how long as everyone been playing for? What grade u in?

[adrian]

HelLo..im stILL FarIlLY neW To DiS FoRuM!!...
I hAVE plAyED The PiaNO fOR 9 or 10 yrs and Am know 14yrs..I tHInK I havE been PLayIng Since I wAS 5!!  I Am currently doing Grade 6 ClasSICAL AMEB Piano...yeha..not so high...
Any do AMEB? Australian Music Examination Board..

[mound]

HelLo..im stILL FarIlLY neW To DiS FoRuM!!...
I hAVE plAyED The PiaNO fOR 9 or 10 yrs and Am know 14yrs..I tHInK I havE been PLayIng Since I wAS 5!!  I Am currently doing Grade 6 ClasSICAL AMEB Piano...yeha..not so high...
Any do AMEB? Australian Music Examination Board..

something wrong with your keyboard my friend?

[chozart]

5 years (I'm 16 now).. really wish I had had the chance to start earlier >_o

according to Russian/Ukrainian school system, I'm in grade 7 (although sometimes I'll play works from grade 6 & 8 )

[Allegroconfuoco]

I've only been playing the piano for two years (I'm 16 now). Never had the chance to start earlier ... I've played other instruments before, but I fell in love with the piano, and since then I've been practicing hard to compensate the time I've lost in the years before.

I play pieces beyond ABRSM grade 8 (I'm a bit surprised about my fast progress)

Allegro

[peter_g_moll]

5 years (I'm 16 now).. really wish I had had the chance to start earlier >_o

according to Russian/Ukrainian school system, I'm in grade 7 (although sometimes I'll play works from grade 6 & 8 )

I’d say I’m at about grade 7 or 8, to judge by the ABRSM grading system.  Though of course quality of playing is what ultimately counts, not whether one can crank out the notes and scrape through an examination!

Chozart – you mentioned something that is of great interest to many people on this forum.  Namely that you’re going through the “Russian/Ukranian” grade system.  There have been many long discussions about this.  See one of them at

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3472.0.html

I wonder if you could be so kind as to give us a full listing of what your grading system contains?  If it’s long, I’d guess people would be most interested in your current level and above.  Does it proceed to grade 8? Or 10?  Are there diplomas to follow?  What are the requirements by way of scales & arpeggios, memorization, kinds of pieces to be played, technical studies?

Thanks in advance.

Peter

[Glissando]

Something like 8 years but only have had lessons for about 3 or 4 of those years.... I'm playing music ranging from level 7 to 8+ according to the ABRSM grading system. According to the Alfred method books
https://www.pedaplus.com/int_masterwork.html
I'm probably around grade 12. All depends on who you ask, I guess.

[pianobabe56]

Because I enjoy boosting my post count and writing incorrect sentences, I'm going to reply to this one. I've been playing for 7 years, though only 5 of those with lessons. *sniffle* I envy those who got to start when they were 4 and 5. I started when I was nine.

[Tash]

i'm an AMEB girl! woohoo, doing AmusA now, been playing for wow 11 years that included about 4 years of useless lessons with a crap teacher

[adrian]

Wowww...You are already doing one of your diplomas...I cant wait to get that high...But...I need...Slight motivation to practise I dont know if I willl get that high.  Do you think that I should change from AMEB to...ABRSM...It seems that it is more internationallly recognised anDDD ABRSM require less woRK!! AMEB...the toughest one..I didn't think Australians were like that.. (i am australian)

[Tash]

is AMEB the toughest? wow didn't know that, i know only like 60% of people who go for Amus past, *crosses fingers that i'm in that 60% this coming year*. but hey so i should be doing Amus now, i'm 19 for crying out loud! i also did Cmus this year as a bridge between grade 8 and Amus, which was a good thing, except they're apparently replacing it with something similar but you don't get to go to the conservatorium and get 2 examiners for it which'd be a bum. i met a guy at uni who was doing his Lmus but was considering changing to the ABRSM equivalent to it, but he said it was slightly harder...didn't have time to ask why he was switching though cos the lecturer came back again
but in terms of australia's being toughies, it's like that in ballet too- we're ahead of the people who do the RAD syllabus in England- like my sis is there now and she and the 2 other girls from australia there have done their solo seal (i think that's the highest grade) whilst the other girls from england are still doing their advanced 2 exam (i think that's 1 or 2 grades below solo seal) so we're just all rounder toughies!

