I need advice. For grade 4 cello, how long will I get to look at the sight reading before I play?

Any info would be appreciated.

I believe it's 30 seconds for any instrument - and checking the syllabus it states ...." up to half a minute ".

So I guess technically that means it could be less than half a minute - although that would seem a bit tough.

Maggie

It's 'up to half a minute', for all instruments at all grades. Not very long, especially at the higher grades!

I am doing grade 4 soon and I THINK it is 30secs. Have a look in the sylabus.

Ceri

30 seconds... approximately

well it's a while since i took an exam... i think a minute, maybe two. the syllabus should tell you.
best of luck!

According to the AB syllabus you get half a minute to look at the piece before being asked to play it. You can try out the music during that time if you wish.

As far as I know you get 30 seconds for all instruments and Grades before SS.

(I feel it is soooo insufficient!!!)

QUOTE (Rupayan @ Sep 17 2004, 09:19 AM)

As far as I know you get 30 seconds for all instruments and Grades before SS. (I feel it is soooo insufficient!!!)

Well, at least it's the same for everybody. The Board is testing what people can take in and act on in 30 seconds, so you need to get your priorities sorted out before you get in the exam room. One thing you can do which will be useful for both the sight-reading and the aural tests, as well as for your general musicianship, is to learn as many Italian terms as possible. Aim to know a good range of terms related to loudness, speed, changing speed and mood. Make sure you understand the common symbols such as staccato dots and pauses.

Be aware that the syllabus specifically says up to Grade 5 that the sight-reading can be in any of the keys and cover the whole range of the scales for that grade AND all the earlier ones. I strongly recommend that you make sure you have played all the set scales and arpeggios often enough from music to be very familiar with how they look. That's especially important if none of your prepared pieces includes notes at the extremes of your range, because you won't be ready to go straight to them under stress.

My suggested order of priorities when you have a piece of sight-reading in front of you is:
1. Look at the key signature (give yourself the best chance of avoiding a lot of unnecessary wrong notes).
2. Look at the top of the piece to see if there's an indication of speed and/or mood. There's no point in busting a gut trying to play it fast if the instruction is "very slow and miserable".

After that, depending a bit on what instrument you are playing, you might want to check for accidentals, rests, unusually high or low notes that you might misread, complicated rhythms, ties etc. Higher grade string players may want to have a quick think about position changes.

If you know you often forget about the key signature as soon as you have looked at it you may find it helpful to glance through for the first note that's actually changed by each of the flats or sharps in the key signature. Remember to look for that letter name in all octaves.

You are allowed to do whatever you personally find most useful during the "looking" time. That could include tapping the rhythm (clapping probably isn't very appropriate if it involves wasting time putting the instrument down!), singing, or playing.

Once the you start to play, the only really important rule is "KEEP GOING". You will definitely lose marks if you stop or (worse) go back. I've seen lots of mark sheets with sight-reading comments that include varations on "...but it kept going"!

Just wanted to say that I always try and play it through during this time - it helps me when I then play it 'for real'.

yeah about 30 seconds

30 seconds to look at sight reading is allowed. However, if you are entered as a candidate with Special Needs, the time allowances do change eg a dyslexic candidate gets 2 minutes.

I have entered a dyslexic candidate twice now (entries have to be supported with documentation from the school etc confirming the status) and she has had 2 minutes each time. Made the difference between her passing and failing this section.

However, 30 seconds is the norm for any instrument or voice.

in every exam i ve done i must have had quite a few minutes to look over the sight readin

i don't know whether it was this long or whether time was going very slow for me

because i wanted the exam to end i don't know

lol
Luv Lucyxxxxx