This probably follows from the "Are you an Adult Learner?" thread earlier...


How do you know you are ready for an exam ? Or to say another way, what targets do you set yourself to prove you are ready ?

For myself, so far up to Gr 6 (Fltue) I like to be very comfortable at a number of repetoire pieces at a certain level before I even think about an exam - i.e can muddle through all the pieces in each Yellow ABRSM exam book, and maybe one or two others from each list, of which I'll be happier with one or two and then choose for the exam.

This time though I am thinking of Gr 7 flute this autumn, I have chosen my pieces and am fairly happy with my technical and interpretive take on them so far - as happy as I have with previous grades. .... but I haven't as yet clicked any where near as much with any of the other wider repetoire pieces even though I have tried. They either seem to technically demanding (i.e too fast!) or very off beat and I can't really understand what they are trying to say.

I am thinking that if I did do Gr 7 and did ok, then I still wouldn't really feel I deserved to say I was Gr 7 standard, when really all I have done is be able to play 3 pieces well that I have effectively memorised after so many months of just playing them.


Do you guys prepare widely and well so you are comfortable ? or do you choose you pieces well ahead and just concentrate on those for ages ?

Reading throught he abvoe I think I have probably sorted out what I really ought to do..but I so want to get this Gr 7 out of the way.....




EDIT: Having just reread my thread title, it doesn't really give the right idea about the content of my question - sorry )

To be able to call yourself Grade 7 standard, you don't have to be able to play every single grade 7 piece easily. Difficulty of a particular piece is a very personal thing and a piece that one 'grade 7 person' would find horrendous, another would be able to sight read. Some people can play really fast passages without thinking about it, others are good at placing long successions of big chords. Some people are best at Bach, others prefer Bartok. Sometimes a particular piece just won't click for you, but don't dwell on it too much and find something else to play.

It sounds to me that you're probably ready for grade 7 this term from what you've said.

Thanks Sarah - interesting about the finding pieces that you are just suited too.

When I started I thought that might be the case in the early days when you don't have much ability and a few pieces just seem to work.

I expected as time went on and I got to Gr 7, 8 (and dare I say beyond) it should get easier to pick up a variety of pieces and be able to play a wider range, rather than actually narrowing down the range as seems to be happening at the moment!

Hi mcentee

you might find these threads an interesting read:

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=34768&hl=

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=34501&hl=

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=28084&hl=

I don't think I have anything to add to what I've posted previously.

Edit: having just re-read your first post on the thread, I think the title mislead me.

Which board are you doing for grade 7 flute? If you're doing AB and aren't really clicking with the repertoire on the list it might be worth looking at TG options (although you obviously can't mix them for the exam - I know you know this but still need to say it just in case someone else reads the thread and gets the wrong idea). The current AB syllabus tends to be a bit more obscure for the higher flute grades whereas TG draws more on the standard flute repertoire and the TG items therefore may be more to your liking if you want something to complement your exam pieces.

I did TG grade 7 earlier in the year and had 3 x list A pieces, 5 x list B and 3 x list C which I had learnt but not polished. I left it a bit late to choose my pieces in the end though, and only had 2 weeks for polishing them which wasn't really long enough.

I'm doing grade 5 cello this Christmas, and I have to say I understand what you mean about not 'feeling' that you are at a standard because you have completed a grade.

However, that is my understanding of the Associated Board examination procedure; everyone who has passed a grade is at a certain minimum standard of playing; some will obviously be superior to others, but all will be at the mimimum level.

I started doing exams just recently; I had stopped playing the cello for years and I took it up again recently, and I wanted to sit exams to watch myself progress, or rather to benchmark my progress.

When I get to grade 8, whether or not I feel that I am at that standard, I know I'll be a very happy bunny

I wait till teacher tells me that I'm ready, I don't trust myself to judge these things! At the moment I'm at the rather rubbish stage of being ready for Grade 8, but having failed Grade 5 theory I can't sit Grade 8 till I've passed that. Teacher is getting me to work on Grade 8 and Diploma repetoire together now, as she feels really I should be working on Diploma now, it's just Grade 5 theory that's holding me back.