[Daniel_piano]

I envy those who got to start when they were 4 and 5. I started when I was nine.

Why do you envy someone who has been pushed and obliged by his/her parents to make something he/she didn't have any interest of ?
Because no mistake, all children starting a 4 are not asking their parents for lessons they're being compelled and obliged to follow them and many of these children grow up hating piano and music
There's also no advantage on starting at 4 as this is not the age in which coordination is formed, since coordination if majorly developed between 7 and 11 years old
There's no reason whatsoever why anyone could not become a piano concertist if he/she started at 9 or 10, firts of all because all the technique you need to become a professional pianist or piano concertist can be aquired at any age, on the second place because you don't even need to be perfect or to know anything about piano to become a piano concertist as there are hundreds of piano concertist who literally suck and on the third place because except those super famous we all know there are thousands of less famous piano concertist in your countries and in our cities that although less known are being payed and making a career with piano
If all the piano concertists in the world would be those few famous everyone know there would be not enough concertists to permit people of the world to be able to listen several recitals at weeks while we know that in every city of the world there are several concertos and recitals each week, even in my little town

Daniel
 

[chopin_girl]

I've been playing for...um...10 years? Yes, that's it.

And I can't tell you what grade I'm in because our educational system is quite different....

[adrian]

There is a broad ran9e of skill and stuff.
Does anyone here HATE the piano?  just playing Becoz they are asked to my parents...etc.
Well..Sometimes I HATE the piano..its practising...too mucH!
Starting at 4 or 5 has advantages?  I think it does..becoz...dont you learn beta when u are youngg? (cant teach an old god new tricks)
I started at 5yrs I think...But had about 3yrs of sillly piano lessons bcoz I fell asleep at the piano teachers house a few times...Mucked around her house..!  I wasnt very mature...that was a waste of MoneY!!! :+

[mound]

this forum isn't a silly AOL chat room. Please at least make an attempt to spell correctly.  Maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, or maybe "eGeneration kids" really don't know how to spell, and don't realize that numbers aren't letters and that capital letters are used to start sentences and for names, not used for every other letter in a word etc.. etc..

end rant

-Paul

[Fhugo]

well I´m deffo not sure about the age thing - I started playing with 17, and learning seems (at least to me, and right now) quite fast and maybe? quicker. I´ve playing for 18 months now, and my repertoire progression went from Villa-Lobos Valse de la Douleur to Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor op23 n5 finished just last month and Chopin op10n12 about to be, maybe during the next couple of weeks. I really enjoy reading repertoire progression and so on, so keep them coming

[adrian]

why are all the famous pianist..composers are..people who started learning their instruments at a very young age EG. Vanessa Mae started her violin at the age of 5 or 6.  MOzart was composing by 5!  and was a professional musician by...4yrs..i think..

[Daniel_piano]

why are all the famous pianist..composers are..people who started learning their instruments at a very young age EG. Vanessa Mae started her violin at the age of 5 or 6.  MOzart was composing by 5!  and was a professional musician by...4yrs..i think..

Because many of them had musician or musical teachers parents and so they could understand how they loved music earlier
Others need to be more than 4 years old to decide that music is what they want to do in their life
And where that "all" come from? You just mentioned few pianists
There are many pianists who didn't started at 5
And also who care for the famous ones? Being the famous is not synonimous with being better or more talented, there are several less know or national pianists who are as good if not better than the more famous one
Mozart was not a professional musician by the age of 4, there was not a thing such as a professional musician in his era
By the age of 5 he was a good violin and piano player but his composition where little and quite naive, even if very enjoyable
If you read the Mozart biography with his father letters you will see that he was like any other child at the age of 4 and that music wasn't so easy as believed for him, he struggled to compose and did a lot of mistakes and trials like anyone else but the presence of his father who was a musician and composer was the only reason why he was so skilled in music at that young age

The people you mentioned would have attained the same level of skill and coordination if they had started a 9 instead of 4, as I said there's no anatomical and physiological reason to believe that if you begin a 4 you will be a better musician with better technique

Daniel

[donjuan]

Im almost 18 - Ive been playing piano for 11 years but only the last 6 or so have been serious.  I havent gone for examinations - I play music for the music, not my resume.  and Im not trying for a musical career, so again what's the point of me taking exams?

