Podcasts about abrsm grade

The Heart of the Piano Podcast is back with a review of the new piano syllabuses from ABRSM and Trinity, which take you from an Initial Grade to Grade 8. Listen to the podcast to discover some reasons why me and many other piano teachers are now defecting from ABRSM to Trinity!               A brief summary of my review: ABRSM- Grade 8 seems much easier technically, but much harder musically than in previous years. Grade 8 book has less pieces than previous years, down to almost half the number of pages. Change of List A/B/C means its possible to avoid core Baroque/Classical pieces. Poor engraving means rhythms are often very difficult to read. Never been a fan of ABRSM's heavy handed editing in higher grades- especially of Baroque music. Not a fan of ABRSM's fingering and ornamentation suggestions. Less scales than before, many books to buy, some of these books now very insubstantial and poor value for money. Many books now less value for money- not just scales but also Grade 8 and the Teaching Notes book which is again down to almost half the amount of pages as previous years. New Initial Grade to match Trinity's. New online-only performance exam- no scales, sight reading or aural tests. Intended to be equal in value to the normal practical exam. Not a fan of this for many reasons, and feel it cheapens the ABRSM 'brand' with a loss of prestige and high standards. The debacle around the poorly implemented new online only Grade 5 Theory exam has sowed the seeds of extreme distrust amongst many music teachers, deepening the impression of a company overly driven by profit & PR rather than delivering core values to teachers and students and listening to their needs. Trinity- Excellent value for money- every grade book has 12 pieces up from the previous 9. The extended edition book includes all the scales for that grade and also provides access to a pdf with an extra 9 pieces from previous years than are included in the new syllabus. Only 2 scale books are needed to cover the whole range as opposed to having to buy one book per grade for ABRSM. Excellent selection of pieces- not only fun, rewarding and engaging, but also very well chosen in terms of developing technical skills at the appropriate levels. I like the idea to include one piece in every grade from a young composers' competition. Students encouraged to play their own (appropriate) composition as a grade piece. Excellently conceived tests of musicality which include the option to improvise. No singing required in aural tests. Every grade has a choice of technical exercises to develop various aspects of technique. An impression of a company that prioritises delivering value for money and cares about the holistic musical development of students rather than just making a good profit. Not entirely convinced that students are made to deliver a balanced programme, and that core skills in Baroque and Classical music are tested- but then this is no longer a part of the new ABRSM structure now! Higher grades are more like Urtext editions- leaving students (and teachers) free to decide how to interpret the composer's markings. Engraving easier to read than ABRSM, but fingerings are too small. Maybe because of using Sibelius default settings and fonts? The recordings made specially for this syllabus are generally more musical than the equivalent recordings made by ABRSM for their syllabus. I like that Trinity have made Spotify playlists as well that feature higher quality performances. Show Notes: An example of some truly atrocious music engraving from ABRSM- this one example comes from bar 2 of the Haydn in the Grade 8 book. Look at how counter-intuitively the right hand rhythm doesn't fit with the left hand rhythm... Apparently, this is the company that ABRSM chose to administer their new online Grade 5 Theory exams: https://www.sitejabber.

My very special guest for Episode 8 of Mike’s Moment Of… Tech: Stage Tech is my very dear friend, Mijanne. Join us as we talk about  her beginnings in theatre and her present situation. @aelsean @mijjymijj #MikesMomentOf #Jamaican #Theatre #SouthFlorida Find me on IG and Twitter: @aelsean Facebook.com/MichaelSeanHarris Youtube.com/aelsean For my gratitude posts: #MikesGratitudePost For my moments of cheer: #MikesMomentOfCheer   Mijanne has been a part of Jamaican theatre since 1998. Working with the country’s premier directors and producers, she has been both cast and crew in most of the top productions emerging from the creative industry and Stage Manager for notable events such as JCDC’s Grand Gala, Mello Go Round and ITI’s Actor Boy Awards. Mijanne has toured with several productions and has done several stints in New York which includes “Alphabet City” put on by the Metropolitan Playhouse and “Welcome To America” by Braata Productions. In 2006, while studying performance violin at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts School of Music and preparing for her ABRSM Grade 6 exam, Mijanne was called to go on tour with Jah Cure, Diana King and several other top musicians from Jamaica and spent the next ten years touring the world, playing reggae inspired fusion music. An adept violinist, song writer and producer, Mijanne has written and produced several songs for several Jamaican artists. When she is not on tour playing violin for Diana King, she works as stage crew for productions in Florida, including the Christian Dior Fall Fashion Show and the Super Bowl as well a Violin instructor at Sam Ash.  Mijanne can be found on Twitter and IG @mijjymijj

