Damian OxboroughComments Off on Update: Resumption of Music Exams
Many of my students have been confused and perplexed by the various and changing arrangements for graded instrumental exams over the past year or so. For clarity, I have trawled through the info for the three main boards that my students enter and provide a little info for each below: ABRSM Face to face exams resume in June. From the… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Update: Music Theory / Composition
The vast majority of my students first and foremost learn some musical performance skill: how to play piano / guitar / ukulele / bass or to sing. Along the way, most inevitably encounter issues of music theory. Theory is, after all, a lot to do with the written language of music – how we communicate our musical ideas to one… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Lesson Availability, w/c 8th July 2019
Last week was a really good week for my students: two have got good passes in their ABRSM piano exams – a Grade 4 and a Grade 7. I always feel really pleased for people who come out of an exam with the grade that they deserve. Especially because I remember failing a piano exam when I was a teenager;… Read more »
The closing date to enter for ABRSM’s spring exams (period 4 Mar – 6 Apr) is this Friday. So, if you want to enter an instrumental practical exam, now is the time to get your entry in. Remember, if you are a new candidate, you will first need to register with their website, and this can take a day or… Read more »
Last week I received in the post my copy of the ABRSM syllabus for (classical) guitar – a little booklet outlining everything candidates and teachers need to know about guitar exams for this board from 2019 onward. In truth, very little has changed on the guitar specification from previous years: all the exercises (scales, arpeggios etc.), sight reading and aural… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Today’s ABRSM Exams in Crossflatts, Bingley
Today I went to Windstruments Music House to accompany my friend Matthew’s ABRSM grade 3 trumpet exam, which was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in an exam room. A bit of background: Matthew is someone I’ve known since childhood – we met at Salt Grammar School in Saltaire as we started our studies towards GCSE Music, continued on… Read more »
