Northern Music Online Blog

Just where to begin, with a subject like this? Well, nothing like a little controversy, so let us pitch in by stating that, for most of us at least, music exams are quite unnecessary - though that’s a long way from saying that they can’t be a good thing!
Perhaps as good a way as any of looking at music exams is as a tool-kit, because they are there not for their own sake, but rather to do a job. Often, parents will be inclined to see the benefits of studying for exams, but in actuality the key to success probably lies more in the student’s own outlook than in any other single factor. With the help of a good teacher, who’s knowledge of the student makes them best placed to advise as to which exam to take, almost anyone can be successful - so long as i) they really want this, and ii) they work to plan. Where things can sometimes fall down is when the student isn’t really committed for themselves, (say, they agreed to it so as to please someone else), or where they seriously underestimate the amount of work to be done. The following is intended to help everyone involved in i) the decision to take, and ii) the preparation for, music exams.

1. Ask yourself, ‘why?’
First of all, you need a clear reason to enter. So, what’s yours? Without a reason that matters to them, what candidate would take all their teacher’s good advice, up their work-rate, and do everything that needs to be done? Once you can answer this question positively, you are ready for question 2.

2. Am I ready to make the effort?
Let’s not underestimate this requirement. You don’t need to be gifted to do this, (and plenty of gifted students underperform!). You do, however, need to accept that there is going to be effort involved, and commit to a regular practice regime, sometimes more than you are used to. Once you get this far, you are ready to ask perhaps the most important question of all -

3. What do I need to do?
This is the question your teacher needs to hear. This powerful phrase, and it’s sister phrase, “What should I do now?” are likely to elicit the time honoured response “I’m glad you asked me that question!” from your smiling teacher. Ask this question, and mean it, and your teacher will be able to coach you to your best performance. As long as you are prepared to act upon the answer, you really should sail through any grade, unless you’ve been over ambitious in the first place. Sadly, as a teacher, it’s not too often that you hear this question, but when you do, you know you are working with a winner.

Routine. Get one, now. If you are serious about your music grade, you need a daily dose of practice. Ideally, this routine should be well established before you enter, but if not, then do it now. And no, it’s not really optional.

Practice time. It’s what your teacher says it is - minimum! We shudder to think that people would enter music exams and then practice for less than 30 minutes per day. For higher grades, 60 minutes would be a better minimum. Many teachers refuse to enter candidates who don’t establish these minimums, and indeed, why should they?

Understand the Grade requirements clearly. Ask your teacher to go through these with you, and possibly to then do so again for your parents’ benefit. It pays to understand exactly what you are preparing for, so that you can use your time wisely.

Understand the marking system. Marking varies according to the Exam Board, but you should know exactly how many marks are available for each aspect of the exam. This kind of strategic planning makes success, and also high marks, much more likely. Is there a mark for sight reading? How many marks is it worth?

Fully investigate support materials. Are there study materials available specific to the different parts of the grade? Performance CD’s, graded sight reading examples, scale books etc may well be available, and you should try where possible to use them - because others will.

Listen to your teacher. Sounds obvious; but as every teacher knows, much of what they say doesn’t register the first time.

This guide has been produced based on decades of experience working with exam students up to and including degree level. We hope you have found it useful. Teachers are encouraged to contribute to this knowledge bank, for the greater good of all concerned.

Further information for music students is available at www.northernmusiconline.co.uk

What was the first record you bought with your own money? I’m convinced that the distance in time between the purchase and now affects what you tell people. Memory plays tricks, but so does mood. How cool, naff, honest or sophisticated do you want to be? Are you trying to impress? Give people a laugh, or are you unbearably sincere, honest and down to earth about your bygone tastes?

Over the years I have told people that my first record was “Those Were the days” by Mary Hopkins (slightly sophisticated, after all Paul McCartney wrote it, but also naff because it was a winner on ‘Opportunity Knocks’). Sometimes I have said it was “Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West” by Benny Hill (good fun, but then slightly dodgy in these politically correct times). It could have been Peter Sarsted’s “Where Do You Go to My Lovely?” (bit more bedsit studenty that one, shows the awakening of an adult conscience). Then again it might have been “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies (shows a fondness for a good pop tune).

Actually it was none of the above in my case. I know for a fact it was “Get it On” by T. Rex. I can be sure of this because one friday I was in my local corner shop and I heard Margaret Johnson the shopkeeper’s daughter, talking to her mates in between blowing bubbles of chewing gum. She said “Have you heard T. Rex’s new record? It’s like really cool y’know”. It was the best sentence I’d ever heard spoken. I rushed out next day to buy that record from a shop in Pontefract indoor market. It cost 7/6d in old money. It was on the ‘Fly’ record label and the B side was “Life’s a Gas”. I never hear it on the radio now without thinking about Margaret Johnson blowing bubbly gum.

To read Ian’s latest article, “What a Wonderful World,” visit www.northernmusiconline.co.uk

If somebody told you that Jimi Hendrix once queued up at Harry Ramsden’s Fish Shop for his supper, you might possibly think that they were pulling your leg. You might also think that a fisherman’s tale was being spun if you were told that Hendrix blasted out a version of Purple Haze at a hotel in Ilkley, that’s now a nursing home. And that a Police Sergeant on a bicycle dressed in regulation gaberdine raincoat threatened to arrest him.

All these things happened, right here in Yorkshire back in 1967. Some lads who ran a blues club called “The Giro” in the ballroom of what was then the Troutbeck Hotel at Ilkley booked a relatively unknown blues singer just over from America. By the time the gig took place “Hey Joe” was riding high in the pop charts, but to his credit Hendrix honoured the gig at this little Yorkshire blues club. Instead of a handful of blues fans and a wet dog turning up on a quiet, rainy Sunday night, the place was thronged by hundreds of boisterous teenagers.

Enter Sergeant Tommy Chapman. He had been doing his rounds and heard a commotion. Realising the place was well overcrowded, he forced his way through the mass to the stage, and tapping Hendrix on the shoulder, told him “Turn down that racket!” and pulled the plug.

Hundreds of disillusioned hippies from all over the West Riding queued up to get their money back; some of them queued twice!

Later on that evening, a woman called Sheila Lilley was waiting to be served at Harry Ramsden’s famous fish shop. behind her in the line appeared none other than Jimi Hendrix dressed in psychadelic gear. He said to Sheila that he was sorry that the gig had to be cancelled after just one number. He signed her a photo. She still has it. Framed on the living room wall.

To read Ian’s latest article, “What a Wonderful World,” visit www.northernmusiconline.co.uk