How to Prepare for Grade 8 Theory (ABRSM)

How to Prepare for Grade 8 Theory (ABRSM):

The best way to prepare for any theory exam is to study the Music Theory in Practice textbook relevant to that grade. Presuming the student has done this, here are some tips for securing more marks through additional study in the weeks leading up to the exam:

1: Study Additional Relevant Materials

Helpful study aids can be divided into two groups of material; firstly, supplementary publications published by ABRSM, and secondly, books not designed for the course, which develop skills relevant to the exam.

ABRSM Titles: I would recommend that the student purchases past papers. These are especially helpful for getting used to the time constraints if done under exam conditions. Having completed a past paper, the student may also want to refer to the Music Theory in Practice Model Answers, which correspond to that particular past paper. This publication provides full mark answers for each question and is particularly useful for improving section three, melodic composition, because there is no clear cut right or wrong answer elsewhere for the student to check his or her answer against.

Another useful title is the AB Guide to Music Theory by Eric Taylor. This comes in two volumes covering grades 1-5 and 6-8 respectively. The student may find the list of foreign language musical terms in the 1-5 volume especially helpful since sections four and five require the student to give the meaning of numerous score directions.

Other Materials: Sections one to three all focus on a stylistic approach to harmony and melody. Along with learning the rules of the style, for instance avoiding parallel fifths in the Trio Sonata question, the best way for the student to make his/her writing in historical genres more elegant and authentic is by studying examples of this style rigorously with the hope of assimilating its stylistic elements. Thus in the case of section one, which deals with the realisation of a figured bass in a trio sonata texture, the student should study as many examples of the form as possible by composers such as Handel and Corelli. Any level of engagement with these pieces would be useful whether this involves having a CD on in the background or taking apart the textures while score reading at the piano. The student can approach sections two and three in exactly the same way by exploring the nineteenth century piano repertoire in the case of section two and Classical and Romantic melodic writing in the case of section three.

In section five the student must answer questions on an orchestral extract and not surprisingly is asked to display considerable knowledge of the individual instruments of the orchestra. In my experience, the best way to improve understanding in this area is through the thorough study of an orchestration textbook containing description of the technical aspects of each instrument in turn. Samuel Adler's The Study of Orchestration is a particularly good example of the genre. Specialised books of this nature can be rather expensive so the student might want to take the opportunity to borrow a copy from a music library. Learning the ranges and idiomatic effects of the individual instruments will also help improve the answer to section three in which the student must write a melody for a specific instrument. Obviously the more effectively the melody is tailored to the instrument the better the answer.

2: Develop a Strategy for Managing your Time Efficiently

The duration of the exam is three hours. The time constraints may seem daunting at first. I have always advised students to complete sections four and five first because they normally consist of short questions with ideal answers consisting of between one word and a couple of sentences. Thus because it is normally a case of the student either knowing or not knowing the right answer, it is a good idea to get these sections out of the way as quickly as possible. The student can devote the rest of the time to sections one to three which are much more open ended in nature. If the student feels that he/she has produced good answers to these sections and still has time to spare than he/she should check through sections one and two looking for grammatical errors in the harmony such as parallels and consecutives.

3: Make a Check-list

In the practice period leading up to the exam, the student may find that he/she has a tendency to repeat similar mistakes in sections one and two. Should this become an issue, the student should make a check-list of these errors and memorise it before entering the exam. These may then each be checked off in turn before the end of the exam.

4: A Way Round Identifying the Composer in Section Four or Five.

In these sections the student is often asked to choose the most likely composer from a choice of three. Students have often asked me what to do if faced with composers with whose idiom they are unfamiliar. In my experience the best way round this problem is to learn the historical periods to which canonic composers belong. This is far quicker than absorbing the idiom of a wide range of composers and is highly effective since the three composers listed in the paper are always spaced in time. Thus if the student needs to make a choice between Bach and Liszt and knows that Bach is an eighteenth century Baroque composer and Liszt a nineteenth century Romantic composer, he/she should be able to make the correct choice based on whether the extract displays Baroque or Romantic stylistic traits without needing to be an expert on the idiom of specific composers.

I hope that these tips prove useful to any student browsing the site looking for ways to improve their theory results. Many of thee issues discussed above also apply to the preceding grades.

Good Luck!