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Joined: Nov 2012
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I'm thinking of restarting piano lessons, which I haven't had in maybe a decade, but I need to figure out what my current skill/knowledge level is. Back in school (early 2000s), I took a bunch of ABRSM exams and I vaguely remember being in grade 7 (both theory and practical) but I can't remember if I ever took the exams or not. Does anyone know if ABRSM keeps records of students' past exam results? And if so, how to access these records?
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I'm sure it may be possible but it's probably irrelevant to now. I am sure abrsm being an english system it will be an expensive bureaucratic nonsense to get marks. Im english but we love forms and follow stupid rules even if we don't believe in them ! I did grade 6 and had 10 year break. The mark sheets were handwritten and very short so not really useful info for a new teacher. I just took a piece to my teacher when I returned and played it this should be the best judge of your ability. They were not interested in my old exams and I didn't think I mentioned it. Lessons are very helpful and you should pick it up again very quickly continue to progress .
Last edited by Moo :); 04/04/21 02:30 AM.
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Joined: Nov 2012
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I'm sure it may be possible but it's probably irrelevant to now. I am sure abrsm being an english system it will be an expensive bureaucratic nonsense to get marks. Im english but we love forms and follow stupid rules even if we don't believe in them ! I did grade 6 and had 10 year break. The mark sheets were handwritten and very short so not really useful info for a new teacher. I just took a piece to my teacher when I returned and played it this should be the best judge of your ability. They were not interested in my old exams and I didn't think I mentioned it. Lessons are very helpful and you should pick it up again very quickly continue to progress . I honestly can't even remember what the mark sheets looked like, LOL. I feel absolutely ancient! I've continued playing off and on after quitting lessons, but mostly pop music/ragtime etc, and just songs that I like, mostly NOT classical. I've done zero practice on scales, arpeggios etc for many many years and I really don't miss it, so if I can skip those during lessons it would be ideal! It would be nice to see what scores I actually got on those ABRSM exams, though.
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I would simply ring up ABRSM Canada and give them your details to see what they say. However, perhaps finding a teacher and working out together what your skill level is now is the best way forward.
Unless you are planning to do more exams, you don't need to do scales and arpeggios and other technical work. They just make for a more rounded musician in my opinion. I rarely perform any technical work at my lessons, and I am doing exams. My teacher knows I am doing them, and she just does checks every now and again to see how they are progressing.
Surprisingly easy, barely an inconvenience. Kawai K8 & Kawai Novus NV10 13x
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I'm thinking of restarting piano lessons, which I haven't had in maybe a decade, but I need to figure out what my current skill/knowledge level is. Your results in long-forgotten piano exams are irrelevant today, so I wouldn't worry about them, if I were you. What's far more important is what you've been doing at the piano since then. BTW, I did every exam in ABRSM grades as a kid (one grade a year), and I'd long ago lost all my certificates and mark sheets, and I can't remember what marks I got for them either. They were only relevant when I switched teachers (which I had to do three times, because I moved, or my teacher moved away) so that my new teacher had some idea of what my strengths & weaknesses were. As a teacher myself now, the same applies - if I was to take an adult restarter as a student, I'd just ask him/her to play something for me: anything, even pop if that's what he has been playing.
If music be the food of love, play on!
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Joined: Nov 2012
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I would simply ring up ABRSM Canada and give them your details to see what they say. However, perhaps finding a teacher and working out together what your skill level is now is the best way forward.
Unless you are planning to do more exams, you don't need to do scales and arpeggios and other technical work. They just make for a more rounded musician in my opinion. I rarely perform any technical work at my lessons, and I am doing exams. My teacher knows I am doing them, and she just does checks every now and again to see how they are progressing. I filled out the contact form on their website, will see what they say! That's a relief to know that teachers don't make you practice any technical stuff. What exams are you taking? [quote=sharra] What's far more important is what you've been doing at the piano since then. BTW, I did every exam in ABRSM grades as a kid (one grade a year), and I'd long ago lost all my certificates and mark sheets, and I can't remember what marks I got for them either. They were only relevant when I switched teachers (which I had to do three times, because I moved, or my teacher moved away) so that my new teacher had some idea of what my strengths & weaknesses were.
As a teacher myself now, the same applies - if I was to take an adult restarter as a student, I'd just ask him/her to play something for me: anything, even pop if that's what he has been playing. Thanks for your input! I just have a question, do you find that your students who quit classes long ago and have been playing on their own for years develop bad habits that are hard to break? Eg. bad fingering, etc.
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Thanks for your input! I just have a question, do you find that your students who quit classes long ago and have been playing on their own for years develop bad habits that are hard to break? Eg. bad fingering, etc. I only take complete child beginners as students, but from years of observation, I'd say that adults who have reached a certain level of competency (around ABRSM grade 6) when they had lessons as kids don't develop bad habits unless they stop playing classical completely. With pop and jazz, it's very easy to develop bad habits - not just fingerings but also a 'thumping' style of playing with all the finesse of a bull elephant. BTW, Elton John has long admitted that he could no longer play Chopin even though he was good enough to win a scholarship into the Royal Academy of Music when he was a kid.
If music be the food of love, play on!
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Abrsm, being from British system, the staff is polite and professional. I am British, and whilst they will do their best to find you data, prepare to wait as they are swamped with their new performance grade exams,aNd not everyone is back from pandemic lock down.
Even if you haven’t had lessons for a while, but still play you probably haven’t lost a lot of knowledge, especially if you were at that grade. How strick you want your lessons is something you need to be clear about when looking for a teacher. After 7 years of lessons, I just started the performance exams...and my teacher likes me to continue with scales and theory, but expects me to manage my own pace. As an adult, you manage your scope, which is great. Also, teachers will recommend fingering, wouldn’t enforce it until you realize you aren’t playing a piece well! That is the fun of being an adult student.
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I only take complete child beginners as students, but from years of observation, I'd say that adults who have reached a certain level of competency (around ABRSM grade 6) when they had lessons as kids don't develop bad habits unless they stop playing classical completely.
With pop and jazz, it's very easy to develop bad habits - not just fingerings but also a 'thumping' style of playing with all the finesse of a bull elephant. BTW, Elton John has long admitted that he could no longer play Chopin even though he was good enough to win a scholarship into the Royal Academy of Music when he was a kid. I can see what you mean about the "thumping" style! I see so many Youtube videos of self-taught people playing pop/jazz etc and their playing has no expression whatsoever, it's just forte all the way through, which is a pity because some of them actually seem to play well otherwise. Abrsm, being from British system, the staff is polite and professional. I am British, and whilst they will do their best to find you data, prepare to wait as they are swamped with their new performance grade exams,aNd not everyone is back from pandemic lock down.
Even if you haven’t had lessons for a while, but still play you probably haven’t lost a lot of knowledge, especially if you were at that grade. How strick you want your lessons is something you need to be clear about when looking for a teacher. After 7 years of lessons, I just started the performance exams...and my teacher likes me to continue with scales and theory, but expects me to manage my own pace. As an adult, you manage your scope, which is great. Also, teachers will recommend fingering, wouldn’t enforce it until you realize you aren’t playing a piece well! That is the fun of being an adult student. That's great insight! I honestly was not a fan (as a kid/teenager) being assigned to learn classical pieces that I didn't care for, so I didn't really practice as much as I should have, lol. Did you learn as a kid and then picked it up again as an adult? I would just like to polish up my skills with the guidance of a teacher, really. I still play some classical pieces but I have trouble with figuring out which fingerings work best and it would be nice to have someone point out what I'm doing wrong.
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by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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