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Friends and regular followers of this blog will know that I took my piano performance diploma in December. I am pleased to announced that I passed – with Distinction! Without wishing to blow my own trumpet too much, this is a significant achievement for me: to have studied for and taken a high-level music exam in my mid-forties, some thirty years after I took my Grade 8 is no slouch, and I’m very glad I did it. I owe a debt of gratitude to my teacher, who gave me the confidence and self-belief to do it. Also to those friends and colleagues who have been so supportive – hearing me play, offering advice, putting up with me cancelling dinner dates etc. And not forgetting my loyal page-turner, Andy, a good friend of mine, and one of my students, who accompanied me to practice rooms in Edgware Road ahead of the exam, and who carried my briefcase containing my scores to the exam centre in Greenwich on the day.

Anyone who thinks a diploma is a step up from Grade 8, think again. While it is a logical next step for a competent musician who has achieved Grade 8, a diploma, even at the lowest, Associate level, is significantly more involved, requiring a high degree of attainment, combined with a professional attitude to preparation, communication, musicality, presentation and stagecraft. The diploma itself is a professional qualification, recognised by other musicians and music professionals around the world. (One of my students, Eli (10), described my Diploma as “Grade 14”!)

Diploma candidates are expected to create a recital programme that demonstrates a range of musical styles, moods and tempi, as well as artistic coherence, and to provide programme notes for each piece. Marks are awarded, or deducted for the artistic balance, planning and timing of the programme as a whole. One of the nicest things a friend said to me about my programme was “When I read it, I really wanted to hear it”.

Candidates are also assessed on ‘stagecraft’, which is more than just ‘presentation skills’ in the manner of, say, a job interview. The exam should be treated as a professional public recital, and one’s clothing, attitude and communication should reflect this. For me this was one of the harder aspects of the exam, as I have, until recently, always been a reluctant performer.

Here’s my advice on preparing for a diploma, based on my recent experience:

Repertoire: Select pieces you know you want to spend time with: you may be working on them for a year or more, and you need to love every piece to hold your interest and excitement. Don’t be tempted to select repertoire because you think it will “impress the examiner”, such as a Chopin Ballade or a big Beethoven Sonata, but choose pieces which you feel will highlight your skills and demonstrate your ability to tackle a range of music. If you have time, consider learning one or two extra pieces than you need to for your recital to give yourself some flexibility when organising your programme. You can plan a programme entirely from the published repertoire list, or a mixture of own-choice and set list pieces, or entirely own-choice (if including own-choice repertoire, you must seek approval in advance – allow plenty of time for this as it can take up to 20 weeks). As your exam date grows near, try to recall what excited you about the pieces in the first place – you want to convey that excitement and passion in your performance.

Stagecraft: Get as much performing practice in as possible ahead of the exam – play for friends, do competitions and festivals, masterclasses, courses. Have a proper dress rehearsal in your exam clothes in advance and practice walking to the piano, bowing, pauses between pieces etc. I also regularly recorded myself playing – but don’t listen to your recordings immediately afterwards. Leave it a day or so, and then listen. It is an incredible useful exercise and can highlight areas which need refining.

Check the regulations: Go through the exam regulations and syllabus very carefully. Some Diplomas have pre-requisites (such as proof of a pass at Grade 8) for entry. Make sure you qualify and ensure you fulfill all the exam entry criteria. An oversight here could lead to disqualification. Check the closing dates for entries and the exam seasons.

Practice on a variety of instruments: Play as many different pianos as you can, especially if, like me, you do not have a grand piano yourself. Rehearsal rooms can be hired from as little as £10/hour: Jaques Samuels in central London has a Steinway D and a dinky little Kawai baby grand, both very good instruments (I actually preferred the Kawai to the Steinway, which spooked me). Don’t expect the set up on the day to be perfect: I was fortunate to warm up and perform on Steinways but the piano stool in the exam room was wobbly!

Ahead of the exam: Make sure you know where to go. Do a practice run, if necessary, to check out transport links, parking, practice facilities etc. Sometimes exam centres will even allow you to try the piano in advance – it’s worth asking. Write your programme notes and have them proof-read/checked by someone else. Print your notes on good-quality paper or lightweight card. Make sure you include timings for each piece as well as the duration of the whole programme.

