Theory options: A snapshot of what's on offer

This overview gives a very quick look at the theory syllabus characteristics across several boards, with details of some of their expectations at Grade 5. Clearly, candidates are also expected to know the content from Grades 1 to 4 in each case, which will vary from board to board.

It has been very interesting to speak to teachers on this subject and to conduct this short survey. If your students are only going to go as far as Grade 5 theory, do you feel that they really should be examined on all key signatures? At present, only London College of Music (LCM) and Victoria College Exams require knowledge of seven sharps and flats (not to mention, in LCM's case, the requirement to be able to transpose a handful of modes). Of course, many of you will feel that this is far less important than other aspects of the curriculum. Will your students be more motivated by the practical applications of pop theory? LCM and RSL Awards have got you covered.

The three boards currently offering online theory exams are ABRSM, LCM and RSL Awards. Opinion seems to be split on the effectiveness of online theory assessment. For many of the teachers I have spoken to, their wish to have the student compose and actively write their answers, rather than ‘passively’ complete an online test is a deal breaker. There are also clearly issues of digital equality here, in that you need to have access to an excellent internet signal, a decent computer, a quiet room, and so on.

A lot has been said about ABRSM's move to online theory exams and the revisions to its syllabus, and there have been teething problems in fulfilment, crucially in the board's communication with teachers. But there are also many satisfied customers, and many students who will jump at the chance to take what is widely felt, technical and other issues aside, to be a student-friendly course.

I tutored two boys over the summer who would be taking the ABRSM online Grade 3 – they were both extremely bright and one had issues with putting pen to paper but had no problem with understanding. They were both mildly amused and not phased in the least at the prospect of doing the exam online, and the fact remains that these exams still require the same level of study and understanding on the part of the student. Notably, one set of parents was practically in tears of gratitude that issues with writing would not hold their son back.

RSL Awards are in an interesting position in that their online exams ask exactly the same questions as previously, and use an online score editor to facilitate this. All RSL Awards theory exams are to be completed digitally from their next cycle, except where there are accessibility issues, whether or not you are taking it from your own home (with remote invigilation) or from an exam centre. LCM's online exams also follow the same syllabuses as their written exams.

If digital access and attendance at an exam centre on a particular date are problems for your students, did you know that for Victoria College Examinations and ICMA, they can do the whole thing by post, sitting the exam at the house of a nominated third party? Your nominated invigilator can be anyone who is willing to sign a formal declaration and to invigilate the exam for you under exam conditions, but they must not be the student's teacher. The boards send them a paper in a sealed envelope, and you're good to go at your own convenience! You won't get any UCAS points for these two boards, but the syllabuses are excellent, and you can still put the Grade 5 on your personal statement, of course, and talk about it in interviews.

The following summaries look at the grade syllabus information and some of the Grade 5 requirements for various boards.

ABRSM

• UCAS points: Yes
• Syllabus/es: Music Theory, Grades 1 to 8
• Ways to take the exam: Online exam for Grades 1 to 5, written paper in an exam centre for Grades 6 to 8.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements include: All major and minor keys up to six sharps and flats; all simple and compound intervals; tenor clef; identification and transposition of notes across the four main clefs; transposing a melody; irregular time signatures and divisions; second inversions; perfect, plagal and imperfect cadences and suitable chords for these; terms; signs; recognising ornaments and knowledge of types of voice and instruments.

ICMA

• UCAS points: No
• Syllabus/es: Theory of Music, Grades 1 to 6
• Ways to take the exam: Written paper invigilated privately by your nominated third party.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements include: major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales and arpeggios up to five sharps and flats; Aeolian mode in various transpositions; pentatonic scale starting on G, C, F sharp and D flat; harmonic chromatic scale starting on any note; augmented and diminished 2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths and their inversions; alto clef; tonic, subdominant and dominant triads and dominant 7ths; first, second and third inversions; perfect and plagal cadences; terms and signs; to continue a rhythm in simple or compound time to given lines of verse; to analyse and transpose a given melody.

London College of Music (LCM)

• UCAS points: Yes
• Syllabus/es: Music Theory, Grades 1 to 8; Popular Music Theory, Grades 1 to 8
• Ways to take the exam: All grades can be taken through a written paper in an exam centre or online through LCM's online theory platform.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements for ‘Theory of Music’ include: major and minor scales up to seven sharps and seven flats; enharmonic scales, Lydian, Mixolydian and Ionian modes and their transpositions; the whole-tone scale; alto and tenor clef; augmented and diminished intervals; compound intervals; inversion of intervals; transposing instruments in E flat; harmonisation and/or transposition of a melody; perfect, imperfect, interrupted and plagal cadences, and writing these in four-part harmony; time signatures including 6/4, 9/4, 12/4, 6/16, 9/16, 12/16; identification of imitation, canon, inversion and thematic repetition; writing out ornaments.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements for ‘Popular Music Theory’ include: Scales up to four sharps and flats; pentatonic major and minor; natural and harmonic minor; Blues scales, Dorian mode and Mixolydian mode in several keys; chords including first and second inversions, minor 6th, diminished 7th, dominant 7th from harmonic minor scales; triplets; compound time signatures; and a broad knowledge of performers, instruments and terminology.

RSL Awards

• UCAS points: Yes
• Syllabus/es: Popular Music Theory, Grades 1 to 8
• Ways to take the exam: digital exam either taken at home or at an exam centre.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements include: halving and doubling rhythmic values; 6/8 and 12/8 time signatures; triplets; 15ma and 15mb symbols; fp and spf symbols; rewriting scores with a new time signature; key signatures up to five sharps and flats; identifying minor 6ths and 7ths; harmonic minor scale; major and minor scale accidentals; naming chords and their inversions; recognising chord sequences, understanding slash chord notation; transposing chord symbols; significant curriculum of ‘band knowledge’, including identifying genre-specific techniques, understanding of vocal pitch ranges and identifying parts for various band instruments.

Trinity College London (TCL)

• UCAS points: Yes
• Syllabus/es: Theory of Music, Grades 1 to 8
• Ways to take the exam: written paper at exam centre.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements include: Keys up to five sharps and flats and their relative minors (natural, harmonic and melodic); time signatures of 4/2, 6/4 and 7/4. Candidates are expected to write scales, arpeggios and broken chords; correct mistakes; transpose; write four-part chords for SATB, add a bass line to a tune or vice versa, and analyse a piece. Some of the elements that students must be able to recognise include double sharps and flats, supertonic triads, imperfect cadences, C and G pentatonic major scales and modulation to the dominant or relative major/minor.

Victoria College Examinations

• UCAS points: no
• Syllabus/es: Theory of Music, Grades 1 to 8
• Ways to take the exam: Written paper at an exam centre or invigilated privately.
• Grade 5 knowledge requirements include: all major and minor (melodic and harmonic) scales; all time signatures and irregular divisions; four clefs; double flats and sharps; all diatonic, chromatic and compound intervals; triads and four-part chords; the four main cadences; modulation to the relative and dominant; terms and signs; orchestral instruments; and to be able to compose an eight-bar melody.

UCAS points

The boards that offer UCAS points all award them in a similar fashion, as follows:
Grade 6: Pass = 4; Merit = 5; Distinction = 6
Grade 7: Pass = 6; Merit = 7; Distinction = 8
Grade 8: Pass = 8; Merit = 9; Distinction = 10

The summaries above are indicative snapshots and not to be treated as full syllabuses. For full information, check each board's up-to-date syllabus.