Practical Exams

The Associated Board of Music Practical Exams consist of 4 elements. These elements are the same, regardless of the grade being taken.

Exam pieces

Students and their Tutors are to select 3 pieces to play in their exam from the relevant syllabus. One piece is from list A, one from list B and one from list C.
A varied programme should be selected.

Piano Scales & Broken Chords

Scales are technical exercises that denote a particular key. Each note of the musical key is played in turn. Various different scales, in various different keys will be required to be played, by memory. Scales are played in a major and minor key, and depending on the grade, both could be required.
All scales according to the syllabus should be memorized for the exam. The examiner will only ask to hear a small selection during the exam itself. The Instrumental Tutor will be able to guide the student on the style of the scales and any particular requirements according to the instrument being studied.
Arpeggios consist of the chord relating to the key of the scale, and should be learnt alongside the scale.
In the more advanced grades, other scales are introduced into the syllabus, including Chromatic scales, dominant sevenths & diminished sevenths.

Sight-Reading

Sight reading literally means, reading from sight. The student will be expected to play a piece in the examination that the examiner will present to them. It is a piece of music that the student will not have seen previously. The purpose of the sight reading exercise is to test the students’ ability to play and interpret a new piece of music.
The student will be given 30 seconds to look at the music, try out tricky passages and familiarize themselves with the music. The examiner will then ask the student to play the piece of music.
The student is encouraged to include all dynamic and expression markings, interpret the correct speed, and make a good attempt at all rhythm and notation.
The difficulty of the sight reading will depend on the grade of examination being taken.

Aural Training

The aural test section of the examination is to test the general musicianship of the student. The examiner will work with the student and give them various exercises to which the student will have to respond. The tests will be relevant to the grade taken. Tests include the following:

• Singing back a passage played by the examiner on the piano
• Predicting the time signature of a piece of music
• Sight singing a lower or upper part of a melody
• “Spotting the difference” between two almost identical passages
• Commenting on a piece of music with regards to dynamics, style of the piece, composer etc.