37 replies to this topic

[Jungfrauenregalbass]

I got most of the Grade 1 ones hmm I need to go and brush up on my ignorance.

thanks for doing all that skylark.

[Keith the 'wannabe organist']

That's brilliant Skylark! Very helpful.
It does to prove to my friends though that i'm not Grade 5 Theory standard, i was strugglin with some on Grade 3!

[ilovemycello]

I'm just about to do Grade 5 (this thursday! ) and I have another way to learn the words. Try flashcards on a ring: write the word on one side and the english on the other, then you can test youself all day long on the move!
Thanks for the lists, Skylark!

[lilpep4ever]

Thank you!

I realized that I have lots to work on

[TshepoM]

thanx skylark this will be useful

[katica]

The first five posts of this thread contain the theory terms for each of the Grades 1-5, as they appear in the ABRSM First Steps in Music Theory book. The meanings should be invisible but if anyone wants to test themselves and check what the right answer is, just highlight (eg triple-click) the line

Gosh, that's clever. How did you do that?

[Tixylix]

I have created lists for these on Headmagnet. It's a flashcard website which also gives you an indication of when to study each list again to ensure it stays in your long-term memory. This means all the terms will hopefully stay in your head long after the theory exam! You can register on the site for free to keep track of your lists (create an account or use Facebook Connect), and you can also make your own or use any of the other lists on the site - there's lots of language stuff and other fun trivia like capital cities of the world.

There are two study options: you are given the Italian(/French/German) term and write the English word, or the other way round. For Grades 4 and 5 where there are terms in multiple languages, each foreign term has a little flag underneath it to show you what language it is - this is mainly for testing English -> Italian/German/French as some of the English translations may be the same and otherwise you wouldn't know whether it was asking for the Italian or French term, for example. As you go through the list, any you get wrong will be repeated at the end until you get them right (or until you've had enough and quit), and you can skip over terms you already know.

Here are the lists:

Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5

[EDIT: More lists (taken from TG Grade 8 theory workbook)]

Transposing instruments
Score-related terms and piece titles in English/Italian/French/German
Instrument names in English/Italian/French/German

I've used accents or umlauts where appropriate. Instructions for typing accents on a Windows keyboard can be found here. I did these in the wee small hours of this morning, so let me know if there are any spelling mistakes and I'll sort them out. Hope people find these helpful.

[ilovemycello]

I've already done the theory, but this is brilliant for revision, thank you! Also, what a good website for facts revision - bookmarked.

I did these in the wee small hours of this morning, so let me know if there are any spelling mistakes and I'll sort them out. Hope people find these helpful.

One initial correction - Ausdruck is German, not French. It's brilliant, though - thank you so much!

EDIT: just scrolled up the posts and there's one from me two years ago - that's a bit scary!

[Tixylix]

One initial correction - Ausdruck is German, not French. It's brilliant, though - thank you so much!

Sorted. Glad you're finding them useful. I've also made some differentiations on the Grade 1 terms because some of them have the same definition and that makes the flashcards confusing, e.g. adagio is now 'slow' and lento is 'very slow', as it's slower than adagio but the book has them both down as 'slow', and rall. is 'gradually getting slower' and rit(ardando) is 'getting slower'. In practical terms it's splitting hairs really, but flashcards don't work so well if each term is not unique (hence the flags at the higher grades).

[Martin.Walters]

I get my mother to read the English version and I translate, she will tell me if Im wrong and come back to it 5mins later,


We all should hook up on skype or something and test eachother

[adamstern]

Hiya guys! I just thought I would let you know that I have set up a course on memrise.com with all of the vocab words (Grades 1-5) so that you can practice and test yourself. A great site based on planting and growing seeds in order to learn new vocabulary. Fancy having a look? Just click the link here (you do need to sign up for free I'm afraid): http://www.memrise.c...5-music-theory/

[gailany222]

That is really difficult ....how can i remember these words????!!!!

[sbhoa]

That is really difficult ....how can i remember these words????!!!!

Start by making sure that you remember the ones which are written on the music you play.

If you don't know or aren't sure look it up.

Pin up the ones you want to learn around the house ..... no more than five at a time.

[blueglasses]

Being tested on terms is the most unmusical question on any exam paper.  It simply has NOTHING to do with securing a solid musicianship. One of the best texts I have come across however to learn the terminology in a non boring way is one from a set of five texts by Peter Coraggio from his Art of Piano Performance series titled "Imagery.in Music"-published by Kjos. Only Italian terms are given but the wonderful and pictoral tack that has been used by the illustrator Jon Murakami is so good!