What do you think the average age is for grade 5 piano or any other instrument istarted piano when i was 6 but i had a bit of a bumpy ride coz my first piano teacher died,second was horrible and thankfully i've got a great one now!

ps i am 14 in 3 weeks

There is no average age for taking grade 5, as every starts at different times, I'm 14, going on 15 and I've just done my grade 5 viola, but I'm sture there are many people who are older and younger than me who are taking grade 5.

There is not really an average age for Grade 5 for several resons. People may reach this stage sooner or later because of things like teachers (good or bad), how they practice, whether they have played any other instruments (generally, you pick up a second instrument quicker), when they started the instrument. I am sorry this doesn't help, I took my Grade 5 when I was 12 or 13 I think.

There was an article in Libretto about this a while back... it said something like:

The average Grade 5 ABRSM candidate is 14 years old, although we hear of much older/younger candidates. She (slightly more girls take exams than boys) is most likely to be a singer, violinist, clarinettist, flautist, trumpeter or pianist. Girls also tend to do slightly better than boys. (She is most likely to have started playing at the age of 8, taken Grade 1 at 9, and will take Grade 8 at 17 or 18).

BUT this is just the average, calculated from figures which will have a HUGE standard deviation (for non-statisticians, this means that many candidates will be as far from this description as you can possibly get!)

I did Grade 5 violin at 9
skipped Grade 5 piano but did Grade 4 at 11 and Grade 6 at 12
did Grade 5 singing at 14 (I think)

I've been playing the piano since I was about 9 or 10 but only took grade 4 last summer. I'm now having problems with teachers too as mine retired after my exam and I cant find another I like!!!
Probably too picky!

I was 13 when I took my grade 5 piano and 12 when I took my grade 5 violin.

I am 13 and have just taken my grade 5. But i know a cellist who is my age who has taken her grade 7! I think it just depends on the person, and when they start. I started age 10, but she started age 6 or 7.

QUOTE

There was an article in Libretto about this a while back... it said something like: The average Grade 5 ABRSM candidate is 14 years old, although we hear of much older/younger candidates. She (slightly more girls take exams than boys) is most likely to be a singer, violinist, clarinettist, flautist, trumpeter or pianist. Girls also tend to do slightly better than boys. (She is most likely to have started playing at the age of 8, taken Grade 1 at 9, and will take Grade 8 at 17 or 18).

woah....That is exactly what i'd done, freaky! except i think I did grade 5 at 13, and then spent a year doing the evil theory, its put me behind a bit, im now 15, and just done my grade 6, and im hoping to get grade 7 over and done with and do it HOPEFULLY in July, on piano that is. But i started at the age of 8, it was my birthday present, lol.

QUOTE

There was an article in Libretto about this a while back... it said something like: The average Grade 5 ABRSM candidate is 14 years old, although we hear of much older/younger candidates. She (slightly more girls take exams than boys) is most likely to be a singer, violinist, clarinettist, flautist, trumpeter or pianist. Girls also tend to do slightly better than boys. (She is most likely to have started playing at the age of 8, taken Grade 1 at 9, and will take Grade 8 at 17 or 18).

I think I was 13 when I did Grade 5. I am a flautist. I also started when I was 8, and will be taking Grade 7 at the age of 15, so maybe Grade 8 when I am 16.

[QUOTE]The average Grade 5 ABRSM candidate is 14 years old, although we hear of much older/younger candidates. She (slightly more girls take exams than boys) is most likely to be a singer, violinist, clarinettist, flautist, trumpeter or pianist. Girls also tend to do slightly better than boys. (She is most likely to have started playing at the age of 8, taken Grade 1 at 9, and will take Grade 8 at 17 or 18).

I think that is simillar to me, except I am 13, just taken grade 5 and I started when I was ten. So I'm a bit out, but never mind. The world would be boring if we just stuck to the average!

hmm... I reckon it's either 13, 14, or 15. (I did grade 5 when I was 12 though so maybe that should be 12, 13, 14? )

p.s. pinkcello, do you really have a pink cello or do you like pink and cello's?

I've just took my grade 5 violin exam and I'm 14

but as I saw there was a lot of students who are younger than me taking the exam

in Hong Kong.

I didn't do grade 5.

I was nine when I took my first grade five and as far as I know if you have grade five before you leave junior school that's considered as being quite advanced. But I don't know what the average age is.

Im 14 and I took my grade 5 just before christmas

There is not really an average age for grade 5, and actually, for all the grades!

I did my grade 5 piano at 11.

And I know an adult learner did it at 40+

The adult learner has successfully passed grade 7 later too~

Also, a talent girl here in my country did grade 8 violin (with distinction) at 7 !!

Therefore, the age varies. It doesn't really matter at what age you did what grade, it is more important for you to enjoy music and your playing~

Good luck~

im 17 studying grade 5

but 18 when i take my exam.

i don't think there is an average age. i took grade 5 violin when i was 11 and i did piano last month and im 14.