[etudes]

I play seriously for almost 2 years (2 years next month)
i think am quite fast learn i learn Etude op.10 Ballade no.2 from chopin and also Islamey and La Campanella but all the works need to be polished
i dont know much about grade
XXX

[galonia]

Why do you envy someone who has been pushed and obliged by his/her parents to make something he/she didn't have any interest of ?
Because no mistake, all children starting a 4 are not asking their parents for lessons they're being compelled and obliged to follow them and many of these children grow up hating piano and music

That's rather a generalisation, isn't it, Daniel?  I mean, not all children starting at 4 or 5 are being force by their parents.  I started at 5, but from the time I could sit upright, I wanted my cousins to put me on the piano stool to let me play, and once I could walk and climb, I climbed onto the stool myself.  Sending me to lessons was the natural response of my parents.  No one had to force me to play piano.

Wowww...You are already doing one of your diplomas...I cant wait to get that high...But...I need...Slight motivation to practise I dont know if I willl get that high.  Do you think that I should change from AMEB to...ABRSM...It seems that it is more internationallly recognised anDDD ABRSM require less woRK!! AMEB...the toughest one..I didn't think Australians were like that.. (i am australian)

Adrian, I think you've hit the nail on the head - you need motivation!  It doesn't have anything to do with which accreditation system you're following, if you are not motivated, you will progress at the same rate with ABRSM.

[dmk]

Adrian,

AMEB is definately NOT the toughest over ABRSM.  I am an Australian music teacher and I send students for ABRSM, Trinity College and AMEB and I can promise you the the ABRSM and TCL mark SO much harder than the AMEB.

I have students who have sat AMEB exams and gotten A+ and then sat Trinity and ABRSM exams and get lower marks and get disspointed.  I have some students who sit both exams and their AMEB is one grade higher than their British grade eg Grade 8 AMEB in 2004 and sat Grade 7 TCL/ABRSM in 2004.  The AMEB require a much lower standard of performance of pieces than the British boards.  Sorry to burst your bubble on this one mate.

Good luck with your Grade 6 exam.  and Tash, good luck with your A Mus A!!!! When are you planning to take it and what pieces are you doing??

dmk

[adrian]

reallly?? I thought it was harder..I looked at the sylabus (cant spell)...and AMEB requires more then ABRSM..AND trinity.
In trinity,, I think 3 pieces is required for grde 5.
In AMEB they ask SIX..which is TWICE as more..
I might be wrong...

[MatthewClarke]

Hello,
I'm new to this Forum incase you don't know me.

 I have to agree with DMK, I have been learning for 6 years and did LMusA 2 years ago, and I wanted to prepare for ATCL at the same time but didn't get around to it, it seems to me as though in the LMusA you just play your 4 pieces and answer a few questions and walk off and you have an LMusA.

The ATCL you have to play your 4 pieces, and just by memory, I am not sure about the details, I think you have to sight read, play scales or a Chopin Etude (which is of AMEB LMusA Standard) and they put marks towards presentation, and general knowledge, I think they have an ear test too, I'm not too sure, anyway it is a whole lot more work, and LMusA is pretty easy if you know your music and have a general knowledge about the pieces which usually is natural for a devoted piano student.

