ABRSM Exams

[Joannetmj]

Hi, how many of you take ABRSM exams? I do, currently doing grade 5 practical and grade 6 theory.

How well do you do in it? Distinctions, Merit, Passes, or Fail? Do you think it depends on the piano examiners? Sometimes I think it's the piano examiners that are at fault when you fail or do badly. Well, I'm sure I'm wrong but I've had to many bad experience with them already.

[eddie92099]

I have taken them. Here are (for what it's worth) the results I got and age at which I took them:

Practical:
Grade 1: 128 (Age 7)
Grade 5: 113 (Age 9)
Grade 7: 135 (Age 10)
Grade 8: 143 (Age 14 - highest mark nationally)

Theory:
Grade 5: 78% (Age 9)

(For people who do not know the practical marking system it is out of 150 with 100 being a pass, 120 a merit and 130 a distinction).

I think you are right about the examiners - after my grade 5 results my teacher actually wrote in and complained and we received a letter saying that this particular examiner had been complained about a lot!
Good luck with your own exams (and remember - if you get the highest mark nationally in grade 8, the prize money does not even cover the entrance fee - now there's an incentive  ),
Ed

[eddie92099]

I also notice you are in Malaysia - does this mean you have taken exams at the Park Plaza hotel (opposite the Petronas towers)?
Ed

[Joannetmj]

Wow, you must be good. Mine are as follow:

Practical
Grade 1: 100(Phew!, age 7)
Grade 2: 122(age 9)
Grade 3: 96(age 10, made me very discouraged all right)
Grade 4: 110

Theory
Grade 1: 100%(age 8, totally opposite from practical)
Grade 3: 93%(age 10)
Grade 5: 90%(age 12, this year)
Why do I say it depends on the examiners? Because for practical grade 1,3, and 4, my examiner was a lady. I even failed! And for grade 2, I got a male examiner and got a merit! So you can say I kind of pray for a male examiner each year. Lol!

No, I usually take my exams at Blue Wave hotel or PJ Hilton.

[eddie92099]

You must have been impressed with my knowledge of KL though...
Ed

[Joannetmj]

Lol I guessed you visited Malaysia or used to live here. Am I right?

What happened to your other grades in theory? You only sat for 1?

[eddie92099]

I was there last summer on vacation. My dad lives in Manila though so not too far! I only sat grade 5 theory,
Ed

[Joannetmj]

How come you sat for practical until grade 8 and theory only until grade 5? Usually theory is ahead for most people I know.

Did you enjoy your stay here?

[eddie92099]

I only did grade 5 theory so I could move on to beyond grade 5 practical, so I took both grade 5s at the same time. KL was very nice thanks - Petronas is awesome!
Ed

[Irock1ce]

Hey Ed, how high is grade 8 exactly? like what kind of music is played to get grade 8? Im in the U.S. so we have no system.. except the College of musicians or something like that.. i got pretty high on that one... like Prepatory 2 or something (goes from like Beg 1-4,Inter 1-4, Prep 1-4,college) to pass that, i had to play a mozart sonata, some sort of bach, modern (i played chinese folk music), and a chopin piece.. but it wasnt particularly hard. I stopped that system 2 years ago. Like would u play La Campanella for grade 8? or can u pass it by simply playing a Chopin Mazurka?

[Joannetmj]

Guess what my teacher said is true. She said most people's THEORY is left behind. So you finished theory and stopped after grade 8 pratical?? Why not just  do it equally? As in grade 1 pratical grade 1 theory and so on.

[eddie92099]

Hey Ed, how high is grade 8 exactly?

Not particularly. I played the a Scarlatti Sonata, a C.P.E. Bach sonata (1st mvt.) and Debussy's Generale Levine. Other pieces that have been on the grade 8 list are Mozart's C minor fantasy, various Scarlatti sonatas, more easier Debussy preludes, Rachmaninov Elegie etc..
There are levels beyond grade 8 though - first a Diploma, then a Licentiate then a Fellowship. Diploma pieces are like Rachmaninov's G sharp minor prelude, Gershwin preludes, Schubert impromptus etc.. Licentiate pieces are like Chopin Scherzi or Ballades, Liszt Etudes, Ravel's Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit etc.. Fellowship pieces are like complete Gaspard de la Nuit, Brahms Paganini variations, Bartok Sonata etc..

