Practical Trombone Grade 1

Subject code: 32

The Trombone requirements and information provide a summary of the most important points that teachers and candidates need to know when taking ABRSM Trombone exams.

They are detailed within the exam sections below (Pieces, Scales and arpeggios, Sight-reading and Aural tests), immediately after the grade-specific requirements, and are available to download here.

• Download Trombone (Brass) requirements and information (PDF)

Further details, as well as administrative information relating to the exams, are given in ABRSM’s Information & Regulations which should be read before an exam booking is made.

Eligibility

There are eight grades of exam for Trombone and candidates may be entered for any grade irrespective of age and without previously having taken any other grade on Trombone. Candidates for a Grade 6, 7 or 8 exam must already have passed ABRSM Grade 5 (or above) in Music Theory, Practical Musicianship or a solo Jazz instrument; for full details, including a list of accepted alternatives, see Regulation 1d.

In the exam

Examiners: Generally, there will be one examiner in the exam room; however, for training and quality assurance purposes, a second examiner may sometimes be present. Examiners may ask to look at the music before or after the performance of a piece (a separate copy is not required: the candidate’s or accompanist’s copy will suffice). Examiners may also decide to stop the performance of a piece when they have heard enough to form a judgment. They will not issue, or comment on, a candidate’s result; instead, the mark form (and certificate for successful candidates) will be issued by ABRSM after the exam.

Tuning: In Grades 1–5, the teacher or accompanist may help tune the candidate’s instrument before the exam begins. In Grades 6–8, candidates must tune their instruments themselves. Examiners are unable to help with tuning.

Music stands: All ABRSM Centres provide a music stand, but candidates are welcome to bring their own if they prefer. The examiner will be happy to help adjust the height or position of the stand.

Order of the exam: The individual sections of the exam may be undertaken in any order, at the candidate’s choice, although it is always preferable for accompanied pieces to be performed consecutively.

Further information

• Assessment
• Obtaining exam music
• Access

From memory, to be played both tongued and with legato tonguing in the following keys:

• Bass clef: Bb major; C minor (one octave)
• Treble clef: C major; D minor (one octave)

Scales: in the above keys (minor in natural or harmonic or melodic form at candidate’s choice)

Arpeggios: the common chords of the above keys for the range indicated

• Purchase Scales and Arpeggios for Trumpet and Brass Band Instruments, Treble Clef (Grades 1-8)
• Purchase Scales and Arpeggios for Trombone, Bass Trombone, Baritone and Euphonium, Bass Clef (Grades 1-8)

Trombone requirements and information: Scales and arpeggios

Examiners will usually ask for at least one of each type of scale/arpeggio etc. required at each grade, as well as aiming to hear a balance of the specified articulations. They will also ask trombone candidates if they are bass- or treble-clef readers.

When asking for requirements, examiners will specify only:

• the key or the starting note
• the articulation

All scales and arpeggios should:

• be played from memory
• be played from the lowest possible tonic/starting note, unless the syllabus indicates otherwise
• ascend and descend according to the specified range
• be played without undue accentuation and at a pace that is consistent with accuracy and distinctness

The choice of breathing place is left to the candidate’s discretion, but taking a breath should not disturb the flow of the scale or arpeggio.

Arpeggios and dominant sevenths are required in root position only.

For transposing instruments, the naming of scales applies to the notation, not the concert pitch; for example, D major for trumpet in Bb will sound in C, not D.

Books of the scale requirements are published for all brass instruments by ABRSM.

• Scale and arpeggio speeds
• Purchase Scales and Arpeggios for Trumpet and Brass Band Instruments, Treble Clef (Grades 1-8)
• Purchase Scales and Arpeggios for Trombone, Bass Trombone, Baritone and Euphonium, Bass Clef (Grades 1-8)

(Bass or treble clef at candidate’s choice) a short piece in simple time within the keys, notes and overall range of the scale requirements set for this grade. Some accidentals, dotted and tied notes may be included.

Trombone requirements and information: Sight-reading

At all grades, candidates will be asked to play a short unaccompanied piece of music which they have not previously seen. They will be given up to half a minute in which to look through and, if they wish, try out all or any part of the test before they are required to play it for assessment. Examiners will ask trombone candidates if they are bass- or treble-clef readers. For practice purposes, books of specimen sight-reading tests are published for all brass instruments by ABRSM.

• Purchase Specimen Sight-Reading Tests for Trombone, Treble and Bass Clef (Grades 1–5)

1. To clap the pulse of a piece played by the examiner, and to identify whether it is in two time or three time. The examiner will start playing the passage, and the candidate should join in as soon as possible, clapping in time and giving a louder clap on the strong beats. The examiner will then ask whether the music is in two time or three time. The candidate is not required to state the time signature.
2. To sing as ‘echoes’ three phrases played by the examiner. The phrases will be two bars long, in a major key, and within the range of tonic–mediant. First the examiner will play the key-chord and the starting note (the tonic) and then count in two bars. After the examiner has played each phrase, the candidate should sing back the echo without a pause, keeping in time.
3. To identify where a change in pitch occurs during a phrase played by the examiner. The phrase will be two bars long, in a major key, and the change will affect only one of the notes. First the examiner will play the key-chord and the tonic and then count in two bars. The examiner will play the phrase twice, making the change in the second playing, after which the candidate should state whether the change was near the beginning or near the end. If necessary, the examiner will play both versions of the phrase again (although this will affect the assessment).
4. To answer questions about two features of a piece played by the examiner. Before playing, the examiner will tell the candidate which two features the questions will be about. The first will be: dynamics (loud/quiet, or sudden/gradual changes); the second will be articulation (smooth/detached).

Trombone requirements and information: Aural tests

Aural test requirements are the same for all subjects.

Listening lies at the heart of all good music-making. Developing aural awareness is fundamental to musical training because having a ‘musical ear’ impacts on all aspects of musicianship. Singing, both silently in the head and out loud, is one of the best ways to develop the ‘musical ear’. It connects the internal imagining of sound, the ‘inner ear’, with the external creation of it, without the necessity of mechanically having to ‘find the note’ on an instrument (important though that connection is). By integrating aural activities in imaginative ways in the lesson, preparation for the aural tests within an exam will be a natural extension of what is already an essential part of the learning experience.

In the exam

Aural tests are an integral part of all Practical graded exams. The tests are administered by the examiner from the piano. For any test that requires a sung response, pitch rather than vocal quality is the object. The examiner will be happy to adapt to the vocal range of the candidate, whose responses may be sung to any vowel (or consonant followed by a vowel), hummed or whistled (and at a different octave, if appropriate).

Assessment

A number of tests allow for a second attempt or for an additional playing by the examiner, if necessary. Also, where there is hesitation on the part of the candidate, the examiner will be ready to prompt, if necessary. In any such cases, this will affect the assessment. Marks are not awarded for each individual test nor deducted for mistakes but reflect the candidate’s overall response in this section.

• View marking criteria

Specimen tests

Examples of the tests are given in new editions (from 2011) of Specimen Aural Tests and Aural Training in Practice, available for purchase from music retailers and from the ABRSM music shop.

Deaf or hearing-impaired candidates

Deaf or hearing-impaired candidates may opt to respond to alternative tests in place of the standard tests, if requested at the time of entry. Further information, including the syllabus for the alternative tests, is available at www.abrsm.org/specificneeds.