To be honest, I haven't been having lessons now for a year and because I am learning what I want, and not what my teacher tells me, I have learnt so much more, because I have emotional attachments to the pieces I play.
In otherwords, teachers should give consideration to what the student wants to learn, even if it is Fur Elise and that you are absolutely sick of it, it is still fresh to the student and the student loves the music and will learn it much better than being forced to learn a Sonata movement they have never heard before. (We have to remember music is art and personal)

Bye for now.
...Matt

[squinchy]

I turned fourteen four whole days ago (well, five physically but four calendar-wise) and I've been playing for around six years. I play pieces around ABRSM grades 7 to a smidge above 8.

[pies]

­

[keys]

I have been playing the piano for eight, almost nine years and I am seventeen. I am working on my ARCT in performance and have been teaching for four years. I'm not sure how the Royal Conservatory grades relate to other methods, but my repertoire includes Beethoven's Waldstein and Chopins Polonaise Op.53. I have a few friends who completed their ARCT and LTCL simultaneously, so their requirements must be similar.

[dmk]

reallly?? I thought it was harder..I looked at the sylabus (cant spell)...and AMEB requires more then ABRSM..AND trinity.
In trinity,, I think 3 pieces is required for grde 5.
In AMEB they ask SIX..which is TWICE as more..
I might be wrong...

Adrian,

It doesn't matter if you have to play more or less pieces, the quality and standard of the actual performance of those pieces for Trinity and ABRSM are so much higher than the AMEB, you literally have to work twice as hard for the pieces to be of passing quality.

I can 'play' plenty of pieces there is a difference between being able to play them and being able to 'perform' them.  The UK boards require more of a performance.  I promise you, if you got an A in an AMEB exam and then went it to a UK board exam with pieces performed at a similar level you would be lucky to pass considering the extra emphasis these boards place and supporting test and how much more difficult they are.  The Trinity (in particular) sight-reading and eartests are just so difficult.

[offenbach]

I play seriously for almost 2 years (2 years next month)
i think am quite fast learn i learn Etude op.10 Ballade no.2 from chopin and also Islamey and La Campanella but all the works need to be polished
i dont know much about grade
XXX

WOW....not even 2 years yet, and already have learned Islamey and La Campanella???
What's your secret!

O

[etudes]

Yeah Offenbach
i have learned Islamey and La Campanella
a secret ?Hard working and try to find out someway that can match my practise
like chang and bernhard methods and adjust it for your self

[MarkAllison]

Why do you envy someone who has been pushed and obliged by his/her parents to make something he/she didn't have any interest of ?
Because no mistake, all children starting a 4 are not asking their parents for lessons they're being compelled and obliged to follow them and many of these children grow up hating piano and music

I'm sorry Daniel, but that's complete rubbish. My eldest daughter (aged 5) BEGGED me to teach her to play after she listened to me play for the last two years. I asked her if she wanted to have lessons and she squealed with delight at the offer. She is having 15 mins. per week starting this month, which will increase depending on her concentration span/interest.

[Tash]

reallly?? I thought it was harder..I looked at the sylabus (cant spell)...and AMEB requires more then ABRSM..AND trinity.
In trinity,, I think 3 pieces is required for grde 5.
In AMEB they ask SIX..which is TWICE as more..
I might be wrong...

true AMEB asks for 6, except you only have 4 main pieces (list A,B, C and D) and then you have 2 extra pieces, and you only end up playing one of them, sometimes not even the whole thing. like in previous years i'd start playing one extra list like 2 months before the exam and it'd be shocking cos i didn't practice enough back then, and of course they'd ask for that one, and i'd get an A anyway. so the 2 extra pieces are a really minor part of the exam



dmk- i think i'll probably be doing my exam this coming october, so far i've got a mass of pieces, not sure which will end up being my final 4, but i'm playing

bach: prelude from the english suite in g minor
beethoven: tossing up between sonata op14 no1 and op27 no1
chopin: berceuse, etudes op25 no1,2,7,9, waltz op64 no3
debussy: passepied

and that's all for now!

[piano_learner]

I'm 36 and have only been playing for around 11 months. I did my Grade 1 exam on the 13th December and don't know if I have passed.

I *wish* I could have started when I was younger but my parents didn't nurture my interest.

