Alright....one of my teachers say that male examiners are usually more generous than female examiners in giving out marks. They say male examiners don't mind a few small mistakes....while the female side is always too careful in listening and cut marks easily. Has anyone experienced that???

it depends...i think they are equally straight on marking.... it depends really....

QUOTE (DGA @ Oct 9 2004, 06:09 AM)

They say male examiners don't mind a few small mistakes....while the female side is always too careful in listening and cut marks easily.

i havent eva had a female examiner - yet

but i do think women do listen and pay more attention to things than men do

its just the way we r!!

lol

I think its quite true... i had a female examiner for grade 6 and 8... and failed.. then the 2nd time i took my grade 8, I though I'll do only slightly better.... i had a male examiner this time round, and I got a merit!

whatever...just try your very best when the exam comes...

i prefer my female examiners! marked either better or fairer-in my opinion

A most curious question. The male ones usually wear skirts and fishnets, the female ones, trousers. Everyone knows that.

I honestly doubt there's any difference. There's bound to be some slight interaction with a candidate but I doubt it clouds their impartiality generally. Having said that, female examiners have been rare in my sphere.

Never had a female examiner........Is that good or bad?

The first time, I took my practical exam, i passed with Merit. it was a female examiner.
A few years back, I took my practical exam, I failed and it was a male examiner.
Recently, I received my practical exam & I passed. But this time, it was a female examiner.

All the while, I prefer female examiner than male examiner.

Personally, I don't think it matters. I have known male and female examiners who live and work in the area where I live and both are equally thoroughly trained and professional in their work.

Perhaps, sometimes, female examiners can seem a bit more approachable though - at least that's what my pupils tell me!

As to listening and marking: probably no two female examiners or two male examiners would completely agree on all the marks in the exam because they're all human and hear things differently at times. However the Board publishes a book "These Music Exams" (free) which tells you how examiners judge things. It's worth reading - I always show it to my pupils before they take an exam, especially for the first time.

I usually feel more comfortable with a male teacher though......

I don't think i ever had a female examiner...

i had a male examiners they were nice to me most of the time!!

wonder if this works. sorry. testing.

i think female is more fussy and they tend to cut mark easily,too!
i think male is more lose and sporting.they understand our nervous breakdown or something..hee..hee.

QUOTE (oboist @ Oct 14 2004, 01:44 PM)

However the Board publishes a book "These Music Exams" (free) which tells you how examiners judge things. It's worth reading - I always show it to my pupils before they take an exam, especially for the first time.

YUp I agree. This is a fabulous book.

I have only ever had 2 exams and i have had a male and a female examiner. on the one with the woman i think i did great but only got 110 but in the one with the man i thought i failed but i got 125

that's true. last time i had a male examinor, i passed with distinction. this time, i got a female examinor, she only gave me 25 marks for my best piece- but i'm sure that i'd done a much better job.

Back to the 70's and 80's all the examiners were males , not a female soul could be seen, in the 90's you would notice female examiners started to emerge.Everyone was excited to see them -something new! My pupils always tell me that they prefer male to female examiners. when they were told their examiners were female ,they would say: "Yucks ! we dislike female,they are fussy and unfriendly." but when they were male they would say:"Phews! what a relieve! they are friendly and kind." I could remember one incident last year , my poor pupil met with a lady examiner , she was in a low mood at that time .My pupil greeted her and she could'nt be bothered and her stern look really frightened my pupil .

After the exam and before my pupil could say anything, she passed this remark, OFF YOU GO ! my pupil went out the studio crying bitterly. She called me on the phone and told be that she was bitterly disappointed with the examiner.Her playing was greatly affected by her BAD MOOD. She had never encountered such examiner in her life ! My pupil passed this remark that i could not stop laughing, she must be an old spinster.

QUOTE (phoebe @ Oct 12 2004, 05:35 PM)

i had a male examiner this time round, and I got a merit!

Or maybe you were just more confident and better prepared?

QUOTE (oboist @ Oct 14 2004, 02:44 PM)

However the Board publishes a book "These Music Exams" (free) which tells you how examiners judge things. It's worth reading

Where would I get this book?

Anyone who wants a copy of "These Music Exams", please send me a PM with your contact address and I'll be delighted to pop one in the post to you.

