I wasn't going to launch straight into G6, but the current topic about exam room conditions has made me decide that I ought to aim to take it in June 09 when the main hall is used and we have separate tables with a passage between the tables.

I'm expecting to take G4 clarinet in June and I'd rather not have serious theory work on my plate as well as the other things I've got on. I was thinking I might start to look seriously at G6 theory during the summer. On the other hand, my college will be closed so unless my theory teacher is willing to give me some ad-hoc lessons during the summer, I won't have anyone to go through things with me. Also on the negative side, I'm not a keyboard player and all I know about harmony is what I've learnt up to G5. And my compositions to date are extremely variable - I've done some that my teacher has given 100% for, others that would have failed - usually because what I've liked the sound of is not accordance with the rules. On the plus side, I'm starting from a good base as far as previous results are concerned, having got distinctions in every exam up to G5, as long as I don't forget what I've learnt by the summer through lack of use.

So what I'm asking is... if I want to take G6 in June 09, when should I start studying for it? Would summer or even autumn this year be OK? Bearing in mind that I don't just want to get the certificate - I do want to actually understand what it's all about, and the exam is a focal point rather than a goal. Those of you who have done G6, what do you think please?

I'd say it's never too early to start. How about getting a couple of harmony books - like ABC of Harmony - Book A will probably be okay for grade 6; or Josephine Koh's Practice in Music theory. Both these will give you a grounding in the harmony you'll need for Grade 6. Then when you're feeling confident get The Big 6 book which will tell you exactly what you need to do for the exam. I'd advise the Harmony books first as the Big 6 book won't teach you harmony. Good luck.

It might be a good idea to start on the harmony by using something like Harmony in Practice or the ABC of harmony. I've not used these so can't tell you which is best, sorry.
That would give you the background to be able to start on the actual syllabus.
When I began on grade 6 theory I hadn't used those books but I had some background knowledge of basic harmony and chords picked up over the years which helped.
If you've not already done so then listening to music while following the score might be of some help when it comes to question 5.
You could also begin to familiarise yourself with transposition intervals for standard orchestral instruments and set yourself the task of transposing anything you like for each instrument.
These were also things I could already do well before starting on the grade 6 theory and I think that the background knowledge helped.

Great minds think alike sbhoa!

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I was also starting to get really into the theory when going for the Grade 5 and am seriously considering doing Grade 6 next year (more likely session C to allow for the fact that I have other exams). I like the idea of doing it properly this time and fully understanding things rather than just learning how to pass an exam (which I think I did for G5).

However, my composition is, in a word, mince! I haven't seen the G5 mark sheet yet (been in work from 6:30am to 7pm last couple of days therefore missing the post office opening times!) so I don't know how badly I did in the composition but I can almost guarantee I won't have done well.

So, question 1 - how big is the composition element of Grade 6? For Grade 5 I wasn't terribly bothered about it as it was only worth 15 marks (which is probably why I'm terrible at it now).

Question 2 - I have never had a theory teacher. This was ok for Grade 5 (especially as the people on this forum were so helpful with all random and stupid questions ). For those who have done Grade 6, do I really need to find a teacher or will I be able to do this on my own? I have vague recollections of this being asked somewhere else but I can't find it - I think the answer was that because there is more that is subjective you need someone who knows what they're talking about to review your work. Have I remembered correctly?

Composition's worth 20 points in GRade 6 and there are 5 questions to answer altogether. It's very different to Grade 5 and yes you can do it on your own but you need a good grounding in harmony and that's where I'd start.

Jumper, if you have weaker areas at grade 5 I'd go back and fill in the gaps before moving on.
Aim to be able to consistantly score 90+ on past papers as these are the foundations you will be building on.

Thanks to both, I think the first plan is to do what sbhoa has advised. I certainly have weak areas in grade 5 (and for that matter grades 1 - 4). My Grade 5 approach was very much 'how do I pass this exam so I can do my G6 practical'. Now that the pressure is off, I'd like to go back over things and make sure I really understand them (shaky foundations being impossible to build on as they say).

JM - thanks for that. Once I'm more confident in the early stuff I'll start looking at the harmony for a starter.

Considering back at Christmas when I opened my first theory book with a feeling of annoyance and dread, I can't believe I'm now starting to think about doing optional theory exams *goes off to get head examined*

Thanks again.

