Hi all,

I would appreciate if you could give me your opinion on the following.
I have been studying the piano for a year now and am on grade 4. Last November I took the theory test grade 5 as my teacher had advised me I would need that exam if I ever reach grade 6 piano. At the time he told me that once I had that exam I wouldn’t need to do any more theory. Now he is telling me I need grade 6 to grade 8 theory or I will never play properly as I won’t be able to understand the pieces I play. As much as I enjoyed learning theory up to grade 5 I really didn’t intend to go any further with the it and want to spend my lessons learning the instrument. Is he right to say I need to learn grade 6 to grade 8 now??

Theory is good for an all round musicianship training and perhaps for A level or university degrees. From an exam point of view the AB require Grade 5 theory for the higher practical exams, the LCM ask for Grade 5 theory or GCSE Music (or similar) for their Grade 8 and I think I'm right in saying that the TG grades have no theory pre-requisites. However, if you want to take diplomas with the AB, Grade 6 and Grade 8 theory (or equivalents) will be needed.

Hope that helps. There are so many opportunities now to choose what suits you best

You are doing very well to get to grade 4 in a year! I had a gap of over 20 years between grades 5 and 6 theory and carried on playing the piano quite happily to grade 8 and beyond in the meantime. Its not essential to do the higher grades and you should not feel pressured to do them if you don't want to.

Having said that, I really struggled with the aural tests for the higher grades, and I think a better understanding of theory would have helped with that, and also with my interpretation of the pieces I played. My playing has certainly improved a lot (I think) since 'catching up' with the later theory grades.

Thanks for your replies BusyBee and Sue.
I'm really only learning the piano for pleasure and do not intend to go to university or take any diplomas. Maybe if I had started when I was young I would have but not now that I am 42.
I think I'll see how the next few lessons go and he still puts too much pressure on me doing these grades when I do not feel ready to do them I'll start to look for another teacher. I've started dreading my lessons lately because every week all my teacher talks about is how important it is for me to carry on with the theory asap and if I play a piece of music he tells me that if I had studied for these grade he would be in a position to talk about the piece but there is no point trying to explain it to me as I wouldn't understand!!! somehow that doesn't feel right....

I don't see any reason why it's not possible to talk about the pieces you are playing without studying the higher theory grades first.
This can be done at the appropriate level of understanding and learning about things like how the music is structured can happen gradually as you learn to play. It's not necessary to do separate theory study for this if you don't want to.
Isn't it part of the teacher's role to help to develope understanding by explaining things at the right level?

Hmm, that is a bit odd.. Perhaps you need to just tell him quite firmly that you don't want to do any more exams at the moment. After all, you are the paying customer here!

It is also likely to take up rather a lot of time.
When I did the higher theory grades I had a separate theory teacher and had hour long lessons once a fortnight.
Once you get past grade 5 it's isn't so easy to fit 10 minutes theory into a lesson and get anywhere.
Even if you were interested in the higher grades I think that as a relatively new learner it would be a lot easier to get a few more years learning through the music you play in first. It would make much of it easier to understand I think.

Thanks for all your comments. It does help. As he is my first teacher I wasn't too sure what to think but reading your comments I realise that he might not be the right teacher for me. As I've explained to him several times (every week actually!!!) it is not that I do not want to do the grade 6 exam, I am studying for it, but I need some time to study the new material as it seems to be a big leap from grade 5 to grade 6 and also as you mention quite rightly sboah "as a relatively new learner it would be a lot easier to get a few more years learning through the music you play in first. It would make much of it easier to understand I think". That's exactly what I was thinking.
I've only started to play the piano last year and studied theory grade 1 to 5 from July (took the exam in November).
I actually thought I had done quite well and should be enjoying my lessons. Thanks to your comments I have decided to be firmer with my teacher in telling him I do not want to do grade 6 yet and see how the lessons go. And as I've mentioned before I will be looking for a new teacher if he keeps talking about it!!!
Again thanks for all comments. They made me feel better. I was feeling a bit down when I typed my first comment but am feeling much stronger and better now!!!

Hi missypiano

You might be interested to see the answer which Clara Taylor, the Chief Examiner, gave to a question I asked about the benefits of doing the higher theory grades.


I read her answer as meaning that the higher grades are useful if you're going to be a teacher, but aren't necessary otherwise. Surely if the higher grades were necessary in order to play better, as your teacher is saying, then the Chief Examiner would have said so....

Also, have a look at this link - it's the ABRSM statistics showing how many people take the theory exams at each grade. In 2006, there were 21,847 students taking G5, compared with 802 taking G6.

I'm only a student, but even I can see that your teacher seems to have a different train of thought to everyone else!

Quite right. It all sounds a bit strange. Perhaps he feels in competition with other teachers and wants to be seen putting students in for exams.

Unless you need higher grade theory for a career, I don't see the point of taking exams. Why not just read the theory books in peace and quiet and learn as much as you want without any stress. You don't need exams to prove that you know about music theory.

Steve

That's exactly what I've been doing and will continue doing Steve. I'm so glad I've posted the question now as you all made me feel so much better and I now realise I am not wrong in asking for time to study and there is no reason for me to rush through the grades when I'm not confortable with it and definitely do not feel ready. Thanks for the stats link too Skylark. Much appreciated!!
I'm still new at this forum but what a great place!!
Have a great day everyone! xx