Performance vs Face-to-Face
This post is for those whose children have just started learning music and who haven't yet figured everything out.
No matter what instrument your child plays, at some point, the question of taking exams arises. There are four main exam boards: ABRSM, Trinity, MTB, and Rock School. The most popular of them is still ABRSM. People criticize it, but they still sign up for it. On the other hand, 20 years ago, when I was just starting to teach piano here, it was already being criticized, so not much has changed in that regard. :)
In the past, exams could only be taken in real-time at one of the centers. COVID changed a lot, and now performance exams have appeared.
Here’s a brief overview of the differences.
Face-to-face exams are held several times a year (three times for ABRSM, for example) and include: 3 pieces, sightreading, scales, and aural training (solfeggio).
Performance exams consist of four pieces, recorded consecutively on video.
It would seem that performance exams are better than the old format. You don’t need to worry, you don’t need to rush, you can record as many times as you want until you get the perfect recording, and you can register and upload the recording at any time. Not to mention that you don’t have to worry about sightreading, aural training, and scales. Everyone rushed to take the performance exams!
However, I still suggest that many parents sign up for face-to-face exams. For several reasons. There’s a sense of the exam. The child perceives it as something serious, and I think it’s a valuable experience. Of course, I don’t recommend this option to those who are delicate and sensitive.
The second reason: the deadline. Maybe you’re lucky, and your child is responsible from birth, practices well and consistently, brushes their teeth without being reminded, and asks for workbooks to improve their handwriting. And they sit down at the piano on their own to work on scales. This happens, but not for everyone.
For all the other regular children, deadlines help. They are inevitable, unchangeable, and help to manage time, practice, and most importantly, set a clear goal. Clear goals are needed not just by us adults.
The third reason: scales. By this, I mean everything—scales themselves, arpeggios, the chromatic scale.
Parents, forgive me if you were tormented by scales in music school as children and now have to listen to them again and sometimes practice this joy with your own kids. Left to right and back again, over and over. With the correct fingers every time.
I feel your pain. I deeply sympathize, but there’s no way around scales. They are your child’s technique, knowledge of key signatures, help in reading music, and, pardon me, all of Mozart and not just him. I don’t reduce Mozart to just scales, of course, but try learning any of his sonatas without them. Many teachers still give scales to those preparing for a performance grade. I do, and I give études as well. But the motivation isn’t the same.
An official exam has more weight than your regular teacher, whom you see every week.
In general, if you have a sensitive, hyper-responsible child who is used to doing everything 100%, sign them up for a performance grade. It’s a wonderful invention of humanity. If your child is more laid-back (read: doesn’t care much), set a deadline and go for the face-to-face exam. And practice scales. If it’s completely unbearable, earplugs help a lot. :)
In the past, exams could only be taken in real-time at one of the centers. COVID changed a lot, and now performance exams have appeared.
Here’s a brief overview of the differences.
Face-to-face exams are held several times a year (three times for ABRSM, for example) and include: 3 pieces, sightreading, scales, and aural training (solfeggio).
Performance exams consist of four pieces, recorded consecutively on video.
It would seem that performance exams are better than the old format. You don’t need to worry, you don’t need to rush, you can record as many times as you want until you get the perfect recording, and you can register and upload the recording at any time. Not to mention that you don’t have to worry about sightreading, aural training, and scales. Everyone rushed to take the performance exams!
However, I still suggest that many parents sign up for face-to-face exams. For several reasons. There’s a sense of the exam. The child perceives it as something serious, and I think it’s a valuable experience. Of course, I don’t recommend this option to those who are delicate and sensitive.
The second reason: the deadline. Maybe you’re lucky, and your child is responsible from birth, practices well and consistently, brushes their teeth without being reminded, and asks for workbooks to improve their handwriting. And they sit down at the piano on their own to work on scales. This happens, but not for everyone.
For all the other regular children, deadlines help. They are inevitable, unchangeable, and help to manage time, practice, and most importantly, set a clear goal. Clear goals are needed not just by us adults.
The third reason: scales. By this, I mean everything—scales themselves, arpeggios, the chromatic scale.
Parents, forgive me if you were tormented by scales in music school as children and now have to listen to them again and sometimes practice this joy with your own kids. Left to right and back again, over and over. With the correct fingers every time.
I feel your pain. I deeply sympathize, but there’s no way around scales. They are your child’s technique, knowledge of key signatures, help in reading music, and, pardon me, all of Mozart and not just him. I don’t reduce Mozart to just scales, of course, but try learning any of his sonatas without them. Many teachers still give scales to those preparing for a performance grade. I do, and I give études as well. But the motivation isn’t the same.
An official exam has more weight than your regular teacher, whom you see every week.
In general, if you have a sensitive, hyper-responsible child who is used to doing everything 100%, sign them up for a performance grade. It’s a wonderful invention of humanity. If your child is more laid-back (read: doesn’t care much), set a deadline and go for the face-to-face exam. And practice scales. If it’s completely unbearable, earplugs help a lot. :)
