what do u think is worst? (im still waiting btw)
1) getting 39
2) passing everything amazingly and getting 1 point off for programme notes therefore failing
3) screwing up quick study
4) screwing up recital

The worst is just failing all sections...if you pass one section but fail the other, then I don't think you have to resit both, although I'm not certain.

Dave

Pianokc, where did you take your exam? My friends took theirs in Tom Lee, Tsim Sha Tsui.

QUOTE (Eos Cheng @ Feb 26 2005, 05:19 PM)

Pianokc, where did you take your exam? My friends took theirs in Tom Lee, Tsim Sha Tsui.

i also took exam there in mid nov, but still no result...
did your friends get pass?

Esther,

My friends still haven't got their results yet ...

still nothing
Still, at least didn't get a result before Saturday's concert - would have been bad either way...
Anyone know what the final date for requesting a resit from this set of results is in the UK?

David_2004_G - I think it depends on which year's syllabus on which bits you have to retake, but last year I failed the recital and quick study, and passed the Viva, but because the quick study and viva make up part 2 of the exam I had to retake the viva the second time around.

Does anyone know anything about academic dress for gaining your diploma? My parents saw it in the syllabus but we rang oxford and they didn't know anything about it. Has anyone else tried to find out?

Don't know how things are done in UK. In HK there will be a ceremony every year and things like academic dress and so on would be arranged for the event.

Well, I received my results yesterday and I am pleased to say that I passed my teaching diploma (DipABRSM! I really had no idea what to expect (ie a pass or a fail!) as I found the exam was really difficult.

Musica4 - I would also be interested in finding out about academic dress. All it says in the copy of the syllabus I have is

"Academic dress for holders of the Associated Board's Diplomas may be obtained from [x]"

Mrs M

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have sent an e-mail to the board but they still havn't replied.

The supplier's name, address, phone number and email address are given on page 34 of the new syllabus. I would paste in what it says but I don't know if I'm allowed to put their email address on here; however I can point you to their website, which is here. The syllabus says that all enquiries are to be made to them. They're not based in Oxford so you must have been contacting the wrong people.

Just out of interest what occasion would you have to wear the academic dress if you bought it? If you only want it for the ceremony and want to attend a ceremony it's usually a lot cheaper to hire it if that's possible. I've not heard of any ceremonies in the UK (although apparently one can attend one if one wishes) although the ceremonies do seem to be popular in Hong Kong (I assume this because the Hong Kong ones are always mentioned in Libretto).

Congratulations to you both .

Hi Mrs M
MANY CONGRATULATIONS on your teaching Diploma. Its a great feeling isn't it? Well Done Mrs M

Thank you! I am so, so pleased (and relieved!) - it has really made my year!!

I was just curious about the academic dress. I assume it would only be a basic gown rather than a gown, hood, and mortar board.

Mrs M

Just to add that it was the DipABRSM in piano teaching that I did - so I managed to find details regarding academic dress on p.42 of the pdf syllabus. Thanks, AnotherPianist - I have sent them an email.

Mrs M

QUOTE (Mrs M @ Mar 1 2005, 04:42 PM)

Just to add that it was the DipABRSM in piano teaching that I did - so I managed to find details regarding academic dress on p.42 of the pdf syllabus.

I had a look at their web site, and the academic dress is a black gown with a red and blue hood and a black hat. It seems to be the same for DipABRSM, LRSM and FRSM in teaching, performing and directing.

Well done Mrs M!!!

Hi YetAnotherPianist

You're right. I just had a reply back from Northams who say:

"GOWN Plain black, Plain sleeve.

HOOD Special simple shape of scarlet special dye to institute colour
Lined 2" mid blue plain scarlet neckband.

HAT Black mortarboard"

Although, as there is no graduation ceremony as such, I'm not sure whether I would fork out to be photographed in it just yet.

Mrs M

Did they say the cost of buying/hire or photo because I'm going to university in Sept and I will need to have one anyway for formal dinners and to sit exams.

Musica4,

No, I'm afraid all they gave me were the above details and their contact details which are:

www.wmnortham.co.uk
sales desk 01223-441243

Good luck!

Mrs M

QUOTE (musica4 @ Mar 2 2005, 09:48 AM)

Did they say the cost of buying/hire or photo because I'm going to university in Sept and I will need to have one anyway for formal dinners and to sit exams.

Well you'll certainly stand out from everyone else in their undergraduate gowns then! Where is it you're going, by the way?

These figures are from their web site:

Gown: Polyester £150, if you want Wool/Cotton it's £187
Hood: £52
Hat: £32 for a folding skull, £74 for a rigid skull

For comparison, as far as I recall, my undergraduate gown was £35. On the plus side, my PhD academic dress will be about £400, not that I have it yet! It's likely that I'll hire it for the day.

My other half reckoned he'd come over for lunch today - and arrives bearing flowers and an A4 envelope - have passed the Dip for piano performing!!
Only just mind, but hey, a scrape is still a pass, with one failure behind me, I'm happy.

