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Appealing Trinity Guildhall Results
Hi,
I did my Grade 8 Classical Guitar last Friday and I got 61 out of 100 (60 is the mark to pass). However, I feel such a low mark is extremely unfair.
She failed me on three out of the six sections.
On the first piece she accused me of playing it too fast when I played it at the correct tempo, and the same for the second piece. I got 11 and 12 for piece 1 and 2 respectively, and the pass mark for a piece is 13 marks. She had nothing good to say about these two pieces when I do genuinely feel they were not nearly as bad as she says.
The third piece had the following comments:
And I only got 15 marks for that piece, out of 22. Even based on those comments, I would have expected a higher mark than that, and I still feel that comments such as "relative ease" and "generally much clearer" are unjust. In fact, I think I only made one mistake which didn't impede my fluency whatsoever.
The scales were described as unclear and with problems and technical difficulties, and references to particular scales are very poor. I got 7 out of 14 for this section, which I believe is a sectional fail. Again I feel this mark is unfair and I would have expected at least 9 out of 14 if not more.
I do feel that my sight reading and aural marks were fair (at 7 and 9 out of 10 respectively) however.
I am considering appealing the mark. There are some things i would like to know.
How would I go about appealing the decision?
What would happen if I did so?
Do you think I have a reasonable change of getting a better mark?
I would be very grateful if you could help me. Even if it didn't go up to the next mark band I still would like a mark that I considered fairer, even if it's just for personal reasons. I really do feel that what she said is very unrepresentative of my abilities. I also know she has been similarly negative with other students (a child got a merit and again had almost no good comments at all).
I did my Grade 8 Classical Guitar last Friday and I got 61 out of 100 (60 is the mark to pass). However, I feel such a low mark is extremely unfair.
She failed me on three out of the six sections.
On the first piece she accused me of playing it too fast when I played it at the correct tempo, and the same for the second piece. I got 11 and 12 for piece 1 and 2 respectively, and the pass mark for a piece is 13 marks. She had nothing good to say about these two pieces when I do genuinely feel they were not nearly as bad as she says.
The third piece had the following comments:
You played this piece with much more style and relative ease. Detail was generally much clearer. The change of key section (bar 66) was musically played. Still occasional lack of articulation in some areas.
And I only got 15 marks for that piece, out of 22. Even based on those comments, I would have expected a higher mark than that, and I still feel that comments such as "relative ease" and "generally much clearer" are unjust. In fact, I think I only made one mistake which didn't impede my fluency whatsoever.
The scales were described as unclear and with problems and technical difficulties, and references to particular scales are very poor. I got 7 out of 14 for this section, which I believe is a sectional fail. Again I feel this mark is unfair and I would have expected at least 9 out of 14 if not more.
I do feel that my sight reading and aural marks were fair (at 7 and 9 out of 10 respectively) however.
I am considering appealing the mark. There are some things i would like to know.
How would I go about appealing the decision?
What would happen if I did so?
Do you think I have a reasonable change of getting a better mark?
I would be very grateful if you could help me. Even if it didn't go up to the next mark band I still would like a mark that I considered fairer, even if it's just for personal reasons. I really do feel that what she said is very unrepresentative of my abilities. I also know she has been similarly negative with other students (a child got a merit and again had almost no good comments at all).
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Sounds difficult to appeal against considering there are no records ie. recording or video-ing of the exam, and the exam board would usually trust the examinator to deliver sound judgement; I have not much idea how to go about repealing the judgement, although perhaps if they deign this particular examination to be unfair, you may have a chance of a repeat performance, but then again I have no idea of their policy as I'm with a different examboard. Sounds incredibly dogmatic though to remark about your tempo, rhythm I'd say is fundamental, whereas timing is relative. Goodd luck with the appeal.
I have found out that I could appeal on the grounds of the comments for my third piece not matching with the mark, and if I were to mention all the other injustices that were included then I might get a reexamination with a fairer examiner. But then I assume I could fail that so it would be a risk (although in fairness I probably could not have done any worse than that :P). I may just put it behind me and try to redeem myself in doing a diploma in the future.
