How Long Did It Take You To Get To Grade 8?
 

I am wondering how Long it took you to get to grade 8 in the classical guitar?

Can you share your experience?

To the unwashed and self-taught out here in fly over country, you'll have to explain what "grade 8" is. (smile)

Dave

It's a grading system used for classical repertoire so that tests can be given appropriately for every level. I know here in Canada we have ten grades plus ARCT (associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto). You can work your way up the grades and take tests every few months when representatives from the ROyal Conservatory offer testing in your town. This may only be a Canadian system, I'm not really sure.

To answer the initial question...

I was at about grade 8 level when I finished high school and went to college to study music (Cambrian College in Sudbury). However, the teacher I had throughout high school was not classically trained, so when I got to college my teacher (who obviously was highly classically trained) put me down to grade 5 to rework basic technique. It then took me three years to get up to ARCT level.

In college I was playing lots... If I had to guess I would say 4-8 hours per day. So, the answer to the question depends on dedication, teacher, time etc...

Agree. I got to grade 8 when I was seventeen, but only because I was getting too big for the desks.

I would guess that most of us in the United States are "ungraded." Some of us are better than others, and (at least personally) play better some days than others. I am self-taught, so have no idea my grade (but would guess 1 or 2 - I was a music major in college and read music very well, and play multiple instruments, but how well on guitar?)

I was wondering how you knew you were grade 8 when you finished high school? Did you take the exam?
Tell me if I am wrong, you spent three years in college to get up to ARCT level from grade 5.
Moreover, can I say a person who even passes the grade 8 (grade 10 in Canada) exam is not necessary to have the equivalent level of a grade 8 student should have in some case?
When you applied to the college to study music, what did the school look at besides your high school diploma?
Finally, a lesson I learned from you. I should always look for a qualified teacher when studying the classical guitar. :)

Thanks for your input!

Ps I was surprise and sorry that your high school guitar teacher wasn't a "well trained" instructor!

I think this should clarify a few things...

1) I knew what grade I was at the end of high school because the conservatory publishes an elaborate syllabus... It tells you what pieces/studies/scales/ sight reading etc... you need to play to be at that level. I met those expectations.

2) Just because someone plays all the right notes in classical music does not necessarily mean they are playing the music well. I think that the RCM testing is based a lot on note accuracy not musicianship. More than that, for all of my pre-college exams the adjudicators were all pianists. So they had the sheet music in front of them and a checklist of things to look for. In the eyes of the conservatory I was a teenage kid that met all their criteria and deserved a certificate that said this.

Nowadays even when I play those same pieces listed as grade 5 level, I am playing them as an ARCT player. That is to say, the knowledge that you learn going through proper classical training is a lot more than just where to put your fingers.

3) When I got to my college application, they looked at many things. There was an audition and a written application that was a large part. My RCM certificates, (I.e. the exams I had done in high school) showed dedication and at the very least a base knowledge of the classical guitar. My college professor was fully aware that I was coming from a background of non-classically trained musicians, but he was still encrouaged that we weren't starting from nothing.

4) My high school guitar teacher (BTW these were private lessons, not my high school classroom music teacher) was not a bad teacher, he just wasn't classically trained, therefore the technique and musicianship he was teaching me was not coming from a classical frame of mind. Things like posture, phrasing, voicing etc... were just totally lost. He was however a good sight reader, improviser etc... and I learnt a lot of basic music concepts from him that I use to this day.

I know this is a long post, but it has been a long journey for me. My musical development is coming from lots of places. The conservatory and college were two very large parts of that development.

Hi Bobbio84, thanks for your replies!

You have the college music background, maybe you could give me some of your thoughts. Do you think it's possible to get into college to study music when a person in his mid age?

LOL....killing me. :roll:

Not to start something, but I had a big discussion on the classical forum a couple years a back about this very thing. Someone mentioned the level system (in England, I believe) and I took offense because, to me, you can either play at a professional level or you can't. The idea of taking tests to see if you're 'good enough' is totally foreign to me. If you're capable of functioning in a professional musical environment, then, to me, you're good enough. I just can't see relying on someone else to judge that unless he/she is paying me. Maybe it's different across the pond.