The entire syllabi can be found here:
https://www.abrsm.ac.uk/exams.html

Ed

[eddie92099]

Guess what my teacher said is true. She said most people's THEORY is left behind. So you finished theory and stopped after grade 8 pratical?? Why not just  do it equally? As in grade 1 pratical grade 1 theory and so on.

2 hour written exams (or whatever they are!) are not really the best thing for a seven year old...
I'm sure I have picked up most of grade 8 theory along the way, I just haven't literally taken the exam. I have only stopped exams after grade 8 practical - I find the diploma syllabus too easy to prepare 40 minutes of! I have been playing mostly licentiate pieces since grade 8 (and one fellowship  ),
Ed

[Noah]

Yeah the DipABRSM repertoire list is not very challenging. The LRSM list is more interesting though... Bartok sonata etc

[Irock1ce]

wow.. the normal ones from lvl 1-8 definitely isnt that hard.. nor is the dipABRSM.. but it gets considerably harder from then on.... playing 4 pieces from the fABRSM would kill me...geez...   But grading myself... i should be somewhere from Grade 8 to dipABRSM.. as i am currently playing Chopin etude op.25 no.11, P and F in Cminor and Waldstein complete...

[Joannetmj]

2 hour written exams (or whatever they are!) are not really the best thing for a seven year old...
I'm sure I have picked up most of grade 8 theory along the way, I just haven't literally taken the exam. I have only stopped exams after grade 8 practical - I find the diploma syllabus too easy to prepare 40 minutes of! I have been playing mostly licentiate pieces since grade 8 (and one fellowship  ),
Ed

Lol. Grade 1 isn't 2 hours yet. I think. Besides, theory exam isn't as strict as the real school exams we sit for. Once you're done you just leave your paper on the table and leave the hall/room/whatever. 7 year old too young? Wow you ought to take a look inside a grade 1 room next time.

For me I prefer theory to practical. Nothing much compared to a 1 on 1 session with the examiner whos going to determine your marks! Plus the fact that when I've got a goverment exam for a specific year I've got a extra load of stress seeing I've got to really divide my time between lots of piano practice, school activities, extra load of studying and badminton. Lol.

Do you remember how you felt before your grade 1 practical exam? I remember feeling so nervous and it was like 100 kilogram off me when it was over. Whereas theory grade 1 - grade 5 was totally different. Felt just like another exam day except that whatever you get in it isn't as serious as the real thing.  

[eddie92099]

Do you remember how you felt before your grade 1 practical exam?  

No it was 10 years ago...
Ed

[Joannetmj]

Lol. How did you feel before your grade 8 exam then? Are you ever worried that you might fail(Seeing you usually get distinction)?

[eddie92099]

I just try my best and see what happens,
Ed

[Joannetmj]

Good atittude you've had must practice real hard though.

[eddie92099]

No I never practice hard...(should start soon!),
Ed

[piani0player]

that my results for ABRSM

grade 8(120)(merit)
advance cert(pass)
grade 8 theory(pass)

[hotlilgal]

Hey u people donno whats with this dissing the examiners, mine have all been real nice to me (lol), and funnily, they've all been English old men!
These r my results
Grade 4: 136
Grade 5: 133
Grade 7: 134
Grade 5 theory: 94%
l8rz Sara

[Joannetmj]

Lol I always hope and hope for English men, old or young I don't care. Its the ladies who give me real low marks. I've only experienced a man examiner once and I got a merit!!

[eddie92099]

My experiences with different gender examiners has been rather random - a merit at grade one by a middle-aged woman, a pass at grade five by an old man, a distinction at grade seven by and old woman and a distinction at grade eight by a middle-aged man,
Ed

[Joannetmj]

I guess it's because you're a good player. Please give me some tips on how to improve my pieces. Besides lots of practice of course.

