Hi i'm Sean and i started to play the piano in August 2003.

My favourite composer is Beethoven.

I'm really REALLY keen on mastering this beautiful instrument and was wondering if anyone thinks that it is possible for someone to get to grade 8 within 4 years .

Oh yes...I do think it is possible to get to grade 8 in 4 years. At the rate I'm going, I'll be in grade 8 in my third year of piano. But thats just me. I tend to progress faster than other students (I'm in grade 4 and the other students that started the exact same time I did, are in grade 2!). If you try hard enough, I think you should be able to reach your goal.

Liz

Thank very much . You see i'm only considering this because my teacher is thinking of putting me in at grade 3 and i've never done a music exam in my life! Are they challenging?

Sean. You've done very well to get to Grade 3 in this amount of time. If your teacher thinks that you are ready for that, then trust her/him and go for it. You never know, you may get to your Grade 8 in 4 years....though that would really be pushing it.

Youngpianist. I don't wish to offend, but I am very curious. How do you know you are Grade 4? It's not common for US residents to take AB exams and I know that the grading system is very different there...roughly about 1 1/2 grades below the AB grading system. The RCM grade 4 is approximately equal to AB 2 1/2.

I know that you learn with the Suzuki method. My son started with that and it's amazing how quickly you can seem to be shooting ahead. My son reached about a Grade 3 standard of repertoire when he was five years old, but he couldn't have managed the exam at that point. His reading skills just weren't up to it. With the Suzuki method the emphasis is on learning things by ear, not reading. If you have taken the AB exams (with the emphasis on reading not memory) how did you find it?

If you haven't taken the AB exams, then what criteria are you using to grade yourself. I really am just curious.

I know someone who started with Piano from scratch, and did pass grade 8 ABRSM in exactly ONE year!

But! He has grade 8 in violin & theory, lots of performance experience and a very musical person. AND the main reason for the rush is he need it for his University entry.

So, in term of possibility - YES, it is possible. But, why?

I don't mean to discourage you, and in fact I believe that if you work hard and dedicated, you will definitely progress faster.

From your original post, It seems to me that you actually like the songs because they are beautiful. You do not have any specific reason to rush for grade 8 exams.

In my opinion you don't really need to worry about the exams at this stage. Just talk/discuss with your teacher to find out what pieces will be of the right difficulties for you.

Lastly - 1) you don't need to pass an exam in order to qaulify for playing any pieces; and 2) even if you passed a exam, it doesn't guarantee that you will play them well and beautifully.

All the best,
Tannie

I think that the thing that you have to remember is that taking exam does not make you better; it's practising and playing pieces that does. Again the question that I would ask is why do you want to get to grade 8 so quickly?

I would say yes, if you have a reasonable amount of talent (and by reasonable I don't mean that you have to be brilliant) it is quite possible to get grade 8 in 4 years. However most probably you will not be anywhere near as good as those who have taken time to study over a long period of time; will not get a very high mark and will just have to progress after grade 8 without the exams as a motivator to get to the standard you really want to be at. It sounds like what you really want to do is be good at playing the piano; this is not aligned directly with having passed grade 8: it comes from experience of many pieces and years of practice.

Essentially you can use the exams in two ways: either to mark your progress as you go along and get good marks and do well: if you're playing the exam at the level that you will get a merit (or even better a distinction) then you know you are good at playing the instrument at the standard you are at; if you just scrape a pass this says (and this is from looking at the mark scheme) that your playing is satisfactory at that level. So to 'master' the instrument you will have to either go along at the level you are achieving good marks; or get the grade 8 certificate quickly then just do a lot of practice afterwards.

You can either use the exams to help motivate you to achieve the highest standards; or you can use them merely to collect the certificate and say that you can play to grade 8 standard; but grade 8 standard is a wide variety of standards: UCAS award the same number of points for a grade 7 merit that they give for a grade 8 pass: personally I think that the grade 7 merit should be worth more (and a grade 6 distinction should be worth more than a grade 8 pass too). In fact I think that it's getting to the point now where so many people just do grade 8 to get the certificate that I'm more impressed by grade 7 than grade 8 !

Anyway, having said all of that, it's not true that you can't progress more quickly than usual to a high standard (by standard I do actually mean standard not grade): the more practice you do the faster you will progress.

Good luck in your playing and most importantly of all I hope that you continue to enjoy it as much as you do now.

Thankyou very much everyone for all of your advice. As a beginner though i am REALLY keen, as i have already said. However i was only asking this question just incase i decide to study music at University. I said 4 four years because i've only got my 2 GCSE years left, plus 2 years of A level and (correct me if i'm wrong) you will need to have passed grade 8 to apply for Uni.

Sean

Grade 8 at something, not necessarily piano.

And grade 6 or 7 will still get you into a lot of Universities.

it is possible,im not grade 8 on piano but ive played the clarinet for 3 years and im playing the exam pieces for grade 8. It also depends on how edicated you are! If you work really hard then you could be at grade 8 in 4 years!

