ABRSM Questions

I went onto the ABRSM website, and I am considering taking Music Theory grades 4 and 5. However, the exam date this summer for music theory, according to the ABRSM website, is on Saturday 15 June (10am). That's just 1 date and 1 time. So my question is... would I be able to take the grade 4 and grade 5 exam back to back on that day/time? Or would I only be allowed to sit one, and have to sit the other later that year for the winter exam session?

This doesn't make sense to me. Why do you want to take both grade 4 and 5? If you think you are going to pass grade 5 (and you wouldn't take it unless you thought you would,) why don't you just take grade 5?

The reason is because it would feel odd for me to have grades 1, 2, 3, and 5, but not 4, so more of a personal gain thing...

So, you may have a fair point or whatever, but I really don't get why people respond to threads without answering the question...

I can see from your answer that you probably don't understand about grade exams. In some ways you are treating them in a sensible way, as you are collecting the certificates, and you have obviously realised that they aren't important exams?

Lets start with grade 8. In an adult world, grade 8 is a beginners exam because it is at the bottom of what it is possible for you to learn as an adult. At school grade 8 is an advanced exam.

So if grade 8 is a beginners exam in an adult world, what do you think grade 5 is?

So now we are back to the fact that you are collecting the certificates. Don't you think that these certificates are actually quite expensive to acquire if you don't really need them?

You don't really need the grade 4 certificate because you think that you could just go straight for the grade 5 one. This leads me to another question.

Haven't you got something more interesting to spend your money on than a very expensive piece of paper that you don't need?

So that basically translates to "Don't get the qualification because it is crap and a waste of money". Lord knows how this post got a thumbs up :s

How do you know I don't need grade 5 theory? Many entry requirements for a-level music courses require you to have grade 5 theory if you don't have a gcse in music. Also, grade 5 theory is required if you want to do grade 6 or higher in an instrument (which I do).

What do you mean by 'beginners exam in the adult world'? Do you just mean it is easy? Fair enough if it is easy, but it's still a qualification

Grade exams are not counted as music qualifications because what they test is too narrow.

But you get a certificate. And it's music-based. This makes it a music qualification

A qualification qualifies you to do something in the subject. What does grade 5 qualify you to do in music?

The reason is because it would feel odd for me to have grades 1, 2, 3, and 5, but not 4, so more of a personal gain thing...

So, you may have a fair point or whatever, but I really don't get why people respond to threads without answering the question...

You are being far too meticulous.

It is a qualification. Whether you think it aught to be or not is a different matter.

Key Skills IT Level 2 is a qualification - a lousy one, but a qualification nonetheless.

GCSE Media Studies is a qualification - you don't need it for a-level, or for anything, but it's a qualification still.

Grade 5 in an instrument and grade 5 theory are qualifications. GCSE Music is. And A-Level Music is a more useful qualification.

Are all these subjects that I've mentioned here qualifications in your view?

I don't mean to seem bitchy, I'm just very confused by you saying it's not a qualification. Certificate = qualification, no?

Right. The misunderstanding was that I thought you implied that it wasn't a qualification in general, but what you meant was that it isn't a music qualification. Ok then. I'd still class it as a music qualification though. I realise what you're saying, about it only being one day, but any exam in anything is just one day too. Ok for GCSEs you have to revise or whatever throughout 2 years, and for grades you practice/revise over a few months or whatever in preparation for the one-off exam. But I still see it as a music qualification. Because it is music based, even if just 1 area. It's just a different type of music qualification, and a smaller one due to less time spent doing it, but still a music qualification nonetheless. So is this just a case of how one sees it then? Or is it 'officially' regarded as not being a music qualification? Because it shouldn't be a case of what people think are qualifications or not, it should be a case of what is a qualification or not.

I mean, just for example, GCSE Law - would you consider that a Law qualification? Because even though it's a full GCSE, you do not need it to get onto A-Level Law.

No GCSE law is a GCSE qualification, it isn't a law qualification. A law qualification is one taken by someone in order to get a job as a barrister or a solicitor or some other branch of law. These people are usually already qualified as lawyers, or are working in a field that requires knowledge of certain branches of law.

So a grade qualification, is a grade qualification, it isn't a music qualification as such because you can't use it on its own to get further in a music career.

A levels are A level qualifications, so Law at A level doesn't qualify you to be a lawyer.

It gets more complicated when you get to A levels. For example if you wanted to go to university to study music, grade 8 won't get you into the top courses because the universities accept only people who pass their audition and have the right A level grades. So someone coming to the UK to study music from a country where they don't do grade exams will still get in if they have the right A level standard exams and they pass the audition.

Supposing that you wanted to go to university to study a different subject, just having passed grade 8 isn't what universities are interested in, they want evidence of which groups you play in, which concerts you have done etc. So playing in things is more useful as it shows that you have spent time playing all kinds of music, and learning useful skills like team work and not just pieces on an exam syllabus. Basically anyone can learn exam pieces.

So what people usually do is take exams that are useful, like as you have found out grade 5 to be. They don't take the other exams because all you get is a certificate. Taking an exam is really expensive, because the costs also include all the lessons that you have paid for where you have studied the exam pieces. They also slow down your progress, because you have to spend time learning a set of pieces instead of learning lots of new pieces. To find out the full cost of taking an exam add the cost of the lessons for learning the pieces and the scales to the exam entrance cost and the cost of hiring an accompanist if you need one, and the cost of getting to an exam centre to take the exam. I would expect the result to be in hundreds of pounds.

Ok fair enough, I understand and hope we're cool.

Would you consider GCSE Music a Music qualification? Or just a GCSE qualification?

Anyway, sorry if I seemed harsh or whatever, I just wanted to get my point across that grade 5 theory and/or practical (and sometimes even grade 4) can be used as a substitute for gcse music in terms of getting onto a-level music.

Well what does a GCSE in music lead to? It leads to A level music. But it doesn't lead to a career in music.

I didn't want to be harsh or bossy I just wanted you to understand that spending lots of money on grade exams doesn't really help you to get further on with music studies.

Here is another question. What does the exam board get from people taking all these exams?

The other thing that you need to know to complete the picture is that there is no actual exam qualification for being a professional musician in the UK. You get to be a professional musician if you pass auditions. So there is no reason why someone who hadn't passed any grade exams and hadn't studied music at university or college shouldn't play music for their job. Now when you know this, what does that tell you about the importance of grade exams?

So a grade qualification, is a grade qualification, it isn't a music qualification as such because you can't use it on its own to get further in a music career.