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Good afternoon to all. I have been taking piano lessons for about 2 years now, started in Thailand, and now I am living in Qatar. Life here in Qatar is a bit on the boring side, so for something to do to keep me occupied I decided to take the ABRSM piano exam (Grade 1) practical and music theory. I have all of the books/materials put out by the ABRSM people, and have signed up to take the exams here which will be in the April/May timeframe. I have seen a few threads on this topic, but was wondering if anybody has taken the exams in 2009 yet? If so what was your impression, etc. Any comments suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If possible try to find a local teacher to help you prepare for the exam including helping you polish your pieces, coaching you on the oral portions, etc. Money well worth it to make the exam pay off as a stimulus to continue.

GregoryP,

You may find it helpful to visit the ABRSM website where they have a discussion forum and go to the Viva - Piano section. I'm sure if you were to do a search or if you were to join the forum and post your questions about Grade 1 piano you would find quite a few posters who have taken Grade 1 or are preparing for Grade 1. Another helpful section in the forum is the Adult Learners section.

Best wishes,

Musictuary

Good morning, and thank-you to you both. I have already done as you suggested, and it definitely is a big help. What I was really looking for was somebody who has gone through the exam process recently and could offer some insight. The Grade 1 exam itself seems to be fairly easy, but I am sure that there are some items or ideas or experience that might be of help for somebody preparing for the exam.

Gregory, you won't find anyone who has taken the exam this year because (in the UK anyway) the first session has not yet started.

Are you working from the new books (2009-2011)?

There have been a few changes made to the syllabus for this year. The scale requirements are slightly different as ae the sight reading tests. However, there is usually an overlap with the pieces in the first session where you can still play the 2006-2008 ones. If you plan to take it in April/May I'm not sure which you are doing. You will certainly need the new scales.

I regularly enter students for ABRSM so if there is anything specific you want to know feel free to ask.

Outside of the UK/Commonwealth in most countries the overlap period is the entire year.

So we need to know if Gregory is working from the old book or the new book.

Good morning, thanks so much for your responses. Chris, I do have the new books for 2009, and have been working on the scales, broken chords, sight reading and the music. I have chosen the three pieces that I am going to play, A1, B3, and C3. The scales are quite simple, they ask for hands seperate which surprised me, my teacher always had me do them hands together so seperately is easy. I am still looking for a teacher, I have some names given to me by the local ABRSM person and will begin to make the calls later this week. I am going to be doing the theory as well, the exams are supposed to be done here in Doha in the April or May timeframe. I guess that the actual piano playing part does not concern me so much, I am not sure about is the non-playing part. Thank-you so much for your help.

By 'non-playing' do you mean the aural tests or the theory exam?

The aural section is worth 12% of the practical exam so it is well worth doing some preparation for. This can be difficult on your own because you need to respond to the examples played by someone else, usually your teacher. However, you can buy CD's and tapes which have examples of the tests and their answers. I don't know if they are available in Qatar though. There are also some books you can get which are specifically aimed at the ABRSM aural tests. These would give you a good idea of what is expected.

For the theory I would look for the ABRSM workbook, 'Music Theory in Practice'. This takes you through the syllabus with plenty of examples to work on. The questions are worded like they will be on the exam. The only problem with this book is that it doesn't give you the answers. You could get a reference book to go with it. Something like, 'The AB Guide to Music Theory'. Also worth getting hold of are a set of past exam papers. The ABRSM publish these for every year. You get a white booklet which contains the three exams set for that year plus an extra one.

Good luck.

If I remember correctly, the overlap only applies to the pieces. The new syllabus requirements (scales, aural, sight reading, etc.) change as of the first exam of the new year.

Yes, that's right. Gregory has the new book so the scale requirements will be correct. There's not much difference anyway. Grade 1 used to include arpeggios but they appear to have dropped them. The sight reading test is now slightly easier as well.

Thank-you both very much. I do have the Music Theory book as well as the reference books, I purchased everything I thought that I would need for the exam, all at the same time. I have been doing the exercises/practice exam questions in the book, so far so good. So it is the aural test that I am not prepared for. I have the names of some teachers here in Qatar that specialize in helping students prepare for the exam, so i will be contacting one of them soonest. I will let you know how it all works out.