All About ABRSM Grades & Support

[sunflower]

Dreamaurora:

sunflower:

Sight-reading and improvisation are very important practical skills, which students could carry with them throughout life. With these skills, they’ll enjoy making music and playing the instrument more, than having to struggle to play the music fluently.

I think these skills should be trained concurrently with mastering the techniques for exam pieces. This will make a person a more rounded musician, be it for self-enjoyment, music appreciation or professionally.

I find that sight-reading is one thing that definitely cannot be neglected for most students. Even if there is no exam, I still insist on students preparing one or two exercises from Joining the Dots or Right at Sight every week. Sometimes I give them duets to read also. However it is possible to play at quite high level without good sight-reading. I actually know someone who passed FTCL but could not even sight read a grade 2 or 3 exam piece comfortably. He had a very good ear and learnt most of the notes by listening to CDs. But safe to say most of the students will not be able to do this. Having a strong sight reading skill will enable students to learn much faster at higher grades as students will be able to automate their learnings much more.

I think the issue here why so many people have negative opinions of exams is the way many teachers prepare the components. There are actually many fun ways to practice them rather than just following the books. For example for sight reading, like I have mentioned above, a simple duet can be prepared at home to be played together in lesson. For aural for example can learn to sing and play popular songs such as Happy Birthday in different keys. Using only the ABRSM's provided materials will make preparations of these components very dry and consequently take the joy out of preparing for exams.

Yup, just depending on ABRSM materials to teach will be boring. Teachers need to be creative and also be able to make use of a variety and a wide range of materials for effective teaching, especially so for sight-reading, improvisation and aural. There are many fun ways to teach what seems like boring stuff, and playing games is but one of them. Every student is different and a good teacher needs to be able to discern what are the best methods and materials to use for each student. 因材施教, 学生的兴趣才能持续。学音乐，不是为一纸文凭！

[sunflower]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

[quote=\"ngl2010\"]
He has not taken any practical exam as I want him to enjoy playing piano as much as he can rather than sitting for exams. Exam will make piano playing boring as he has to concentrate on 3 pieces. It is just my personal preference. However, he will take Grade 8 practical exam this March.
I will pm you.

Wow - very brave and very wise. Straightaway take Grade 8.
Eh, you should straightaway just do ATCL Diploma. No prerequisites required. ;D Then wouldn't have needed to *cheong* for Grade 5 theory. Also no need to take time out from enjoying the learning and playing of pieces to practise sight-reading or aural, since for ATCL, all you need to is just perform, perform, perform. I know of kids who've done just that. Straight to ATCL and they get that with distinction.

I spoke to a Trinity examiner last time and he said whenever he examined ATCL or LTCL there would be definitely be quite a few trainwrecks as there is no prerequisites and anyone can take the exams. I think ATCL or LTCL are useful for students who just wish to focus on acquiring repertoire and enjoy performing. Though personally I am not sure if ignoring sight-reading or aural while preparing the diplomas is a good idea because it may lead to certificate holders who just know how to play diploma exam pieces. I think too often we hear complains about pianists who cannot improvise Happy Birthday but could play stuff such as Beethoven's Appasionata. Last time ATCL used to have ATCL(Performance) which by the way I think was an excellent certificate because it assessed more than just performance. But Trinity scraped it; I guess the lure of commercialism was too strong. [/quote]Since we are at the topic of ATCL, LTCL and the likes...OT a bit, but just something interesting to share…there was an NUS Physics lecturer with a FTCL in piano. Probably retired by now…

[pirate]

sunflower:

Yes, agree that there are people like that. Most likely either Suzuki trained, have perfect pitch or very good relative pitch. Some are born with very good ear and can play by ear very well. But for a normal average kid, having good sight-reading skills will not only shorten the time to learn new pieces, but will also enhance the student's musical experience, and make playing the instrument an enjoyment.

Sorry, OT a bit. What is a \"good ear\"? My 6yo dd can tell me correctly without looking which white key I pressed anywhere on the piano 99% of the time, and the black keys maybe more than 75%. Is that a good ear? Can they forget this if they don't touch the piano for some time?

My dd seems to be more interested in and be able to learn a piece much faster after hearing it on a cd. How to get kids like that to do more sight reading and not rely on their ears so much?

[Dreamaurora]

pirate:

sunflower:

Yes, agree that there are people like that. Most likely either Suzuki trained, have perfect pitch or very good relative pitch. Some are born with very good ear and can play by ear very well. But for a normal average kid, having good sight-reading skills will not only shorten the time to learn new pieces, but will also enhance the student's musical experience, and make playing the instrument an enjoyment.

