My violin teacher wants me to take my grade 8 exam on the Trinity board because she thinks that the pieces to choose from are nicer, but some of my friends are saying that they think a Trinity grade 8 is worth less than an ABRSM grade 8 because the exams are easier. Do you think this is true, and if so do you think it will matter in the long run if I take the Trinity exam instead of the AB?

It depends. In the long run as far as I'm aware it shouldn't make much of a difference. Also, UCAS points are about the same (if not the same). If not, you could always do a Trinity exam, then go back later and do and AB one or vica versa. Of course, with Trinity you have an option of doing scales etc.

ummmm... I'm not sure...
I'll think about it
Associated Board certificates are nicer

My boyfriend does Trinity exams, and quite frankly, the pieces are the same. I think both boards are equal competitors, so it won't make a difference towards your future.

What's strange, though, is that I've heard from a lot of people that Trinity is MUCH harder than ABRSM.

hi

i dont know much about the trinity as it was when it was a single school. but i know that when guildhall was a single school there exams were harder than ABRSM. for example, a grade 8 study for ABRSM is grade 7 Guildhall.

i know this may not be ery helpful, but it is proof that there can be differences in standards between boards.

jaime

I hope not! I'm taking grade 6 flute with Trinity!

All I've heard is that quite a few people swap to Trinity to avoid grade 5 theory (but clearly if you have ABRSM grade 7 then you could show that you're not doing that). The only thing I would think is that people might wonder why you did it and think it must be easier even if it's not, if you see what I mean. I've heard that there are fewer scales and the aural tests are a bit easier; I expect the pieces are around the same standard. This is just what I've heard second hand, I have no experience of the exams myself. The official line (QCA accreditation and all) is that they're exactly the same standard.

i know what jaime is saying. i have the guildhall syllabus and many of ABRSM's grade 7 and 8 pieces,are useda grade lower for guildhall

QUOTE (jaime @ Jan 17 2005, 10:24 PM)

but i know that when guildhall was a single school there exams were harder than ABRSM. for example, a grade 8 study for ABRSM is grade 7 Guildhall.

Hi all

This is very true.. as I looked at a piece for grade 2 piano with ABRSM and it was on the pre grade 1 syllabus with Guildhall..

Also a grade 8 piece from my grade 8 Guildhall anthology is on the DipABRSM syllabus.

I did my exams with Guildhall and found it quite challenging to get grade 8.. but it was worth it as I think they are a harder board so I guess thats a good thing on my side.

Having said that I think that all boards are just as good

Joy

It depends on the instrument. When I was teaching (disclaimer: this is going back ten years!) I would have said that for piano, Trinity was about a grade harder than AB and guildhall was about a grade easier. Recorder was the other way round. Violin was just about the same. All three are equally accepted anyway.

liz

QUOTE

In the long run as far as I'm aware it shouldn't make much of a difference.

It made no difference with me - although we are going back a few years here!

I took Trinity exams right through, because they happened to be the ones my teacher normally did. I went on to study at the RCM.

There will always be minor variations (ouch - sorry!) between the boards, but I believe they are recognised as more or less equal. After all - the individual boards are not always totally consistent with the pieces listed at each grade - ( eg recent post about a grade 4 piece appearing years ago at grade 2).

And I think with the points system now in operation it's invalid to say that one board's exams are worth more than another's.

So good luck with your grade 8!

Maggie

As I said earlier with no experience I can't really make a judgement; but something I wanted to point out is that one cannot judge how hard the exam is from how hard the pieces are because what really makes the pieces hard is the standard to which they have to be played. Just looking at the diploma forum it seems that the diploma pieces, although more difficult than grade 8 ones, are not as much harder than grade 8 ones than the diploma exam is harder to pass than grade 8. So many people (who know the standard of grade 8) think they can play the pieces at the standard of the next level but have underestimated the level required so just be careful when making judgements based on technical difficulty of pieces. Is it really not possible that a grade 8 piece could equally well be a grade 7 piece but would just have to be played better had it been put on the grade 8 syllabus? I'm sure that Alfred Brendel has spent many hours studying Beethoven Sonata movements that were 'grade 7 standard' but has played them to a level far beyond that: I doubt he was heard to utter the words 'this is too easy'!

I agree with what's written above. Mozart Fantasie in D minor has been AB grade 6 and Trinity grade 7, there must be loads more examples. Surely, the important point is not how hard the piece 'is', but how well it's played in comaprison with what the examiners expect of the candidate.

One of my favorite CD tracks is Ashkenazy playing Fur Elise - I'm sure he didn't think 'this is only grade 4'.

I did Trinity for my grade 6 sax, simply because there were a lot less scales to learn, but i dont think that there are less when you come to grade 8. I think they are probly roughly the same, but id always thought Trinity was easier until i did one!