Congratulations, you must be delighted .

Congratulatios Fen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to Cambridge. What do you mean that I would look different to others.

Congratulations, Fen. I have been checking this thread since Saturday, hoping no news was good news...

Thanks andante_in_c! It's been a nervewracking few days, but a great relief now.

QUOTE (musica4 @ Mar 2 2005, 01:42 PM)

I'm going to Cambridge. What do you mean that I would look different to others.

Everyone else will be wearing undergraduate gowns, plain black without a hood (maybe dark blue depending on the college)... You will have a different black gown with a hood (hoods are usually coloured and decorative) wearing that academic dress. The actual gown that you get (even ignoring the hood) for your dipABRSM will be different to an undergraduate gown (even though they are both black gowns academic dress is very precise about the shapes and things, even the undergraduate gowns for the different colleges are ever so slightly different). If you have a hood then you will definitely stand out as no one else will have one (you only get them on completion of a qualification) technically you should wear the dipABRSM academic dress if you have the dip, but if you don't want to stand out no one will know you should be wearing the dipABRSM gown if you don't tell them!

It's a complicated system and I would contact your college to ask what you should do before you buy it (unless you just want to wear the undergraduate gown to be the same as everyone else, probably not officially correct but as I said no one will know).

Thank you. I didn't realise, I'll leave it until I go in September.

That's okay, good luck with your course, what will you be studying?

I will be studying music.

Excellent, I hope that you enjoy it .

QUOTE (Fen @ Mar 2 2005, 02:33 PM)

My other half reckoned he'd come over for lunch today - and arrives bearing flowers and an A4 envelope  - have passed the Dip for piano performing!! Â

Congratulations Fen! I am delighted for you.

Congratulations, Fen!

And have the ones in HK got their results?

Congratulations to all who had good results! You must be thrilled!

As for those who had less-than-welcome results, I hope you still found the experience valuable - and take solace in the knowledge that you are way more talented than many of us ! Congratulations for taking the diploma, and good luck with your future studies.

Congratulations, Fen!

I also just scraped through but I really am not bothered, just relieved.

Mrs M

Congratulations Fen, you must be over the moon !

btw I heard that your playing was much enjoyed on Saturday!


Maggie

Dare we ask about the people who still haven't posted yet ? lafrog has gone missing and jo.clarinet, how did your students do? Anyone else still waiting?

I heard about one of my pupils' results last week, but have only just heard about the other. One passed, and one didn't. So I'm having very mixed feelings - I am of course absolutely delighted for the one who passed, but very disappointed for the one who didn't quite make it after all that work.....

I'd been hoping that the PM function would have been reinstated by now, but presumably the problems are more serious than we thought. I didn't think I used PM that much, but have found several occasions over the last few days when I wanted to send someone a brief private message rather than post here, and then remembered that I couldn't!

So.....congratulations to all who have done well in their Diploma exams, and especially to Fen, who is a face to me now rather than just a username, because we met at the Adult Learners' Concert last week!

Jo, congratulations to one of your pupils and commiseartions to the other. I'm sure that they'll both be able to continue to enjoy their playing especially since you seem to be such an inspirational teacher: how do you manage to get so many students to stay on to such a high level? Do you have a secret?!

thanks for that Jo (goodness you're up with the lark when it comes to posting).
Best wishes to both your pupils (and good on you for getting them through it... i know my teacher had to do a lot of work with me after I failed)

Well done everyone

Congratulations to everyone that passed (or scraped)!! Unfortunately, for me, i failed because of the quick study. I got 38 on performance, 15 on viva, and 4 on quick study. Do people actually have to prepare for quick study, or is it through sufficient experience that they are able to do so well?

You should practise for the quick study, take a piece of around about grade 6 standard each day and give yourself 5 minutes to look through it then do it - if you record it after this you can get a better idea of how you are progressing.

QUOTE

Do people actually have to prepare for quick study, or is it through sufficient experience that they are able to do so well

Definitely prepare!
There are lots of posts on this - check the thread on Hong Kong results for suggestions.

I love sight reading and have always had almost full marks for that section in the grade examinations. I think the more you do it the better you become. Dont worry too much about how it sounds at first because its like an art the more you do the more natural it becomes. I must stress the marking for diploma quick study was much much harder than marking for grade exams. Good luck and remember practice make perfect.

QUOTE (YetAnotherPianist @ Feb 24 2005, 05:04 AM)

Preludes 9 and 16, Op. 11, Scriabin Sonata in C Minor (Pathétique), Beethoven Etude No. 3, Op. 4, Szymanowski Prelude and Fugue 16 in G minor, WTC I, Bach General Lavine - Eccentric, Preludes Book II, Debussy

To YetAnother Pianist:

many many congratulations to ur success!

your chosen programme sounds vvvv interesting! it consists of SIX composers-it sounds like going shopping in a supermarket-bits of everything.

