Self Study Grade 6 piano ABRSM?

I'm in my latter half of year 11 and I was wondering if it's possible to self study Grade 6 piano.

I was looking into UCAS points and realised that Grade 5 doesn't account for anything; I didn't listen to my family when they said I should move on (this being 2 years ago in year 9).

I'm going to be doing some Maths FSMQ in June, and even if I get an A in that (which is hard, really hard) I will get 20 extra ucas points. However, if I even get a PASS at Grade 6 piano I get 25 points.

Basically, I play piano a LOT, at my church, at school (music gcse) and at home of course. My father and elder brother are very musical so they can help me as well.

I just didn't like lessons. Well, truth be told I didn't like the thought of lessons, the lessons themselves weren't too bad. Plus I'm very price cautious and so don't want my family spending money on me if I can doing the same thing by myself.

Obviously, I will have to book maybe 2-3 lessons a few months before the exam just to make sure I'm doing things right (plus aural activites).

I also know it is a requirement to have Grade 5 theory, which I can self study too.

Is this all possible? I have no time limits really, well only before the end of year 13.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

Damask-

Not to put you off or anything, but 99% of courses that ask for UCAS points specify 'from 3 A2s and 1 AS' etc or similar, so if that's the only reason you're doing it then it probably isn't worth it.

Reply 2

Dylann

Original post by Damask-

Not to put you off or anything, but 99% of courses that ask for UCAS points specify 'from 3 A2s and 1 AS' etc or similar, so if that's the only reason you're doing it then it probably isn't worth it.

I'm not doing it purely for UCAS points, but surely if I get an extra 25 points it means I'm allowed to drop a whole grade at a-level?

ie, getting an A is 120, but getting a B plus grade 6 piano is 125 (at a pass).

Or do they do it by grades only? If so, what's the point in UCAS points?

Reply 3

ThatPerson

Original post by Dylann

It depends what kind of university you go to. Most of the top universities don't make offers in UCAS points.

What course/area and university are you aiming for?

However, to answer your question, it is possible but you'll have a much better chance of succeeding with a teacher. Otherwise you might pick up bad habits or make mistakes that you don't notice.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 4

Dylann

Original post by ThatPerson

Fair enough. I'm confused about where I want to go, I obviously want a top, russell group, university but I'm stuck on whether to do a degree in:

Chemistry
Philosophy
Music Technology
English

All of those are my a-level options too. I guess I could use the grade 6 piano and grade 5 theory to help me with music tech.

Cheers anyway mate, I'll figure out what's best.

Reply 5

Fingersmith

I can butt in on the Music Technology. Despite the fact that this has been a degree subject for 15 years, it still attracts very little respect and so it is very easy to get onto Music Tech courses. The best ones are probably Leeds, Bath Spa, De Montford, Manchester or some of the London Colleges. LIPA and BIMM are good if you're a performer and want to get into the business that way.

Learning any instrument by yourself is dangerous for the reasons given above - unless you are extremely self-disciplined it's very hard not to develop bad habits, posture etc. It's also hard to assess yourself objectively and to keep the pressure on. The reason that Grd 5 is a watershed is that from then on you have to take it quite seriously to succeed; it gets hard very quickly after that.

Self Study Grade 6 piano ABRSM?

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