Skills developed by Students in Recorded Exams versus Face-to-Face Exams

Finally, after 4 years, our students got a chance to appear for their first face-to-face LCM (London College of Music) Exams since 2019.

1. MUSIC EXAM FORMATS

Prior to the Pandemic, there was only standard face-to-face Format of Music Exams that students sat for.

But post-pandemic, Music Boards like LCM started to provide the following Format of Exams (other boards have equivalents)

1 - Face-To-Face Exams

2 - Recorded Exams

3 - Live Online Exams (but my students haven't appeared in this format)

For the last 3 years, students have been preparing for Exams in the Recorded Format.

2. FACE-TO-FACE VERSUS RECORDED EXAMS (LCM)

Components of Recorded Exam:

1 - Technical Work (20 Marks) - Present a Preset order of Technical Work

2 - Repertoire (60 Marks) - Present 3 Pieces from the Exam Repertoire List

3 - Discussion (20 Marks) - Present a Preset Set of Questions

Components of Face-to-Face Exam:

1 - Technical Work (15 Marks) - Candidate prepares from a Set, from which the examiner calls out a few at random

2 - Repertoire (60 Marks) - Candidate presents 3 Prepared Pieces from the Exam Repertoire List

3 - Discussion (7 Marks) - Examiner can ask Candidate Questions from a wide variety of topics from present and past Grades

4 - Sight Reading (10 Marks) - Candidate gets 1 minute to study a short extract of Music and perform it

5 - Aural Tests (8 Marks) - Candidate has to Answer Rhythm/Pulse or Pitch Based Questions after listening to the Examiner play

3. DIFFERENCE IN SKILLS DEVELOPED

1. Technical Work - In face-to-face exams, the candidate has to be prepared with a much larger Technical Work Set as compared to the Technical Work in Recorded Exams. Also, the candidates have to deal with element of surprise by listening for the item that the examiner calls out and perform it promptly with the parameters given by the Examiner such as Hands Together or Separate, Legato or Staccato, Loud or Soft. And the candidates have to just deal with it and move on if they blank out, make errors, slips, etc

For Recorded Exams, the candidate already knows what they need to present beforehand and can practice more deliberately. Also the candidate can re-take a recording if they're not happy with their recording

2. Repertoire - While this element of the exam is more at par between Face-to-Face versus Recorded, the one major thing that separates the two is that the candidate can re-record in the Recorded Exam while in the face-to-face exams the student wont get a second chance.

3. Discussion - Again face-to-face candidates can be asked anything from a wide variety of topics, while those doing Recorded Exams have to answer from a preset exam list

4. Aural Tests - Candidates going for Recorded Exams don't have this element, while Face-to-Face candidates have to deal with this element

5. Sight Reading - Candidates going for Recorded Exams don't have this element, while Face-to-Face candidates have to deal with this element also

4. IN CONCLUSION

All this alludes to the fact that candidates preparing for face-to-face Exams really have to prepare a lot more, prepare for a lot more surprise elements, deal with more exam components. The rigor, training and discipline pays off over a long term period.

How has the scene been in the 4 Years since 2019?

1 - Many Candidates presently doing the Middle Grades (4-5) last did a face-to-face exam when they were perhaps in Grade 1 (or below)

2 - Likewise, many candidates presently doing their Advanced Grades (6-8) now previously did a Face-To-Face Exam when they were Grade 3 (or below)

3 - There are also Candidates for whom this was their first ever Music Exam

The third category of candidates was where the teachers found it easy to prepare as the journey was more or less straight forward.

However for the first and second categories of students mentioned above, there is a steeper learning curve to deal with, more learning gaps to fill (in terms of components and rigour from across the missed grades)

While many teachers would have covered elements like sight reading and aural in the Interim years, the way a student focuses and commits when they have to prepare for an exam is another level altogether.