Music practical assistance

the Shaman

So the music practicals are coming up and i'd like to think i'm somewhat prepared however for my keyboard practical i'm not sure how grades work? and whats the minimum grade in the junior cert practical?and how can I tell a piece is of a certain grade?

emersyn

I don't do music but no one else has answered this so I'll tell you what I found from googling around:
There isn't an official minimum grade as such (source) but the examiner will probably be expecting most students to be around grade 2/3 standard (source). The grading system is just a way of determining how skilled you are at playing your instrument. You can take exams for each grade (although as far as I know the only real use for them at this stage of your life is giving yourself a standard to measure yourself against, you definitely don't need to have passed any grade exams to do your junior/leaving cert music). The last link may give you an idea of whether your pieces are suitable for the exam but if you're still unsure you should post the ones you have chosen and see what people think, there's often other people on here getting advice from people on their pieces.

sryanbruen

For me on playing the piano, I had to be at least grade 2 to do it for JC. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I'm only on primary grade and therefore, I had to do Recorder instead for my JC.

^ This is just my experience.

spurious

For JC, whatever you play, try and play it competently.
Don't pick something too complicated or technically difficult.

tuisginideach

sryanbruen wrote: »

For me on playing the piano, I had to be at least grade 2 to do it for JC. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I'm only on primary grade and therefore, I had to do Recorder instead for my JC.

^ This is just my experience.

Surely this can't be right - the Dept wouldn't have different standards for different instruments - you are either good enough to pass the practical exam on the instrument or you're not - why would piano be any different to any other instrument?

picturehangup

Hi OP,
The State Exams Commission state clearly in the jC Syllabus, that the expectation for the practical is the standard you would reasonably reach in a class-based situation for three years. This would cover music-making activities such as recorder, group or choir singing, where everyone would be learning the same thing. the grade system is never referred to. It sounds that you have exceeded this basic level if you have been receiving private lessons on keyboard. Doesn't automatically mean you will do better than anyone doing class-based activities either. But remember, play music you can perform well, ie fluent, with no hesitations, incorrect notes or rhythms. Follow the dynamics on the page. Communicate your enjoyment of same to your examiner. You will do better by playing simpler music well, than complex music badly. Let us know how you get on.