CPTP082: Trinity College Piano Exams with Barry Walmsley

Barry Walmsley grew up with the AMEB, but when he found Trinity College piano exams it was a much better fit. He started working with Trinity in 1990 and is the perfect person to give us an overview of what this exam board is all about.

Trinity College piano exams have many features that make them stand out. The first one that jumped out to me was the option of either improvising or sight reading in the early grades.

Trinity also has a great rock & pop syllabus which swaps out aural & general knowledge tests for "session skills". The accompanying books are forward-thinking and full of great contemporary repertoire (that you can use even if you don't go for the exam of course).

Take a listen to today's show and see if you might like to give Trinity College piano exams a try.

Transcript

If you'd like to download a PDF transcript of this episode, please click below.

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In this episode, you’ll learn

• What makes Trinity different from the other exam boards
• How to Trinity exam board started
• Where exams should fit in to our piano teaching
• How to design a well-rounded music experience
• How the Trinity exams are set up
• Where the certificate exams fit in
• The role of contemporary music in Trinity College piano exams
• Advice for pleasing pushy exam focussed parents
• Where the Trinity College piano exams are available
• The exam marking and examiner training process

Links Mentioned

• Trinity College website
• Australian Trinity College website
• Trinity College Rock & Pop website
• Episode 16: ANZCA Exams
• Episode 17: ABRSM Exams
• Episode 31: RCM Exams
• Episode 32: AMEB Exams
• Trinity Rock and Pop Books

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Have you tried the Trinity College piano exams?

What do you like about this syllabus? Do you like the idea of the rock and pop or certificate exam options?