The name says it all, I want to be grade 5 theory standard by September. Ben_Walker said it would be possible... 'with my help of course'. So I know I will have the help. Is it possible to get to this level by September or is it unrealistic?

Thanks

Anything's possible. It depends where you are starting from, how much time you can devote to it etc etc.

Why September? Do you have a deadline?

i want to be at this standard by September, as that is when I start college.

Have you done any theory before or are you starting from scratch?

I have done some, so it wont be from scratch, from about grade 3 standard.

Sounds like you could do it, especially as you would now have plenty of time to do it in!

You could have a look at the ABRSM Theory guide books - one of them is a little pocket book which has a chapter for each Grade, so you could tell from how much you understand of each chapter roughly what level you're at now and how much you need to learn to get to Grade 5. Also you could have a look at some past papers to see the sort of questions that are asked

I'm attempting a similar thing, Soph, except I'm hoping to do it by November. I'm starting from about Grade 3/4-ish, as that's what we had to be for Higher Music.

I'm sure it's more than a possibilty for you, so go for it. The theory guide book skylark mentioned is really useful, so I'd strongly reccommend finding yourself a copy

Good luck x

I really like "Take 5 and Pass First Time" - it's very suitable for people who already have a little knowledge.

Get yours a couple years worth of past exam papers and work through them. Read up yourself or ask your teacher to explain the bits you don't understand. [Especially the completion of the melody my teacher helped me alot with that.]

Grade 5 really isn't that complicated, Intervals are tricky but after a while they just click and you realise the simplicity in them [I'm quite mathmatically minded so this might be harder for you]

In the same way interpreting chords from a score becomes quite simple after a while [especially the cadences at the end Hint: They're nearly almost always II V I]

I never really learnt the grouping of notes and that came up so I'd learn that . Also vocabulary is important but again only makrs up about 2 marks in the whole paper.

If you know your key sequences [Although it's really easy to work them out simply by running through the circle of fifths in your head] the scales aren't hard to write out at all.

Transposing is incredibly tedious, but I wouldn't call it hard. It's quite easy to make careless errors though.


You could easily do this is you comitted yourself fully, good luck.

I think you could easily do it. Get off here and start learning the stuff and you'll have it sorted in no time.

I never had any formal music lessons until last February (I played the violin for 10 years before that). By June I was up to Grade 5 theory standard, so as long as you are willing to learn, you can pick it all up really quickly.
Good luck!

Can anyone recommend any online help, as i arent sure it is going to be possible for the person who said they would help me to help me if that makes sense?

So any websites?

Thanks.

Look at this one Soph - I picked up the link from jo.clarinet the other day and it looks really good

Dolmetsch

Thank you Skylark.

Depends how much of a summer you want Nah, as everyone has said it should be completely possible, grade 5 is pretty straightforward it just needs practice. The 'theory in practice' books are really useful to have a go at all the questions, they get a bit boring after a while but hey, practice makes perfect! The AB guide to music theory is also good, comes in 2 books, everything you need to know and lots of detail but you may not even need this to be honest, if I remember correctly the 'theory in practice' books have an introduction to each exercise explaining what you need to do (well, the grade 6 ones do anyway, think the grade 5 did). Otherwise just run searches on google, I think www.musictheory.net has some sections explaining intervals and stuff, have used this site a lot for aural practice and it's very good though haven't looked at the lessons yet!

I think if you really want to do it, then you'll manage. There is a fantastic website I used when leading up to my exam - it's here. Go to "free theory drills" at the side and there's a list of quizzes there. You can go to settings and choose the standard.
Good Luck
x

Someone please tell me if I have this wrong. I thought that there was one set date in each term to undertake a theory exam and for next session it is 7th November (or something). We've been looking to see if it would be possible to take theory and practical in the same session but it's not looking good. There will probably be about 4/5 weeks between the Theory dates and the Special Visit to our Music Service.

Does anyone know what happens if you enter G6 whilst waiting for the Theory result?

In the UK, they insist on Grade 5 theory/Practical Musicianship/Jazz being passed first and won't accept the entry without it. A forum member overseas (can't remember which one!) was allowed to enter her child for both grade 5 theory and 6 practical in the same session as there are fewer exams sessions in other countries, some only once a year. The result of the practical exam was withheld until the theory result came through.

I would imagine if the results were not more than 4 weeks then it might just be possible to get the result before taking the practical. It wouldn't be a major problem to wait until Easter for the practical, she wants to take Grade 6 using pieces from the old syllabus.

You can still use the pieces for the first session of next year from the old syllabus.

I think they expect grade 5 to have been passed at the time of entry. The theory exam is usually the start of each exam session so it's not always possible that the result would be available before the end of the session.

I accept it won't be doable. I do know that the practical exam will be either the first or second week in December as it's a special visit and usually around that time.

Take the theory in November and she can still do Grade 6 in Feb/March session with the old '07 pieces

Hii,
I took my grade 5 theory a year or so ago. However two weeks before the exam I took a practice paper and failed miserably, I had messed about and really not concentrated very well on it. It came so fast, I did quite a bit of revision for the two weeks before and had three extra sessions with my teacher. Amazingly I passed, so I think you would be able to get to that standard as I was rubbish at theory and managed to pass it!
Good luck, I believe you could do it! x

A friend of mine entered grade 5 theory and grade 7 singing in the same session last year through AB. Not sure how she managed to do that (unless coming from different teachers and no one checked perhaps or maybe it was an AB oversight). Unfortunately she failed her grade 5 theory so that invalidated her (good) grade 7 result so she is having to sit them both again this year. Obviously this is what AB are probably trying to avoid by ensuring Gr5 is done first.

I too believe it can be done - Grade 5 is not rocket science, but it does require a very good working knowledge of the fundamentals. Last year I was going to do Grade 3 in the summer session, but sped on so quickly I ended up doing grade 5 instead. I worked at it every day (even only a small section to keep my brain ticking over) and did loads of past papers.

Good luck!!
Elizabeth

Past papers are most certainly the way to do this, the same types of questions come up all the time it really makes it so much easier.

YOU COULD DO BUT IT DEPENDS ON IF YOU ONLY WANT A PASS.
IM WAITING UNTIL MARCH WHEN IM HOPING TO GET A MERIT.ALSO IT DEPENDS ON IF YOU HAVE GOT A DECENT TEACHER WHO CAN PREPARE YOU AND GOING THROUGH LOTS OF PAST EXAM PAPERS.
I FAILED THE EXAM BY JUMPING STRAIGHT IN WITH NO REAL HELP FROM MY LAST TEACHER AND GOT 37/100.MY FATHER,MIND, YOU SAYS IT WASNT TOO BAD CONSIDERING IT WAS THE 1ST EXAM I TOOK IN 23 YEARS !

How you go about it also depends on how much you have taken in from your instrument lessons and whethet you want to get a piece of paper to say you know the theory or want to actually understand what you are doing too.

As I used to point out to Guides who had been allowed to pass badges without proper preparation...'If you are wearing that badge then there are certain things I will assume that you know'.