Thank God this forum exists

I'm taking my guitar diploma exam this season of Oct-Dec 2009. And I seriously have some issue with that "no photocopy" thing. Problem is:

1. I'll play some of my own transcription, so I'll just print them out. How does this count? Will they count this as 'photocopy'? FYI, transcribing pieces is very common among us guitarists.
2. I play some pieces whose score I just print out from the CD purchased from www.cdsheetmusic.com .. they are the original and out-of-copyright facsimile edition. How this count? Will they say this is 'photocopy'? Will they hassle me for doing this?
3. I will definitely read the music. But one thing I'm not so clear though, do I actually have to give the examiner the scores to read along too during the exam or not? If I do, is a photocopy still a no-no? Then should I buy 2 books in this case?
4. Say for whatever reason I cannot get the book .. so I just borrow it from the library for the exam. Is that ok?
5. I'm in the US, taking the exam here and the board is presumably operating within the US law too. In here, we have a strong 'fair use' practice for this kind of copyright issue. I believe making copies for my exam from a book that I own for my own use during practice, during the exam-performance, or for being given to the examiner; all should be ok under the fair-use clause. Shall I be lawyering this if I choose to do so?

Thanks for your input folks! Your comment is highly appreciated since I'm self-nominating and have nobody to discuss about this kind of issue.

Hi J.D.

With regards to the issue of using photocopies for the examiners' use in the Diploma exam, the Board's syllabus states that this is acceptable, providid you have obtained permission from the publisher in advance.

If all your chosen editions are out of copyright, then I believe the problem of obtaining permission should not apply in your case. Simply give a full set of copies (photocopies if necessary) of your recital pieces to the examiners on arriving in the exam room. Library copies should also be ok, ideally in the same edition as the one you are playing from though.

I hope this helps.

denmark77


...and WELCOME TO THE FORUMS....

Hi JD, I'm a guitarist as well, its good to know I'm not alone!

I've found that whilst these forums are good you should always contact the ABRSM directly. The ABRSM will give you the answers to your questions, as they either make the rules or interprete the rules\laws, and police them. You will get a reply in writing, and from the horse's mouth. You won't get opinions, but facts. I have also found that they are very quick in replying, and helpful. When you get the replies, adhere to them, and take a copy of all replies to your exam in case of queries. Leave nothing for the examiners to query as you will have plenty of other things to concentrate on before and during your exam. The last thing you want is to know that you would have passed if it hadn't been for a copyright issue. Personally I believe purchasing a copy of the music, preferrably from the suggested editors is the safest for examinations. What you do in performances may be different. Yes it costs a bit more money but you have peace of mind.

You can contact them via the ABRSM website at http://www.abrsm.org/?page=process/contactform.htm.

When you have your reply please post it on this forum for all to see.

Bit harsh Philip, most of us have experience of taking ABRSM exams and feel qualified to speak about the copyright issue in the context of these exams...

OK, but if someone makes an incorrect statement and JD acts on it, he can't turn round to the ABRSM and quote you, especially as the ABRSM can give you a definative answer. I'm not trying rub anyone up the wrong way, but the ABRSM inform people of the rules and they police the rules, therefore having their interpretation of the rules means that if you stick to them as they suggestyou can quote them if someone disputes it.

I have to say that I asked a question on here a few months ago and got a few answers from people. Then a moderator sent me an e-mail and suggested I write to the ABRSM for a reply as the ones on the forum were possibly misleading.

Its up to JD, what he does now.

Thanks for replying guys: denmark77, PhilipChapman & confutatis

I think I would just go and 'play dumb' about this thing. I will give them a print-out of my transcriptions, a library copy for others, and plus this cdsheetmusic 'license': http://www.cdsheetmusic.com/license/license.cfm

The license of cdsheetmusic has a self-explanatory wording: "They (the scores) may be used by the purchaser on the home premises or in educational settings (libraries, music departments, etc.), but they are not to be loaned or checked out or copied." In this sense, 'copied' means copying the files or cd-content electronically. But to print it out, I don't think I need another written permission from the company. Because this is America! You don't mention it (no photocopy) means I can do it ... [just like those who used microwave to dry out their cats, for instance ]

Anyway, my feeling is this. There is no business incentive for ABRSM to meanly police us guitarists. Since after all, they hardly have guitar books so they just don't lose any money. But if a pianist uses a library copy; God forbids, of course! That is bad for their business model.

One more thing that I'm kind of curious is how they will treat 'transcription'? Should I show them the original score that I use to transcribe the piece or a print-out is enough.

Anyway, talking to you guys have helped me to conceptualize my way out. Thaanks and good luck for your exam!

Hi JD, I don't agree with the 'no business incentive' but let's not worry about that. Just play it safe OK?

I can't remember if it was Enrique Granados or Isaac Albeniz, who said, having heard Andres Segovia play their piano music on the guitar, "I think the music is better on the guitar than on the piano", but whoever it was I think that justifies us guitarists making transcriptions. Now I know you are going to think that I'm boring, but in exams we need to make the examiners job easy. In an ideal exam where the examinee would attain 100% the examiners would be able to just sit back and purely enjoy the performance, well, I can only dream! If an examinee took well-known editions and transcripts along you would have no issues in that area, but to take along a transcription that neither of the examiners have ever seen before is a risk. Remember you are taking a performance diploma, and you are to be examined on your technical ability and your overall ability to perform music - you're not being examined on your ability to write transcriptions. Ask yourself, am I making more work for the examiners by giving them something they have never seen before? Am I making their lives easy? Is my transcription, no matter how good it is, going to detract from their perception of your performance? I don't know which piece(s) you are transcribing, but you will have 2 examiners in the room, one will be a guitarist and the other ‘not’ a guitarist. Just suppose the non-guitarist is a pianist, and you took along a transcription of a Beethoven piano sonata. What would his\her reaction be? We are, after all, all human, and we make judgements - I would hope he\she would be totally objective, but we are all human. Is your transcription of a piece that has never been transcribed for the guitar before? If not then are you prepared to be asked why you have transcribed this work before when Segovia, Yepes, etc has already done it? Should you give the examiners a copy of the original work? If you want yes, but will they probably not look at it? They haven’t got time. The guitarist will be watching you closely, looking at your technique, probably not giving any time to even look your transcription. The non-guitarist will be judging your overall music performance.

Make the examiners job easy!

I’m all in favour of taking risks, but I don’t think an examination is the right place to take undue risks. Each performer must weight up the risks and make a decision to see if the risk is worth it. You must have done that, and if so then go for it.

What is your programme JD? Let us know. What pieces have you transcribed?

We all have opinions of course, this is just mine, and if you disagree then please let us know, or send me a private message. Discussion is good, and without it we don’t progress.

What is your programme JD? Let us know. What pieces have you transcribed?

Scarlatti K27
Tchaikovsky June
Piazolla Libertango

I'll play 2 of them. All are famous piano pieces that the examiner should know by heart. There are some trancription for Libertango, but all suck. And they really are technically far from easy too