A Personal View On Examining

When I became an examiner my teaching improved as I realized several things:

Examiners do not mark technique – we mark the musical outcome. Students start from a pass mark and (hopefully) gain marks en route. It’s OK to change bowings and fingerings to suit individual needs – no marks will be deducted if the integrity of the music is enhanced and the style is convincing. Usually, a more personalized account makes the music flow better and students are less worried about ‘getting it right’.  Occasionally, it’s better to sacrifice a detail if it helps the overall flow and is more convincing.

The style and idiom are crucial and errors will be less obvious if the musical elements are clear. Consider limiting vibrato in baroque pieces, having mostly inaudible shifts in classical ones and adding slides to the jazzy ones. Open strings in the early grades are preferable to mistuned 4^th fingers, but open E’s can be strident so they need a lighter bow stroke. Harmonics can often solve a technical issue. A little fresh rosin the day before and clean strings help hugely.

Each section is marked separately, so one brilliant piece will not compensate for a lack of minor scales. Students should refocus on the next part after errors and not ever give up! Even attempting sight-reading gives some marks that might make the difference to the overall grade.

In pieces, it’s good to add extensive dynamics and shaping – marks will increase as the music will be more expressive. Tonal variety is usually the first thing to disappear under pressure, so check that the music is full of shaping and contrasts well in advance. If dynamics are only added in the final lesson, they will not survive on the day!

Candidates can choose the order of the exam although it’s often best to do the A piece, then B and C. If students are most worried about the A piece, perhaps starting with another one may help them relax. Handing the examiner a slip with the order when they walk in with a smile is helpful.

Tuning is critical and can cost marks. The teacher can come into the room and tune the instrument up to Grade 5. It is best for students to bow and teachers to twist tuners so the arm weight is consistent. I often hear a teacher tune perfectly but then smaller arms can take the pitch up a quarter tone. Moving pegs in advance so there is some slack with the tuners is safer and quicker. Tuning is also useful to get accustomed to the acoustic and the piano can also play a few notes to get the balance if desired. If there are lots of open strings in a piece (especially in early grades) it’s useful to ask the pianist to play a chord underneath each string to double check.  It sounds a little obsessive, but it is heart breaking when the A wasn’t quite perfect and then the other strings get further and further away from the truth. We are not able to help with this, so care is essential. From Grade 6, students are expected to tune their own instruments.

There are NO extra marks for playing from memory but some prefer it. Memorising the beginning and end of each piece, pizzicato bars and harmonics gives confidence – you could encourage them to add words at the start to get the pieces flowing. Students should always bring the music. Standing back from the music stand (not leaning in closer for the harder passages) and keeping it as low as possible creates a polished effect, but being comfortable is the most important element. Examiners offer to alter the height and angle of the stand – or the accompanist can do it.

Students can stand anywhere in relation to the examiner and the piano, but preferably not with their back to us please – it makes it harder for us to hear and communication, balance and shaping are challenged. If possible, aim the ‘f holes’ in our direction.

The art of accompanying is worth consideration – we are not examining the pianists but balance is crucial. Encourage candidates to actively keep their eyes moving forward – they tend to stare at the note they are actually playing under pressure and this often makes them play cautiously. Top marks are reserved for a ‘performance’, so changing the point of gaze is helpful to relax (music, bow, fingers, pianist, point of contact and breathe). Repeats are not required unless it is integral to the structure of the music.

Examiners may need a few seconds in between pieces while we write – Grade 1 pieces are very short! Candidates can use these moments to turn the page and find the first note for the next one.

Students tend to play exactly what is written on their music under pressure, so if a bowing or fingering has changed, best to write it in.

Alternative editions of the music are allowable unless the syllabus has specified a particular one (perhaps for a cadenza) but do check the music is the same eg. a change of key may change the difficulty level and therefore not be acceptable. Photocopies are NOT acceptable.

It is worth checking the starting note for each piece or scale quickly (pluck or bow). Starting on the right finger but wrong pitch in the scales will not give the required key – the same applies to sight-reading. Any reasonable fingering is fine.

The sight-reading book is really worth having – the keys and patterns will be totally covered if all the examples are played. It has a range of difficulty and the middle level is what appears in the actual exam. Keeping in the key and pulse gets the most marks, then the dynamics and mood. Tempo is important – better to sacrifice bowings rather than slow down to get them right. There are a few optional (not obligatory) fingerings in the practice books and real tests. Playing other repertoire during the year and two minutes of improvising in every lesson makes a huge difference to the mark here.

Familiarity with the aural tests is essential. Confident and quick answers are best! There are lots of resources to help us teachers and it is really worth the effort. Best to incorporate it all year round. It’s heart breaking to lose marks here when so much work went into the pieces. Balance is all!

Tension makes each student do something different – some crunch the sound, some tighten the left-hand and can’t adjust tuning or shift smoothly, etc. Watching our students perform in relaxed situations can tell us what is likely so that they can focus on that element in particularly.

Practice the exam experience in detail – try setting your usual room up with a desk and chair to recreate the experience. If possible, play in the exam room in advance. Start with how to open the door with an instrument, bow (pointing up or down) and music in hand, how to put the music on the stand easily (tags for easy opening), saying hello and smiling  – it is part of performing and helps them relax and make contact.

There is a huge amount of information on the ABRSM website, but definitely look at the criteria, examples of exams and teaching clips, These music exams and Mini guide to exams. It is worth listening to the opening of each piece on the website if you don’t have the CD, to be aware of the tempo and double check it’s the right music if it’s not in the exam book!

Do guide students to choose pieces that suit them! It is impossible for them to give a committed performance if they don’t like the piece and it is full of elements they know they can’t do easily. Outside the main ABRSM books, there are gems that might excite and motivate a student so they will WANT to play and perform to their best ability. Do explain to your students that we want them to do well and the examiner’s motto is ‘ we do our best to help you do your best’.