It is one of those question which has multiple
right answers and one of those where it is important to understand what it is
clearly, before you delve into it. Grades would give you a parameter to judge
your knowledge abilities, however, it doesn’t tell you a lot about one’s
musicianship. By musicianship, we mean one’s ability to perform and create one’s
own identity in music. Music, in the end should be played from heart, which
gives you joy and your emotions spoken by your abilities in your instrument.
So, Why does so many Music School encourage
Music Examinations? What can a student take away from it? In this blog post, we
aim to give you insight about how music examinations work and help you take an
informed decision about whether it is right for you.
1. Examination Evaluation Criteria
Most of the Music Exam boards such as Rockschool, Trinity, ABRSM,
etc. organize grade exams from basic levels till the higher grade that is the
8th Grade. The evaluation criteria depends on the content that a student needs
to learn at a particular level. The difficulty level in the techniques and
other factors related to their instrument increases as the grade ascends. The
main purpose of these exams is to give a sense of achievement to the students
as they complete their particular level in their respective instrument. It is
almost like a final report card of your performance in that level. They
evaluate you in various sectors like your theory knowledge, general
musicianship knowledge, application of techniques etc. So these examination can
help you evaluate your progress in the instrument.
2. Reasons of Taking the Exam
These examinations can be taken by anyone, ranging from school
students to young adults to the old. So, each age group might have different
reasons to be taking the exam. For instance, in most young children learning
the guitar, it is a way of evaluating their progress and earn the sense of
achievement as they go through various levels of difficulty. Young adults might
be looking to be enhancing their techniques, listening skills and musicianship
under a structured curriculum or maybe appearing for grades to make their CV
look better. But in the end of it all, it gives you that motivation you need to
keep learning and the confidence of executing the knowledge you have gathered
through various grades. All these different curriculum are created by a team of
qualified professionals, so you really will learn and advance your skill and
knowledge.
3. UCAS Points
All
the major Music exams are internationally recognized and schools like
Rockschool offers UCAS points as you pass their higher grades. These points can
be accumulated and be used to meet the requirements for getting admitted in
undergraduate degree programmes at UK universities and colleges. Every eligible
university has a certain requirement of UCAS points and if you have plans to
join one of them, doing examinations and accumulating those points along with
your skills can be a factor as you pursue admissions in higher education universities
abroad.
4. Learning to perform vs Learning Music for exams
Now lets answer this beast. Which one is better?
Well, even if there are benefits to taking an exam, there are various ways of
succeeding in those exams without trying your hardest and that can be one
downfall to your learning. Even though we come across theories and techniques
along the way, we never understand how to use them in real situations or other
than the examination songs. Whereas, when you are learning to perform, all
those dynamics become an important part of your learning and you utilize them
more efficiently. In the end, it comes to the point where you have to learn
with consciousness and a plan, playing the instrument should become a
passionate hobby. Learning and applying them go hand in hand, otherwise there
is no use learning theory and techniques if you can’t utilize them in real live
performances.
So, in conclusion, it all depends on how you approach
music learning. Music Examination can help you get better and really good if
you consciously practice the techniques and learn them to utilize it in your
playing and in the end of it all, you have an evaluation which gives you the
picture of your progress that can be a huge motivating factor in your learning
curve.
BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and Recording Studio services.
BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools.
The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.
References :
- https://activatemusic.academy/seven-reasons-music-exam/
- https://www.rslawards.com/about-us/ucas-points/
- http://blog.mymusictheory.com/2011/why-take-a-music-theory-exam/
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