The ABRSM has just released a great feature on its website called “On Your Marks”. This resource allows you to watch and assess all the elements of an ABRSM piano exam (similar AMEB, ANZCA, Trinity) and compare your assessment with the ABRSM Chief Examiner, John Holmes.
The page is split into the four main exam sections: technical work, pieces, aural tests and sight reading. After watching a video of the student performing in each section, you can select your mark.
When you’ve made your assessment, you can compare it to the Chief Examiner’s mark and watch a video explaining why he marked the piano exam the way he did.
Why I like it
Firstly, it’s fun to use!
This is a great resource for both students and teachers. Teachers can confirm that their own thinking is on-track with an examiner’s; students can see what it’s like to sit a piano exam and they can compare themselves to the performances in the videos. I was also impressed that the webpage was just as easy to access on a mobile phone.
How to Create a Piano Syllabus by the Author of AMEB Piano for Leisure Series 4
by Tim Topham
This article first appeared in The Piano Teacher magazine, Issue 11, 2017. Access the full online magazine for free here. ***Discount Available for Australian readers: 20% off and free shipping. Find out more here. Available for a limited time.*** Have you ever thought how much fun it would be to create your own set of ... How to mark a piano exam | “On Your Marks” ABRSM
TTTV019: Everything But The Pieces (Part 2) with Abe Cytrynowski: Technical Work & General Knowledge
by Tim Topham
In part four of the exam focus series, I’m talking with Abe Cytrynowski about technical work & general knowledge. Abe is passionate about scales. Yes, you read that correctly! Often, scales can make both student and teacher eyes glaze over. Scales are done on autopilot, the muscle memory takes over and students are barely aware ... TTTV019: Everything But The Pieces (Part 2) with Abe Cytrynowski: Technical Work & General Knowledge
TTTV044: Studying for an AMEB Teaching Diploma with Tess Hill
by Tim Topham
Looking for this month’s free download? Scroll down and get instant access to Tess’ updated Resource File with quick links to everything you need. The best teachers are lifelong learners, always questioning the way they do things and trying to better themselves. When we continue to learn, we stay passionate about our teaching and have ... TTTV044: Studying for an AMEB Teaching Diploma with Tess Hill
General knowledge/analysis help for your students – Ross Hamilton
by Tim Topham
Have you ever been teaching a piece of music for a student to present at an exam, only to realise a few week’s out that you are not 100% sure of the piece’s analysis/general knowledge requirements? I have, and given the importance that is placed on a student’s understanding of the ‘general knowledge’ surrounding the ... How to mark a piano exam | “On Your Marks” ABRSM
Piano exams: good or bad? What the students think…
by Tim Topham
Firstly, welcome back to my new website – I hope you enjoy the layout and functionality that your email subscriptions are still working properly. As part of my 3v40: making the most of exams presentation at this year’s Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference, I interviewed three of my students regarding their experience of piano exams and ... How to mark a piano exam | “On Your Marks” ABRSM
This month, to help piano teachers with their understanding of piano exams, I have two fantastic guest posts from experienced AMEB examiners. Today’s post is all about a creative new piano syllabus. Rockschool is a syllabus run in the United Kingdom and they have teamed up with AMEB to bring it here. It is all ... How to mark a piano exam | “On Your Marks” ABRSM
Tim Topham is the founder and director of TopMusic. Tim hosts the popular TopCast show, blogs regularly at dev.topmusic.co and speaks at local and international conferences on topics such as pedagogy, business, marketing and entrepreneurship. Tim has been featured in American Music Teacher, The Piano Teacher Magazine, California Music Teacher and EPTA Piano Professional. Tim holds an MBA in Educational Leadership, BMus, DipEd and AMusA.
Thanks for sharing Tim, this is fantastic. I haven’t been on the ABRSM site for a while and didn’t know about this. I tended to mark a bit generously and it was good to hear the analysis. If only the AMEB would do something like this. Their marking system is really quite opaque compared to Trinity Guildhall or ABRSM…
Thanks for your comments 🙂 The ABRSM are really proactive when it comes to apps and teacher education. I think the issue with the AMEB is that without numerical marking (or any public marking reference for that matter), the examiner’s mark can be quite subjective and very much open to interpretation. It will be interesting to see if they ever reconsider this in the future. In the meantime, Trinity and ABRSM have started taking the lead…
Indeed! I mean, to be fair, the AMEB have such a tiny market by comparison and investing in the kind of training that the English exam systems do is pretty tough in Australia. Still, we can hope.
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service. You can change your settings from the cookie declaration page.
Functional cookies
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Share
3 Comments
Thanks for sharing Tim, this is fantastic. I haven’t been on the ABRSM site for a while and didn’t know about this. I tended to mark a bit generously and it was good to hear the analysis. If only the AMEB would do something like this. Their marking system is really quite opaque compared to Trinity Guildhall or ABRSM…
Hey Dan
Thanks for your comments 🙂 The ABRSM are really proactive when it comes to apps and teacher education. I think the issue with the AMEB is that without numerical marking (or any public marking reference for that matter), the examiner’s mark can be quite subjective and very much open to interpretation. It will be interesting to see if they ever reconsider this in the future. In the meantime, Trinity and ABRSM have started taking the lead…
Indeed! I mean, to be fair, the AMEB have such a tiny market by comparison and investing in the kind of training that the English exam systems do is pretty tough in Australia. Still, we can hope.