Hi I'm new here and i'm starting the violin again after quite a few years!
I have passed grade 1+2 and I just wondered if anyone knows if you can skip grades, eg going from grade 2 to say, grade 5?

Any help much appreciated

Tilly19

Yes - nothing to stop you going straight to Grade 5 if you want to, provided you can have the skills to play what's required and do the scales, sight-reading and aural.

From Grade 6-8 you need a Theory, Practical Musicianship or Jazz qualification and that usually stops people just trying to take Grade 8 with no previous musical knowledge!

However, you could take the theory (say) and then do Grade 8 having never done another practical exam. You don't have to climb the ladder exam by exam. The important thing is to take the exam that is right for you at the time.

you can skip 1-4 without worrying too much, and you can also skip 5-7 if you wish too. however, you might find that taking the grade 7 exam will help with the grade 8, for example.
when you take an exam though, you gain things other than the qualifying cert; it might be less nerve-wracking next time, it will make you familiar with the run-through so you won't be surprised or thrown-off by anything, and playing under pressure like that always helps you to improve by a large step. if not technically then maybe mentally.
I've taken grade 5 and grade 7 and they're very similar, except you just have to learn more [and harder] stuff. Does anyone know how different grade 8 is?

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Does anyone know how different grade 8 is?

Don't take this as absolute gospel, but I've read somewhere (in the past) that Grade 8 is considered the pinnacle of amateur learning.

G8 is pretty much the same as G7, with the inclusion of standard repertoire pieces, but you need to play three octave scales from G to D inclusive and two octaves in all the remaining scales. There's a few more requirements for the double-stopped scales too.

Examiners are looking for musicality and interpretation as much as good intonation and rhythmn.

I guess the important thing to remember is to go in at the level that's appropriate to you... wherever that is - ie by all means go for Grade 5 if that is the level you are at, but there's no point going for a higher grade if you are going to fail or scrape it. Better (IMO) to build confidence and solid technique with easier pieces and scales... better to play simpler stuff well than grade 5 or 6 or whatever badly... if that makes any sense? well worth having a teacher give you a lesson or two even if you don't plan on regular lessons, to suss out where you are and that you've not got any terrible habits that need correcting (easy to pick up on the violin!) and who knows, you may get a pleasant surprise and find you are at a better level than you thought.

Later grades are probably as much about interpretation and communication as note playing.

You can definitely skip grades - the first violin exam I did was Grade 5! But it's best to talk to your teacher about this first.