Alternatively, there's an online version in pdf here: http://www.abrsm.org/resources/theseMusicExams.pdf

Christine Morris
Forums Administration

first forum.....
i only had 2 exams so far, gd. 2 n 4.
in gd. 2, i got a female examiner, very strong english accent (i'm chinese).....131
in gd. 4, male examiner, i read his biodata b4 entering, chamber player, n all sorts of awards, charismatic n easily approachable....133
judge urself then....who's better?

as i've said before......it doesn't really matter what examiner you have.... any performance shouldn't be affected by anything.....(not regarding any health problems here)

um...does it matter? i think it depends on the actual person that's your examiner. people have different personalities! i've taken almost 20 abrsm tests and ive had about 15 males and 5 females. i generally always get the same marks, but my first pass(without a merit or distinction) was from a guy

I don't think it matters whether they are male or female, what is more important is how warm and welcoming they are and whether they are able to make you feel at ease and relaxed.

I had male examiners for grades 2 and 3, a female examiner [training a male examiner] for grade 4, and a female examiner for grade 5.

The best examiners were for grades 3 and 5 - one female, one male! (how about that for equality of the sexes ) The reason they were both good is because they put me at ease and made me feel relaxed, then I could play more easily.

Fergus

i think that male ones are nicer. ive always got distinction with male examiners. whereas with female ive had a few merits

QUOTE (Fergus @ Nov 19 2004, 04:07 PM)

I don't think it matters whether they are male or female, what is more important is how warm and welcoming they are and whether they are able to make you feel at ease and relaxed.

i think it's very important as well... to calm the nervous candidate down....

ya. My teacher said that too...

i haven't met a female examiner before, but all my frenz who's much more experienced than me said that the female examiner is more strict since they've met one or two before.

It doesn't matter to me. They are both the same.

QUOTE (DGA @ Oct 9 2004, 06:09 AM)

Alright....one of my teachers say that male examiners are usually more generous than female examiners in giving out marks. They say male examiners don't mind a few small mistakes....while the female side is always too careful in listening and cut marks easily. Has anyone experienced that???

hi! there!

no, this is not necessarily the case! in my experience, every examiner's marking is fair, regardless of male or female. u mustn't be deceived by the gossips that females are usu stricter n tend to be pickier.

being strict doesn't mean that s/he will never give distinctions. so u can't purely blame on examiners.

i r'bered that i had female examiners for all my higher grades exam a long time ago i got mostly distinctions.

when i did my LRSM exam last year, both examiners were both male (David Nettle n Rodney Slatford), i failed in the recital w/ 4 more marks to a pass n passed the rest w/ 24/60. i knew that i was going to fail the recital anyway coz i had a massive breakdown in the Haydn Sonata n Chopin ballade 1. after my results were released, i thought D Nettle's marking was fair. i knew that if i played like that, not a single examiner (m or f) on the whole world will pass my recital.

i retook my LRSM exam in Sept this year (carried the QS marks fwd). my examiners were both male n female this time. (Bernard Hall-Mancey n Mrs Eileen Field).

Mrs E Field was the most charming examiner that i had ever met. she behaved v differently from other examiners.

while i was sitting in the waiting room, she saw me n said 'YOU'RE THE NEXT VICTIM!' she then asked what my name meant in Chinese!! i said it meant 'nice n proper' n she giggled n went into the exam rm.

in the viva section, lots of her Qs were strange n v chitchat-like. she had laughed many times. 1 of the piece that i played for the recital was Debussy's Pagodes. Debussy had written this piece after listening to the javanese gamelan music in the int'l exposition in Paris. i've stuck 2 small pics of our university's gamelan orchestra n she saw them n looked v fascinated, 'wow! pics!' she asked me to tell her more abt how this piece was influenced by gamelan music. (that was dead easy for me!_

i had soooooo much fun chatting w/ her. the rest of her Qs got really trivial!

my results are yet to be released. i expect that it will be released in mid-Dec. i'm so nervous now! hope i'll do well in the recital!

look fwd to hearing from u soon!

luv,
Duen-Duen
(from Hong Kong)

tis a fantastic book

Anyhoo, females can write while they listen, the males examiners wait until you've finished and then scribble everything down =P

Pfft...

