abrsm sight reading exams?

[stingrayPete1977]

If you take grades to what extent is the sight reading test a full sight read? Is it a no peeking turn the page and play it job or is it more of a recital of a pre practiced part? Just how simple is grade 1 and how complex is grade 8?

Thanks

[WalMan]

Many moons ago when I was doing piano & trumpet I am sure it was "Here's some notes. Play them for me please" No pre warning, but a moment to shuffle your sorry ass on the piano stool and prepare, then go. As for complexity it was somewhat easier than the stuff you had been practising & practising for the exam, so Grade 8 wouldn't be a blizzard of flysh1t

Then again this is all just a blur of memory from a senile old f@rt so it could all be total rubbish nowadays

Have a read of pages 21 & 33 in [url="http://gb.abrsm.org/resources/theseMusicExams0607.pdf"]THIS[/url] and a quick scoot through a couple of forums suggests Grade 6 SR test is roughly equivalent to Grade 4

Edited January 4, 2013 by WalMan

[stingrayPete1977]

How easy was grade 1 walman, can you remember?

[thodrik]

I did grade 8 on the double bass when I was 17. Essentially it was the case of 'read for 30 seconds, then grip it and rip it' in terms of playing the notes. When playing though, make sure you pay attention to the tempo listed and any notation regarding dynamics, as this is good way to pick up a few marks in the event that you make a complete mess of the actual notes, which I believe is pretty common in such exams.

I always thought that the sight reading pieces were about a grade or two behind the prepared pieces. As with everything, practice makes competent (usually, at least on a good day).

[oggiesnr]

They publish books of practice pieces, well worth getting. I have the Grades 1-5 one and use it quite a bit with my teacher. Grade 8 is scary as it includes reading bass, tenor and treble clefs.

Steve

[stingrayPete1977]

That was the book I was looking at, I'm not even doing the grades but I would like to test myself starting from 1, could be years or never that my reading would be an 8!

[thodrik]

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1357337605' post='1921454']
Grade 8 is scary as it includes reading bass, tenor and treble clefs.

Steve
[/quote]

I forgot about that on the double bass. That was horrid. The worst is the switching from one clef to the other in a short period of time.

[stingrayPete1977]

I won't be able to sit a count the ledger lines and work it out from the C then like I normally do?

[Chrismanbass]

my way to deal with ledger lines is to find myself benchmarks for example 3 ledger lines is G (12th fret g string) 2 is E and one is C that way its a lot quicker to work out notes

i find reading actual songs a lot nicer than just short pieces (try playing through a section of a song without listening to it) and also this will be more representative of acctual reading

see the thread here with loads of transcriptions to try [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/155000-individual-songs-bass-scoredots-where-from/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/155000-individual-songs-bass-scoredots-where-from/[/url]

in terms of exams the exams i've done in sight reading have been a case of you walk in have 2 minutes (or some short amount of time) to look at the piece and then your asked to play

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1357337250' post='1921445']
I did grade 8 on the double bass when I was 17.
[/quote]

BALLS OF STEEEEEEEL.

Seriously though, kudos.

[pete.young]

Also, learn to read the intervals not the actual notes.

[stingrayPete1977]

So much to learn!

[thodrik]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1357347259' post='1921577']
BALLS OF STEEEEEEEL.

Seriously though, kudos.
[/quote]

Thanks, although that was a long time ago now though!

[Jellyfish]

I did grade 1 about 3 years ago now and it was extremely easy. I felt that I'd effectively learnt how to tackle the sight-reading part just by practicing new pieces on a regular basis. As far as I remember, it was about 8 bars and it two bars looked similar but one note varied in pitch which I guess was their way of trying to catching you out.

Bass, tenor, and treble clefs though? Even for grade 8, that just sounds cruel.

[thodrik]

[quote name='Jellyfish' timestamp='1357384756' post='1921854']
I did grade 1 about 3 years ago now and it was extremely easy. I felt that I'd effectively learnt how to tackle the sight-reading part just by practicing new pieces on a regular basis. As far as I remember, it was about 8 bars and it two bars looked similar but one note varied in pitch which I guess was their way of trying to catching you out.

Bass, tenor, and treble clefs though? Even for grade 8, that just sounds cruel.
[/quote]

Doing grade 5 theory before undertaking grade 8 is a good idea just to be familiar with the different clefs. In orchestras though double bassists have to be prepared for playing with different clefs, as after going beyond the first G beyond middle C, trying to write notation in the bass clef gets a bit messy and difficult to read in the bass clef.

From playing the violin at a younger age I didn't really struggle with the treble clef. The tenor clef seemed a bit excessive though!

[oggiesnr]

Unless they've changed the rules you have to pass Grade 5 theory before you can do any higher instrument grades.