I have to say, having started my Grade 6 straight after taking Grade 5,. When I first started we were using the ABRSM theoy work book and I felt completely lost. Since then moving on to the Harmony in Practise book, I am having a great time ad reckon that it may all fall into place a lot sooner than I had anticipated. I reckon it will still take me at least 2 terms before I feel ready for an exam if not the year, like yourself I want to know it inside out not just to be able to pass the exam.

Can someone please tell me what the Big 6 book is, is it the ABRSM theory workbook?

ET

Thanks for the advice jm-hamilton and sbhoa. I'll do what you suggest and get the books and do some self-study before I start lessons properly again.



I can't believe it either - I remember your first post about it! Glad you've got into it and we can all support each other

This is my understanding and if I'm wrong, hopefully somebody will correct it...

The original workbook published by the ABRSM was the Music Theory in Practice book (the same series as you know from G1-5). Then the ABRSM brought out the Big 6 book, which I don't think is it's official title but it's called that because there's a huge figure 6 on the cover. I think at first it was thought that the Big 6 would supercede MTiP, but ABRSM are continuing to publish both and confirmed to me when I emailed them about it that MTiP was still current.

I've had a look at both and I got MTiP at this stage because I wanted to see if G6 made any sense to me and to decide whether to go for it or not. The MTiP book seemed to have more explanation and fewer exercises, whereas the Big 6 seemed to be the other way around. But that might be just my perception. If you've already got something like Harmony in Practice, then the Big 6 might be better for you because it will give you lots of exercises to do.

I'll try and catch up with you one day ET and then we can continue chatting about it!

Yes, it's the same book. The official title is "Theory Workbook Grade 6" and it has a large 6 on the front cover. There are books in the same series for grades 7 and 8 as well.
Music Theory in Practice has books for grades 1-8. The final three cover the same ground as the Theory Workbook series, but in a slightly different format. The Workbooks are based around the current format exam questions, but both books are useful.

Before you start on them, you need a thorough grounding in formal harmony. I'd recommend "Harmony in Practice", though I'm sure there are other decent books available. It takes things step by step, introducing new concepts one at a time and has /loads/ of practice exercises. There's an answer book available so you can check you're getting them right. It covers all the topics you'll need for the higher grades, so you don't need to work through the whole book for grade 6. Check the syllabus to find out at which grades the various chords first appear.

T.

Thanks Teigr and Skylark

I do have the Theory Workbook Grade 6 and with my teacher I have attempted a couple of Question 4's and Question 1's. However, I felt this was really hard and I only seemed to be able to manage it when my teacher was there with me. I think it was in this workbook that it referred to Harmony in Practise, so I went ahead and purchased that, along with the answers. I also have the Josoephine Koh book.

It is good to hear that the whole of the Harmony in Practise isn't meant for Grade 6. I do think it is an easy book to understand and you don't have to have a teacher sitting with you to be able to manage it. I managed to complete the first 2 exercises all on my own and that included the diminished and augmented chords with the little "o" and "+ " signs which were new to me.

I started 4 weeks before the exam and managed to get a distinction So if you want to be on the safe side, I'd say Easter 09

I definitely can't last out that long! I was going to try and last out until the summer before looking at it, but all this talk about it has got me itching to go again So I've ordered Harmony in Practice and the Josephine Koh book and I'll see how I get on

Brill, we can then begin to swop notes. You will love the exercises in Harmony in Practise,Skylark, I promise you.

ET

Looking forward to it

That is good to hear! Out of interest, does anyone have a rough idea of which sections correspond to Grade 6?

Can you compare it with the chords listed in the syllabus?
It might give you an idea as to hpw much you need to cover and whether those chords are all covered in the first part of the book or spread out.

If you're dying to get going, go for it You can't prepare too much!

If you're going to work on some or all of it by yourself, you'll probably want to order the HiP Answer Book as well. Or borrow a copy from someone who's done it already.
Otherwise you'll do a bunch of exercises and not be able to check your answers. Which, if you're confident you got them right, might not matter, unless you find it annoying not to be able to confirm them.

T.

