Practical Trombone Grade 8

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 tongued, with legato tonguing and staccato in the following keys:

• Bass clef: B, C, Db, D, Eb majors; B, C, C#, D, Eb minors (a twelfth)
  All other keys, major and minor (two octaves)
• Treble clef: Db, D, Eb, E, F majors; C#, D, Eb, E, F minors (a twelfth)
  All other keys, major and minor (two octaves)

Scales: in the above keys (minors in both harmonic and melodic forms)

Chromatic Scales:

• Bass clef: starting on any note E–Bb (two octaves)
• Treble clef: starting on any note F#–C (two octaves)

Whole-Tone Scales:

• Bass clef: starting on A and Bb (two octaves), as example given
• Treble clef: starting on B and C (two octaves), as example given

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

Dominant Sevenths:

• Bass clef: in the keys of A, Bb, B, C, Db, D and Eb (two octaves)
• Treble clef: in the keys of B, C, Db, D, Eb, E and F (two octaves)

Diminished Sevenths:

• Bass clef: starting on G, Ab and A (two octaves)
• Treble clef: starting on A, Bb and B (two octaves)

• 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 (including minor form – harmonic or melodic – in the Grade 6–8 scales) 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 and tenor clef, or treble clef at candidate’s choice) a short piece of previously unseen music.

---

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 6–8)

1. (i) To sing or play from memory the lowest part of a three-part phrase played twice by the examiner. The lowest part will be within the range of an octave, in a major or minor key with up to three sharps or flats. First the examiner will play the key-chord and the starting note and then count in two bars. (If the candidate chooses to play, the examiner will also name the key-chord and the starting note, as appropriate for the instrument.) If necessary, the examiner will play the phrase again and allow a second attempt (although this will affect the assessment).

   (ii) To identify the cadence at the end of a continuing phrase as perfect, imperfect, interrupted or plagal. The phrase will be in a major or minor key and will be played twice by the examiner. The chords forming the cadence will be limited to the tonic (root position, first or second inversions), supertonic (root position or first inversion), subdominant (root position), dominant (root position, first or second inversions), dominant seventh (root position) or submediant (root position). Before the first playing, the examiner will play the key-chord.

   (iii) To identify the three chords (including their positions) forming the above cadential progression. The chords will be limited to the tonic (root position, first or second inversions), supertonic (root position or first inversion), subdominant (root position), dominant (root position, first or second inversions), dominant seventh (root position) or submediant (root position). First the examiner will name and play the key-chord, then play the three chords in sequence, finally playing each chord individually, pausing for the candidate to identify it. The candidate may answer using technical names (tonic, first inversion, etc.), chord numbers (Ib, etc.) or letter names (C major in first inversion, etc.).

2. To sing the lower part of a two-part phrase from score, with the upper part played by the examiner. The candidate may choose to sing from treble or bass clef. The lower part will be within the range of an octave, in a major or minor key with up to four sharps or flats. First the examiner will name and play the key-chord and the starting note and then give the pulse. A brief period of preparation will follow during which the candidate may sing out loud. The examiner will play the key-chord and the starting note again and then count in two bars. If necessary, the examiner will allow a second attempt (although this will affect the assessment).
3. To identify whether the modulations at the end of two different passages are to the dominant, subdominant or relative minor/major. The first passage will begin in a major key and the second will begin in a minor key; each passage will be played once by the examiner. Before playing each passage, the examiner will name and play the starting key-chord. The candidate may answer using technical names (dominant*, subdominant, relative minor/major) or the letter name of the new key. (* Minor-key passages may modulate to the dominant major or minor but the candidate is only required to specify ‘dominant’ in such cases.) 
4. To describe the characteristic features of a piece played by the examiner. After hearing the piece, the candidate should describe any notable features (such as texture, structure, character, style and period, etc.). The examiner will prompt the candidate with questions only if this becomes necessary.

 

---

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.