17 replies to this topic

[thara96]

LP congratulations! 

[HelenVJ]

Excellent news - well done!

 Having a reasonable amount of scales etc to present in the exam is a(nother) plus point for me. In between exams, we do a complete scale schedule and by Grades 4-5 at least 20 majors and minors are well known. It's good to relax the technical work load in the run-up to the exam, to focus on making music, and getting the exercises and other supporting tests well prepared. As students get older and have an increasing academic work load, theTrinity technical requirements have kept many teenagers going on to the higher grades, when they might have given up with the ABRSM syllabus. 

[Latin pianist]

That is true. I'm of the opinion that you have to try to keep people playing in any way you can. I have a Y13 boy with ASD who I teach at school who is doing grade 6 Trinity after doing grade 5 abrsm purely because he hasn't got time to take grade 5 theory. I usually have no problem with pupils taking grade 5 theory after grade 5 practical but because of his condition and the fact that he learns at school, it's not that simple. So Trinity grade 6 is great for him. Actually learning all the grade 6 abrsm scales wouldn't have been a problem. I haven't taught a grade 6 Trinity for years. In those days I think you could play a piece from memory instead of the Viva Voce.
And I've got an LCM grade 4 who wanted to do no scales so he's doing the study, by no means a soft option. It's good that there are these different options available, though for a very keen student who practises a lot- a rare breed these days- I do still prefer abrsm.