I’ve written on several occasions about piano performance diplomas and you can read my ‘Teaching Observations’ series, where those blog posts are housed, here. The ARSM piano performance diploma exam is not a new test, having been around for several years already, and it was originally intended to ‘bridge the gap’ between the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music’s Grade 8 piano exam and the old DipABRSM or Associate diploma exam.

Examination changes

One substantial difference between Grade 8 and the ARSM is that the latter requires a much longer programme yet has none of the expected supporting technical tests such as scales and arpeggios, sight-reading or aural. But that concept has recently been ousted by the ABRSM, with the introduction of their multiple new exam options. Many candidates now opt to take the ‘performance’ Grade 8 where four pieces are to be prepared, recorded and submitted online, as opposed to the ‘live’ or face-to-face exam requiring three pieces and the aforementioned supporting tests. My students usually prefer to take the recorded exam too, rendering those extra tests superfluous. Is this a sensible or regressive move? Certainly missing out technical tests such as scales and arpeggios isn’t a wise choice, but all these subjects can be practised away from the exam room – whether they will be or not is another matter entirely.

The ARSM offers its recipient the chance to put letters behind their name, as do all the ABRSM diplomas, and with this in mind, one would hope that the standard required to pass is relatively high.

I had never previously entered any student for this exam, as mine preferred to move straight to the now defunct DipABRSM performance diploma. The DipABRSM exam was more demanding requiring a 35-minute recital programme (give or take 10%), a viva voce which is essentially a Q&A session based on the candidate’s programme, a written submission (similar to programme notes), and a quick study test also known as sight-reading. In contrast, the ARSM only requires a recital programme lasting approximately 30 minutes (give or take 10%).  

With the demise of the DipARSM last year after the ABRSM restructured their examination system, the ARSM now replaces it. Over the past year, I’ve entered three students for the ARSM and it was an interesting experience for both myself and my students. These students were of varying ages: an 11-year-old, a 13-year-old, and an adult. I wanted to write this post to record my thoughts about the process, practice and preparation, and, most importantly, the results, in the hope that it might be of interest to others helping them decide if this is the right path for them.

Preparing the programme

There are several major positive aspects when preparing for this exam. It’s incredibly beneficial to prepare and present a 30-minute recital and for my younger students especially, it’s a stringent process which takes considerable work and preparation. The work always pays off though as they become accustomed to performing more substantial, lengthy pieces boding well for future exams, festivals, competitions, school scholarship and entrance auditions. The concentration needed to perform well from the beginning to the end of their programme was exhausting, particularly for my adult student who found that she had to do numerous practice ‘play-throughs’ alone in her piano studio (she is also a piano teacher) to get comfortable with the whole process.

My students took at least a year to prepare for their ARSM, and the adult student took longer, mainly due to work constraints and family commitments. I believe that an exam shouldn’t take over a student’s ‘piano life’, so we continued to practice technical work (usually studies) alongside the preparation. I’m fortunate in that I rarely need to teach sight-reading or aural because the institutes where I work provide extra classes in both, which allows me to focus solely on building technique. And to be honest even a 60-minute lesson is not sufficient to work on a 30-minute recital programme, so we learn the repertoire in stages.

Programmes were built on each student’s strengths. The repertoire for the ARSM and the DipABRSM is fairly similar and I’ve written about suggested pieces for this level in a blog post here. We ensured that at least 10 minutes of our programme was a slightly less demanding work/s technically. Conversely, one student opted to include a piece from the LRSM syllabus. This is another big positive point when preparing for most current diplomas: for the ARSM, 10 minutes of the programme can be music of the candidate’s own choice therefore allowing them to move away from the syllabus: the ABRSM piano diploma syllabus can feel limited when compared to other exams boards at this level. Another useful positive is that the ARSM exam can also include Grade 8 repertoire, which is good for those who want to carry over a piece; one of my students opted to play Peter Sculthorpe’s Night Pieces, several of which she had played for her Grade 8 the previous year, offering that extra security and confidence.

The two younger students played their programme entirely from memory although this isn’t a prerequisite.

Once prepared, all three students played through their pieces in the correct performance order once or twice per week for a couple of months beforehand, and then every day during the two-week period running up to the big day. ‘Thinking through’ performances in this way can prove invaluable.

The recording process

My students decided to take the ARSM online although it can still be taken ‘live’, whereas the LRSM and FRSM are now online only exams. The requirement is to record the entire programme at one sitting, and this proved difficult. Recording magnifies our faults and flaws, which is why it’s a useful practice tool. But for those who are new to the process, it can be frustrating. We started with one piece at a time, moving to two and then three. On average my students recorded their complete programmes at least 10 times and I had to listen to a good many of these ‘play-throughs’ so that we could decide the best ‘take’. Some would say this isn’t a true reflection of their playing as performing ‘live’ is so much more revealing. I would agree with this, however, a lot was learned from the recording process itself because listening in this manner encouraged a much more self-critical approach.  

The results

It was good see that the ARSM results were delivered fairly swiftly compared to those for the LRSM or FRSM diploma exams. The ARSM is marked out of 50, which is different to other ABRSM exams; the pass mark is 34, a merit, 40, and a distinction, 45 and above.

Were the results a surprise? Yes, because all three got distinction. Would I have awarded such high marks? Probably not. I was accustomed to preparing pupils for the DipABRSM exam which was certainly a higher level. Examining these results, my view would be that this diploma is a smidgen above the standard required for Grade 8, and those preparing for the LRSM performance diploma afterwards might find the rather glaring hike in level, disconcerting.

I read the mark forms carefully. I used to examine for the ABRSM, so I’m always interested in the comments that accompany the marks. Sadly, some of them were just too complex for younger students to understand and I ended up having to translate. One certainly got the gist of each examiner’s thoughts though, and despite their ‘examination style’ jargon, I mostly agreed with them, but I wonder if these notes could be presented in a far more straight-forward, logical manner? After all, they are intended for students and parents as opposed to teachers.

Reflections

Did I enjoy preparing students for the ARSM? I did. I prefer working with students at this level, and if they are not of the necessary level when they start working with me, I love the challenge presented in guiding them towards it.

It’s worth noting that the ARSM can be a beneficial benchmark and my students felt that it helped to think of it as excellent preparation for a recital or concert, and preparing for this diploma has most definitely improved their playing significantly. If the ARSM is viewed in this way, it might feel like a worthwhile endeavour and with plenty of preparation time and encouragement, hopefully it won’t appear quite so daunting.