Does anyone know if you are allowed to use rulers in the early Theory exams? I'm thinking of their use when beaming or drawing bar-lines etc., or is it better not to use them? I can't seem to find any advice on this in the examination regulations.

Yes, but it must not have any drawings on like a keyboard etc.
And also, yes using a ruler will most probably help for neatness, my teacher says that stems should be about a stave in height.

Use a ruler if you like, but it will not help you score any more marks, unless your work is usually incredibly messy without one! Personally I wouldn't bother, unless you have a real problem drawing short straight lines freehand.

I tell my students to take several pencils, a decent rubber and sharpener. That's all you need.

I believe that all examiners appreciate neatness. Despite not earning you extra marks, it would prevent losing marks from ambiguous notes and beaming. Makes your own checking much easier too.

I was extremely messy as a child, and my old teacher told me,"Please, if you can't draw a straight beam or stem, use a ruler!" So I did in the exam. But do note that without practice, using a ruler will slow you down. So if you are a slow worker by nature, maybe you should use the ruler sparingly.

This is really important.

When you are doing any sort of exercise that involves musical notation you will (if you are anything like me) rub every note out at least six times before you are happy with what you have done.

So you need a well tested rubber that does not simply smear your writing into a grey blob and that does not remove the paper along with the writing

Make sure using a ruler doesn't slow you down. It must obviously clear which note is which, but they don't have to be works of art; life - not to mention theory exams - is too short!

I did a theory exam in the summer, where all the grades were being tested in the same room. A general announcement was made at the beginning to all the candidates that no calculators were allowed, and - as a ruler was a form of calculator - these were also not permitted. But I have a feeling that this may not be right....

They are allowed, so long as nothing like a keyboard or staff is written on them.

Thanks everyone for all the replies. Take the point about slowing you down - especially when my pupil is only 9 years old!

You already said that.

Well done.
It was a response to Misterioso's point.

My 8 year old used a ruler in her Grade 1 in the summer. It did slow her down - she took and hour and a quarter which is much, much longer than it could have taken her. But she is inclined to the most appalling messiness, and I knew it would neaten her up. They allowed the ruler - I'm sure banning them is wrong - and she got 98%. I am sure without the ruler she would have lost marks.
While on one hand I can understand the keyboard thing, but the first thing she did in there was draw out a keyboard, so it seemed a bit of a pointless rule to me. Maybe someone else can shed light on the reason !

I dont know why exactly, but i would think it was so that you are forced to remember the diagram of a keyboard, instead of being able to copy it.

The best thing i think to do would give everyone Two Sharp pencils, how much does a pencil cost?
a penny each at RRP?
No doubt the AB would buy them in the thousands, and to be honest, i wouldnt mind pay the extra 10p per grade to get a couple of pencils.

Letting you take a diagram of a keyboard into a theory exam is letting you take in a crib sheet.
It's fine to draw one if that's one of the things that help you as you need to know what it looks like to do that.
Same as you can begin by writing out keys signatures if you need a reminder but you can't take in a piece of paper with then written on already.

Why on earth should the AB supply you with a pencil for the exam? As far as I'm aware no exam board supplies pencils, pens or any other writing implement. As you say they are really cheap, so get out there and buy your own!

if no-one takes anything in with them, then they are given a pencil, then everyone has the same stuff and there is no need to worry about people having things written on there or whatever.

Well I'm old enough to remember slide rules but I'm at a loss to know how to turn a ruler into a calculator.

Use it as a number line.

You mean to remind me what order the numbers come in?

Uhm, I can't understand how an innocent ruler can be used as a calculator either... I can measure with a ruler, draw straight lines, and maybe a circle if there were a hole on each end, and scrape the residue of the eraser away with it. But how do you calculate with it?

What do we need to calculate in a theory exam, anyway? Are there Math questions in the higher grades?

OK, I've got a crotchet, and I know that is 1.
Then there is a minim, and I know that is 2.
I go from 0 on my ruler up to 1 (for the crotchet) and then on two more (for the minim) and that gives me 3.
If my bar is 4, then I can see there is a gap of 1 between 3 and 4, and thus I have used my ruler as a calculator to add up the beats in the bar and work out what I need to write in to complete the bar.

:shrug: not that I know, it's just that's one way a ruler can help you add up.

Ha - not so daft as it sounds. I took O level music at night school as an adult. When all the students met for the first time, we exchanged the usual niceties - "oh what do you do?"
ME - "I'm an engineer".
"Well you'll have no trouble with theory of music, it's all maths".

Actually, being pedantic, I would say it's arithmetic. Which is why, after a short while, I did away with mnemonics and acronyms. It can all be worked out given a few simple basic rules.

Oh that is interesting! I only know that I can work out key signatures, figured basses and whether it is major/minor/diminished/augmented by rules involving numbers. Are there more? I am really interested to find out. Can I PM you to ask?

Ha - you've caught me out there. It was only O level (roughly Grade 5 equivalent) so nothing terribly complex. Key sigs. is an interesting one though as it strikes me that people tie themselves in knots with ways to remember accidentals, relative minors, etc. which can all be worked out quite quickly anyway.