Short excerpts from the ABRSM Grade 5 Piano Syllabus to help you choose which pieces you want to play for your exam. (Full tracks cannot be offered due to copyright). Teaching Notes for all these pieces HERE

Short excerpts from the ABRSM Grade 4 Piano Syllabus to help you choose which pieces you want to play for your exam. (Full tracks cannot be offered due to copyright). Teaching Notes for all these pieces HERE

Short excerpts from the ABRSM Grade 3 Piano Syllabus to help you choose which pieces you want to play for your exam. (Full tracks cannot be offered due to copyright)

Short excerpts from the ABRSM Grade 2 Piano Syllabus to help you choose which pieces you want to play for your exam. (Full tracks cannot be offered due to copyright) Download Slow Practice Audio Tracks HERE

Short excerpts from the ABRSM Grade 1 Piano Syllabus to help you choose which pieces you want to play for your exam. (Full tracks cannot be offered due to copyright) Download Slow Practice Audio Tracks HERE

A few weeks ago I got an email from Sanette Brems, a piano mom in my studio. Listen to Sanette's parent interview with me on Episode 019. In her email, Sanette said, "I saw this and immediately thought of you!" The link in the email took me to the Kickstarter page for a new music theory game called, "Lord of the Chords". Their website declares that they are the "geekiest, punniest music theory game in the world". Lord of the Chords Kickstarter Page - click here I love puns and really love games that help my students learn and use music theory so I did a little research and was able to contact the developers of the game. Jonathan Ng, one member of the development team, responded to my email and we set up our interview within days and now I am pleased to share that interview with you! Listen to the full interview here A little of Jonathan's background Jonathan started violin when he was eight years old but never felt a strong connection to the violin. By ten, Jonathan wasn't really enjoying the violin but his wise mother made him stick with it! (Way to go, Mom!!) He took ABRSM exams from age 9-18, ultimately passing Grade 8. He did not enjoy the music theory aspect of the exams; his goal was just to pass the exam. He didn't see music theory as the wonderful tool and language that he now recognizes it to be. Jonathan also started learning guitar and began jazz guitar lessons. He says, "To really play jazz, you've got to know your music theory." Thanks to his jazz guitar teacher, Mr. Bay, Jonathan learned the rules of theory and how to use them to "play the game of music". Jonathan shared the things he learned about music improvisation with his friend Jun Yu because he wanted someone to jam with. Jun Yu, a pianist, advanced to ABRSM Grade 8 as well but had a similar experience with dry music theory. Once he understood the way he could use music theory to make music with his friend, Jun Yu and Jonathan set out to find a way to replicate this knowledge. How could they gamify music theory? Read more about Jonathan's musical journey as well as the evolution of Lord of the Chords in this article on Medium.com. Finally, another friend joined the Lord of the Chords team. Keith is an amazing illustrator and designer who had zero musical knowledge before working with Jonathan and Jun Yu. Through playing the game, Keith learned not only the rules of the game and how he could earn triads and steal his opponent's cards but he also learned elements of music theory. This actually gave him an advantage in being able to explain elements of the game to others because he didn't have the "curse of knowledge". Jonathan shows us how the game works. https://youtu.be/l6rzPBjI12o There are many ways to play The basic game comes with 150 note cards and action cards in a beautiful three-dimensional box along with accidental tokens. Students are limited only by their imagination in all the fun ways they can use the cards to play games. The more music theory they learn, the more they can adapt the game. Booster packs will be available to add even more challenges and aspects of the game. Support Lord of the Chords Kickstarter Campaign Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing your story with us today.  I am truly excited about your new game and look forward to supporting your Kickstarter. Piano Parent, if you would like to support Jonathan, Jun Yu, and Keith, check out their Kickstarter page at www.LordoftheChords.com. Thanks for listening! To share your thoughts: Leave a note in the comment section below Ask a question at pianoparentpodcast@gmail.com Share this show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest To help out the show: leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews help other piano parents and teachers find the show. Subscribe on iTunes, Podbean, or your favorite podcast player.