Yes you're right, I've ordered that one now as well, thank you

I'm actually quite looking forward to it Also, I'm giving a presentation at a local schools maths conference in a couple of weeks on the link between mathematics and music (it was meant to be a double act with a 'proper' musical mathematician but he's dropped out). As part of the research for that I'm finding all sort of fascinating things.

Having said all that, my last Open University exam is in October and I'm the chair of a society but will be resigning at the end of the year. So, next year I had planned to have lots and lots of free time so that I could focus purley on piano. Unfortunately, I've been signed up for a professional qualification at work (against my will I may add) which starts in October and lasts almost a year!

So, my musically focussed plan for next year has already gone out the window and it's only April *sob*

Ah well, one of these years I will have spare time *dreams*

p.s. actually got 10/15 for the composition element of G5 - well impressed, no idea how that happened

Oh no! I've just put a reply on another thread before I saw this! What a shame


Well done! I got my mark sheet this evening and I was really really pleased to see that I'd got a decent pass in the composition element - as I said at the start of this thread, my comps vary from very good to, er, not very good, so I'm very relieved that I passed this section!

And the material you have to work with varies from straightforward to "What on earth am I meant to do with that?!"
So it's not necessarily an indication of how good (or otherwise) you are.

What was the passmark for that section, and how did you find out?





What Open University course have you been doing?

Things never go to plan Jumper, I had planned to do a piano exam by the end of this year, it has gone so pear shaped and I have had hardly any practise that I am going to have to postpone it for sure.

Well done on your composition.

The passmark is 10 out of 15. You should have got a mark sheet with the certificate, showing the marks for each section of the exam.



Sorry to hear that ET

I'm not going to be around now until next week so I'll catch up with you again then Hope things are improving.

Does anyone know actually how the compositional questions in grade 6 theory get marked? Because I've got the 'Big 6' workbook thingy, and have done a few of questions 4 and 5, marked them using the answers at the back, and usually get around 22/25 for each...meaning if it were my exam, that would already give me 44/100 - which would mean I'd only need to get 20 more marks in total from the other 3 questions to get a pass (although I would want to get a distinction!!) - so surely the marks are hard to get for the first 3 questions?

Sorry if that made no sense whatsoever!!

It's a shame the exams are so expensive...I might take grade 6 just to see what I'd get, and then retake it after properly learning everything!!

Unfortunately, not anything terribly interesting with the OU - diploma in statistics (which I think is interesting but I'm a geek so I would). I've finished 3 courses and am currently doing the fourth and final.

I'm just getting a bit fed up with coming home from work and writing a 'to do this evening' list which I usually try and work through until it gets to 11pm / midnight. I then go to bed, get up in the morning and go back to work.

Once, just once, I'd like to come home from work, sit at my piano and play to my hearts content i.e. not playing while my mobile phone sits on top of the piano with the countdown timer on!!!

Ah well, having thought about it, I'll still have an awful lot more spare time next year than this year and 2010 is currently looking really good

Still going to do the Grade 6 theory at some point though. Harmony in Practice arrived yesterday and it looks really good. Nead to revise G1-5 stuff first though

Hope that any new plan for a piano exam goes better for you There's probably a bright side, I just can't think of one!

I've been looking at this thread having done my grade five theory and now keen to do grade six. I took all your advise and have purchased the harnony in practice book and the answer book and want to thank you all because it has made everything clearer for me.
However i've now reached exercise 19 and started to get a bit struck. Please can anybody tell me if the answers for this exercise are the only right ones or if I've put different could I still be right ie same notes but in a different place? I hope you understand what I mean.

I don't have the book but it's possible. Sometimes there is more than one right answer but sometimes the order of the notes does matter.

May I have the full titles of the harmony books suggested for Grade 6?
Thanks to all,
J

• Harmony in Practice, Anna Butterworth, pub ABRSM, ISBN 1-85472-833-4
• Harmony in Practice Answer Book, Anna Butterworth, pub ABRSM, ISBN 1-85472-992-6
• Revised Practice in Music Theory, Grade 6, Josephine Koh, pub Wells Music Publishers, ISBN 981-05-6611-5 (I've got the 2nd edition)

Hope you do well in your G5 and can get straight on to G6

I've actually started working through Harmony in Practice... but haven't done anything for a few months

We'll see how I feel once I've got Grade 5 out of the way