Looking back it's hard to believe that anyone who started learning before the age of 30 could wish they started earlier.

Enjoy your youth and the piano! 

[dmk]

true AMEB asks for 6, except you only have 4 main pieces (list A,B, C and D) and then you have 2 extra pieces, and you only end up playing one of them, sometimes not even the whole thing. like in previous years i'd start playing one extra list like 2 months before the exam and it'd be shocking cos i didn't practice enough back then, and of course they'd ask for that one, and i'd get an A anyway. so the 2 extra pieces are a really minor part of the exam



dmk- i think i'll probably be doing my exam this coming october, so far i've got a mass of pieces, not sure which will end up being my final 4, but i'm playing

bach: prelude from the english suite in g minor
beethoven: tossing up between sonata op14 no1 and op27 no1
chopin: berceuse, etudes op25 no1,2,7,9, waltz op64 no3
debussy: passepied

and that's all for now!

Tash- your totally right, your extras can be of a woeful quality and you still get an A, you basically just need to be able to play through them....depends which examiner you get..

GOOD LUCK WITH YOU A Mus!!!!!, although i would probably settle on a Sonata soon (although I hope you have time to learn both as they are both great) as that is the biggest task, especially if you are going to play it all from memory.  The op27 n1 is definately the harder of your 2 selections but is one of my favourite Beethoven sonatas!!!

You have SO many nice pieces.....

[chopinguy]

I'm 15 right now, and I've played piano since I was 7.

I also don't know how to describe what grade I'm in, but right now I'm studying the Chopin Polonaise-Fantasie, the Moonlight Sonata, the Mendelssohn c minor trio, and some Cramer and Chopin etudes.

What sorts of teachers has everyone had?  My first teacher was Russian... I think I was advancing pretty well.  I remember that when I left her I was playing the Gipsy Rondo by Hadyn for piano... my second teacher was mostly from later elementary school through middle school.  I learned a bit about basic music theory, but my musical development didn't go that fast compared to now.  When I switched from her to my present teacher, I had just finished the Fantasie-Impromptu as the hardest piece I knew.

So, now, my present teacher has taught me a lot of great music theory and most of all, good technique (actually I'm taking his music theory course right now!).  So, that's where I stand now!

[Tash]

Tash- your totally right, your extras can be of a woeful quality and you still get an A, you basically just need to be able to play through them....depends which examiner you get..

GOOD LUCK WITH YOU A Mus!!!!!, although i would probably settle on a Sonata soon (although I hope you have time to learn both as they are both great) as that is the biggest task, especially if you are going to play it all from memory. The op27 n1 is definately the harder of your 2 selections but is one of my favourite Beethoven sonatas!!!

You have SO many nice pieces.....

lol thanks, yes i quite like all my pieces, all my choice which was cool, and i might add the carl vine bagatelles to it, i'm not sure, probably not since i'm already overloaded and love the debussy anyway.
i'm probably gonna go op14 no1, i know it's probably the easiest of them all but i love all 3 movements more than op27, and i know for a fact that if i don't fully love the sonata i'll play it badly- i once attempted the first movement of the op27 and dropped it cos i didn't like playing it. though it is nice

[dmk]

lol thanks, yes i quite like all my pieces, all my choice which was cool, and i might add the carl vine bagatelles to it, i'm not sure, probably not since i'm already overloaded and love the debussy anyway.
i'm probably gonna go op14 no1, i know it's probably the easiest of them all but i love all 3 movements more than op27, and i know for a fact that if i don't fully love the sonata i'll play it badly- i once attempted the first movement of the op27 and dropped it cos i didn't like playing it. though it is nice

That's so true about the Sonata, if you don't love it, its not worth the grief (especially the last movement of op 27 n1!! ). 

Just a quick warning to you, if you do decide to add the Bagatelles for your A Mus program BEWARE....  a good friend of mine and a couple of my ex-teachers are AMEB examiners and apparently they are all bloody (excuse my cursing) sick of hearing these pieces (especially seeing alot of people play them badly although I am sure you wouldn't!!!).  The Vine Bagatelles are really trendy to play at the moment although they are really nice.  My favourites are 2,3 & 5

Sorry, this came up in conversation 2 hours ago when I was asking for a bit of friendly advice on some of my students A Mus A programs....

