AMEB Exam: Piano — Preliminary Grade

Summary: This exam "Preliminary Grade" is my and the first exam out of nine exams in the Australian Music Examination Board series. Listed are my four exam pieces: Canon: Almost There!, Study in A minor, German Dance, The Old Abbey.

What is the AMEB?

"The Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB) tradition started in 1887 at the Universities of Adelaide and Melbourne, emerging 1918 as a national body. Originally offering music examinations only, speech and drama were later added. Today the AMEB is the most widely used assessment system in these fields of study in Australia. It is also the only examination body with formal links to major Australian universities and Ministers for Education." Excerpt from the Foreword, Piano: Preliminary Grade, AMEB

The Exam: Piano Preliminary Grade

I have enrolled for this exam with  Queensland Branch of the AMEB.

I have a page for the Australian Music Examination Board: Piano — Preliminary Grade book, that lists all pieces in this book. My focus here (on this page) is only on the pieces I have selected. The subject code is "1140 Preliminary" and attracts an examination fee of $62.10.

One good thing: My studio has so many students being examined that the examiner will visit the studio. What is good about that? Well, the piano should be familiar… at least I hope so, by the time my exam is on… some time in November or December 2007.

My Selection

In essence: The syllabus requires the student to choose four pieces. So far (Sep 1st, 2007), I have selected a Canon and a piece from List A. On Sep 7th I added the List B piece. On Sep 29th, durng my 13th piano lesson I seleced List C, No. 1 as my fourth piece for the preliminary piano exam:

1. Canon: Almost There!, by Rita Sandra Crews
2. List A: No. 3 — Study in A minor, by August Eberhard Müller
3. List B: No. 3 — German Dance, by Jospeh Haydn
4. List C: No. 1 — The Old Abbey, by Thomas (Frederick) Dunhill

When my tutor asked me which of the pieces I would like to select, my first response was: Well, let's pick the easy ones! It is an exam, why make it hard on myself? And she replied (along the line of): Well, I reckon you want to develop musically. A greater challenge should enthuse rather than deter, if you want to get somewhere with your playing. All I can say: she is soo right! … and I selected the pieces by what I liked when I listened to it.

The selection of the canon was simply based on listening to it. Rachael, my piano tutor, played all canons and all three pieces from List A for me, in order to select m preference. I picked the canon "Almost There!" solely on taste. The "Study in A minor" also sounded the nicest ot of the other List A pieces. Easy.

Canon: Almost There!

This canon was composed by Dr. Rita Sandra Crews (1945–). The key issues here are observing the accents, Accents are "conveniently" played by the third finger, notes in the final bar should be gently separated.

About the Composer

Dr. Rita Crews is currently President of the Music Teachers' Association of NSW and editor of The Studio journal. With over 30 years teaching experience at the private and tertiary levels, including distance education, she has been an AMEB written examiner since 1988. She is Deputy Chair of the AMEB (NSW), having been a member of the Board since 1990. She is Head of Professional Development at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music where she teaches research and coordinates the pedagogy stream of the BMus program. For many years Rita lectured in professional development courses for private music teachers through the University of New England and she continues to conduct similar sessions as well as workshops at the behest of various music teachers, conservatoriums and examination organisations, nationally and internationally.

List A: No. 3 — Study in A minor

This canon was composed by August Eberhard Müller (1767–1817).
This is a study in playing expressivley. My tutor had to tease me by saying: "Kiss the engineer good bye, Max". She is soo right! … so, expressivly: here it is important to cultivate a beautiful legato singing tone. Phrases need to be shaped. Legato needs to be smooth and well-connected. Rachael would say: "Play Valentina". We use this term to refer to the beautiful (motion in the) playing of Valentina Lisitsa. Well, I will see what I can make of this piece.

Feel free to listen to  Paul Copeland's interpretation of  AMEB for Piano 2003, Müller, Study in A minor (AMEB Series 15 Preliminary).

About the Composer

August Eberhard Müller, was a German pianist, organist and flautist as well as composer and conductor. He composed concertos, keyboard and chamber music and various vocal works. His early output is Mozartian; his later piano music is more virtuoso in style. He wrote influential piano and flute tutors. August Eberhard Müller was "greatly esteemed" by  Beethoven, and valued by Goethe for his energy when he was in charge of the music in Weimar. He was most known for his propagation of the music of  Haydn and  Mozart, and for his much-reprinted Klavier- [i.e. clavichord] und Fortepiano Schule (1804).

List B: No. 3 — German Dance

Interestingly enough, I was unsuccessful in locating specific information for this particular piece. Never mind, we know from the preliminary grade book, that the key issues to watch out for or focus on are:

• Aim for evenness and consitency in tinal control
• In bar 4 the RH must lift off before repeating the high A…
• Quavers in the melody, especially in bar 7 & 10, need to be absolutely even, both rhythmically and dynamically.
• Hands hand be equally weighted. not differtiating dynamically between the melody and harmony is acceptable at this early level, and suit the rustic character of this piece

Feel free to listen to  Paul Copeland's interpretation of  AMEB for Piano 2003, Haydn, German Dance (AMEB Series 15 Preliminary).

About the Composer

 Franz Joseph Haydn (March 31, 1732 – May 31, 1809) was one of the most prominent composers of the classical period, and is called by some the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". Haydn wrote over 100 symphonies and many string quartets, sonatas and piano trios. He was responsible for great developments in the classical style and forms. Other Haydn music includes masses, operas, and folk song arrangements.

List C: No. 1 — The Old Abbey

An abbey is an old building that was part of a church. Many abbeys in Europe these days are in ruins and in this piece the English composer Thomas Dunhill has tried to evoke the loneliness and quietness of such places.

The Old Abbey by Thomas (Frederick) Dunhill is another tenderly expressive piece like the Study in A minor (see above). It provides an opportunity to explore the development of a beautifully singing legato tone. The espressivo indicates to shape each of the melodic phrases with gentle hints of crescendo and diminuendo.

Things to focus on:

• Take special care that all phrases end gently, softly and smoothly, and with just a hint of a diminuendo for the final note(s).
• Avoid having any trace of a final note that sounds either staccato or accented.
• Aim throughout to have the RH melody ever-so-slightly more singing in tone (i.e. slightly stronger) than the LH accompaniment.

About the Composer

Thomas (Frederick) Dunhill, born Feb. 1, 1877, London, England; died March 13, 1946, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. British composer known for his light operas and songs. Dunhill studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London and was assistant music master at Eton College, 1899–1908. After study with Stanford at the RCM he founded a series of chamber concerts in London to promote music by young British composers. He was most succesful with his chamber music and educational piano pieces.

Visitor's Comments

Entries are shown in the order of latest first.

Author Date / Time	Comment
MaxG from Brisbane wrote on Saturday, February 27, 2010 10:26	Hello Dr. Crews. Well, we had some e-mail communication in the past, where I was asking how you came up with the title for your canon. Yes, I am happy with my Preliminary Grade exam result: A Honours
Dr Rita Crews from Sydney wrote on Friday, January 01, 2010 21:10	Thank you for playing my work! … how did you fare in the exam? — I hope it was successful.