QUOTE (piano girl! @ Dec 24 2004, 07:49 PM)

What do you think the average age is for grade 5 piano or any other instrument istarted piano when i was 6 but i had a bit of a bumpy ride coz my first piano teacher died,second was horrible and thankfully i've got a great one now! ps i am 14 in 3 weeks

hi play trumpet and piano - did grade 5 trumpet 2 years ago and am doing grade 5 piano next month im 15 and have been playing piano for 5 years and trumpets for 7 years

i was 13 when i took my grade 5 thoery my teacher said that was good considering that i wasn't very intersted it at all and i did most of my school work instead and did it very badly and passed at 67 she said that was exellant for me.. but im not too sure if she was just being nice or what..

Hi, I was 6 when I started playing piano and only did up to grade 4 and then stopped for about 4 years. I then started up again in June last year and got my Grade 5 in December aged 20. I wish I hadn't stopped, so much to catch up on now.

I was 12 when i did my grade 5 clarinet - but it depends on who you are and how quickly you progress. and who your teacher is! some teachers like to push students through grades whereas other prefer to do other things and put less emphasis on the grade aspect of things.
and there could also be an 7 year old and a 18 year old at the exact same stage because of when they started.
so i think there isnt an exact average age but going by this forum it looks like about 12- 13?

xx

Well, I was 10 when I took my Grade 5 Theory, and I was 11 when i took my Grade 8 Piano...I'll be taking my Graade 8 Theory this spring (age 12) and probably my DipABRSM next year (age 13)

errrrm, i don't think there is an average really...depends when you start...
I did my grade 5 when I was 10...

I took grade 5 Cello two weeks ago. Im 14. Starting Grade 6 Now - Its A Bit Scary

Just to artificially skew your mean upwards with an outlier and increase your standard deviation, I haven't done grade 5 yet, but I shall most probably do it at the end of this year: by which point I shall be 23.

Wow - what is the average age for Grade 8?
I took Grade 5 Piano at the age of 11.

QUOTE (music123 @ Jan 4 2005, 04:11 PM)

Also, a talent girl here in my country did grade 8 violin (with distinction) at 7 !!

Wow!

i personally didn't take grade 5 because my piano teacher at that time forgot to register me but i took grade 6 at 9

so the average is ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................erm..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................you decide, there isn't one!!!!!!!!

QUOTE (violinist/cellist mixed into 1 @ Jan 28 2005, 04:37 PM)

I took grade 5 Cello two weeks ago.

Hehe i htought you said you took your greade 5 cello at 2 weeks old.. proves i don't read anything hehe.. whoops would of been insanely jelous and confused how you did so well lol..

I will really upset your average as I am working on Grade 5 violin stuff now and I am 51 (Heaven forbid...am I really that old??? No can't believe it!!!)

A more realistic benchmark might be to consider how many years from first starting to play an instrument is the average before you take grade 5. And you might also consider if this is a first or a subsequent instrument as there must be transfer of learning once you can read and understand music.

Jane

QUOTE (janexxx @ Feb 18 2005, 03:06 PM)

I will really upset your average as I am working on Grade 5 violin stuff now and I am 51 (Heaven forbid...am I really that old??? No can't believe it!!!) A more realistic benchmark might be to consider how many years from first starting to play an instrument is the average before you take grade 5. And you might also consider if this is a first or a subsequent instrument as there must be transfer of learning once you can read and understand music. Jane

No you may of just started late. everyone starts in their own time in their own pace.

but if you have started to play when your like 3 and been doing grade 5 then i don't mean to be rude but you should of play a bit quicker * runs off *

Surely it's not the age when taking grade 5 that tells you much, but how you did at grade 5 at what age.

If you scraped through with just over 100 marks at age 11, it's not as impressive as getting a distinction at grade 5 at age 13. There's a world of difference between a scraped pass and a distinction and I wish people wouldn't rush from grade to grade with scraped passes or for that matter anything less than a merit.

If you just pass, surely that's reason to take pause for thought and work out what went wrong before even thinking of going onto the next grade. That is, unless you don't mind ending up nothing more than a mediocre player.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but it's true and I feel strongly about it.

Violinia

QUOTE (Violinia @ Feb 20 2005, 01:51 PM)

Surely it's not the age when taking grade 5 that tells you much, but how you did at grade 5 at what age.   If you scraped through with just over 100 marks at age 11, it's not as impressive as getting a distinction at grade 5 at age 13.  There's a world of difference between a scraped pass and a distinction and I wish people wouldn't rush from grade to grade with scraped passes or for that matter anything less than a merit. If you just pass, surely that's reason to take pause for thought and work out what went wrong before even thinking of going onto the next grade.  That is, unless you don't mind ending up nothing more than a mediocre player. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it's true and I feel strongly about it.

I couldn't agree more and I think the misconception that going through the grades quickly implies an extremely talented player is becoming quite dangerous to the quality of peoples' musical education. There are people posting now who appear genuinely shocked that their teachers suggest they should be working on other things before starting the next exam, something seems to be going wrong here.

If I hear that one person has been playing for 3 years and done grade 8 and another for 5 and has done grade 5 (and am given no more information) I will assume that the grade 5 player is better than the grade 8 player (especially if the marks are distinction at grade 5 and pass at grade 8) simply because they have more playing experience and are learning to play the instrument, not just to pass exams. What's the point in doing grade 8 in two years? 95% of the time it means nothing: it's exam training not learning to play an instrument. Take another piece of that standard and most people who have done this would not be able to play it. (I shall now take care except singers from this statement as they learn (and use exams) differently and I have got in trouble for not doing so in the past).