[eddie92099]

Listen to as many different interpretations of great music as you can (not just solo piano music either!),
Ed

[JohnOgdon]

It would seem that your students would require some sort of sensible (if tedious) education system, if you instil in them the same tripe that has been posted for all to see on this forum..............

[eddie92099]

They require 3 selections of pieces, they don't care of what you did the rest of the year, they just want to hear those 3 pieces.  

Plus scales. Plus aural. Plus sight-reading.

I did study for 2 years in RAM  

The RAM in London? Who did you study with?

Standarts in ABRSM are low.

They are aimed at amateur instrumentalists, not budding professionals,
Ed

[ballade]

hey I'm 16 and I did ABRSM for all my exams:
Grade 1: 142 (age 4)
Grade 2: 135 (age 5)
Grade 3: 136 (age 6)
Grade 4: 141 (age 7)
Grade 5: 132 (age
Grade 5 music theory: 95% (age 9)
Grade 6: 131 (age 10)
Grade 7: 137 (age 11)
Grade 8: 138 (age 12)

I left exams for a few years after grade 8 and am now doing my LRSM in March. I go to a full time academic school though and its so hard to find the time to practise - and then my teacher gets so mad at me
How many of you who are in full time education find adequate time to practise?

[Sherif_Gaafar]

Hi everyone, this is my first posting.

I can't believe some of you guys got so good so young! What is the secret of quick improvement? I passed grade 8 at age 17, and I am now 23 and studying Medicine. I think I have made some progress since I left school, but certainly not that much when you consider it's been 6 years! On the other hand I have other priorities in life than the piano. At the moment I'm learning Chopin: Prelude in F# minor (one of those pieces which I marvelled at growing up but have now realised is playable!)

Does anyone have any advice on playing the cadenza at the end of Chopin's Ballade No. 4? I learned the whole piece up to there and then realised that the end was impossible, so I had to give up!

[Hmoll]

Hi everyone, this is my first posting.

I can't believe some of you guys got so good so young! What is the secret of quick improvement? I passed grade 8 at age 17, and I am now 23 and studying Medicine. I think I have made some progress since I left school, but certainly not that much when you consider it's been 6 years! On the other hand I have other priorities in life than the piano. At the moment I'm learning Chopin: Prelude in F# minor (one of those pieces which I marvelled at growing up but have now realised is playable!)

Does anyone have any advice on playing the cadenza at the end of Chopin's Ballade No. 4? I learned the whole piece up to there and then realised that the end was impossible, so I had to give up!

There's no secret to quick improvement. However, consistent practice does help.
The best advice I was ever given was you should practice slow 75% of the time.
Learning and improving at piano is an organic process, and cannot be rushed. The more thorough you are learning the pieces you are currently working on, the more you will improve.

The end of Chopin's 4th Ballade is not a cadenza, it's a coda. You should have done what I do when I learned the Ballades: learn the coda first.  Approach it the same way you approach an etude - slow practice, rhythms, hands sep., small sections, etc. Also don't make the mistake that a lot of people make with this piece, which is starting the coda at a faster tempo than what precedes it. Chopin did not indicate a faster tempo for the coda, but he did indicate an accel. several measures into it - don't have the score in fron of me.

Good luck.

[chopin_ice]

Omg, Joanne L.E.W!! It seems as if you've left the forums...now...so sad...I just joined...I'm YL, btw, if you know=)

Anyway, the topic (even though Joanne's not here anymore). I've done grades 1, 3, 4, 5 practical, and got merits for all (I can't rememebr my marks tho). And theory grades 1, 3, 4, 5 I got distinctions. (again cant remember the marks)...I'm planning to sit grade 7 this year...hopefully...

[chopinisque]

The two of you from PJ?

[chopin_ice]

Well, I'd say I used to be there, and then I shifted to KL, and now I've shifted overseas.

But anyway, to avoid straying offtopic...hmm, anyone else do ABRSM exams?