Just had the results of my grade 5 theory exam.
I have failed again by exactly 3 marks andI have got the same mark as before!
I am really dissappointed because I wanted to take grade 6 singing, but I can't now!
Have not yet got the mark paper back, but don't think I will do it again!
Has any one else out there had a negative mark?

Sorry to hear that. It's not an easy exam though and I know several people who've taken more than one attempt to get it. It will be interesting for you to see when you get the marksheet where you lost the marks compared to last time.

Do you play any other instruments? As a singer, you may find the Grade 5 Practical Musicianship a good alternative. If you've done other singing exams, a good number of the elements of the PM exams will be similar (sight-singing etc.).

When I took it 12 years ago, I scraped a pass at about 68/100 I think! I didn't have a teacher (and I wish I had!) and it was all done at the last minute.

to the forums.

Sorry to hear you missed out on a pass, but 3 marks isn't missing out by much. Once you've got the mark sheet back, that will give you an idea of where you lost most marks, and we may be able to help you further.

Switch to Trinity Guildhall. You don't need to pass grade 5 theory to take grade 6 with them.

You still need to know the theory to make sense of the music, though. And you ought to consider still trying to pass it - but as it's holding you back from doing grade 6, just switch boards. (You might find some aspects of the exam different too)

I think you are brave attempting the theory exam and did really well even if you missed the pass mark. I am going to be doing Trinity Guildhall exams after grade 5 because of all the reasons mentioned above. My next flute exam will be TG. Don't know when yet....

Do you have a theory teacher or are you going it alone? A few lessons with someone who can really help you sort out the areas you are stumbling on might make all the difference. Don't give up, you probably just haven't found the right way to tackle it all yet.

I used the Josephine Koh: Practice In Music Theory Grade 5 book.
My preparation was to do 30-60 minuntes a day (for ~8 weeks) doing excercises and a few past papers along the way.
I found this book to explain well what is required in each section (unlike the AB guide to music theory)

I agree with those who've said 'look at the areas where you lost marks'. Regard it as ' nearly there' .

And yes, if you don't have a teacher, book a few lessons to get a bit of help on the weak areas.

to the forums!

it's a shame the AB insists on jumping this hurdle before letting you move along on the practical side: however, as has already been said, you do have the option of switching to Trinity if your main focus is performance. There's nothing so very magical about AB grades that means you need to stay with them - both boards test musicianship and performance skills, they just have different ways of doing that. Another option might be to try a Trinity grade 6 and perhaps re-sit the grade 5 if you still wish to do AB at a higher level - that way you don't let the matter of the theory get in the way of what you're wishing to achieve on a practical level. The thing is, we don't all do music in order to make very specific careers of it: some of us simply want to make progress in making music, and use grades to help mark milestones and provide something to work towards, and then slogging with transpositions and chord structures on paper really does seem a waste of effort. The one thing it is useful to understand is cadential progressions, because you have to learn to pick those out by ear in the higher grades, for aurals....but even there, they constitute only a very tiny part of the practical exam.
Switching boards most certainly wouldn't invalidate the meaning of your grades - these are equivalent for the two boards .

I am also sorry to read this, and wish you well for whatever you choose next.

I had never done a theory paper in over 60 years of playing music, and when my teacher suggested taking Grade 5, I went white at the thought. She gave me a test paper and I simply confirmed that I was hopeless. I don't remember the exact mark I got from her, but I think it was something around 30% (which I think might be a seriously bad fail ). If the question wasn't about performance aspects (like Italian words or symbols) then I did not know the answer.

She set about studying the questions where I had no idea, and then bit by bit showed me what was required in order to get the right answer. Now this I must confess looking back was a bit like learning by rote, but it worked, and gradually my marks went up. For example, on intervals the penny suddenly dropped when she said that an interval is first determined by counting the letters of the notes, so C to B anything (sharp, flat, double flat etc) is going to be a seventh of some kind. That then helps in determining a major 7th, minor 7th, diminished 7th and so on. This also helps in the question on transposing, where I tended initially to avoid things like Cb because it was simpler to write B, but that doesn't answer the question correctly.

For the composition questions I always chose to match a tune to the poem, and always to compose in the same key - in my case D major or D minor. Thus I always knew which set of notes would fit into either of my chosen key signatures, how to end on the tonic, and so on. My teacher also told me to make good use of the scrap paper allowed, and always draw a circle of fifths and a couple of octaves of a piano keyboard. For questions about numbers of demi-semi-quavers in a bar, or where to put bar-lines, the scrap paper also helped with counting out 1/16 - 1/32 type notes. There was also a grid pattern of some of the major triads in a scale to help with cadence questions (at least, I think that was what it was for ).

Finally she recommended certain chapters in the pink and blue theory books, which I studied avidly. I remember these helped with long and short scores, and top and bottom notes of instruments etc. I must have completed around 10 past papers all together, every one of which she kindly marked and went through the mistakes with me to see why I had answered wrongly. I went from a beginning of around 30% to an exam result of 96%, so naturally I would strongly recommend my teacher's method to anyone.

The hardest part was taking the exam in a school gymnasium full of children! I hope you find some of this helpful.

You don't say how you went about preparing for the exam. One option is
to enrol for a G5 Theory class which will make sure you cover the syllabus and give
you at least 1 mock exam.
I passed after enrolling for G5 at Morley College, London SE1.

You might also consider TG grade 5 theory if you still want to do AB practical exams. My understanding is that they will accept it. And the slightly different slant might suit you.