I have finished my grade 2 and grade 5 exams. And I will have my grade 7 exam next year. What about you all?

Do you mean, you went on straight from Grade 2 to G5, or you just skipped G3 and G4? (Sorry, confused moment)

So far, I've done G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5. working towards G6.

I've done grades 1 -6 .. not sure if I'll ever do 7 or 8

um...1,3,5,6 and working on 8.

SNAP!

i have done grades 1 &2 and working for grade 3 in november and 4 in February

3, 5 and 7. I'm going to take Grade 6 before I go back to working on Grade 8 pieces, though.

2,3,5 not doing any more.

done 5 back in June after GCSEs and currently working on 7-8

um...what?confuzzled here...

She has done the same exams as you!

Done Grade 1 and just done Grade 2 pratical exam a couple of months ago; working towards Grade 3 and Grade 2 theory.

Car Expert

G1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.....as ever working for G8.

Grades 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and Grade 8 this Christmas hopefully

I haven't done any piano exams

i've done 2,(d)3,(d)4(m),5(m),6(d) and i'm gonna do 7 and 8 but definitely not diploma!!

Done 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 and currently getting my head around grade 8 scales, intending to start the pieces when the new syllabus comes out next year.

And, of course, grade 5 theory. But not intending to do any diplomas or any other music exam after grade 8. I'm not sure what I will do then.....perhaps teach the earlier grades.

Shelton

G4....doing G5 in March...

grades 1, 2, 3 and im doing my garde 4 next term!! woo hoo

daisy x x

When during the year is the 07-08 syllabus released?

Around end of July 2006

Did grade 1-3 as a child (early 1970s). Then gr 5 & 6 as an adult. I'm aiming towards grade 7 but don't know when...

I mean I have done grade 2 and grade 5 only, just skipped grade 3 and 4.

i haven't done any YET, but I'm sitting my grade 5 theory soon so that I can sit my grade 6 piano and then work my way up towards 8

G1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (retaking 7 because my piano teacher wasn't pleased with my mark...the examiner was a harsh marker...I don't think she gave anyone any distinctions...)

Is anyone else like me? - Not quite understanding why people take grades again just to try to get a better mark? I would have thought the only reason to re-take an exam is if it was failed in the first place! (Or a very low pass, but a pass is a pass regardless!) The levels Merit and Distinction just mean that you passed with a higher mark, but a Pass level still means you passed the exam!

I don't really see the point either... especially with the cost! (or I am just a bit tight fisted?)

I would have thought that in most cases it is best to move on, play a good variety of repertoire, and then aim to improve at the next level when you get there.
To take the same grade again can potentially be a soul destroying excercise.

Hmm, my piano teacher said that there's a big step between grade 7 and 8 and for some reason, I can't remember what she said, it was better to have a good mark before jumping to the next level. *shrugs*

I agree with sbhoa - plus if you retake grade 7 you'll be staying at the grade 7 level either on your current pieces or on different grade 7 pieces which would mean you're not really progressing anywhere. Did I see from your signature you got a merit? - that's GOOD!!!!!!! Yes, there is a big jump in many ways between grades 7 and 8, but there's plenty of appropriate repertoire which would ease you up gently towards the grade 8 level, and in addition lots of repertoire of the grade 8 standard which you could learn before actually tackling the grade 8 exam pieces themselves. Then you'd be thoroughly prepared technically and musically, which would mean that learning the exam pieces wouldn't be the same big step, so you wouldn't need to be months and months learning them.

I agree that slogging at the same pieces for an additional long time is not going to be the best way to make progress; I do however think that playing different grade 7 pieces must surely allow one to progress though. Although the pieces will be of equal difficulty different techniques will be required for the different pieces within that grade and a student who is struggling at that level may well benifit, both from learning some new different techniques at that level, and not moving on to the next grade so quickly. Of course this is nothing that couldn't better be done by looking at repertoire outside the examination lists but still of the appropriate (or even a lower level in the case that the student is really struggling) and buliding up from there, which I suspect is more like the point you were making. Re-sitting exams is probably a help to those who are only motivated by exams (of course this is not a good situation to be in!) or perhaps to teachers who aren't feeling confident in what they do and need the exams to prove that they're doing okay. I would say though that if I did just scrape through an exam at one level, I'd probably take a year to learn more pieces at that level and then come back to the same exam with new pieces and take it again; or at least not do the exam above that until I'd done a good two years of repertoire building and improving and thought I would get a good mark in the next one.

I had assumed that the merit was the mark after the re-sit.


This is exactly how I believe exams should be approached, if one needs to spend so long on learning the exam pieces then one isn't ready for that level of exam yet: there's taking a certain amount of time to get them polished nicely; but then there's rote learning and really just spending so long getting three pieces to exam standard which is not what the exams are about at all.

I greatly admire your teaching strategy and that you manage to motivate your students so well without having to do lots of exams . Whilst I do like the exams as a benchmark I feel that they are far too often used in the wrong way and taken too obsesively .

I did grade 2, 4, 5 and 7. I'm working for grade 8 now.

1,2, 4!

Grades 1 to 8 and a DipABRSM.

Having time out at the moment to work on Grade 8 Harpsichord; at some point early next year I think I'll start narrowing down the extensive list of piano pieces I'm playing around with at the moment to prepare some for an LRSM.

Definitely

taking exams should give a sense of success which proves that you've been improving and building up all the time.....but somehow people just make it like one of the reasons to learn piano, especially some parents.....this is simply taking away the true pleasure of learning it!

i've taken grade 1, 3, 5, should have taken grade 7 last year but i went somewhere else and missed it! this year i went bak to grade 6, and now planning to grade 8.......but to be honest, i never got a good grade in my exams....they are always a little more than passing score. what a shame....however i got a nice distinction in grade5 theory tho~~*

Grade 2, 5, 6 , 8 and DipABRSM

Haven't done any piano exams, don't intend to do any. I just play.

If I had my way, that's what I'd do... heheh. Then again, I suppose I AM on the website of an examinations board!

Blasphemy! Blasphemy!

I'm not doing anymore exams for a good few years....depends what Gae thinks

Is Gae going to be your new piano teacher or something?

Possibly yes

Really? how cool!

I've done grades 1-8 and am finally getting my teeth into the DipABRSM pieces after having a bit of a break to concentrate more on the organ.

Grade 2-8 ... Havent played piano seriously in a few years but I think Im going to take it up again soon and do a Dip in it ... Just to have it, y'kno wthe way ... More letters

Oh good, then it's not just me who plays that game: 21 letters after my name, 16 letters in it including my middle name and title

I've only done 5 for piano and that wasn't ABRSM and I'm doing 8 in November. I've done 3 and 5 for oboe and I'll e doing 7 in November as well. I've also done 5 for theory

Hah - 24 letters in my full name, 17 after, so in total I think I beat you

I'm not looking forward to getting a LRSM after a DipABRSM - 4 fewer letters Still, technically, I could use both

Best get that PhD sorted....

The name I always use only has 6 letters, so I've got a head start. I have 24 if I dont count the punctuation but do count the OU degree I'm entitled to but haven't yet claimed.

Oops no! 27 - I 've miscounted.