I think, I get what you mean.

Let me put it this way: When I restarted playing the flute after approx. 15 years, I was Grade 5ish standard. But whatever I did, I never got over and beyond. When I restarted, the decision was an easy one. I stumbled accross the ABRSM exams (we don't have something similar in Germany) and decided, I would start from scratch one, doing theory and practicals together. (I have lessons, too, each fortnight).

So, although I was Grade 5ish, I already found it really demanding to do the Grade 1 pieces. It took me a while, before I could play them the way they should be played. Either for a lack of expression/articulation, because a note was in the way, my mind just didn't want to play. And I found out, that each grade demands certain knowledge. That's were theory fell into place.

With only two exams (grade 1 and 2), a good teacher (my last was a mess) and lots of practice, I finally reached grade 6ish and even in parts beyond. I am practising grade 3 and 4 currently, and even those pieces are quite well prepared.

However, in my current (grade 6ish) level, I still have difficulties playing certain note values, counting demisemiquavers and beyond. And I just found out, while preparing grade 3 theory, that I finally get a grasp what's still wrong with this part.

So, to answer your question:

Although I am grade 6ish when playing, my theory isn't. And theory and practical go hand in hand. When I finally do the level, I feel easy in both, playing and theory.

Or to put it differently: You need not only to play some pieces, but you have, as you well know, aurals as well. The moment, I can play in that level a piece nearly effortlessly from sight with the tiny error thrown in for lack of being familiar with the piece, I consider myself that level. Theory usually helps to reach that goal. Thus, I do them together.

Gosh - some fantastic advice and thought in these replies! I can't get the hang of quoting, so:

Flossie: Well done on your GR 7! I think Iwill look at the TG pieces if not the exam - they might appeal to me better - although for List C ABRSM I like the Muczynski whch is a bit "out there"...

( Question: Is the TG Gr7 on a par with ABRSM Gr 7 ? I'm probably wrong but I thought there was some vagueness - as maybe some of the TG Gr 7 pieces have been on the Gr 6 ABRSM syllabus over the years ?) If so, it could be that I would actually like all the TG ones that were really ABRSM Gr 6 level all along!)


Cellobabe2009: I know what you mean about the "mythical" Grade 8, although I am sure if I ever get it I still won't be 100% happy about something!


False_Harmonic & Lemontree: Being a grown-up I 've been lucky and had a a fair bit of music in my past in dribs and drabs, so I made sure I went through the theory at the same pace as my practical and took Gr 5 theory the term after my G5 practical. I then went straight on to do Gr 6 theory just to see if I could keep it going. Sufice to say I passed it, but only just squeezed it somehow which was a bit of a wake up call. I plan to either retake Gr 6 or Gr7 theory at some point after giving it a bit more thought and due respect! You are right though that practical and theory really do go hand in hand and help each other along.


On reflection, I think I will put in for the Gr 7 exam this term as my pieces will be as ready as they probably would be next term anyway, and I don't want to get bored of them! However I feel there will be a big gap between this and Gr 8 as I feel I need to catch up with some other peices like the TG ones.

Thanks everyone.

They are on a par. In fact the TG grade 7 syllabus currently has an item (Clarke, Sunstreams) which is on the AB grade 8 list. The main difference is that TG has more options for supporting tests, e.g. you get a choice between aural and improvisation.

Thanks Flossie - I'll take a good look at some point.

Me too. I face to exam of Trinity this time. (Spring)
I found selection of pieces is better/wider than AB. It is depend on. But we also need to enjoy to play even we are in the situation of exam!

They give me a benchmark of the standard that I can play at.

This isn't exactly a good reason, but I'm taking exams cos they force me to practice and give me a goal to aim for.