Sorry, OT a bit. What is a \"good ear\"? My 6yo dd can tell me correctly without looking which white key I pressed anywhere on the piano 99% of the time, and the black keys maybe more than 75%. Is that a good ear? Can they forget this if they don't touch the piano for some time?

My dd seems to be more interested in and be able to learn a piece much faster after hearing it on a cd. How to get kids like that to do more sight reading and not rely on their ears so much?

Well for most people, 'good ear' means the ability to identify pitches correctly. This can be achieved by either 'perfect pitch' or 'relative pitch'. Having a perfect pitch means being able to identify a pitch without reference to other notes. Relative pitch makes use of a reference note or chord to identify the other notes. All children are born with 'perfect pitch' but will slowly lose this ability if not exposed to music. That is why it is recommended to let babies and infants to listen to music or sing to them. By your description, seems your dd has quite good perfect pitch.

All children naturally learn faster by imitation either by listening to CD or copying teacher. As a teacher, it is very tempting to just use 'copy and paste' teaching methods for younger children. But of course like you have mentioned, this comes at an expense of their sight reading ability. When I assign pieces for children, I will normally instruct them to listen to the pieces just one time to get a general idea of the feel and the mood. And then they should try to read hand separately first. Other exercises that can be tried include clapping out the rhythm first or singing the tune in solfege. Pieces learnt this way may take much longer initially, so it may be good to balance them with easier pieces that can be picked up by ear.

[waiyean]

pirate:

Sorry, OT a bit. What is a \"good ear\"? My 6yo dd can tell me correctly without looking which white key I pressed anywhere on the piano 99% of the time, and the black keys maybe more than 75%. Is that a good ear? Can they forget this if they don't touch the piano for some time?


My dd seems to be more interested in and be able to learn a piece much faster after hearing it on a cd. How to get kids like that to do more sight reading and not rely on their ears so much?

I never let my dd listen to the CD before she can play the piece.

[sunflower]

Dreamaurora:

pirate:

[quote=\"sunflower\"]Yes, agree that there are people like that. Most likely either Suzuki trained, have perfect pitch or very good relative pitch. Some are born with very good ear and can play by ear very well. But for a normal average kid, having good sight-reading skills will not only shorten the time to learn new pieces, but will also enhance the student's musical experience, and make playing the instrument an enjoyment.

Sorry, OT a bit. What is a \"good ear\"? My 6yo dd can tell me correctly without looking which white key I pressed anywhere on the piano 99% of the time, and the black keys maybe more than 75%. Is that a good ear? Can they forget this if they don't touch the piano for some time?

My dd seems to be more interested in and be able to learn a piece much faster after hearing it on a cd. How to get kids like that to do more sight reading and not rely on their ears so much?

Well for most people, 'good ear' means the ability to identify pitches correctly. This can be achieved by either 'perfect pitch' or 'relative pitch'. Having a perfect pitch means being able to identify a pitch without reference to other notes. Relative pitch makes use of a reference note or chord to identify the other notes. All children are born with 'perfect pitch' but will slowly lose this ability if not exposed to music. That is why it is recommended to let babies and infants to listen to music or sing to them. By your description, seems your dd has quite good perfect pitch.

All children naturally learn faster by imitation either by listening to CD or copying teacher. As a teacher, it is very tempting to just use 'copy and paste' teaching methods for younger children. But of course like you have mentioned, this comes at an expense of their sight reading ability. When I assign pieces for children, I will normally instruct them to listen to the pieces just one time to get a general idea of the feel and the mood. And then they should try to read hand separately first. Other exercises that can be tried include clapping out the rhythm first or singing the tune in solfege. Pieces learnt this way may take much longer initially, so it may be good to balance them with easier pieces that can be picked up by ear.[/quote]Sounds like your dd has got perfect pitch. So goooood..... 我要都没有。The danger is that sometimes, students will get too reliant on the CD and tend to copy exactly what they hear, hence hindering their ability to develop their own style and interpretation, especially in the later stages of their music learning.

In the very early stages, pre-schoolers or younger children learn best by listening as they have not developed the ability to read yet. This was as advocated by Dr Shinichi Suzuki, who developed the Mother Tongue Method.

