ABRSM Performance Grade 8
Recording and performance guidelines, and how we prepare students for them.
Students preparing for the ABRSM Performance Grade 8 examination complete their assessment through a recorded performance.
This page covers Grade 8 in detail. If you are still deciding which examination suits your child, start with our guide to the ABRSM or our guide to the RCM.
Repertoire
Candidates perform a programme of four pieces:
- Three pieces selected according to the current ABRSM syllabus requirements
- One own-choice piece meeting the required Grade 8 standard
Performing from memory
The ABRSM does not require memorisation. Candidates may perform with the score in front of them.
Our students learn their repertoire by memory in any case — in the Eastern European tradition we teach in, that begins with the earliest lessons.
Recording requirements
The four pieces are presented as one continuous performance. The recording must follow the ABRSM’s current requirements and must not be edited between pieces.
Before recording, students should ensure that their instrument, camera position, lighting, sound, scores and performance space are fully prepared.
Preparing the recording itself
A recording is its own discipline, and we rehearse it. With shorter music, pages can be taped together and folded so that no turn is needed at all — but at Grade 8 that is no help, as a single piece often runs to six pages or more.
So the turn itself is practised: made at a rest, quietly, without breaking the musical line. Done well it is imperceptible, and a student who has rehearsed it is not thinking about it while they play.
Many students play from memory and still keep the score open in front of them. There is no reason not to: it changes nothing about the performance, and it removes a worry that would otherwise sit at the back of the mind throughout.
Identification
For Grade 8, candidates must follow the ABRSM’s current identification requirements when making their examination recording.
Our approach
Grade 8 represents an advanced stage of a young musician’s development. Our goal is not simply to prepare students to complete an examination, but to help them present a confident, refined and musically compelling performance that reflects the standard expected at this level.
Please check the current syllabus. The ABRSM updates its requirements periodically. This page describes the examination as we prepare students for it; the ABRSM’s own website is the authority on what is required for any given session.
Faculty trained at QS Global Top-10 conservatories, elite ballet academies and classical art ateliers.
A note on cost. Tuition is shared at your Complimentary Music Assessment, where you can ask us anything about cost. The assessment is free.