 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: S.Koumas
Date: 2000-07-16 12:54
Hi this question is just to hopefully basically help the people on the board know each other a bit better!
In the UK people have a choice of whether to do an exam/grade on their instrument or not! Im not sure if the same applies in the states and other places!
Anyway, i'm Grade 4 (and i have been playing for 10 Months)
Where grades are you lot?
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Author: William
Date: 2000-07-16 16:16
Not sure what you mean by "grades." Here in Wisconsin, we had an opportunity to go to solo/ensemble festivals where our performance was rated, but these were optional, not required. In college, those taking lessons and performance classes are required to play a "final" in front of a "jury" of professors who then determine your grade for the course. For graduation from music school, a public recital is required. I still have some nightmares about my juries (which had to be played from memory). I remember one jury which I memorized one of the Brahms Sonata 1st movements just two hours before playing. (YEA last-minute cramming) It was one of my best final performances but also my most tramatic--definately not recommemnded. The undergraduate and graduate recitals were far less pressure and more fun. Hope this "mindless" rambling down memory lane helps--good luck with your clarineting.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-07-16 17:27
William,
In the UK, they have a formal system where students can pass a set of graded exams. This is NOT a contest but a system that measures your current level as a player and musician (theory is included). The requirements to pass each level are quite specific. I kind of wish that were available to us here in the US as it would provide amateurs a simple way to answer the question "How well do you play?"
To learn more about the UK standards, visit the following site.
http://www.abrsm.ac.uk/clarinet.html
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Author: Kim Parsons
Date: 2000-07-17 02:28
I live in Canada and we have a similar system here which allows you to take a exam to determine your playing level. I assumed that there were venues similar to this everywhere but perhaps not. There are several different places to take your exam but the most popular is the Royal Conservatory of Music. Grades in clarinet go on even numbers 2,4,6,8 then 9,10. You can then go for your ARCT in either performance or education and this is a diploma exam. Most university students enter at at least a grade 8 level just to give you an idea of what the numbers meen. I hope this gives you a view of what the grading system in Canada is like
Kim
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Author: Nicko
Date: 2000-07-17 07:36
I was fairly sure that you could do grades/exams in the states. Over here in Australia we have 3 organisations which examine your playing ability and in order to get your certificate for a practical exam on your instrument, you also are required to get at least 75 out of 100 in a set of graded theory tests. The main organisation in Australia is the A.M.E.B (Australian Music Examinations Board). It is apparently well known of world-wide, but I doubt it. For each and every instrument including voice, guitars, you name it, there are levels/grades 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. After the 8th grade exam, there are two diploma examinations. First comes the associate diploma (A.Mus), and if you want to go even further than that (very few people do) there is the Licentiate exam (L.Mus). Most university students here enter their course with about grade 8 level. Occasionally lower, occasionally higher. Im currently preparing for the associate exam. If you want to learn more about the Australian system, visit http://www.ameb.nsw.edu.au/
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2000-07-17 08:46
In Ireland, we also have a grade system for examining musicians. It is exactly the same system as in the UK, but the standards applied are not the same in all colleges, so that a Grade 8 from one college might be considered better than a Grade 8 from another. In general, there are eight grades, 1 being basic and 8 being experienced. I believe that Mozart's Clarinet Concerto rates at about Grade 6 or 7, but I'm open to correction.
Not everybody here likes the Grade system. It is seen as a sort of musician assembly line, where all the fun and individualism is taken out of the music. Many children pass through the system every year, but not many end up with a liking for music. Some music schools discourage examinations and try to get children to enjoy the music. After all, there aren't a huge number of jobs in music. It is much important we enjoy it and let it become a part of us.
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Author: S.Koumas
Date: 2000-07-17 18:38
I have to agree with Eoin! All my teachers on what ever instrumet=nt i played, always told me that i HAD to take a music grade exam, but i never wanted to as i just enjoyed playing and didn't weant to be competitive! Iwas gonna take my grade 4 piano, but i got a new piano teacher came along and asked me if i wanted to do the exam and i said No and he said OK! i Kow that if i took that exam it would have ruined the Piano for me! In a few months im gonna take my grade 4 Clarinet, im doin this in competition but just so i have a nice certificate to show family! even if it was Grade 1 i wouldn't care, i think that are just nice things to have!
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Author: Meredith H
Date: 2000-07-17 23:24
When I was learning the music studio I was with insisted that we all sit AMEB exams. In some ways I believe exams are good for students as they are required to learn scales, technical work, theory as well as playing a variety of music with piano accompaniment in able to pass. However, now as a small time teacher I let my students decide on the course they wish to follow. If they want to do exams I enroll them and if they just wish to play for their own enjoyment that is fine as well. I started clarient part way through high school and reached a grade 6 level by grade 12 by which stage study got in the way of practice. I would rate my clarinet and tenor horn playing ability at about a grade 7 level.
The brass band I belong to requires all of its players to do one exam per year but we follow a syllabus written by a brass musician. I am thankfully on my last grade. Being an adult I am really good at preparing for exams now so I find myself in a higher grade that a lot of the kids whose playing ability exceeds my own. Ergo, I don't feel that the grade I am in reflects my true standard, I am not actually as good as my exam level may indicate. On the other hand as a kid I got so nervous I never played my best in exam conditions.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-07-17 23:54
Meredith H wrote:
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... Being an adult I am really good at preparing for exams now so I find myself in a higher grade that a lot of the kids whose playing ability exceeds my own. Ergo, I don't feel that the grade I am in reflects my true standard, I am not actually as good as my exam level may indicate. On the other hand as a kid I got so nervous I never played my best in exam conditions.
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Yes you are as good as your exam level indicates. You have passed all the elements of that level and are a well rounded musician at that level. It does *NOT* matter that some of the kids who have not passed the level play better than you. Rather it indicates that these kids have focused on only a single element and are *lacking* in other areas of musicianship. You are balanced. They are not. These exams are not auditions but simply a way to assess *overall* musical progress.
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