Should i do it ?

[kghayesh]

I am planning to do Grade 8 ABRSM next June although i only finished Grade 5 ( without 6 & 7). Many people told me it will be a big leap that u may not be able to handle, but i just look at what i did.

Grade 5 for me was like a piece of cake, except for the mistakes in the aural test which were due to inexperience, the distinction would have been certain ( i got 126 BTW ).

Also, Right now, i am learning and am nearly done with pieces that are far above grade 8 repretoire. I play now the Pathetique sonata, Revolutionary Etude and above all the mighty Chopin's G minor ballade, which are all listed as LRSM and DipABRSM.

When i looked at Grade 7 pieces, i think i could learn them all in a couple of weeks. They are not that hard at all for me.

The problem is that here ABRSM exams are held only once a year  , which means that if i went for grade 7 this year instead of grade 8, i would wait another year to do grade 8, which will also mean that the DipABRSM will be delayed by 1 year, which i don't want at all coz i am 20 years old now and i want to - make some achievement - as soon as i can.

What do you think, should i go for grade 8 next June ??

[meli]

Hi, I just wanted to share my experience with you. I passed my grade 5 (I was 17 yrs old). 6 Years later, I decided to start my music education again with the goal of getting my diploma. I then took my grade 6 & 7 at the same time which saved me 1 year  At first my teacher thought I was crazy for wanting to do grade 6 & 7 together, but after a few lessons of hearing me play, she said it should be no problem. Come to think of it, it was easy, there isn't much difference in difficulty between the 2 grades! I don't think ABRSM will allow u to take grade 8 if you have finished grade 5 (without 6 & 7). Sorry, but I may be wrong. Good luck in your choice, and I think that you are still young and should enjoy your musical journey. When I look back, I didn't enjoy it much, it was like a rush-rush. Sigh, I hate exams sometimes.

[jamie_liszt]

when i was 14 and 15 i was grade 5 , 6  and wanted to skip to a higher grade (this is ameb though) but in the end I decided i will do all of them, even though I found these grades easy, i think you should do all of them too. Only people that learn all the chopin etudes by age 8 shoudl think of doing it, lol.

[fuel925]

Hi, I just wanted to share my experience with you. I passed my grade 5 (I was 17 yrs old). 6 Years later, I decided to start my music education again with the goal of getting my diploma. I then took my grade 6 & 7 at the same time which saved me 1 year  At first my teacher thought I was crazy for wanting to do grade 6 & 7 together, but after a few lessons of hearing me play, she said it should be no problem. Come to think of it, it was easy, there isn't much difference in difficulty between the 2 grades! I don't think ABRSM will allow u to take grade 8 if you have finished grade 5 (without 6 & 7). Sorry, but I may be wrong. Good luck in your choice, and I think that you are still young and should enjoy your musical journey. When I look back, I didn't enjoy it much, it was like a rush-rush. Sigh, I hate exams sometimes.

Which ABRSM theory grades have you passed? You need to have passed a certain level in theory to be able to take grade 8 practical

[RealPianist]

Which ABRSM theory grades have you passed? You need to have passed a certain level in theory to be able to take grade 8 practical

you need to get grade 5 theory..

[kghayesh]

I did pass Grade 5 theory of course, otherwise i wouldn't have written this post 

[fuel925]

Well there is a large jump from grade 5 to grade 8. If you didn't get distinction in grade 5, I wouldn't consider attempting grade 8 until you have sorted out the things that caused you to lose marks in grade 5. Grades aren't just about pieces, you know that
Also, grades 6-8 require "musicality" as well as being able to just play the notes. No doubt you can play the notes in the pieces you listed in your first post, but can you play them as they are meant to be played? its doubtful at best.
Prepare yourself properly before attempting the advanced grades to avoid disappointing results. If you do decide to take the exam, then good luck

[kghayesh]

Well there is a large jump from grade 5 to grade 8. If you didn't get distinction in grade 5, I wouldn't consider attempting grade 8 until you have sorted out the things that caused you to lose marks in grade 5. Grades aren't just about pieces, you know that
Also, grades 6-8 require "musicality" as well as being able to just play the notes. No doubt you can play the notes in the pieces you listed in your first post, but can you play them as they are meant to be played? its doubtful at best.
Prepare yourself properly before attempting the advanced grades to avoid disappointing results. If you do decide to take the exam, then good luck

Well, you are right in every word you just said. When i read your post i thought of retreating and i looked at the score of the pieces and thought whether i can manage to get them ready for performance by next June. I think i can manage it. I started Chopin's G minor Ballade (which is much harder than all the pieces of Grade 8 ) about 5 months ago and now it is in the final polishing phase.
So, concerning pieces and scales,  I guess i am up to it.
My fear comes form sight reading coz i am not such a fluent sight reader, but i am working hard to improve (from Richman's book).
And BTW, what made me lose that 4 marks in Grade 5 was sight reading. The examiner wrote in the examination assesment document that he was so fond of my musical interpretation of the pieces.

And last but not least, the most important thing that makes me willing to tackle grade 8 is that if i did 7, i would wait 1 more year to get Grade 8, which i think will not be good for me.

Thanks,

[gruffalo]

i dont know why doing the grades should be a problem. skip one. im not saying that you are not good enough for 8 straight away, but its a matter of aquiring the skills in general music that each stage presents. i did my grade 6 singing when i was 11, and i went straight on to grade 8 the next term, and i learned it all in that one term.(it was supposed to be an experiment by my choir master, which i was supposed to fail but i ended up scoring 146/150 and i got Silver Bursary for 2nd Highest mark in UK). anyway my point is that (i forgot what it was for piano) but for singing it is possible to do more than one exam per year.

[lagin]

Well, in Canada we have ten grades and then the diploma level.  I did my grade 6 exam, and then skipped to grade 9 and did it a year later.  I did well on both exams, so I think you can, too.  Since grade 10 is manditory before taking the diploma level, that's this year's task.   BTW, if you do your grade 7 this year and then your grade 8 next year, that takes 2 years right?  BUt if you do your grade 8 this June, and worse case scenario, fail it, you'll have to try again next year, and that also takes 2 years, right?  So you're no further behind for just going for it!  (I'm also 20, and trying to make up for lost time )
Lagin