of practical but it paid off. don't let anyone discourage you cos it is possible!!. prove your theory teacher that you can do the exercises in the book.
let us know how you get on

Keep at it as it will get easier and easier as you go over the stuff. If you are doing the Theory in Practice books from the AB then there are loads of examples so you should get the hang of it.

You shouldn't be going home in tears though so if that happens again you need to take action with the teacher. She may be expecting too much from you because you have done the grade 5 practical. Maybe you have changed teachers during your learning period so she doesn't realise that you haven't done theory before?

If it is a personality clash maybe you should find a separate theory teacher - some teachers who are brilliant on the instrument are just not good at explaining the theory. Or you could agree with your teacher that you teach yourself the theory for a month, (as long as you do!) and then try the grade 1 book again. I have always taught myself the theory as I can't bear having people explain that sort of thing to me.