The first time I did a recorder exam, it was my teacher who told me I was ready - and also told me that I was at a higher level than I'd anticipated, which scared and thrilled me all at once. I'd tried playing lots of pieces at a fairly similar level, but hadn't polished any - he taught me to do that on the pieces I decided on for the exam, and the process had a knock-on effect on the other music I had on my shelf. I found I was able to play it better too, though still played the ones I'd polished under tuition to a much higher level. The other thing doing exams made me do was work on all the other skills - sightreading, aural, and dratted scales, which gave me a broader base on which to found the rest of my playing....and also taught me which of these skills are important in their own right for my instrument, and which are really more of a nuisance (in the form in which they're tested) than anything. For the next grade up, I found the process of polishing had become more straightforward, something which has continued to be the case each time I've done another exam, and I've found that I take charge of more of that each time too, consulting my teachers more about the musical aspects, and needing less input now on the technical side. I'd never wait to do an exam until I'd learned a major chunk of a repertoire list, but I would need to feel really comfortable about where I was at with the pieces I did want to present, musically, technically, and also in ensemble with my accompanist. I prepare as if it were for a concert, and rehearse with the accompanist several times too - and the satisfaction I get from putting together a proper performance from my music is immense, much more than I get from doodling around, though I do rather like it that during a more doodly phase, the work I put into the last exam generally shows up .

Answering your title rather than your question, first, this is something I've been asking myself lately, too! I have a very negative recollection of the few piano exams I did as a child (despite not actually failing those I tried). In fact, in the end, my teacher's insistence on making me go through the grades was part of the reasons why I gave up learning piano.

So when I took up sax, I was adamant at first that I didn't want to do exams, and my teacher never raised the subject further, until I asked him whether he thought it might be a good idea (he did), and now I'm looking at trying for Grade 3 this autumn (which would be my first music exam in 25 years ).

I think what changed my mind was partly seeing (through taking my son along for his exams) that the examination process appears to be a lot more humane these days. (My fear of exams largely stems from a nightmare examiner in my Grade 2 piano, who insisted that, despite being strongly left-handed, I HAD to do the conducting tests with my right hand, which I had never practised and couldn't manage on the spot in an exam hall. As a very nervous 10 year old, this rather finished off what little confidence I had! )

From a positive perspective, working for an exam does mean that I have to do things which I wouldn't do from preference (eg - scales, arpeggios, sight-reading, playing in front of other people ). It also means that I will work at really polishing some pieces rather than getting them to be "OKish" and then moving on, which is what otherwise I think might tend to happen with me. Plus there's the rough "benchmarking" / sense of progress, which it would be difficult to obtain in any other way.

As regards knowing whether you are ready for a particular grade, I think this has to be where a teacher's input comes in handy. I was all for going for Grade 1 first, but my teacher gently nudged me to look at the Grade 2 and Grade 3 pieces as well, and having done so, I found that actually the Grade 3 pieces are comfortably within what I can play, which surprised me rather.

Well, maybe its time I answered my own title question, even if it isn't what I meant, it is still interesting!

At a most basic level, I think I am doing exams because I started flute at the same time as my daughter so as to "help her along". It seemed the only way to successfully be listened to as a parent is to do the exams as well! This is after reading all the "woe, why do they never listen" posts on the Parents Forum

As you may guess, this sometimes works, and sometimes not....but occasionally I can now prove that I perhaps I do know something after all and reduce daughter to a silent look of disdain but grudging acceptance that B major scale may have an A# in it after all and not a Bb.....

I'm taking theory exams simply for the sheer fun of it. Got distinction in Grades 1 and 3 this year, and heading for a decent mark in Grade 5 in November if my performance in past papers is continued. I'll definitely press on with the higher grades in 2010.

Actually, I think members of the choir and other folks I sing with appreciate the effort I am investing in music theory - it makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about!