Preparing for Your Practical Graded Music Exams

Hi everyone,

In this post I'm going to talk to you about preparing for your Practical Graded Music Exams, and I'm going to use a rough timeframe of nine months. But, there's also a couple of things to do before the time frame kicks in.

Look into the Exam Syllabus for Your Instrument & Chosen Exam Board

This is defiantly worth doing, as this way you'll be able to find out if the current syllabus is still within the timeframe for you, as exam syllabuses change every few years. Also, by doing this you will be able to get the list of pieces up for your instrument that are available within your chosen exam boards grades, but the exam board should also have an extended piece list which you can also use within your exam. You may/ may not need to buy the books needed from the extended list, depending if your teacher has a copy or you might have that book within your own personal sheet music collection. Also, when your researching your pieces look into any additional information you need to know and get ready for your exam such as any forms, filming and uploading requirements, price lists for the graded exams and anything else that you may need to know prior to taking the exam.

Research the Pieces You Want to Learn for the Exam

By doing this you will get a feel of what you would like to learn for your exam, and give you a more enjoyable experience. Also, by doing this you might find a few 'back up' pieces that you may want to learn instead of the pieces that you had originally chosen.

Getting the Materials Ready

This means buying the exam materials from your chosen exam board for your chosen grade, and any additional materials you may need from the exam boards extended piece list. Once they have arrived I would recommend that you have a good look through, and choose three pieces that appeal to you the most. Once you start going through your chosen pieces with your teacher, and you feel that aren't quite for you. You can always change out one or all of your pieces for your chosen 'back up' pieces.

1 - 3 Months

This is the stage where you start working towards your chosen exam pieces, and its also the best stage to change out any pieces that you might not be enjoying learning. Within the first month is when you slowly start to get a feel for your chosen pieces, and seeing if you like the pieces that you have chosen. Around the three months stage you should have a better idea of what you are supposed to be doing with the pieces to get the best out of them.

4 - 5 Months

This is the stage on where you start experimenting with how you would like your pieces to sound, and any directions that might need to be worked out. Also, you might want to start to work out any tricky bits that you still need a bit of extra TLC to get the best out of those tricky spots. I would also start slowly working up to the required tempo of your pieces - if you feel ready, and you think that your fingers can cope with it.

6 - 7 Months

Within this stage of your exam preparations is where you will attempt to smooth out the pieces to the best of your ability, and get the pieces to sound the best that they can and so that you can happy with how the pieces will sound when you take the exam. You may want to introduce some 'slow practice' again into your practice to help you to refine your pieces, and you may want to play around with your tonal colours, ornaments and phrasing to see what you can do with your pieces. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with the pieces if you think it will make pieces sound better overall.

8 Weeks Before the Exam

Start practicing the pieces up to tempo again, and get them sound as smooth as they possibly can. Also, prepare on how you would like your routine to be for the exam whether that be scales and arpeggios or exercises first, or would like to do your pieces first. Also, figure out which order that you would like to perform your pieces in.

6 Weeks Before the Exam

Start drilling in your routine for the exam to get you ready for the exam, and you won't feel rushed or tense on the day. Also, get in touch with your teacher and let them know prior to the exam of your routine for the day, so that you are both on same page. Maybe run the exam routine through with your teacher a few weeks before the exam, so that are both comfortable with everything and that you are both prepared.

2 Weeks Before the Exam

Keep drilling the exam routine, but refine the routine to the best of your ability. Also, research anything else that you need to do for the exam such as formatting the name of file, filming settings, making sure that you have enough storage on your filming device, making sure that the funds are available for your chosen exam grade when you are ready to submit your recording to the exam board.

Day of the Exam

On the day of your exam I would relax as much as you possibly can, and maybe run your chosen exam routine a few times. Ideally, make the day as 'stress free' as you can, and just remember that you have put in the hours and hours of practice and preparations to get to where you are. The most anyone that can ask of you is for you to do the best that you can on the day, and that you enjoy the overall experience.

I know that everyone learns pieces, and studies at different rates, so please just use this post as a 'rough' guide. It's just to give you an overall of the prep thats involved for the Graded Practical Exams, and so then you can get the best out of the graded music exams.

Good luck to all of those taking any music exams, and I wish all the best for your results!