In all honesty, seeing as you're planning to take a diploma eventually anyway, I wouldn't worry about the fact that you didn't get a distinction. If it were the last exam you ever planned to do then yeah I could understand why you would want to improve it but you still passed, you still have the certificate. I would put it down to experience and move on to bigger and better things!
I know 
I think that because I hadn't had proper guidance for 3 years or so, the pieces had become ingrained in my head wrong and it was basically to late to fix it. If and when I do diplomas (no reason not to considering I have over 2 years before uni) I would look at the pieces in extreme detail now that I know how to practise and prepare pieces properly.
I may well need to get a specialist teacher though because my current teacher is an electric specialist. He is the best I've had in a long time and he is the closest thing to a classical specialist my performing arts company has but at such a high level I really do need a specialist. Problem is there are so few around and I'd have to go to Telford or Birmingham or some other random places.
Oh how hard my life is
And I would certainly do ABRSM diplomas. The trinity ones look pretty poor anyway and they are so much easier than the ABRSM ones (although that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to do it but I suppose ABRSM has much greater respect and that would be a good thing for me).
I think that because I hadn't had proper guidance for 3 years or so, the pieces had become ingrained in my head wrong and it was basically to late to fix it. If and when I do diplomas (no reason not to considering I have over 2 years before uni) I would look at the pieces in extreme detail now that I know how to practise and prepare pieces properly.
I may well need to get a specialist teacher though because my current teacher is an electric specialist. He is the best I've had in a long time and he is the closest thing to a classical specialist my performing arts company has but at such a high level I really do need a specialist. Problem is there are so few around and I'd have to go to Telford or Birmingham or some other random places.
Oh how hard my life is
And I would certainly do ABRSM diplomas. The trinity ones look pretty poor anyway and they are so much easier than the ABRSM ones (although that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to do it but I suppose ABRSM has much greater respect and that would be a good thing for me).
i think if i were in your shoes, i would ask whether or not appealing is likely to take you up to a merit...i imagine to get to a merit, based on the marks you got being so close to a pass, i imagine youd have to resit the entire exam...if you were really close to a merit then id say appeal...but also, if you just feel the exam conduct was flawed in someway, then do appeal anyway..good luck...they are suprisingly strict with grade 8, i literally just passed piano
Ziffachan
Hi,
I did my Grade 8 Classical Guitar last Friday
I did my Grade 8 Classical Guitar last Friday
Just out of interest... what pieces did you do? I did Grade 8 guitar on Trinity board. I did Mazurka-Choro No.1 by Villa-Lobos, Fantasia by Dowland and Rebloico by Pernambuco. My examiner was really nice (sorry to rub it in!). It was Gary Ryan! You might have heard of him he had one of his pieces on the Grade 7 syllabus.
deadgenius
Just out of interest... what pieces did you do? I did Grade 8 guitar on Trinity board. I did Mazurka-Choro No.1 by Villa-Lobos, Fantasia by Dowland and Rebloico by Pernambuco. My examiner was really nice (sorry to rub it in!). It was Gary Ryan! You might have heard of him he had one of his pieces on the Grade 7 syllabus.
List A: El Catalan by Broca
List B: Nocturn by Smith-Brindle
List C: Fantasia by Dowland
And OMG you had Gary Ryan
One of his pieces was on List A which I was gonna do until I realised El Catalan was far far far easier 
My examiner was called Moira and she was very bad.
I hate to say it but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone successfully appealing against an exam result (from the new Trinity Guildhall or ABRSM!). I'd say your best bet is to get a new teacher appropriate to your guitar style and level (easier said than done, I'm sure. Maybe you could ask your performing arts company to subsidise your travel costs or something? Not sure what else to suggest!). Then either retake your Grade 8 or move forward onto the diplomas. I wouldn't try going for any diploma until you've got your teacher sorted out
As others have said, it is time to move on. (says the guy that is thinking of trying the new syllabus after getting good marks on the previous one) Learn from your approach and give diploma a go when you are ready for it.
