ABRSM

[kclee6337]

I live in the United States and took piano lessons from less than reputable teachers growing up.  Now I'm a music major in college and I'm finding out there's all these different things like abrsm that I've never heard of.  Can anyone clearly explain what exactly it is.  What's the point of it? Is it just for kids or can adults do it? What does it mean if I pass a grade?
And what other things are out there like this?

[slane]

Its a method of focussing students on a teeny tiny subset of the repertoirse (ABRSM syllabus has only 158 pieces for all 8 grades) while giving parents bragging rights in the supermarket because the Loin Fruit has passed grade X which means they have at least mastered 3 pieces plus some technical and aural work. In Australia at least (AMEB) they have to master 5 (6 in higher grades) but by and large, students are satisfied with those 5 pieces and a certificate. Not all. I know one little girl (10) doing 2nd grade AMEB and she has learnt 100s of pieces since she started about 4 years ago.

Or to put it another way .. the AMEB and ABRSM are recognised examining bodies.. the AMEB is associated with a university in each Australian state for instance, who decides the standards for a number of grades and higher qualifications for those examinations. In addition to performing 3 pieces (and 2 extra for AMEB) from 3 different periods or genres, the student must perform technical work (scales and arpeggios) general knowledge about their pieces and aural tests. To pass some grades you need a minimum grade of theory first. Pieces are selected from lists published by the examining body. The ABRSM one is small, the AMEB one huge. The boards also publish grade books.
In AMEB case the grade book is a small subset of the syllabus lists. Not many students realise that though.

[aliasrick]

I'm an adult beginner - started from scratch in my mid 40s a few years ago - and have followed the ABRSM syllabus at my teachers recommendation.

As a structured approach to learning the piano I have found their program to be very well thought out and with very good material support.

There are a limited number of pieces for each grade it is true, but so far I've always been able to find pieces that appeal to me, and they've been selected by people who know better then me what will challenging without being discouragingly difficult. Plus of course nobody's saying you can't play other pieces for pleasure.

I have also found the theory syllabus to be very good - their explanatory material is excellent, and their 'workbooks' provide a structured study method.

[faulty_damper]

The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal School of Music) is just a set of tests divided into 8 grades.  You learn the specified repertoire and theory for the grade and take the tests to pass.  The RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) is divided up into 10 grades.  The same kinds of testing applies.  It's structured in a way of progressive difficulty regardless of age.

All of the people I knew who took ABRSM syllabus stopped playing the piano after they passed grade 8, my sister being one of them.  It seemed like they only played because they got certificates for passing these tests and had no actual interest in music itself, which is kind of sad.  I'm sure they started off having intrinsic interest but once they were motivated extrinsically by the grading, they only did it for the kudos.

I've never taken any ABRSM test but I asked my piano teacher if I could take the grade 5 theory test long ago.  I asked her a couple of times but she wouldn't let me saying that these tests make people hate piano.    I started lessons when I was 21, not as a child, so it was pretty obvious that I was intrinsically motivated.  I guess she didn't want what happened to most of her students to happen to me: quit piano after they passed the final grade.