Help is here
Calling all students: This is for you! You were my inspiration in for creating this site so this page is dedicated to you.
Use these checklists and hints to get the most out of your practice time.
Ideally you should aim for around 20 minutes of focused practice, 5 days a week if you are sitting exams up to 5th grade. If you’re in those higher grades, then it’s time for you to start getting serious – aim for around 30 – 40 minutes.
This section of the site is roughly divided into three sections:
- Practical Resources – where you can tick off all the things you need to do for a practical exam
- Theory Resources – where you can tick off all the requirements for theory exams
- Aural Resources – for students who undertake Musicianship or for those students who want to practice their singing and aural skills in private.
The information provided here refers to the 2023 Manual of Syllabus. As the AMEB requirements change, we will endeavour to keep these up to date. However, if you notice an error, please let us know!
Each resource now includes:
- Exam requirements
- Stage objectives
- Aural test requirements
- General knowledge questionnaire
- 5th grade and above now includes Time Period Summary sheets
- 7th and 8th grade includes Dominant 7th and Diminished 7th worksheet
Choose your grade from the list below or download the whole list for free.
Pianoforte | Piano for Leisure |
|---|---|
| Preliminary | Preliminary |
| Grade 1 | Grade 1 |
| Grade 2 | Grade 2 |
| Grade 3 | Grade 3 |
| Grade 4 | Grade 4 |
| Grade 5 | Grade 5 |
| Grade 6 | Grade 6 |
| Grade 7 | Grade 7 |
| Grade 8 | Grade 8 |
Listen With Your Heart
Aural work is often overlooked. For a lot of us, the extent of our aural work is being able to hear a song we like and try and replicate it on the piano. This is wonderful but well developed aural skills will be able to elevate your musicianship.
Aural Checklist:
- Recognise the difference between major, harmonic minor, melodic minor and chromatic scales
- Recognise the difference between major and minor chords
- Recognise and name the position of the triads (root, first or second inversion)
- Recognise intervals by quality and quantity (i.e. perfect 5th)
- Recognise cadences (perfect, plagal, imperfect and interrupted)
- Recognise the motion of a two part melody (similar, contrary or oblique)
- Recognise form (binary, ternary, rondo)
- Find the beat
- Remember a phrase and sing it back / write it back
- Dictate a melody with pitch and rhythm
- Dictate a rhythmic pattern (using various note values)
- Pitch (sing) the tonic note to finish a melody
- Remember the upper or lower part of a two part phrase
- Sing the notes that make up a tonic chord
Tips To Improve:
- Start singing your scales as you play (ensuring a comfortable range for your voice ). Aim to be confident with major, melodic minor, harmonic minor and chromatic scales.
- Play and sing intervals..
- Play cadences as you write them for theory grades.
Perfect Cadences will sound good
Plagal Cadences will sound almost religious with an “A-men” tone
Interrupted Cadences will sound…. interrupted
Imperfect Cadences will sound good, but not quite finished - Get used to analysing your own music when you start a new piece.
Identify key, time and form.
Look at the end of each section and identify cadences used. - Listen to what you play.
Critically analyse sounds generated from your fingers and see if it matches the rhythm notated on the music.
Try These Aural Apps
It’s Finally Here
It’s the night before the exam and you want to make sure you’ve got everything prepared.
Here are some final tips:
- Double check your notice of examination for venue and time details.
- Check transport arrangements to avoid last minute delays.
- If working with a page turner, confirm meeting arrangements.
- Rub out all pencil markings – except for pedal markings and phrasing.
- Have tabs to mark where your works are.
- Copy extra pages to avoid page turns.
- For example if your song is 3 pages long, copy the last page and tape it so it sits next to the 2nd page and can be folded in. This does not breach photocopying laws as you have the original.
- The night before the exam get plenty of sleep.
- Plan what you will wear.
These exams are an opportunity to get used to performing. - Bring your Student ID (with photo for Gr 8), sheet music, general knowledge notes, technical work book and Examination Notice!
The F Word
First of all: READ THE REPORT WITH YOUR TEACHER.
Bad days happen. Maybe you had a bad day and misheard which scales to play, or had many finger slips, or were sick. It’s ok. The knee jerk reaction will be to cry, get angry and frustrated. Go for it. I’ve failed an exam or two and it just makes me more determined to get it right the next time.
If you were sick before the exam, get a doctor’s certificate. It might not do much for your marks, but at least the examiner will be aware of your illness. I once had a very capable student fail because she went on a school camp and came back horribly sick. Not her fault and not the examiner’s fault – it was just bad timing.
Remember: Examiners can only assess and mark you according to how you perform on the day
What You Can Do
- READ THE REPORT not just the grade on the bottom.
- Understand that music is very personal to all of us – it is subjective which means you can have two examiners listen to you and they can give you completely different feedback.
- If you feel the examiner was unduly harsh you can approach your teacher with calm facts. Yelling and screaming hysterically do not help your cause.
I once failed an exam because the examiner didn’t know the syllabus. Yup. It happens, they are humans too. After contacting my teacher and the AMEB, my paper was re-marked and I passed. - Re-sit the exam in the next series with either a whole new program or a few new songs.
- Let it go (you sang that line, didn’t you?) and focus on the next grade if you believe it was just a bad day.