# Adults and grade exams.



## Jaws

I am based in the UK and here we have music exams that are called grades. They are numbered 1-8. These exams seem to be very poorly understood by adults. The exams were originally designed for children to encourage practice and to give an indication or how they were getting on. Many adults think that passing these exams gives them some sort of general musical qualification or standard. This is not the case. What the exams test is too narrow to give any sort of qualification other than one that compares each exam to each other. More confusion is created by music courses and amateur orchestras trying to use these grades as standards in ensemble music. Grades cannot give any standard in ensemble music as they don't test ensemble playing. It is quite possible to have passed grade 8 the most difficult one and to have no experience of playing in any ensemble.

My advice to any adult whose teacher is suggesting one of these exams, is to ask why the teacher thinks that it is a good idea, and also to get them to explain fully about the exam.


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## Moira

Actually the exams are fairly standard throughout the world and tell people what level the person with that grade in music is trained to play at. It says nothing about musicality or actual skill, but it is a reasonably accurate tool to use as assessment of musical know how. Basically Grades 1-4/5 are relatively easy to master. At Grade 5 the person starts to be able to relate to "real music" as in the kind of music composers actually composed for other musicians rather than simple pieces for beginners or arrangements of more difficult pieces. At Grade 5 the person is basically musically literate, but not yet musically educated. By Grade 8 the person has theoretically mastered the instrument sufficiently well to be able to play pretty much anything. 

If I were to advise an adult about doing the exams I would say to do Grade 5 then assess with a teacher how quickly he or she can progress through the other grades. I certainly know of at least one competent musician who never did any grade exams except Grade 8 and that only because it was a requirement for something else.


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## Jaws

Moira said:


> By Grade 8 the person has theoretically mastered the instrument sufficiently well to be able to play pretty much anything.
> 
> .


Grade 8 in the UK must be different. Having passed grade 8 the person will be able to play other pieces with piano where the music complexity isn't more difficult than the pieces they played for the exam. They won't be able to play ensemble pieces unless they already have this skill from playing in ensembles. The technical and musical skills required for the grade 8 exam in the UK are very basic and are looked on by professional musicians as those needed by a beginner. In fact in terms of professional playing work, grade 8 isn't worth anything, it is also too low a standard for anyone to start teaching, if they want to have anything to offer their pupils. Many adults are very confused by these exams because the only reward for passing them is a certificate. Most exams that adults take lead to some form of qualification which can be used for promotion or to show an extra skill at work. The grade exams cannot be used in this way.


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