When Can I take My Grade 1?

This is a question I often get asked by beginners or their parents. The pupils have typically been with me for a year or two and have seen peers who started piano or another instrument with other teachers at the same time already take their grade 1. The parents remember taking their music exams, typically one a year (https://pianowithanastasia.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-role-ofpiano-exams-ibelieve-that.html) or hear other parents at the school gates talking about little Johnny, who’s so musical, and has been learning for 3 years and is doing grade x. A variation on this theme I had once was, “Lily’s been with you for a couple of terms now, we want her to take grade 1 and will she’ll be grade 5 by the time she leaves primary school?” Let me just consult my crystal ball.....😃

On a more serious note, everyone learns at different speeds, and that learning isn’t linear, but tends to be in steps...just because someone is doing well now, doesn’t mean I can predict what will happen in the future – enjoyment, motivation, practise, time available, their own and parental commitment (ref https://pianowithanastasia.blogspot.com/2020/10/piano-practise-how-parents-can-help.html and https://pianowithanastasia.blogspot.com/2020/09/motivation-and-working-together.html) are all key factors for this.

As regards the ‘how long till grade 1’ question....how long is a piece of string? The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal School of Music) states that from their data they have found that it takes on average three years to get to grade 1 piano from when the pupil first starts. Of course, it can be much quicker – it depends on the age of the pupil as well as their musical background, time and regularity of practise, parental support, and natural aptitude to name but a few parameters.

When comparing piano to another instrument, it should be remembered the degree of co-ordination required to play with two hands, and also the cognitive requirement to read two staves of music at the same time, where a note in the same space on each stave means a totally different note. These factors mean it generally takes longer for beginner pianists to get to grade 1 compared to other instrumentalists. Indeed, it used to be the case that many other instrumental exams only started at grade 3, there was no grade 1 or 2, which reflected this situation.

Many beginners, or early intermediate pianists (grade 1-3) are merely taught to memorise without full understanding, and have little or no musicianship training. This can result in passing early exams quickly, but often these pupils give up when they get further up the grades as there comes a point where it just becomes too challenging this way without a foundation on which to learn. In fact, just recently, one of my beginners, who has been with me around two years, and is almost ready (& keen) to start his grade 1, told me of a friend of his who had just taken her grade 1 although she hadn’t been learning as long, but was already talking about giving up as she was finding it too hard and wasn’t enjoying it.

In order to take an exam, of any level, the pupil should already be comfortably at that level before they start the exam preparation, so that the exam becomes recognition of their level, rather than a mountain to climb. They need to be motivated and want to do an exam, and practising regularly. It can be a good opportunity to perform and a chance for independent feedback, and is a useful part of learning to play for many pupils if gauged correctly, but certainly isn’t essential or a good fit for all. (ref ‘The Role of Piano Exams’, May 2021)

My main focus is, and will always be, enjoyment – learning an instrument may be difficult at times, require dedication and practise, and take a long time, but it should be rewarding and an enriching experience, resulting in producing a well rounded musician, not just someone who can play notes on a piano.