Don’t over-practice: In the final days before my exam, I cut back on my practice time, and what practice I did was mostly spent on openings and endings. Some pieces needed to segue into one another (Bach ‘Toccata’ to Debussy ‘Sarabande’, for example), while I wanted a longer pause after the Schubert (Impromptu in E Flat, Op 90/2) and the Liszt Sonetto. All these details count: don’t stint on them.

The day before the exam: Don’t over do it! I did a light run through of the entire programme and spent the rest of the day doing very little. It is important to keep body and mind rested ahead of a performance. Play your pieces quietly and slowly, or play music which you enjoy, just for relaxation. Avoid alcohol and make sure you get a good night’s sleep.

On the day of the exam: Do very light practice. Try and rest as much as possible. On the day of my exam, I got up late, did light practice, got changed and packed my briefcase. I did everything slowly and quietly.

I think the most important factor I drew from the whole diploma experience is that if you are well-prepared you should have nothing to fear. I had been working on my repertoire for over a year, in the case of some pieces, and I knew everything really well. (You are not required to play from memory and no extra marks are awarded for pianists who play from memory.) I loved every single piece in my programme and was excited about presenting the programme to the examiner on the day. I wore a dress that was comfortable – I was very careful to choose something that had no tickly labels or other distractions. All these things are very important.

All in all, I found the whole experience of studying for, and taking a music Diploma extremely positive. To immerse oneself in a set of pieces for such a long time, to know them intimately, and to grow to love them, was deeply satisfying. I also learnt how to practice deeply, thoughtfully and productively, useful skills which I can pass on to my students. And the end result, not just a pass, but a pass with Distinction, endorses everything I do at the piano, day in day out.

There are many different music diplomas to choose from, and plenty of support for those studying for a diploma. Summer schools and courses are also a great way of sharing repertoire and gaining useful insights from the professionals, as well as offering an opportunity to have your playing critiqued by peers. The current issue of Pianist magazine contains comprehensive details of summer schools.

So, what next? No sooner had I read the exam report and chatted to a friend who took her Diploma on the same day as me (and who also gained a Distinction) than I started looking at the LTCL repertoire….

Further resources:

Trinity College of Music Diplomas Overview of different types of diplomas, repertoire lists, regulations, entry forms and entry information

ABRSM Diplomas Overview of different types of diplomas, regulations, repertoire lists, supporting material for viva voce requirement, and writing programme notes.

London College of Music (Thames Valley University) Diplomas

Writing programme notes

Rehearsal rooms for hire in central London

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I was browsing the sheet music in Blandford Forum’s Oxfam bookshop at the weekend. Tucked behind a vocal score was a slim volume of early piano music which brought a rush of involuntary memory (the so-called “Proustian Rush”), and which took me right back to Mrs Scott’s pink and mauve piano room in Sutton Coldfield, circa 1973. Mrs Scott was my first piano teacher, an elegant, and, to me, very elderly, white-haired lady, whose husband would silently bring her cups of tea in a bone china teacup and saucer while she was teaching. When I was a little girl, I would be dropped off at her house by car, or would walk there with my mother, but when I was older (around 10 or 11), I would cycle to her house, my music flung in the basket on the front of my bike. Sometimes my cat would follow me and as I pedalled along the road, he would dart across gardens. Fearing he would get so far and then be lost, I often had to take the cat home, lock him in the house and then pedal at high speed to get to my lesson on time. Mrs Scott was never terribly impressed if my lateness was caused by my pet!

The music which released this rush of memory was Felix Swinstead’s The Way Ahead. The volume was identical to the one I had, with the typeface suggesting a road, the long, lonely road of study, perhaps. The book contained pieces with trite titles such as ‘A Tender Flower’, ‘The Water Mill’ or ‘March Wind’. He also compiled and edited a number of other volumes which I probably had as a child – for example, Step by Step to the Classics and Work and Play.

Swinstead (1880-1959) was a pupil of renowned teacher Tobias Matthay, and is primarily remembered (just!) as a composer of educational music, though he did compose other music. His entire working life was spent at the Royal Academy of Music, from scholarship entry to full professorship and eventually retirement. He was also an examiner for the Associated Board, and his pieces still appear regularly in ABRSM exam repertoire lists as well as study books and albums of music for young players. ‘A Tender Flower’ is in the current ABRSM Grade 1 syllabus, though my Grade 1 students have tended to select Pauline Hall’s rather more racy ‘Tarantella’ as their list B piece!