Can your dd hear the notes when she sees them on the page? Try to get her to hum/sing the music first before listening to the CD, and ensure that her rhythm is correct. She may clap the rhythm first before doing so. Hopefully this will help her to not depend too much on the CD. BTW, many people with very good ears tend to use the CD short cut method to learn new pieces.

[pirate]

sunflower:

Can your dd hear the notes when she sees them on the page? Try to get her to hum/sing the music first before listening to the CD, and ensure that her rhythm is correct. She may clap the rhythm first before doing so. Hopefully this will help her to not depend too much on the CD. BTW, many people with very good ears tend to use the CD short cut method to learn new pieces.

Ooooh... I got to go and try this out. Thanks. Only problem is I wouldn't know whether she is correct cause I know nuts about reading notes. I think I will start with pieces she might have heard somewhere else, like on the TV or radio and see if she can identify them from just reading the notes. She tends to be more interested in music she has heard before.

But I already let her know very early on that there can be many versions (or interpretations) of the same piece of music.

[KKKS]

Dreamaurora:

KKKS:

I am just wondering if any of the teachers in this forum is willing to give comments and advice on the students performance through the video clips when posted. This will not only help and benefit the students but also the parents who know very little about music, like myself.

I would not mind to do this, but there are a few things to consider when listening to comments from other teachers.

1. Music is subjective and a teacher's interpretation of a music can be different from others. The same thing applies to examiners as well. I still remembered the last time I played in this masterclass and immediately afterwards my own teacher came up to me and asked me to disregard whatever the masterclass' teacher said to me during the masterclass as it was in conflict with what he wanted.

2. The students may not be able to execute all the details. As a teacher, I need to be aware of my students' capabilities. Not all students will be able to achieve extremely high standard of playing and as such I have to adjust the levels of details according to the students' capabilities. If you get a comment online does not mean your child may be able to execute it.

Dreamaurora, you are very kind. I would very much love to learn more about music appreciation, at least the piano pieces. Many times I thought my DD is playing alright but the teacher would not accept - citing phrasing, tempo, etc are not correct. As a layman, I really can't differentiate if a piece is being played correctly. So I hope through your and other teachers comments on the video clips, I will be able to learn to appreciate the music. I hope other will find this helpful by posting more video clips.

[Dreamaurora]

KKKS:

Dreamaurora, you are very kind. I would very much love to learn more about music appreciation, at least the piano pieces. Many times I thought my DD is playing alright but the teacher would not accept - citing phrasing, tempo, etc are not correct. As a layman, I really can't differentiate if a piece is being played correctly. So I hope through your and other teachers comments on the video clips, I will be able to learn to appreciate the music. I hope other will find this helpful by posting more video clips.

Sometimes I think being a musician can both be a blessing and a curse at the same time. When I was not a musician yet, I remembered I was much more forgiving towards less than stellar playing and could enjoy even performances that are considered 'trainwrecks'. Now of course my musical mind is much more sensitive after professional music study. I could appreciate the finer details and nuances, but could no longer bear to listen to performances that are ill-prepared. And I get really upset when I could not perform and execute all my musical visions, unlike last time I was already contented if I could hammer something out on the piano. Ah well, you win some you lose some.

If you have some clips to share you can PM me directly.

[sunflower]

pirate:

sunflower:

Can your dd hear the notes when she sees them on the page? Try to get her to hum/sing the music first before listening to the CD, and ensure that her rhythm is correct. She may clap the rhythm first before doing so. Hopefully this will help her to not depend too much on the CD. BTW, many people with very good ears tend to use the CD short cut method to learn new pieces.

Ooooh... I got to go and try this out. Thanks. Only problem is I wouldn't know whether she is correct cause I know nuts about reading notes. I think I will start with pieces she might have heard somewhere else, like on the TV or radio and see if she can identify them from just reading the notes. She tends to be more interested in music she has heard before.

But I already let her know very early on that there can be many versions (or interpretations) of the same piece of music.

Yes, you can try that out to see if she can hear what she reads. Moving on, since you do not know music, you might like to use some simple songs that you’ve heard before but she has not, to practise clapping the rhythm and singing out the notes first before she sight-reads the piece on the piano. Get her to sing using letter names (ie. a, b, g, e etc) in the correct rhythm, that will strengthen her sense of pitch.

It’ll be more difficult to coach your dd if you don’t know music. Not sure what kind of setting is your dd’s piano lesson, or whether you’re allowed to sit in. You might like to raise your concerns with the piano teacher as he/she would know your dd’s ability, strength and weaknesses and so be in a better position to customize training programme and advise accordingly.