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Royal Conservatory Of Music Pi Essay Research

Royal Conservatory Of Music Pi Essay, Research Paper


Royal Conservatory of Music Piano Exams: A Fair Evaluation?


The 144-year-old (Royal, 63) Royal Conservatory of Music institution offers a


variety of musical programs, but for Paul Shaffer, bandleader on the David Letterman


show, the Royal Conservatory of Music meant mostly one thing- the exam (Goddard).


Many Royal Conservatory students across the country and I, being a former student,


share his sentiment. The exam dreaded and feared by all who play the Royal


Conservatory of Music piano books is one of the sole purposes for playing the piano. The


months spent training and practicing are all to get a good mark on the exam. By making


the exam room less uncomfortable and promoting a better evaluating system the Royal


Conservatory of Music piano examination could be improved.


The Royal Conservatory of Music piano examination demands students to know


every aspect of the piano: not just being able to play, but also to develop a good listening


ear (Jenkins). The test consists of a performance, a sight-reading exercise, an ear play


test, and theory for participants in Grade 5 (Royal Conservatory of Music grade) and


above (Royal, 10). The performance is composed of three pieces of music (for grades 1-


7) that the participant chooses from the specified Royal Conservatory of Music piano


book for his/her level (Royal, 8). The sight-reading test evaluates the knowledge of the


candidate to read, understand and comprehend notation. The ear test is a little bit more


difficult and stresses the importance of listening. During the ear test the examiner plays a


melody twice and the participant is required to clap, tap, sing, or hum the rhythm back to


the examiner (Royal, 13). The Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam is very


challenging.


The Royal Conservatory of Music since being established in 1886(Royal, 63), has


been and still is at the heart of music education in Canada (N/A), as the chairman of


the board for the Royal Conservatory of music Bob Rae states. Paul Schaffer says that the


Royal Conservatory of Music enabled a kid like me (him) from a small town to get a


world-class musical education (Dolan). A third year English student at Saint Mary s,


Nadine Armstrong, says that she s never met anyone who s played the piano and hasn t


played the Conservatory books (Swick). Its many alumni support the Royal Conservatory


of Music s reputation. Among the numerous alumni are songwriter/arranger David


Foster, piano player Glenn Gould, and singers Amanda Marshall and Teresa Stratas


(Goddard). All support and advocate the school.


One aspect of the exam that affects all participants of the exam is the anxiety and


fear. I remember every last detail of my first piano exam, down to the blue and white


polka dot dress I was wearing. I was so nervous, and being an extremely shy 10 year-old


the hardest thing for me to do was leave my parents in the waiting room and walk into


that cold, unfriendly examination room by myself. The adjudicator did not go out of his


way to make me feel comfortable or even make an attempt to do so. I am not alone in my


experience: Paul Schaffer recollects with a chill in his voice that he walked into the


room and that the examiner was there (Goddard). The chill in his voice is probably due


to his recollection of the fear he felt when walking in and remembering the unfriendly


and cold environment. If only we were allowed to bring in a parent, but the Royal


Conservatory of Music rules do not allow page-turners or other assistants in the


examination room (Royal, 9). It would be extremely calming for a participant in the


exam to bring in a parent or their teacher into the examination room for support. The one


person that the student is allowed to bring into the examination room should not be


allowed to speak or help the student in any way. I know that if my dad had been able to


come in with me to the exam I would have been a lot more calm and relaxed, just


knowing that he was there.


One of the most discussed queries of the exam is the inconsistency of evaluating.


The mark a student receives for the exam is based on the examiner’s professional and


objective assessment of both strengths and weaknesses (Jenkins). This way of evaluation


based on examiner s judgment can be unfair. If every examiner has a different system of


evaluating then doing well on the piano exam co

uld depend more on whom a participant


gets as an examiner than how well they play. To ensure that this is not the case the


Council of Examiners (Royal), is in place in the College of Examiners (Royal).


