Regarding music exams...

Exam syllabi were never designed to form the curriculum of music lessons or become an annual course of study.   Quite often unfortunately, parents want their child to jump onto the exam treadmill.  Sometimes the teachers are being told to commence exam prep "as soon as they complete the foundation coursebook!"  I get tuition enquiries from parents or students which often suggest that the music education journey for them is about chasing paper qualifications rather than regarding it  as a well-rounded, modern, deeper and creative experience that is in line with the student's goals and relevant to the music they love or may like to explore to in the loner term.  Excelling in music exams  or chasing exam levels each year to get to Grade 8 by the time they are year 10 (so that the pursuit of music exams "don't affect their VCE studies!")  or that the student needs to achieve a certain level /grade in supporting his/her application for a scholarship to certain schools are  "goals"  that I have been hearing as "conditions for enrolment" from the outset! 

The sad reality is that when lessons are not about  "preparation and refining for the annual exam",  some students feel they have nothing to practise for! Worse, this has caused many to quit music lessons prematurely due to well-intentioned but misguided pressure and advice from parents who simply want them to sit exams to motivate them to play music!

Sadly, those who quit prematurely never return to lessons or even continue to play again.

When evaluating the question on exam readiness of your child, we should keep the following in mind:-

1) if your child had recently started learning a music instrument or attending our Forte keyboard classes, the AMEB Preliminary level exam is the lowest grade for elementary students who have learned for at least 2.5  years. Forte's Foundation exams provide a mid-way point between the absolute beginner and AMEB Preliminary. Foundation Exams are optional assessment akin to music exams (with feedback but not grading) for students that are keen to sit it;

2) Quality music education is really about learning a range of musicianship skills -playing collaboratively  - in ensembles,  keyboard harmony - knowing how to play accompaniment patterns  through reading lead sheets or given score of the melody or by ear, with or without backing tracks, singing and playing to composing, improvising and arranging. These creative experiences will profoundly and ultimately shape a student's educational experience and set the path to lifelong music making; and

3) Sitting music exams is part of  the learning experience but must not be the sol purpose of why children learn music. We should keep in mind the overarching goal is to continue to create and play music - to love to play the piano or any instrument they are learning!