Really, i think all examiners are different no matter their gender, i've had generous female examiners and stingey male examiners. At the end of the day its one person judging how you play on the day. Its up to them whether they want to mark harshly or generously.

i think the male/female thing doesnt make any difference and that its the personallity (and hearing lol) thats the thing because the female examiner that i had a couple of years ago seemed really strict but then turned out to mark in my favour but this male examiner that i had earlier this year seemed to be assessing something completely different to what i was actually playing because NONE of his comments could have been justified!! He said my timing was rubbish, despite the fact that i kept together very well with the pianist and said that my arpeggios were absolutely brilliant and almost an exemplary performance, despite the fact that i could not play them, the pitching was incorrect and i had to ask for second attempts with every single one of them!! what on earth was going on there i dont know!!! i would strongly recommend hearing aid lol!!

no, male n female doesn't make any difference! u mustn't have the thought that female examiners are mean n tend to be picky. some of them are v nice. every examiner's marking is fair so u can't blame whether ur examiner was m or f.

i had met mostly female examiners for my higher grades n i got distinctions in G6 n 8.

i met a v charming n friendly examiner (Mrs Eileen Field, do u know her?) for my LRSM pno exam in late Sept in Hong Kong. she was the warmest examiner that i had ever met in my life.

i was sitting in the waiting rm. when she first came into the waiting rm, she saw me n yelled 'u're the NEXT VICTIM!' she then asked 'how do i pronounce ur name? does it mean anything?' i had never had an examiner who behaved like that b4!

when i submitted the scores 2 her, she said 'wow! so many!'

in the viva, her Qs were v chitchat-like. she had laughed many times by my replies to her Qs. she changed topics v v quickly-b4 i could answer in full. her Qs got more n more trivial twds the end.

she asked 'do u think listening to CDs help? who's ur fave artist? how do u choose ur CDs?

she also saw the 2 little pics w/ my university's gamelan orchestra that i stuck next to the 1st page of the Debussy's Pagodes (this piece is abt javanese gamelan music) she said 'wow! pics! tell me sth abt them!!'

i still haven't got my results back yet...i'm really nervous now...it's expected to arrive by the end of this mth! i'm really worrying abt the recital! i played some wrong notes but no breakdowns.

hope u find this interesting!

Duen Duen (Hong Kong)

QUOTE (rubinstein @ Dec 11 2004, 03:46 PM)

no, male n female doesn't make any difference!

finally....someone is listening to me.....

for me , the male examiner is FAR more generous than the females'.

QUOTE (liebe_klavier @ Dec 13 2004, 03:44 PM)

QUOTE (rubinstein @ Dec 11 2004, 03:46 PM) no, male n female doesn't make any difference! finally....someone is listening to me.....

I agree- surely it makes no difference really!

male n female are BOTH human beings. that would be kind of a sex discrimination if u think female examiners are more picky!

had u had Mrs Eileen Field b4? she was 1 of my LRSM examiners n she also examines at graded level. if u had had her b4, u would find her funny, jokey, charming n v concerned to put u at ease.

she behaves v v differently from the other examiners!

go to 'diplomas' in read my story entitled 'interesting experience on the day of my LRSM exam' in late Oct. 2 ppl replied my post n they also had her as my examiner!

if u have her by chance in the future, i'm sure that u'll find her sweet n will not have the same thought that male r more generous than female anymore!

i still haven't received my result yet...i'm v v nervous! hope i'll pass in the recital!

Yeah, I've always had equally bad marks in exams from male and female examiners!

Well it doesn't really matter....

QUOTE (oboist @ Oct 14 2004, 01:44 PM)

Personally, I don't think it matters. I have known male and female examiners who live and work in the area where I live and both are equally thoroughly trained and professional in their work. Perhaps, sometimes, female examiners can seem a bit more approachable though - at least that's what my pupils tell me! As to listening and marking: probably no two female examiners or two male examiners would completely agree on all the marks in the exam because they're all human and hear things differently at times. However the Board publishes a book "These Music Exams" (free) which tells you how examiners judge things. It's worth reading - I always show it to my pupils before they take an exam, especially for the first time.

where do you get the book from is it really free?