Specializing in a variety of instruments and vocal the College of Examiners is a body of


more than 300 professional teachers and performers. Examiners have completed up to


three years of initial training and participate in ongoing professional development


sessions. (Royal) The Council of Examiners is a sixteen-member board continually


reviews members of the college to ensure consistency (Royal). Despite all this it must be


taken to account that an examiner travels across the country and evaluates numerous


participants a day. That can also affect his/her judgment when evaluating for a long time.


Peter Goddard, a writer for the Toronto Star, tells about his father who was a


Conservatory examiner who, for five weeks a year traveled west by train to test up to 20


kids a day (Goddard). It was probably more than 25 years ago that Peter Goddard s


father was a Conservatory examiner. Today, the examiners sent up here to the west from


Toronto must see a much larger number than 20 participants a day. To ensure that all


exams are marked fairly, there should be a panel of examiners. The panel would consist


of three examiners. The three adjudicators should vary in age and gender to ease the


participants that they are getting a fair mark. Also, if the examiners vary in gender and


age they may all have different evaluating systems and this would help even the marks


out from one extreme to another. The three would each individually mark the candidates


performance and then later discuss their differences in marking. This would assure that


the participant would get a just mark based on skill, rather than the examiner they were


assigned.


Almost every pianist in the country, who is serious about his or her music, has


taken a Royal Conservatory of Music piano examination. They all have felt the pressure


and stress caused by the exam. It is difficult for a pianist to play his or her best when


feeling anxious and uncomfortable. In order to ensure that participants in the exam play


to the best of his or her ability they should be allowed to bring one person (preferably a


parent or guardian, not a teacher) in the examination room to help them feel more


relaxed. The Royal Conservatory of Music is a cherished institution in Canada. It is truly


national and it sets the grades (Goddard) for music nationally. That is exactly why the


evaluation process needs to be more consistent and fair. By having three examiners


evaluate the pianist it will produce an even mark that has been agreed upon by three


evaluators. These two changes to the Royal Conservatory of Music piano examination


will make it a more comfortable and fair exam.


Joseph 6


Works Cited List


Dolan, Dierdre. Correspondance course to stardom: A North Bay education was all Paul Schaffer needed. National Post. 26 April 2000: B5. Canadian MAS FullTEXT Elite. EBSCOHost. Capilano Coll. Lib., North Vancouver. 22 Nov. 2000. Keywords: Royal Conservatory


Goddard, Peter. The sound of music: The hallways of the Royal Conservatory of Music have been alive with students for 114 years, and this weekend, alumni are celebrating that history. Toronto Star. 6 May 2000: Entertainment section. Canadian NewsDisk. Capilano Coll. Lib., North Vancouver. 22 Nov. 2000. Keyword: Royal Conservatory of Music and Piano.


Hunt, Brian. A pitch for the future. Toronto Star. 6 May 2000. Canadian NewsDisk. Capilano Coll. Lib., North Vancouver. 22 Nov. 2000. Keyword: Royal Conservatory of Music and Piano.


Jenkins, Christine. Home page. Eruoil. 23 Nov. 2000. Keyword: Royal Conservatory.


http://www.storm.ca/ music/index.html


N/A (Author Unavailable or not named). Bob Rae named to arts posting. Canadian Press. 30 Nov. 1999. Canadian MAS FullTEXT Elite. EBSCOHost. Capilano Coll. Lib., North Vancouver. 22 Nov. 2000. Keywords: Royal Conservatory


Royal Conservatory of Music. Piano Syllabus. N.P. : Frederick Harris Music, 1994.


Royal Conservatory of Music. RCM Examinations. Oorlan, Karigan& Associates. 25 November 2000 http://www.rcmexaminations.org


Swick, David. Royal Conservatory brings music to the nation: More to RCM than Toronto school — it teaches, tests and sometimes saves a student. The Halifax Daily News. 27 July 1995: 2. Canadian NewsDisk. Capilano Coll. Lib., North Vancouver. 22 Nov. 2000. Keyword: Royal Conservatory of Music and Piano.

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