Teacher Dreamaurora - Piano Q&A

[i3mum]

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

[Dreamaurora]

i3mum:

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

[i3mum]

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!

Dreamaurora:

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

[phankao]

i3mum:

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!

Dreamaurora:

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

In NAFA, they might not actually take the ABRSM exam. Bc they do conduct internal exams 2x a year, I think.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

i3mum:

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!
[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]
It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

In NAFA, they might not actually take the ABRSM exam. Bc they do conduct internal exams 2x a year, I think.[/quote]You are correct. They have internal exams, the only actual ABRMS exams the students take are grade 5 and 8.

[i3mum]

Now I know

Dreamaurora:

You are correct. They have internal exams, the only actual ABRMS exams the students take are grade 5 and 8.

[peachbubble]

Dreamaurora:

i3mum:

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

Dreamaurora,

Can you share the materials that you are using for each grade? Do you have specific sets of materials/books/songs etc that the students must complete before upgrading them to the next grade? In addition, how many songs or what's the workload for your students?

Thanks.

PeachBubble

[Song22]

Hi Dreamaurora


What do you think of Joe Hisaishi pieces? My 10 yrs old son loves his pieces and sometimes he can master a piece in a week (cos he loves it so much that he keeps practicing). Can you also suggest some interesting pieces that he should be also play? We are planning on Grade 6 practical this October. Thanks!

[piglet and calf]

Hi,


Can I check how long will it takes usually for a 4 yr old to take grade 1 exams? My girl started learning piano 4 months ago.
Is it necessary to take all exams or can she skip grade 1 and proceed to grade 2 when she is older?

[kathyh]

Hi my child started to learn from last Oct at 5 yrs old. Just got distinction for Grade 2. It is possible to skip exams but as dreamdora said, do not skip grades / skill / training.

piglet and calf:

Hi,

Can I check how long will it takes usually for a 4 yr old to take grade 1 exams? My girl started learning piano 4 months ago.
Is it necessary to take all exams or can she skip grade 1 and proceed to grade 2 when she is older?