You might want to consider the ABRSM board if you don't like the style of the pieces. I totally despise the choices in Trinity Guildhall.
You might want to consider the ABRSM board if you don't like the style of the pieces. I totally despise the choices in Trinity Guildhall.
Don_Kamikaze
As others have said, it is time to move on. (says the guy that is thinking of trying the new syllabus after getting good marks on the previous one) Learn from your approach and give diploma a go when you are ready for it.
You might want to consider the ABRSM board if you don't like the style of the pieces. I totally despise the choices in Trinity Guildhall.
You might want to consider the ABRSM board if you don't like the style of the pieces. I totally despise the choices in Trinity Guildhall.
Yeah, if/when I do a diploma i'll do ABRSM. I need new music because I only have a few diploma pieces (Recuerdos de la Alhambra and that ridiculous huge Bach Lute Works where everything is impossible) but it's SO expensive
Ziffachan
Yeah, if/when I do a diploma i'll do ABRSM. I need new music because I only have a few diploma pieces (Recuerdos de la Alhambra and that ridiculous huge Bach Lute Works where everything is impossible) but it's SO expensive
I ended up learning a lot of the "Diploma" pieces before grade 8 without realising it.
Which Lute suite do you find impossible? To me Bach is easier to play when compared to other composers as my fingers have an idea where they will go next. I memorise the BWV 995 & 997 in full and a few pieces here and there.
Don_Kamikaze
I ended up learning a lot of the "Diploma" pieces before grade 8 without realising it.
Which Lute suite do you find impossible? To me Bach is easier to play when compared to other composers as my fingers have an idea where they will go next. I memorise the BWV 995 & 997 in full and a few pieces here and there.
Which Lute suite do you find impossible? To me Bach is easier to play when compared to other composers as my fingers have an idea where they will go next. I memorise the BWV 995 & 997 in full and a few pieces here and there.
All of them
I haven't had a proper go really but I've decided I will use one of the preludes for the diploma. I just need to choose one now. I find the BWV 1006 (I think, the one with the Loure) Prelude easiest, although it's pretty dull I have to say. Overall I would say that's the easiest one but it's still pretty difficult.
Ziffachan
All of them
I haven't had a proper go really but I've decided I will use one of the preludes for the diploma. I just need to choose one now. I find the BWV 1006 (I think, the one with the Loure) Prelude easiest, although it's pretty dull I have to say. Overall I would say that's the easiest one but it's still pretty difficult.
I haven't had a proper go really but I've decided I will use one of the preludes for the diploma. I just need to choose one now. I find the BWV 1006 (I think, the one with the Loure) Prelude easiest, although it's pretty dull I have to say. Overall I would say that's the easiest one but it's still pretty difficult.
The first Bach pieces I learned were the BWV 996 Bourree, BWV 995 Gavotte and BWV 1006a Gavotte en Rondeau. Give the BWV 995 Gavotte a go, it's pretty fun and not that difficult.
You can't possibly be saying that the BWV 1006a Prelude is the easiest! It's one of the most difficult Bach pieces on the guitar! It has around 139 measures if I remember correctly.
dont worry about the cost of a diploma...can't put a price on having letters after your name 
Ziffachan
I meant the music is expensive, let alone the cost of doing the diploma itself
1. Teach some people guitar for money.
2. Get the books that will save you a lot of money
This for example: http://www.amazon.com/Solo-Lute-Works-Johann-Sebastian/dp/0849755018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216566111&sr=8-1 I got mine for 15 quid. Just pick the composers you'll probably stick with. In my case they'll probably be Bach, Barrios, Tarrega and Albeniz. The recommended books are inexpensive.3. Don't do the exam and play for you enjoyment
Ziffachan
I meant the music is expensive, let alone the cost of doing the diploma itself
yeah thats so true actually, i swear ive spent more on books for some exams than the cost of entry itself....tres perplexing...i suppose exam boards only publish grade albums for the exams that are in higher demand (does happy dance due to the new AB flute, clarinet and violin albums lol)
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