Again, best wishes

dmk

[jason2711]

i'm 17, started when i was 7, but only got heavily into the piano after i did my grade 8 (14)

right now, i'm doing an A.T.C.L. recital in february, so regards to the diploma arguement, i'll just say what i'm playing and see if that helps

bartok: Suite opus 14
poulenc: Novelettes 1 & 2 in C major and B flat minor
faure : nocture in e flat major
beethoven: sonata in C minor, opus 10, number 1, first movement

starting to learn eroica (liszt, execution transcendante), chopin's first ballade in g minor, and moussorgsky's pictures at an exhibition.  Hoping to start a concerto, but unsure about which one (thinking about the poulenc d minor, since its uncommon and yet appeals to me)

[chopinguy]

How does this grading system work?  Sorry, I've just never heard of it before.  Do they rank you by what piece you play, or by how you do at some sort of examination?

[Tash]

oh i guess it's like ABRSM, like you go through the grades- ranges from preliminary to grade 8, then there's Amus and Lmus, and there's a Tmus somewhere which is your teaching certificate (someone correct me if i'm wrong). and you just go into an exam, play your pieces for the examiner and they test you on sighreading, aural, scales and general knowledge as well, give you a nice little report saying if you've gotten an A+, A,B,C, D, etc. (except after grade 8 you only get a pass or fail) and you have a fat list of pieces you can play for that grade, put in list A (studies and baroque sort of stuff) , B (classical and sonatas), C (romantic works), and D (20th century works) so when you've passed one grade you go on to the next one, or skip a few if you want, like any other system. it's great i tell you haha

[musiklover96]

i do AMEB
i completed my AmusA when i was 10 and had played for 6 yrs
now 13

[perfect_pitch]

I've finished my LMusA and currently planning to sit my FMusA next year... through the AMEB Grade system.

And I'll have been playing for 17 years next october.

[perfect_pitch]

Adrian,

AMEB is definately NOT the toughest over ABRSM.  I am an Australian music teacher and I send students for ABRSM, Trinity College and AMEB and I can promise you the the ABRSM and TCL mark SO much harder than the AMEB.

Okay - Definately have to disagree with that. I have a friend who sat the ABRSM Licentiate exam and passed... and I know for a FACT that she would NOT have passed the AMEB exam had she played the way she did for her exam.

The pieces are probably very close to each other in the AMEB and ABRSM, but the AMEB is definately harder. Take it from someone who has not only passed the Grade 8 ABRSM exam, but now I'm teaching a Grade 8 AMEB student... the difficulty between the standard in playing is HARDER!

[antichrist]

i do AMEB
i completed my AmusA when i was 10 and had played for 6 yrs
now 13

« Reply #38 on: January 12, 2005, 09:55:25 AM »

[gyzzzmo]

I've been playing for way too long, and i got a swimming degree.

[redragon]

I've been playing for about a year and several months(Since August of last year) and I can play pieces above 8, depending on the piece. I can play some of the easier 8+ pieces, like The Flight of The Bumblebee, but I just can't get that one Rachmaninoff Prelude, Op 3 no 2.

[nanabush]

Got my Performer's ARCT last summer (RCM system).  From what I've learned from the forum, it's generally a  late dipABRSM to a mid LRSM level.

This is about my 11-12th year playing; played around on my own when I was 8, and started lessons not long before I turned 9.

I'm hoping to do my LRCM exam in a few years (roughly equivalent to FRSM).  I might wait until I've finished my music degree, because I want to play stuff that I am extremely comfortable with, and get a killer mark.  Demanding stuff though; most of the selections are entire suites of pieces.  Most of the solo pieces are the crazy modern stuff that have like 8 staves and 35 random notes a second 

I also need to wait until I decide to do my grade 5 history... very easy exam, I just ALWAYS forget to sign up for the damn thing.