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Graded Singing Exams (Singing Teachers)
Hi everyone,
So after some encouraging words from Matt I have decided to write my first post! Eeek!
I wanted to know about teachers experiences with exam bodies; ABRSM, Rock school, trinity guildhall etc. I use to teach in Ireland and I used RIAM exam system so I am very familiar with this but am now teaching in England and not sure where to start!
Just pros and cons of your experience, or recommendations for one over the other. Any detail would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Emma x
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16 Replies
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Hi Emma!
Welcome I have only done Rock School, and just Grade 1 with two students (most of mine just learn for fun) but I highly recommend it – I even put myself through Grade 8 through RS and enjoyed the structure and what it covers! Both students passed and it was more in keeping with the style I teach!
Read up on it here: https://www.rslawards.com/
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Hello, I put my students in for the London College of Music Popular Vocals Exams, validated by Thames Valley University. They’ve gone up to Grade 8 and 99.9% have had really good experiences. Although there are guidelines on their website as to which songs go with which grade, in practice you can choose anything, so long as it’s hard enough! The aural and theory tests are quite tricky, so there’s a real sense of progression. Good luck! Alison
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Hi! I use Rockschool for Vocals and ABRSM for Piano and Music Theory:)
I really recommend the Rockschool Vocals syllabus (I’ve taught it up to Grade 7 and I have my Grade 8), the staff are lovely and my students really enjoy it!
ABRSM is better for ‘classical’ styles, which I don’t really teach for vocals, and it is a lot more formal than Rockschool. I would definitely look at their websites, if you have any questions about either of the syllabus’ feel free to ask!
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What songs did you do for your Rock School Grade 8 Beckie, and how did you find it all? When did you do it?
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I took my Grade 8 in December 2013, with the old Rockschool Syllabus (the new one came out the following September) – it was hard work! I ended up singing Apologize by One Republic, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler and Dynamite by Taio Cruz (this was a Grade 5 song but at Grade 8 you can pick one song from any grade). I found the technical exercises quite difficult, I had to spend a fair bit of time sitting at my piano working them out! Ruth guided me really well through it all so she gets some credit too:)
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