Exams are an excellent tool for measuring a student's progress, giving students an opportunity to perform, and gives them a goal or an incentive to practice regularly.  Best of all, passing an exam gives a student a feeling of accomplishment.  An exam report also gives parents a good insight to what their child is learning and how well they are progressing.  Exams can be helpful to the teacher too.  During the exam preparation the teacher can see the student's strengths and weaknesses and can shift the focus of the lessons accordingly.  Most importantly, exam preparation ensures that no aspect of the music lessons are being left out.  Practical, technical, general knowledge, sight reading and aural skills are all covered. ​

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Once a student has mastered the basics of Piano, Flute or Theory they may wish to start working towards exam following the AMEB Syllabus.

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AMEB Exams ​​​​​​​​​​

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Students who would like external recognition of their achievements may choose to sit for the AMEB Examinations.  The AMEB offers several exam periods per year for Practical (Piano and Flute) and once per year for Written (Theory of Music). 

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Process:-

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Each grade has set technical work and a variety of pieces which must be thoroughly prepared.  It usually takes a year to prepare for an AMEB exam, although it is possible (in the lower grades) to do two exams in a year if the student is very talented and dedicated.  In higher grades, students may need to take 18 months or 2 years to adequately cover all the requirements satisfactorialy.

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The exam date is set by the AMEB and cannot be changed.  When enrolling for the exam parents have the option to state if they are unavailable on certain days (due to religious reasons) or if there is a certain timeslot they have to avoid (for example, if you know your child will be going on a school camp for 3 days during the AMEB examination period you may ask for the exam to NOT be held on those days.)  Please note, however, that you CANNOT ask for a specific date or time, you can only exclude certain days.  See me if you need more information about this. 

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Once the exam date is set it is the responsibility of the parent/student to get themselves to the examining location (which is usually a local studio or a central location).  You must be there 20 minutes before your scheduled time. 

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The student enters the examination room alone and the exam is conducted with only the examiner and student in the room, for Piano exams.  For flute exams, the accompanist is allowed in the examining room only for the duration of the pieces which require accompaniment. (See Accompaniment page for more information) For Theory Exams, the exam takes place in a school hall-type of examination setting.

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Practical Exams will usually, but not always, follow the format of

1) Technical work

2) Set pieces

3) Extra list (only the grades for which it is a requirement)

4) General Knowledge

5) Aural tests

6) Sight reading 

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Results are sent to me within the following fortnight.

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Costs:-​

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​Students choosing the AMEB option will need to purchase the necessary AMEB Grade book for their level of playing.  These are readily available from most music stores.

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The AMEB also charges a fee for each exam. These fees must be paid by a certain date (date varies each year and examination period) or the student will not be able to sit their exam.  The fees are paid to me, and I pass them on directly to the AMEB as a bulk amount, as the AMEB does not accept multiple payments coming from one studio per examination period.

 

The only other cost will be transport to the examination venue.  Students are required to make their own way to the examination venue.  As this is usually a local studio, the transport cost should be minimal.

 

Certificates:-

 

Students will be issued with an AMEB certificate sometime after their exam.  These are sent in bulk to me, and I distrubute them to the appropriate students during their regular weekly lesson.

 

I recommend students keep their report sheet and their certificate together in a safe place.

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