Radio Three’s Breakfast programme is also cashing in on the ‘Proustian Rush’ by inviting listeners to contribute music which has a particular resonance for them: “…..a piece that evokes strong memories of childhood, or reminds you of long lost friends, or perhaps a piece you associate with a particular time in your life”. We all have pieces like this, tucked away in the recesses of our memory, which, on hearing, can take us to back to a certain place or point in our lives. Here is just a handful of my choices (links open in Spotify), though I am not sharing the actual memories!

Mozart – Clarinet Quintet, K581. Larghetto

Finzi – 5 Bagatelles, Opus 23. Prelude

Beethoven – ‘Archduke’ Trio, Opus 97, Allegro moderato

Schubert – Impromptu in A Flat, D899/4

Debussy – La fille aux cheveux de lin, Preludes, Books 1

Handel – Concerto for Harp in B Flat

As a postscript to this, I also came across the score of Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Chorale & Fugue in the same Oxfam bookshop. I opened it, read some of it and decided it was too advanced for me, and returned the score to the shelf. The next afternoon, I heard the piece performed in its entirety at an ‘at home’ recital given by the student of a friend of mine.  A rather neat coincidence. (Incidentally, the student, who is working towards his Masters at the University of Cape Town, played the piece with huge conviction and impressive bravado.) Here is Richter playing the Chorale.

For further information on Radio Three’s Your Call feature click here.

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My keen adult student, Andy, came for his lesson today, the first in nearly a month (he’s been away filming at various music festivals), and we worked on Petit Mystère, a charming, Debussy-esque piece by French composer (and contemporary of Claude Debussy) Simone Plé. This is one of those deceptively simple pieces which requires great control and balance, and a strong affinity for impressionistic music, to create the right mood. It forms part of the current syllabus for the Trinity Guildhall Grade 2 exam.

I’ve recently switched to Trinity Guildhall, after three years teaching the ABRSM syllabus. My main motivation for trying a new exam board is that I have had a couple of run-ins with ABRSM this year, and have found the syllabus requirements very rigorous and unbending. Many early/young students find the scale and sight-reading requirements onerous and uninteresting – and in a couple of instances, downright scary. In the Trinity Guildhall syllabus, students are required to learn only a handful of very pertinent scales and arpeggios, and instead present three short studies to demonstrate technique such as tone, balance, voicing, touch. And instead of sight-reading, at least up to Grade 5, students may opt instead for the Musical Knowledge test. To me, this is a really useful and relevant component of a music exam, and my recent experiences with a new student, and a couple of non-piano students who came to me for aural training who seemed completely unaware of the different genres and styles of music, nor the context in which it was created, have made me even more fervent about ensuring that all my students (and indeed those of others!) have a good, basic grounding of the history of classical music, musical terms and signs, lives of the great composers etc.

These days, with easy-to-access music programmes such as Spotify and LastFM there really is no excuse for broadening one’s musical tastes and interests. Equally, there is a great variety of music available on the radio: tune in to Breakfast on Radio 3 from 7 to 10 am, and you can hear all sorts of interesting music – and not just pure classical either! I quite often make playlists on Spotify to share with my students to give them some “further listening” to help them with their pieces.

For Andy’s study of Petit Mystère, I’ve suggested Debussy’s Prélude à l’après Midi d’un faune, The Little Shepherd and Hommage à Rameau, plus the first Mazurka from the Opus 50 by Karol Syzmanowski (a piece I am learning myself at the moment). Hopefully, this will give Andy a greater “feel” for the music he is learning, and will also set it in context for him.

Meanwhile, for him and the rest of my students, I’ve prepared a brief overview of basic musical analysis, something I do with all my students whenever we start work on a new piece. This is a crucial exercise, which should be incorporated into a regular practice regime, before you have played a single note. I do it, usually away from the keyboard, with a pencil behind my ear for annotations.  You can view my helpsheet ANATOMY OF A PIECE. Next term, I will be asking all of my students to prepare a similar basic analysis of one of their pieces. I will publish the best/most imaginative/amusing ones here.

