Grades & Diplomas

Do Grade Exams Motivate?

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

What part do the Grade exams play in fostering positive motivation? Do they provide a necessary framework for musical advancement, or distract from more important goals? Are they signposts to success, or might they put some learners off playing a musical instrument altogether?

Most teachers will recognise that for some learners, entering for a grade exam seems to spur them towards progress, while for others they can prove less positive.

For more than three decades, I have helped prepare some (but not all) of my students for grade exams, so have had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the pros and cons. I have observed many good reasons for “taking the grades” as well as a few rather misguided ones, and have discovered why many (despite using graded music books and materials) prefer not to take exams.

In this post, I will explore this complex question from various angles and perspectives. I hope that my balanced conclusions will help readers pursue a well informed pathway of progress that suits their individual needs and goals, whether choosing to take the grades or not.

Grade Expectations

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Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

”What grade is this piece?”

Having been a syllabus consultant for three of the top exam boards, compiled several graded anthology publications, and reviewed the main UK grade exam offerings in depth, it’s probably no surprise that I am often asked to comment on the grade level of pieces.

By analysing current and previous repertoire choices set by the boards, we can draw a number of common conclusions about the Grade Expectations underpinning their past and current syllabus selections, but it must be emphasised that as we do so, we quickly discover that considerable variety exists between equally accredited boards, and that standards have notably shifted in recent years.

In this article I will begin by explaining why it is becoming so difficult to assign clear grade levels to pieces. I will then outline the common technical and musical content currently found in the syllabus pieces for each grade level, primarily based on recent ABRSM choices as these remain the widely known and respected, but having also referred to and reviewed the main alternatives.

I will also link to recommendations of suitable music for each grade level, so that those keen to expand their teaching and playing repertoire can explore the wide and wonderful variety of music that is available for today’s players at every level.

The curriculum comes first

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

In the latest issue of Music Teacher magazine, three teachers who I very much respect team up to reflect on current trends in grade exams, and in particular whether “populism is killing progression”, and whether current syllabi are helping teachers to “get the fundamentals right”.

I was particularly struck by this from the ever-brilliant Murray McLachlan:

“Whether boards care to admit it or not, they have a huge responsibility to ensure that grade requirements present a balanced selection of material that will add and guide pedagogical progression for those customers they serve who are primarily or even exclusively exam-oriented. There should be no loopholes or easy options that take away from this surely essential mission.”

I think he makes an important point that ABRSM, Trinity, and the rest need to consider with care.

But in all fairness, are teachers perhaps at times in danger of blaming exam boards for our own failings? Because, whether we care to admit it or not, they have long stressed that their syllabi are not designed to deliver a complete instrumental and vocal curriculum.

The Piano Jukebox

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

The prevalence of pop, game and film tunes in simplified piano arrangements in the latest syllabus publications from ABRSM and Trinity College has led to a healthy debate among teachers and players.

Such arrangements are of course nothing new. It is simply that we are now freshly encountering them in a different context, giving rise to lively discussion about their suitability, broader musical and educational value.

There are issues here that need to be considered carefully, with appropriate attention to context.

Trinity’s Digital Theory Grades

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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…

ABRSM Performance Diplomas

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Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

A few months ago I brought news that exam board ABRSM had announced their intention to replace their range of diploma assessments in performance, teaching and direction with a new set of digital qualifications from 2024.

The popularity of that article underlined the point that these diplomas are not just of interest to several of my regular students, but to a far wider community within the piano playing and teaching world.

Now, with additional information available from ABRSM, it’s time to revisit the topic and bring you this updated replacement.

‘Hanging on a Cliff of Sorrow’

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

The rather stark title of this Fermata blog post comes from a quote found in a book written by two of the world’s leading education experts:

“We have piled onto our children stress upon stress, pressure upon pressure, standardised test upon standardised test.
There is no evidence that this has helped our children’s learning or their futures, but we keep doing it, year after year, to millions upon millions of children the world over.
We have done this helplessly, almost involuntarily, like the victims of some sort of hypnotism, like people in a dream, like lemmings heading for the sea…
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense, for any society or for any child; it is childhood hanging on a cliff of sorrow.”

Pasi Sahlberg & William Doyle: Let the Children Play
(2019, Oxford University Press)

Assuming we respect the research, expertise and authority of Sahlberg and Doyle, as so many leading international organisations and educators do, then their passionate plea obviously deserves our attention.

As well as being an indictment of our present schools system, it follows that those who promote regular graded exams as standardised testing of musical attainment, however well intentioned, are on very shaky ground.

Should Piano Teaching Be Regulated?

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Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

Please note: this article has been written in the context of UK education.
The regulation and politics of music teaching in other countries varies, but the basic principle of our right, ability and freedom to learn applies globally.

The thorny question of whether piano teachers should be legally required to have particular qualifications before ‘being allowed’ to teach regularly crops up online.

It is surely obvious that gaining qualifications should be a basic goal for all professionals. However, it seems equally evident that here in the UK, music teachers enter the profession via many different but complementary routes. A background in performing, the knowledge and skills developed in other professions and through our lived experience all contribute to who we are as teachers, and that’s a virtue which many rightly celebrate.

I believe it is a mistake to conflate good teaching with qualifications in a simplistic way. Most of us remember qualified teachers from our school days who weren’t very good. Similarly, many of us will have met truly inspiring music educators who have little or no formal training.

While the current piano education system in the UK is certainly problematic, and the frustrations and concerns of many good teachers are understandable, intervention by the government could prove disastrous.

Minimum qualifications could only be mandated effectively if the whole profession is regulated and private tuition is rigorously monitored. I very much doubt politicians have an appetite for imposing such regulatory oversight on private tuition and musical activity in the community.

Nor could instrumental tuition be singled out: consistency would demand that similar regulations be imposed equally on all extra-curricular activities, hobbies, clubs, societies, community classes, and educational pursuits. The social implications are stark, ultimately touching on our basic educational rights and even our freedom of thought.

But for the benefit of those who remain interested in the idea, let’s take a few moments to consider what a regulated music teaching profession might look like, and how that might impact educational opportunity and community music making…