ABRSM - New Qualification & Exams Update

Covid has brought around a lot of change for musicians, and although it has created frustration for those ready to sit their exams it looks as though it has helped push forward an exciting new ABRSM qualification that may provide an option for those who have missed sitting exams and also provide a new route for students who might not have considered taking an exam previously…

ABRSM have announced that from August there will be a new qualification / pathway that students can take as an alternative or alongside the face-to-face exams that we are used to. ABRSM are looking to start up the traditional face-to-face exams as soon as possible, but in the current situation, no date has yet been set. Going forward, post -Covid, students will be able to choose between the traditional face-to-face exams with all components, such as scales and sight reading; or choose the new, record at home, performance focused route - this new route will be a permanent examination option.

The new ‘Performance focused’ route will allow students to submit a recording of a performance from their home for examiners to grade. The student will be required to play 4 pieces of the same grade, 3 of the pieces would be from the graded book: one for each list A, B and C; then the final 4th piece can be of the same grade, but not necessarily from the same grade book. Applicants will need to choose a piece that is of the same difficulty, perhaps an old graded piece from past specifications, that will fit well with their other pieces, creating a 4 piece repertoire. Scales, sight reading and aural will not be assessed, the extra marks will be given for the performance as a whole. Students will record their performance of 4 pieces, back to back, as if performing at a concert, but they will be able to record it at home on their piano. The recording will then be uploaded and submitted to ABRSM examiners who will provide the feedback and marks.

This is exciting news for many students who may prefer this route, however, this is very new, and ABRSM are yet to release full details. Also, it has not yet been stated whether these exams will hold UCAS points for grade 6-8 and I must make it clear that the face-to-face exams, with sight reading, aural tests and scales - do encourage students to develop a holistic understanding of the piano and development of correct playing technique. Where possible and suitable, I would recommend students stick to this pathway.

To stay up to date with the developments on these new qualifications, click here to get the most recent updates from ABRSM and to learn more about the criteria for these new qualifications.

As for the traditional face-to-face exams, ABRSM are currently only providing adapted exams for year 13 students who are sitting grades 6-8 and need UCAS points for University applications.

Exams for Spring and Summer have been cancelled and although we hope that the Winter exams will go ahead, ABRSM are yet to confirm this and they cannot start making plans to resume exams until the lockdown measures are eased, they have reassured that they will do so as soon as possible:

“We will do this as quickly as possible, always with safety as a priority and in accordance with the prevailing government guidance, as we share your frustration at this unfortunate interruption to our normal operations.”

Follow this link to stay up to date with ABRSM’s response to the Covid situation.

I will keep you all posted as soon as any developments begin, fingers crossed for WInter exams opening and stay tune to hear more about the new performance focused qualification as these exams may be a good option whilst we wait for face-to-face exams to resume.

With that in mind, this could be a good time to start looking at a 4th graded piece incase we do use this route - it will be excellent sight reading practice at the very least! ;-)

Lx

Music Theory

Books and resources to level up your theory knowledge!

I recommend that all my students learn music theory alongside their practical lessons in order to gain a holistic understanding of their instrument and fully understand how to read music and how and why the music is written in the way it is. Although some theory is covered in lessons, theory exercises need to be studied and completed alongside lessons in order for students to get a deep enough understanding of theory.

For students working towards ABRSM grades, theory is essential as students are required to sit grade 5 ABRSM Music theory exam in order to move onto piano grades 6-8 which are the grades that score UCAS points.

Grade 5 theory can be challenging and especially if the student puts off studying music theory till grade 5. So here are some books and resources that I recommend to start off with:

Music Theory For Young Musicians are brilliant books for the younger students with plenty of exercises to complete, they are so clearly laid out and simple to follow that many of my adult learners have used them and found them great so don’t be put off that they are aimed at the younger student! They have books from Grades 1-5 and compliment the practical playing grades and help prepare students for the Grade 5 theory exam. I recommend students purchase and work their way through these 5 book:

Other good books include, Help Your Kids with Music: A Unique Step-by-Step Visual Guide or for adults the First Steps in Music Theory: Grades 1-5 which is a small, concise guide spanning grades 1-5 but unlike the Music Theory for Young Musicians, these books do not contain exercises for the student to complete and are arguably not as engaging.

Good apps to compliment learning using the books above are:

The ABRSM Theory Works app which uses over 6,000 specially-written questions designed to test and challenge your music theory knowledge, grade by grade. You start by learning the basics then test yourself and see if you can get a perfect score before moving onto the next level.

The Tenuto app is great for the testing of intervals on the stave, identifying intervals on the keyboard, testing key signatures and identifying chords and scales as well as including aural tests. To see what else is included in this app, follow this link to the full list of exercises.

Finally, Youtube has plenty of great playlists and contributors to subscribe to and is a great place to go if you are stuck and need someone to explain something in a new way. I do hope these resources help you to achieve a deeper understanding of music theory, and in turn help to level your piano playing!

Lx

The Tonara practice app

Tonara - the music practising app for teachers and students.  

Tonara helps music teachers to motivate students with goal-oriented tasks, multi-media interactions, and fun rewards that encourage them to practice more and improve.

One of the most poplar elements with students, is the practice leaderboard which is proving very motivating!

The teacher sets assignments for each student, and when the students logs in and work towards the assignment set, they will score points for every minute completed. These points scored help them to compete against my other students on a leaderboard as well as compete against other students around the world!

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Each morning I check the previous day practice and send additional points and encouragement to students, I love the app as I get an insight into how students are spending their practice time and can then help them to make improvements to how and when they are practising.

Another great feature is the Compare Recording technology, this compares live music played from the student with recordings uploaded by a teacher and provides the students with feedback on their pitch, rhythm, tempo, and fluency.

If you would like to sign up for access to the app, get in contact and I will send you your username and log in details* To find out more about the app and the features, follow this link here to Tonara.

Lx

*There is a small annual fee for the the app.

Life online

Covid-19 - The move to teaching online

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of my students for being so supportive and flexible with the transition from lessons in person to online lessons. I am so grateful for your continued support, especially during these uncertain times.

I am now at full capacity for lessons, the transition to online lessons has been a great success and my students are making excellent progress, which makes me very, very happy! I’d like to congratulate everyone for the incredible progress that has been made over the past few months by so many of my students. Lock down life has probably taught us a lot, it appears to have given everyone a bit more time to practise, and perhaps this time has taught us just how lucky we are to be able to sit at a piano and play. I have passed many hours and days during lockdown sat playing at the piano and feeling so grateful that I was given this gift from my parents and teachers, so I really hope that you feel this too and can see that your children will have this wonderful gift to take through their life as well.

Although my online lessons are going brilliantly, I am missing my lessons in person a lot. I will continue to offer lessons online once we are able to return to normal life as some of my students are remote or international, but I also look forward to getting back to visiting all of my Bristol based students one day soon!

I understand that there may be some students who may need to stay online for longer than others, and there may be a staggered approach back to how things were before, but just as we have adapted to these huge changes over the past few months, we will do the same again when we start to move out of current restrictions and I will endeavour to keep you all up to date as and when this happens.

Until then, stay safe and I look forward to seeing you online soon! :-)

Lx

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