One day workshop for piano teachers – ONLY FEW PLACES REMAINING

“How to help your students achieve their full potential in exams”

Designed to coincide with the new ABRSM piano syllabus, we’re very excited to announce our first one-day workshop for piano teachers aimed specifically at teachers wanting to help their students achieve top marks in ABRSM exams to be held on Thursday 25th October: 9.30am – 4.30pm

Masterclass: Grade 5 and Grade 8

David Hall (MA Cantab FRCO), our musical director at Finchcocks, will be exploring the new ABRSM repertoire for grade 5 and grade 8 pieces. He’ll talk through which pieces might suit which types of students, provide an analysis of likely pitfalls, and help identify teaching techniques to counter them. He’ll also pick out a couple of his recommendations from the alternative lists that aren’t provided in the standard repertoire books.

Workshop: How to teach sight-reading and aural skills

Often a source of anxiety amongst students, aural skills and sight-reading skills are a key component of ABRSM exams and can make the difference between a pass and fail, or a merit and a distinction. Drawing on more than 2 decades of choral experience, David will run through teaching techniques that help build confidence in these areas, and integrate naturally into the weekly routine.

Seminar: How examiners mark exams and Mock exam

Nigel Scaife, a former ABRSM examiner, will outline the framework used by examiners and discuss the key considerations when assessing pieces and scales. Nigel will then give attendees the chance to assess a mock exam for themselves, after which we’ll compare notes and calibrate the results against Nigel’s own assessment.

We’ll be supplying willing candidates for the mock exam, so rest assured that none of our course participants will be asked to perform!

Cost of the tickets is £60 which includes lunch, coffee and cake.