Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales
Interview with Francesca Christmas
Director of Music & Music Publishing, Trinity College London
The announcement by Trinity College London exam board that their highly regarded Music Theory exams will now be available both as a written paper exam and as an online digital alternative has been greeted with considerable interest by the music teaching community.
Trinity’s theory grades have long been seen as an attractive alternative, but one which sadly isn’t available as widely as some might wish. With their online alternative, geography need no longer be an issue, and in terms of timing the exam they are available on-demand to suit the candidate.
Beyond this obvious advantage, teachers have also warmly welcomed the fact that Trinity have chosen to include music writing, using software that simply runs online within the Chrome browser, as part of their assessment.
In fact, with no need to download intrusive software applications, and with a sensible approach to proctoring, their theory exams seem poised to avoid the mistakes and concerns of the main alternative, potentially offering the best of all worlds.
As soon as I read the initial announcement, I was intrigued to find out whether Trinity have found a fundamentally better and far more appropriate way to assess music theory online than the current market leader.
I was therefore delighted to have the opportunity for an interview with Trinity’s Director of Music and Music Publishing Francesca Christmas in order to find out more…
The Interview
Andrew Eales: Thank you for agreeing to talk to Pianodao about the new Trinity Digital Theory exams and resources.
Francesca Christmas: Thank you so much for inviting us to be interviewed, a real pleasure!
AE: Before talking about the latest developments, could you tell us how you would characterise the particular strengths and distinctives of Trinity’s Music Theory syllabus and approach to assessment?
FC: Trinity’s music theory exams and accompanying workbook series assist learners in developing key aspects of musicianship through an understanding of the conventions of Western notation. These include areas such as melody, rhythm and harmony, composition and arranging, aural development and creative musical skills.
The exams are designed in a way to enable learners to apply this knowledge and understanding to broader musical endeavours such as performing, composing, improvising, and becoming informed listeners.
Our theory exams are regulated by Ofqual, and whilst Trinity does not require a pass at Grade 5 theory in order to advance to higher grade practical exams, other boards that do make this prerequisite will accept Trinity’s Grade 5 theory qualification. Grades 6-8 carry UCAS points, and Grades 5-8 carry Performance points for secondary schools in England.
Beyond Grade 8, we offer two theory diplomas AMusTCL and LMusTCL.
AE: So am I right in thinking that the existing written exams will be continuing, with the new on-demand digital exam coming alongside that?
FC: Yes they will, we won’t be making any changes to the way in which the existing written exams are offered. Indeed, just last year we launched ‘Introducing Theory’, a book written by Naomi Yandell, which takes learners through the earliest stages of musical notation (drawing and grouping notes, writing clefs, and practising with accidentals and other symbols).
We know that some of our teachers and candidates will prefer the in-person, written experience, but many may find it more convenient to take the exam digitally.
AE: Does the content of the exam differ in any way?
FC: The content is the same. We have had to make some small adaptations to how a question is asked in some cases. For example, if you are asked to draw a circle around a note in a written exam, you might be asked to select the note instead in the digital context or specify the bar it appears in, but otherwise the exam content is substantively the same.
AE: In adapting the exam to a digital delivery, without the use of pencil and paper, do you feel compromises have been necessary?
FC: The orthographic nature of the exam has shifted in the digital space. In a written paper exam, there is a certain amount of attention given to the accuracy and neatness of the written note. In Trinity’s exams this is focussed on ensuring that a candidate can accurately make their musical intentions understood on paper. For example, in a written exam, if a candidate can’t neatly write their notes on the stave, it would be easy for the examiner to misinterpret them and mark it incorrectly according to the candidate’s intention.
In a digital exam, the ‘written’ skills are conceptualised differently. While the notation software does provide some safety rails (for example, it’s impossible to create a bar that doesn’t fully add up) a candidate is still required to have the same level of musical literacy to be able to manipulate notes and other musical symbols and signs correctly on the stave. If they don’t have this equivalent degree of understanding, the software will be difficult to use as it won’t behave as the candidate expects it to.
Any candidate who continues their musical studies will at some point encounter notation software and be required to know how to use it confidently. This is an important 21st Century skill for musicians, and developing familiarity through the Digital Theory exams will be useful for any candidate.
AE: Were there particular challenges in adapting the higher Grade 6 to 8 Music Theory exams, which I understand are also available digitally with immediate effect?
FC: The exam platform and notation software we are using meet all the requirements of the upper grades perfectly, so we didn’t experience any issues with this. We use a combination of different question types, and Grades 6-8 are no different from the others in this respect.
AE: So what would you say were the particular challenges of adapting Music Theory to an online digital exam experience, and how have you managed to overcome them?
FC: We were fortunate that all the various question types used in our paper-based exams translated easily to the digital platform with only minimal adjustments. We were keen to ensure that the demands of the notation editor are appropriate to the age of candidates likely to enter for each grade: only the basic features of the editor are required at the earliest grades, with more complex features introduced gradually as the grades progress.
This is supported by the familiarisation area on the digital platform, where candidates are introduced to the aspects of the notation editor which are applicable to their grade.
The greatest challenge was ensuring that we could ensure the security of the exam whilst making it available on demand and from home, without requiring a challenging software set up or creating a process difficult for parents or teachers to manage remotely.
AE: Right, that’s certainly important, I think! Will candidates need to download and install special software to take the exam?
FC: No, we wanted to avoid anything that makes the exam experience tricky for candidates working from their home or from a school.