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This question seems particularly pertinent as I help prepare another crop of students for their piano exams. The question was, in fact, put to me last week by a student of another teacher (Clarinet) who came to me for some extra aural training ahead of his Grade 5 exam next week. I found myself quoting from the ABRSM website when I said “Aural tests help to train your musical ear, and to help you make an important link between listening to music and playing music”.

I think most of us who took music exams as children would agree that, along with sight-reading, the aural tests were the most dreaded element of the graded music exam. I can still remember being “trained” by my music teacher at school, Mr Weaver, and, in my nervousness, finding it almost impossible to sing a simple major third or fifth. (I was also tested for perfect pitch when I was about 12, in front of the entire class, which was excruciating and cringe-makingly awful.) One of my students, Laurie, absolutely refuses to sing for me and so when we come to the part of the test, where he is required to sing an echo, we mime (or I sing it for him), on the strict understanding that he will sing at his exam!

Joking apart, as well as forming an integral part of the graded music exams, training the musical ear is a crucial process for the developing musician. Intelligent and informed listening lies at the heart of good music making, whether listening to others, or to oneself, and is fundamental to music training, especially for performance. The key aspects from the Prep or Initial stage are:

  • Identifying and clapping a pulse
  • Clapping a rhythm
  • Singing and echo or pitching notes in a sequence
  • Identifying simple features in an extract of music – e.g. detached or smooth playing, loud or soft

As one proceeds through the graded exams, additional skills are tested

  • Identifying a rhythmic or pitch change in an extract of music
  • Identifying features such as staccato, legato, dynamic, tempo or key changes
  • Singing and identifying intervals
  • Identifying cadences
  • Learning to appreciate music from different periods – e.g. Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, Jazz

What bothered me while working with the other teacher’s student last week was that the child had no idea why he was required to take an aural test, hence my explanation about training the musical ear. Being able to identify a pulse is crucially important, for any musician, and those of us who have played in ensembles or orchestras can surely still remember the player/s who could not keep time. I regularly do pulse and rhythm exercises with my teacher, and anyone who has learnt ‘Bah-Ba-Doo-Bah’ (John Kember, ABRSM Grade 2 syllabus) with me this term has had to do a lot of clapping and counting to master the syncopation in this piece.

Singing is also incredibly useful as a musician, and I often sing (not especially well!) to demonstrate a line of melody or the shape of a phrase. So much music follows a “singing line”, and singing a phrase rather than playing it demonstrates “natural shaping” which comes from the innate rise and fall of the human voice. It’s a pity that so many students are reluctant to sing because I think if they were more prepared to try it, they would find phrasing music so much easier.

When I worked with the clarinet student last week, I was astonished at his lack of knowledge of music history and the distinct periods in classical music. He did not even realise that the piece he played for me was jazz! He came armed with a book on how to improve your aural, and, flicking through it, it fell open on a page about the main periods of classical music. Each one – Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern – had four bullet points identifying the key features. When I played an extract of a Gershwin Prelude (No 2 – the middle section) he reeled off the salient features of Baroque music – and my heart sank.

If one doesn’t develop an appreciation and understanding of different kinds of music – and not just ‘classical’ music, but jazz, rock, pop, world, ambient, electronic etc – how can one properly understand how to interpret and play a piece properly? One of the first things I do when looking at a new piece with a student is set the music in context. When we study Bach, we look at the kinds of keyboard instruments he was writing for (I have pictures loaded onto my iPad) and listen to Bach played on the harpsichord or organ. While working on a simplified version of Schubert’s ‘Trout’ with a student recently, I played both the sung version and the quintet to him. Result: the next week he was beginning to play the piece with clearer phrasing and a nice sense of the “song line”.

I was very fortunate when I was growing up: my parents were keen concert-goers and LP buyers, and of course there was live music in the house because my father played in both a wind ensemble and an orchestra. From a very early age, I went to concerts, and my tastes and knowledge developed quickly. Listening and playing were normal activities for me – and remain so today. But many children who are learning instruments now are doing just that – learning the instrument, without being taught an appreciation of music. Perhaps their parents are not interested in music, or the school is not encouraging an appreciation? I admit I’m on something of a mission to encourage my students to both play well and to love music: if just one or two of them remember what they did with me as students when they are browsing iTunes or similar when they’re older, and they download some Beethoven piano sonatas, or one of Schubert’s String Quartets, then I can consider my job well done.

So, there is a lot of point to aural – and it is important for us, as teachers, to explain WHY!