Hello,

I did grade 7 viola today, and am a bit worried about how my scales have gone. I don't suppose anyone could suggest the sort of mark I might have got?
C and Eb major: both were fine
D minor harmonic: a complete mess, ended up a cross between harmonic and melodic
Db minor melodic: fine on way up, then somehow ended nearer D than Db (last note - which was right - sounded extremely flat)
Dominant 7th: fine
Diminished 7th: a bit wobbly, not disastrous
C Chromatic: fine
Eb double-stops: very good
Arpeggios: all fine

By fine I mean tuning was fine and rhythm was consistent. A couple of "fines" may have been a wee bit on the slow side, but there wasn't any hesitation (except for a small mind-blank as I tried to work out what the starting note of a dominant 7th in the key of A is, I had to think for a couple of seconds).

As you can see, it was quite a mixed bag! If some scales are bad, does that mean you can't pass? Or is it done more as an average? Thank you!

Nothing you can do about it now so please don't worry. I find that very often my most self-critical pupils come out expecting disasters and have actually got better marks on the day than they might have led me to expect. Depends, too, on how strict the examiner was - it shouldn't vary as much as it does but I've had pupils play scales beautifully and virtualy spotlessly who have been docked marks by one examiner and the spectacular opposite, where a grade 8 pupils got FULL marks for scales despite (to my ear at least, and I'm his teacher!) a VERY dodgy scale in thirds which was stopped before he got to the top (so that he only went up and not down).

Relax now and play lots of fun stuff that puts a smile on your face. And when the result comes, remember it's literally one person's snapshot of that one performance. Just to go through the learning journey to get to taking Grade 7 is fantastic, well done for all your hard work. That is far more valuable and long lasting to you to building the player in you for the future than just a marksheet for one day.

...oh, and do let us know when your result comes through!

You don't need to pass every section of the exam to pass overall, so if the rest of the exam was secure then I don't think you need to worry about not passing.

For scales, I think you get a certain amount of marks for just attempting the section, even if they are all dodgy. However, it sounds like it was only the minors which were a problem, so I wouldn't worry too much. To my mind, the fact that you weren't asked another minor scale suggests that you probably went some way towards convincing the examiner that you knew what minor scales were, even if they weren't entirely right.

Viola Babe,

it depends how convinced the examiner was of your ability with scales despite minor trips (no pun intended ).

I got full marks for scales in my last exam probably for stuff like "immediate recall of required scale" and "security and confidence in bowing and intontation" ... even though I honestly thought my chromatic scale was 'WAY OFF' ... I just kept smiling and acting positive about it

the examiner might be more strict for grade 7 though

I've just read through your description of your scales and my predicted mark 15. Please let me know how far off the mark I am.

Many you describe as fine. The others you can accurately describe in detail how you went wrong.

Anyone who can do that is not that far wide of the mark.

Now relax. One component does not a whole exam make, and 15 is a pass in scales.

It's so rare for people to play their scales perfectly, I really wouldn't worry at all. In my exam a few weeks ago, I made mistakes in at least three, I would say, as well as one or two hesitations in the top octave, and I got 18. That was a Grade 8, but the good thing is about the higher grades is that you can fluff one or two (or three or four!), but you've still got opportunity to show you're competant with them. Part of your mark depends on a 'fluent response' and how you've shaped your exercises, but looking through how you did, I'd be surprised if you didn't get absolutely minimum 16/17. I'm not an ABRSM examiner though...

Let us know how you got on!

16 is my bet.