QUOTE (rubinstein @ Nov 22 2004, 10:52 AM)

QUOTE (DGA @ Oct 9 2004, 06:09 AM) Alright....one of my teachers say that male examiners are usually more generous than female examiners in giving out marks. They say male examiners don't mind a few small mistakes....while the female side is always too careful in listening and cut marks easily. Has anyone experienced that???  :D hi! there! no, this is not necessarily the case! in my experience, every examiner's marking is fair, regardless of male or female. u mustn't be deceived by the gossips that females are usu stricter n tend to be pickier. being strict doesn't mean that s/he will never give distinctions. so u can't purely blame on examiners. i r'bered that i had female examiners for all my higher grades exam a long time ago i got mostly distinctions. when i did my LRSM exam last year, both examiners were both male (David Nettle n Rodney Slatford), i failed in the recital w/ 4 more marks to a pass n passed the rest w/ 24/60. i knew that i was going to fail the recital anyway coz i had a massive breakdown in the Haydn Sonata n Chopin ballade 1. after my results were released, i thought D Nettle's marking was fair. i knew that if i played like that, not a single examiner (m or f) on the whole world will pass my recital. i retook my LRSM exam in Sept this year (carried the QS marks fwd). my examiners were both male n female this time. (Bernard Hall-Mancey n Mrs Eileen Field). Mrs E Field was the most charming examiner that i had ever met. she behaved v differently from other examiners. while i was sitting in the waiting room, she saw me n said 'YOU'RE THE NEXT VICTIM!' she then asked what my name meant in Chinese!! i said it meant 'nice n proper' n she giggled n went into the exam rm. in the viva section, lots of her Qs were strange n v chitchat-like. she had laughed many times. 1 of the piece that i played for the recital was Debussy's Pagodes. Debussy had written this piece after listening to the javanese gamelan music in the int'l exposition in Paris. i've stuck 2 small pics of our university's gamelan orchestra n she saw them n looked v fascinated, 'wow! pics!' she asked me to tell her more abt how this piece was influenced by gamelan music. (that was dead easy for me!_ i had soooooo much fun chatting w/ her. the rest of her Qs got really trivial! my results are yet to be released. i expect that it will be released in mid-Dec. i'm so nervous now! hope i'll do well in the recital! look fwd to hearing from u soon! luv, Duen-Duen (from Hong Kong)

good luck

QUOTE (piano girl! @ Dec 23 2004, 08:13 AM)

QUOTE (oboist @ Oct 14 2004, 01:44 PM) Personally, I don't think it matters. I have known male and female examiners who live and work in the area where I live and both are equally thoroughly trained and professional in their work. Perhaps, sometimes, female examiners can seem a bit more approachable though - at least that's what my pupils tell me! As to listening and marking: probably no two female examiners or two male examiners would completely agree on all the marks in the exam because they're all human and hear things differently at times. However the Board publishes a book "These Music Exams" (free) which tells you how examiners judge things. It's worth reading - I always show it to my pupils before they take an exam, especially for the first time. where do you get the book from is it really free?

Yep, if you PM the moderators, they will send you one...

a dont really kno but a got my best marks with a male examiner

QUOTE

where do you get the book from is it really free?

Yes, you can download it from here.

I've had 3 female examiners and they all seemed to be pretty cool- two of them were old and sat there drinking cups of tea and eating biscuits while I played (Mcvities digestives to be exact) I think this must have distracted them a bit cos I seemed to get good marks!
Oh yeah, the other one came in wearing some sort of cloak thing, she reminded me a bit of Mary Poppins.... interesting.

after i have passed my LRSM w/ 65% (5 more marks to a distinction!! recital: 39, viva: 18, QS: 8) when Mrs Eileen Field was my examiner, i now prefer FEMALE examiners!

she is 1 of the warmest examiners that i had ever met. she is in a good mood all the time n smile all the time. if u have her by chance in the future in whichever country, i'm sure u'll love her loads!!

she's my fave examiner in my life!!

i think every candidate loves her!

Duen Duen
(Hong Kong)

i have taken my piano exam in Reading three weeks ago, the exam place is in a little church, the examiner was a male, he is so nice.