Northern Music Online Blog

Funny thing, reality TV. So often there’s voting involved; which, as we know, can lead to all sorts of amusement. Here is television, which we have already paid for, but for which we are then asked to pay again. And since business is about selling, with potentially large revenues at stake, just how much does that dictate the format of the show? And who, exactly, does the voting?

Take BBC 1’s ‘Last Choir Standing’. A surprising package, which had the potential to drag out a series of summer Saturdays to something approaching infinity, yet which instead chose to hurtle us, all unprepared, towards the autumn schedules. The standard of the choirs as the competition progressed must have shocked many viewers, along with the breadth and scope of the musical arrangements. Witness amateur musicians of all ages, getting together for the joy of singing, passionately creating something bigger than the sum of it’s parts - choral song. It was quite astonishing to see just how far the spur of competition drove the choirs to raise their game, delivering performances and musical arrangements that would not have been out of place in a big budget movie musical.

In the season finale, we had ‘Only Men Aloud’, a Welsh Male Voice choir, singing, with no apparent irony, ‘All By Myself’; Ysgol Glanaethwy, a dynamic young mixed choir, also from Wales, performing ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana; and Revelation, the only remaining Gospel choir, who delivered a stunning version of Mcfadden and Whitehead’s ‘Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now’. If you’d like a quick precis of events, with a list of who sang what, you could visit http://www.lastchoirstanding.com/

Still, there’s no denying that part of the fun in following these Saturday Night talent fests is in predicting how the voting will work out. Not wishing to take anything away from the eventual winners, Only Men Aloud, but on the evidence available one could be forgiven for thinking that the Nation held a bias against Gospel choirs. Looking at the simply mystifying ejection of the superlative ACM Gospel choir in the semi-final, it was hard to see where they might have gone wrong. Having delivered a truly breathtaking performance of ‘Joyful, Joyful’ from Sister Act II, (the best live choral performance I can recall seeing on TV) you had to wonder, were they simply too good for this competition? You can get an idea of the impression created by hearing them live in the studio by visiting Ian Wylie’s blog post, http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ianwylie/2008/08/last_choir_standing.html My own theory on this is that there are in fact two ‘publics’ - there’s the viewing public, and the voting public, and grasping the difference between the two is fundamental to understanding the quirky nature of the results in TV talent competitions, which have shown a tendency to skew in favour of various minorities. The default position, for many viewers switching on the TV, is ‘I’ve paid for my license, I’ll let others pay to vote.’ I, for instance, hold rigidly to that view. Usually. But then your best intentions go out of the window when you realise that you have something in common with one of the participants - be it geography, or some other bias, and in seconds you are reaching for the phone, not once, but two, three or more times. Which in this case is just great for the BBC. Yet, for the non-voters amongst us at least, it honestly felt a little odd to witness a situation where, in the latter stages, stunning contestants were excluded one after another until only the most traditional remained. Yes, we had a winner. But did the process necessarily reveal the best choir, or merely what we British expect a choir to be like? Watching the final, I was left with the intriguing thought that a non-British audience might have voted very differently. 

So, in the interests of equanimity, I would like to propose a new system - One viewer, one (free) vote. Then we could all have our say, and may the best contestant win. But it might just take the fun out of it, though…

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