I think StuMac and AnotherPianist have a very good point.

I think that with the variations in scales/pieces/aural tests the boards generally equal out. I know many people who've taken Trinity "because the aurals are easier", but I go and look at the aural syllabus on the website and some bits seem harder to me - it partly depends what you are used to. Someone told me that Trinity tends to require fewer scales, (a friend recently took grade 8 cello with them for that reason) but then again one has scale studies and I think that possibly you have to play all the required scales in your exam, not just the few an examiner picks out. There is more choice about the format of the exam in Trinity I think - the two types of ear tests, the viva vs memorisation - reading the syllabus was interesting. I do seem to come across more people who have got distinctions/honours doing Trinity - but that may just bec because I only know a few people who've done Trinity exams and most of them I know through musical activities, hence they are more likely to be the kind of people to get higher marks - whereas my school held AB exams every term and they were taken by everyone from the musical genius in my A Level class right down to the friend who was about as musical as a wasp in a bottle. (Guildhall I know much less about and have heard much less about) I think it's very possible that one person could find the Trinity exam easier than another - it's equally possible that someone else might find the AB exam easier.

I think the only probably advantage with AB is that they are more widely taken and known, and have a very good reputation, but I think it would be unlikely that someone would be interested in interview you or auditioning you for uni only if you grade 8 was AB. Once you have got to grade 8 standard, they are more likely to want to hear your playing and see something beyond mere technical ability - they won't really care who issued your certificate!

Trinity are a bit odd I think... I recently accompanied my brother's cello Performance Certificate (Trinity)... he had to dress up properly, in a dinner jacket and bow tie!! but I was wearing a rugby shirt because I thought "the examiner's not going to look at me"...

how wrong I was. He had a mark taken off the presentation section because "the accompanist was not suitably attired". But he still got 83/100 for it... he now delights in reminding me that he could have got 84...

cheeble- that it soooo ridiculous!

QUOTE (cheeble @ Jan 19 2005, 04:22 PM)

how wrong I was. He had a mark taken off the presentation section because "the accompanist was not suitably attired". But he still got 83/100 for it... he now delights in reminding me that he could have got 84...

that means when i do my exam...i have to dress up as well....oh nooo....

But a concert certificate is marked differently - as it says, you are tested on your ability to give a concert and you wouldn't expect the accompanyist to wear a rugby shirt at a concert.

If it had been an ordinary exam where the playing was being examined then neither Trinity nor AB would have been interested in what you wear wearing.

BTW - what was concert certificate like? I've been thinking about doing the first one.

i've taken both trinity and abrsm pratical exams and the main difference i've found over grades 1-8 trinty/abrsm is that the trinity had a nicer atmosphere. i originally said relaxed but they're not more relaxed just i felt more at ease and calm in the trinty than abrsm.

i find the trinity aural tests easier because my piano teacher has given me a more thorough preparation for them than my organ and horn teacher ever did for abrsm. the trinity aural tests seem more logical in my opinion, as there is only one small part of singing (melodic recall) and there is no sight singing. i think the sight singing in abrsm is pointless for both insturmentalists and singers, as singers effectively have double the sight reading, and instrumentalists may be able to hear the melody perfectly in their head but may not have the ability to sing it back to the examiner.

the viva voce section is also quite important as the examiner asks questions about the pieces you've played for a long time rather than a piece you've heard only twice.

the main advantage i find by doing trinity for my area is that the venue has a lot better acoustic than the abrsm venue.

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Personally i take ABRSM exams . My school enters me. Ive never taken a trinity exam but I get the feeling they're a basic form of examination , but I also get the feeling they're a bit strict as ive heard dress can affect your mark. If you ask me I think It doesnt matter what you wear or what you look like its the way you present yourself as a musician and Its about the music. THATS WHATS IMPORTANT!!!!!

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Jan 19 2005, 07:34 PM)

cheeble- that it soooo ridiculous!

lol I know...

in a few months time I'm going to be taking a piano trio exam with two of my friends - this is a Trinity exam... and our teacher told us we have to dress up nicely. So we're going to dress up as fairies!! Apparently that's allowed, and some of her pupils have done it before!

sounds fun cheeble go for it!

QUOTE (cheeble @ Jan 19 2005, 04:22 PM)

how wrong I was. He had a mark taken off the presentation section because "the accompanist was not suitably attired". But he still got 83/100 for it... he now delights in reminding me that he could have got 84...

I suspect - could be wrong - that AB and other boards would consider that the accompanist should be "suitably attired" in a diploma or certificate exam, as it is as has been said supposed to be like a lunchtime recital or something - where you would expect the accompanist to be smartly dressed.

like the dressing up as fairies idea! hehe... sounds like fun! I always thought the chamber music exams would be possibly quite fun, if you were doing it with good friends.