Nat

Hello!

i think that you can pass any exam you want in any anount of time depending on yourself. (tell me if you think i'm wrong)

but i think this is because you study the grade pieces only.

for arguments sake say that i worked on the pieces for grade 8, and only those pieces. it doesn't mean that i'm a grade 8 standard, it means that i can play those3 pieces.

i believe that you become a better musician if you progress steadily. by doing this you gain a better feel for your instrument and become a better musician.

does anybody agree?

jaime

I agree with you jaime ( are you the same person who posed the question on Klass - if so i left a reply). I get sick of reading about people who think playing the piano is just about passing grades so they have something to boast about. Everyone should play all sorts of music classical light pop jazz etc. Play to your friends/family and have pleasure in the joy it brings them and yourself.

Hi Jamie,

I couldn't agree more!

I had this conversation with my piano teacher just last week.

I have this habbit of 'biting off more than I can chew' as my teacher puts it. But he knows I always complete pieces no matter how difficult.

I have got GII practical, GV theory and doing GIII and GVI this year. Nevertheless, I have always played pieces a lot higher than my grade - which tells you a lot about grades. I've always played GV/VI pieces from the very start of playing piano before GI.

We both agreed I am probably capable of GV with a fair bit of work on sight reading. But whats the point ?

Just say I did that, I wouldn't be able to play much else without struggling and not able to sight read easily either.

I may be able to play higher grade pieces but I still struggle with GIII pieces and epspecially sight reading.

The reason I have done the above grades is for me as a marker of how I'm progressing. Not so I can say I'm grade so and so.

So basically, would you prefer to have a lot of experience with different pieces and a lower or no grade or just 24 exam pieces from GI - GVIII and not being able to play anything else ?

Just because you have GVIII doesn't mean you are good musician. Only time and experience enjoying what you play does that - In my opinion anyway !

Sorry to ramble !

FIona

Hey, I think it is possible. I taught myself how to play piano and it was because i had set my sights on wanting to play like someone i knew.
I am now on Grade 5 and I do 2 exams a year roughly

[QUOTE]I get sick of reading about people who think playing the piano is just about passing grades so they have something to boast about.

Just to get on thing straight i am person who is only considering the grades due to the thought of maybe applying to a university of music, needing certain grades to be able to apply. I just wanted to get this straight with you first, and one last thing , I don't boast
Thankyou

Sean

In where I am,

The school of young talents caters for kids +/- 5 years old and they usually complete their grade 8 at 10 years old. Just 3 years back, a 9 year old girl completed her grade 8 with a score of 142/150, got her dipABRSM the next year and then LRSM the at 11 years old.

Its all up to one's self and to put in a 101% effort into it.

Gotta do what you like, and not like what you do I guess. Its the passion for music.

wow mr lim....
where are you from??? may i know which school are you refering to and were you a student there?
cheers,
cornell

QUOTE (SEAN @ Mar 25 2004, 11:24 PM)

Hi i'm Sean and i started to play the piano in August 2003. My favourite composer is Beethoven. I'm really REALLY keen on mastering this beautiful instrument and was wondering if anyone thinks that it is possible for someone to get to grade 8 within 4 years .

Hi, Sean, it is admirable that you want to make music a part of your life, however, correct me if I am wrong, you need to have a correct attitude of learning if you want to be successful in this field. To answer your question first, yes, it is possible, in fact I have a friend who started piano from scratch without any background in music and managed to complete grade 8 practical and theory ABRSM in just a span of 2 years, for the very same reason that you have, that is to apply into a uni or conservatory.

Sounds good, isn't it ? HOWEVER, he confided in me that although he has the certifications, he knows he is at a very big disadvantage. As he rushed through the grades, he didn't go through the necessary basic repertoire, all he ever plays are exam pieces and a few beginner pieces. In other areas of piano playing such as aural and sight reading, he is extremely weak and he is extremely dependent on his teacher to play the piano well. Basically, throw him a piece to study by himself and he wouldn't understand how to make a decent and musical intepretation out of it.

When you take that big step to go into a college or conservatory to study music, you want an education, not a certificate. Going in unprepared musically means that you will struggle , hence you can't really focus on what you want to do most. This also applies to any other fields beside music. My teacher , who is one of the best teachers in the city, told me that you should be ABOVE standard, not at or below standard when you go in to study music at tertiary level, only then I will be able to completely savour all other aspects of music, instead of struggling to practice pieces just to make it in time for semestral exams.

Hence, my advice to you, don't bother about grades. Get a very good teacher, preferably someone that teach in college or uni and let him/her guide and prepare you musically until you are ready. There's no point in rushing through this, if you are dedicated and not IMPATIENT, you will be able to be a good musician no matter what age you are.

Im from Singapore.

if only i were in that talent school! then i wldnt be doin gd8 at 18 years old!!

ive been on the piano since 5. but have changed 4 teachers (not that i hated them).

when i was younger, i used to get bored at the piano. so .. the interest didnt stay long (as a young kid!) I guess many young kids go through that too.

ive stopped for about 3-4 years after taking gd5 in 2000. and recently started lessons again.

goin for gd8 in july.

In my opinion, learning piano is not just for the exams.
If you focus too much on the exams, you will lose lots of fun.