(well, i took my LRSM pno exam last year n it consisted of 5 composers (also like bits of everything)-2 big works n 3 small works, not strictly in chronological order. i got 39 for the recital, 18 for the viva n 8 for the QS (Total: 65)

may i ask u whether 'General Lavine' is a composer's name? Is 'Eccentric' his composition? how did u come across this piece? what style is it in? is it in 20th century style? how long is this piece?

i had never heard of this composer's name b4! was this 1 of your off-syllabus choice?

btw, who were ur examiners? when did u take ur DipABRSM?

will LRSM be ur next goal? if yes, when? i hope u'll do well in ur LRSM too!

i'd really like to find out more abt General Lavine! what nationality is he?

pls reply. look fwd to hear from u soon!

btw, do u mind if i ask u how old r u? (i'm in my early 20s)

RSVP

Duen Duen xxx

rubinstein wrote: "may i ask u whether 'General Lavine' is a composer's name? Is 'Eccentric' his composition? how did u come across this piece? what style is it in? is it in 20th century style? how long is this piece?"

Obviously, she isn't familiar with Debussy's Preludes (even though YetAnotherPianist has clearly stated "Preludes Book II, Debussy" after "General Lavine - Eccentric". The latter is, of course, the "title" (written paradoxically at the end of the piece) of the 6th prelude from Book II. Someone ambitious for the FRSM in piano performing (and to succeed the FIRST time around) should at the very least be conversant with the CORE repertoire for the piano...

-ericpark

QUOTE (ericpark @ Mar 28 2005, 01:29 PM)

Someone ambitious for the FRSM in piano performing (and to succeed the FIRST time around) should at the very least be conversant with the CORE repertoire for the piano.

As should somebody who already holds LRSM in piano performance, which Rubinstein does!

On the topic of quick study, I thought I would share my experience with you.

When I was doing my grades, I was a decent, but not a spectacular, sight-reader. I got 18/21 for Grade 5 and 20/21 for Grade 8 (oboe). The limiting factor for me was I didn't read fast enough -- the excerpts contained some awkward leaps and I just didn't recognize them in time.

For my diploma level quick study tests, I got 10/15, 11/15 and 10/15 respectively. I was able to recognize the rhythms and the scale patterns, and was able to play musically. The limiting factor was that I didn't have all scale patterns practised to perfection such that I could pull them off with ease when I encounter them.

In some respects, the quick study test at the diploma level is actually easier than the sight-reading test for the grades. As opposed to 15 to 30 seconds (I think) for the grades, the candidate is allowed 5 minutes, which is more than enough to play through the piece twice and in addition to practise the hard bits. Therefore raw speed in reading may not be as important as having all the scale patterns (or chords for keyboard player) ready ahead of time.

I am not sure what's the best approach to improve one's ability to tackle the quick study test. I am sure it is much easier on the oboe than on the piano, given that we only have one line of music to read. I took my diploma exams in consecutive years, giving myself one year to prepare for each diploma. In addition to working on my pieces, I spent as much time working on scale patterns to make sure that I could tackle the technical challenges presented in the quick study test, and that certainly paid off for me.

Once you find out whether it's raw reading speed or technical prowess that is pulling you back from a successful performance on the quick study, you will be better able to find a solution for it. I hope I am not stating the obvious here, but it will be a great idea to work with your teacher too, since he/she knows your playing well and is in the best position to analyze your weakness.

By the way, I grew up in Hong Kong and have heard that people in Hong Kong are not good sight-readers. There might be some truth in it. Perhaps we all focus too much on the exam pieces and don't play other pieces enough?

Wai Kit Leung

QUOTE (ericpark @ Mar 28 2005, 10:29 PM)

rubinstein wrote: "may i ask u whether 'General Lavine' is a composer's name? Is 'Eccentric' his composition? how did u come across this piece? what style is it in? is it in 20th century style? how long is this piece?" Obviously, she isn't familiar with Debussy's Preludes (even though YetAnotherPianist has clearly stated "Preludes Book II, Debussy" after "General Lavine - Eccentric". The latter is, of course, the "title" (written paradoxically at the end of the piece) of the 6th prelude from Book II. Someone ambitious for the FRSM in piano performing (and to succeed the FIRST time around) should at the very least be conversant with the CORE repertoire for the piano... -ericpark

to ericpark:

sorry, i've never played Debussy's preludes myself b4 so i'm not v familiar w/ the titles of his preludes in his 2 bks. and that was y i asked 'yet another pianist'.

btw, i'm not going to take FRSM just yet. i'm not hurrying to obtain the qualification at all. i'll only apply for it until i'm 200% ready, well-prepared and confident. i won't be playing any works by Debussy for FRSM since they aren't on the list.

i mentioned that i hope i'll pass all in 1 go coz it costs a lot of $ and efforts to prepare for it.

from Duen Duen