Hey peeps.

So there's me aged wrong side of 30 with the urge to take up piano lessons again.... thinking with a following wind and a bit of luck I'd be at grade 5 level. Turns out I'm much closer to G7 standard than I ever imagined and so the plan is to get G5 or maybe higher theory done in the Autumn before cracking on with the practical.

Question is though, do i have to sit the pre-requisit theory exam in the autumn and then wait until spring before entering G7 practical? Or can I do both in the same session?

You have to have the theory pass before putting in the practical entry.

Welcome to the forum and back to playing.
Do take a look at the events board for opportunities to air your pieces before a supportive audience.
It would be good experience before sitting an exam.

Alternatively you can do Trinity Guildhall exams without having to do grade 5 theory.

Are you quite sure on that one? I have always understoond that you can take them in the same session but you won't get your practical certificate until the theory results are out. But of course, it might not be the same outside the UK. I may have misremembered but I thought that was what our local rep said.

I believe there have been exceptions but as it's a prerequisite I wouldn't bank on all cases being considered desperate enough to warrant an exception being made.
If everyone who asked for that to happen got it then they might as well just change the regulations in line with that.

Thanks for the replies.

Be great if you can do both in same session. Will have to ask Teach later this week.

When did you restart lessons?

If it's only recently then why the rush?
It might be good to spend some time exploring some repertoire before starting on exam preparation.

only a few weeks, but have been working up to it for a while...

you're right, in reality autumn and spring will be here before I know it so yes there's no rush and maybe not worrying about practical will allow me to stretch a bit further to a higher grade theory exam.

I believe you're required to submit your grade 5 theory cert when applying to sit for grade 6 practical and above... so I don't quite see how it would work out to do them in the same session...
theory results take a heap of a longer time to come in! I sat theory 6 and practical 4 three months ago. Practical results=2 weeks; theory results=10 weeks