Both the exam platform that delivers the test questions and the proctoring system that acts as the ‘digital invigilator’ run through the Chrome browser, negating the need to download any other software. All that is required in addition to Chrome is a reliable internet connection, and either a desktop or laptop computer.
AE: The notation software used in the digital exam sounds really good, and having had a play with it myself, I’m very impressed. Can you tell us more about it?
FC: Flat.io is a lovely piece of software. It’s used in the industry and in education widely. It’s a very intuitive notation editor which has been customised specifically for Trinity’s exams by Music Gurus, the platform provider through which the exams are delivered, so that only the tools necessary for the exams are displayed.
There was a balance for us in the planning of the digitisation of the exams. We wanted to use authentic software; after all, any candidates who continue their musical studies are likely to need to understand how to use notation software at some point. But we wanted the user experience to be as simple as possible so as not to be difficult for younger learners to use.
We ran several rounds of testing with children as young as 6. It was a lesson for us… they were far quicker to adapt to using the software than many adults might be!
However, we’re keen that all candidates have a chance to experience the software as often as possible before taking their exam so they feel comfortable, and to that end we have a page on our website on which people can play around with the notation editor and learn how to complete the various question types.
We also provide a familiarisation area on the exam platform once an exam has been purchased. This takes candidates through each type of question in the exam, and they can visit this area as many times as they want to in the 28-day window they have before taking their test.
AE: Also, I think readers will be interested to hear more about the proctoring aspect of the exam. It’s an aspect that can cause some disquiet, and I’m keen to hear how you approached this…
FC: This perhaps took the most time for us in the exam design. We wanted something that would enable convenience… ‘any place, any time’ was important for us to achieve, and that could mean any time throughout a 24-hour period as we have international candidates working in all time zones.
We also wanted to find a solution which felt comfortable for teachers, parents, guardians, and candidates, and in our research, we heard many times that the idea of a remote live proctor (i.e. a human watching the candidate via the webcam) wasn’t the most desirable approach.
The solution we have alighted on is an industry standard AI (Artificial Intelligence) proctoring solution. Using the webcam and microphone, and recording the desktop, the AI monitors the candidate’s activities throughout the exam, and raises a ‘flag’ if it detects any activity we might consider to be cheating.
Some examples of this might be if the microphone picks up conversation, or if the camera detects an additional person in the room, or if the candidate looks away from the screen intently for a sustained period which might suggest they have a ‘crib sheet’ on the desk. Each time the system detects one of these activities, a message pops onto the screen to remind the candidate not to repeat it if they can avoid it.
Once the candidate has completed the exam, the proctoring system presents us with a video of the exam with any flags highlighted on the timeline. Our security team then reviews this in the proctoring system and if there are any questions about the behaviour of the candidate, they get in touch with the teacher or parent to discuss.
We have a lot of information on the website to reassure candidates that they should not worry if the system flags up a reminder about activity detected. We know that when an exam is being taken in the home a younger sibling might pop in unexpectedly, or a clock chime could trigger the microphone. When we review the video, this will be apparent to us, and we will ignore any false alarms.
The videos are all stored securely in the proctoring system and deleted after 30 days.
AE: Are the existing Theory Workbooks unchanged?
FC: Yes, they remain unchanged as the digital exam follows the same format and structure as the written exam.
The theory workbooks provide ideal preparation for the digital theory exams, as do the large range of past papers and model answers available digitally on our TCLP eStore.
The syllabus, whilst unchanged in terms of the requirements, has had a fresh impression to bring the format into line with Trinity’s other music syllabuses, and a section added that explains the differences between the paper and digital exams.
AE: The press announcement of your Digital Music Theory exams stresses that you see these as “retaining the integrity of the musical approach at the heart of Trinity’s music theory exams.”
It’s a striking phrase, and perhaps a good place to conclude our chat would be to expand on this in summary…
FC: Our key objective with the digital version of the theory exams was to retain the true musicality of the exam within an online medium.
For example, take the skill of being able to ‘hear’ the music in your head as you create your own melody on top of a given bass line. If we had tried to convert this to a question type that would work without a notation editor, the candidate wouldn’t necessarily engage in that same internal, musical process of translating from sound to symbol, and making choices about which note to use next.
Technically, we might have been able to prove that a candidate could achieve that translation through providing them with multiple choice examples, but then we would lose the individual creativity of the candidate shaping their own musical material, and the skill of being able to select the notes they need to realise the melody they hear.
Those applied musicianship skills are the real purpose of a theory exam for Trinity. Musical literacy is of course important, but it’s the application of literacy to a much broader set of musicianship skills which enables learners to develop as performers, composers, improvisers, informed listeners and more.
AE: How can someone find out more about the exams?
FC: To explore the Digital Music Theory exams, visit this link to read about the exams, download the specification, watch walk-through videos of the platform, read the handbook and try out sample questions using the notation editor.
The exams can be booked and paid for online here by any applicant. This could be a teacher, a school, a parent, or anyone interested in registering a candidate or multiple candidates for the exam. The exam is managed completely online in the Applicant’s dashboard from which they can access the test itself, the familiarisation area, see the status of their exam once taken and receive their result once marked.
The Music Theory workbooks (grades 1-8), ‘Introducing Theory’, past papers and model answers, and other related publications can be downloaded on the TCLP eStore.
We have a great New Year promotion running on the eStore until the end of January 2024 which provides 25% off any purchase, and we’d like to extend this to Pianodao readers. Just enter the code 25OFFNY at checkout.
AE: Thank you so much again!
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