Like any exam, violin exams can be tough. Regardless of the grade you do, they're supposed to test you and your ability so it's important to be ready for them.
If you're learning to play the violin with a teacher or tutor, they'll likely let you know when they think you're ready to take your next exam.
For those who play the violin or another musical instrument, these exams come in the form of grades. Grades are usually numbered between 1 and 8 and in Australia, they're offered by either the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) or the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), which is UK-based but offers internationally-recognised qualifications and certificates. There are others, too, but for simplicity, these are the ones we've been mostly looking at in our series on violin exams.
Here, we'll look at the best ways to get ready for either of these exams and what you can do to go into your exam feeling confident and ready.
Know the Exam
As with any exam, it's easier to prepare for if you know what it entails. Check the syllabus and any other information you can find on the format of each exam.
It's important to know where your exam is taking place and when, what you'll need for it, the pieces you need to rehearse for it, and what will be expected of you as a violinist.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to mess up an exam is by not knowing what you're supposed to do or being unprepared. Ask your teacher or tutor what it all entails and know it inside-out before the day itself.
If you're preparing for an exam, you'll likely learn about it in your violin lessons, but if you don't, there's plenty of information available online through the awarding bodies' websites, too.
Warm Up
Whether it's before you rehearse a piece, practise some scales, or the exam itself, warming up is essential. A lot of violin lessons will start with warming up.
Your warm-ups might take the form of scales and other technical exercises, but it's also useful to warm up your body. You're going to be using various parts of your body as you play and the last thing you'll want before an exam or before rehearsing is to be all stiff.
By taking the time to warm up every time you're going to play the violin, you can get much more out of every minute you spend playing or practising.
You only need to take a few minutes to do it and it'll help you get more out of your playing.
Rehearse
As with all exams for musical instruments, you'll have a practical part, which always includes specific pieces of music.
Which pieces you need to prepare are known before the exam itself so you'll be able to practise and rehearse them.
It's highly recommended that you do. Before you go into your exam, you should be able to play the pieces in your sleep because you've rehearsed them so much.
As for rehearsing, your teacher or tutor will likely tell you how often you need to practise, but you should know that as with most other skills, it's far more beneficial to practise little and often and a lot in a single sitting.
The law of diminishing returns applies to rehearsing so if you're going to rehearse for six hours, it's better to rehearse for a bit every day of the week rather than do all six hours in one go. This is also true with your violin lessons. It's much better to see your violin teacher several times a week than schedule a long lesson.
Don't forget with rehearsing that you need to ensure that you're playing the pieces well, too. If you can, record yourself or get somebody else to provide you with feedback on your playing.
Practise Scales and Arpeggios
To improve your technical ability, scales and arpeggios are incredibly useful. This is something that may appear quite simple, but it helps you to loosen up and feel more comfortable with your instrument.
Beyond scales and arpeggios, there are also other practice exercises you can do to improve your technique and dexterity.
You can always ask your teacher or tutor about which ones would be best for you or you could look online for them. There are plenty of websites, forums, and other resources available with exercises for violinists.
If you want to go old-school, you can also look for books, guides, and manuals on the violin, which you can find online, in bookshops, or a library.
Practise Sight-Reading
Sight-reading is part of both AMEB and ABRSM exams and is a skill that every violinist will need to master if they want to play at the highest levels.
This is another area where it is useful to ask your teacher or tutor for resources. You can always look for examples from the grade you're studying for and many of the syllabi, textbooks, and other related resources have information and exercises for sight-reading.
Have a quick look online for sight-reading lessons and activities!
The Day of the Exam
On the big day itself, you want to get everything right and perform to the best of your ability. One way to put your mind at ease before the exam is through preparation. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll feel on the day.
If you're worried you haven't prepared enough, it'll be too late to do anything about it on the day so you will just have to make peace with the fact and go in and do your best.
To do your best, there are things you can do to prepare. Getting a good night's sleep is always a good place to start. It might be difficult if you're nervous, but the more you've prepared, the easier you'll find it to sleep.
The same is true of what you eat and drink. The day of the exam and the night before aren't the best times to try out some new food. Stick to what you know.
It's useful to plan your day, too. Make sure you know where you have to go and what time you need to leave to arrive with ample time. It's even worthwhile considering doing a dry run of the trip there if you're concerned about getting there on time, traffic, etc.
Arrive with enough time to warm up and make sure you know who you need to speak to, where you need to go, and what time you'll be doing your exam.
Give yourself a margin for error, too, so that if anything goes wrong, you don't show up at your exam flustered or panicked.
You want to arrive prepared and confident, which comes from adequately preparing during your lessons and practice sessions.
What to Do After the Exam
Once you've finished your exams, that's it. Now you just have to wait for your results. There's no point in worrying about it now as there's nothing you can do about it.
It's only once you've received your results you can make an informed decision on your next steps.
Here are your options.
If You Passed
Congratulations! Even if you didn't get the exact result you wanted, you can start working towards the next grade or maybe even skip a grade.
You may be able to take a break from rehearsing as much as you had been or just go back to playing more casually. You might even just want to set your sights on the next grade and strike while the iron is hot.
As the violin grades in Australia are usually at least a year apart (and up to two years for the higher grades), you won't have to go into exam mode for a while yet.
Enjoy your success and enjoy your playing.
If You Failed
Commiserations. If you failed and you expected to fail because you didn't prepare enough, then you know exactly what you need to do next time.
However, if you failed and you were expected to pass, it can be useful to take stock and just look to where you can improve.
If you're working with a teacher or tutor, it's time to get some feedback on your playing, how you rehearse, or even how you practice.
The worst thing you can do is lose confidence in your playing. Your job now is to use any feedback you have to become a better violinist and even look to different ways to progress more effectively.
You can always take the grade again once you've picked yourself back up and are ready to go again!
Getting Help with Your Violin Exam
If you're struggling with your violin lessons or not making the progress you expected, it might be worthwhile looking for help either from friends and family or from a dedicated private violin tutor.
We must learn in the right way and what works for one person mightn't work for another. With private tutoring, you can find someone who can teach you effectively and knows the teaching approaches that you respond best to.
You can also work with someone specifically to focus on the exam and come up with a watertight plan to make sure that you're ready for your next violin exam!
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