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What We Offer We have been continually developing and improving our syllabus and services for over a decade. Here are just a few of the advantages of AIM Exams.
Our examiners come to you Some exams require that you travel to a capital city to your exam. Others will provide exams locally, but only if there is a large demand. However, students usually find it easier to do their exams in familiar surroundings, on instruments that they are used to. For this reason, we send examiners out to teachers (1)
Our reports give marks for each task A typical exams requires you to perform several tasks. These may include playing several pieces, doing some scales, demonstrating triads or cadences, general knowledge, and sight reading. AMEB exams will give you a brief description of how each task went, but no actual mark. At the end of the exam you will get a simple letter grade (C is a pass, B is good, and A means that you practised!). Other exams around the world
give students a grade for each task.
Our exams really ARE cheaper! Our exams are mostly cheaper (and longer!) than many other exam types. Compare our current prices:
And our exams include a beautiful FRAMED certificate!
We also have a "free music" policy. By allowing students to use public domain music (that is, music that is out of copyright), students can sit for the exams without any extra charges for music books. There are over 20,000 such pieces available for students on our database. Additionally, open-source projects such as Project Gutenberg, the Mutopia Project, the Internet Audio Archive and others have made available many hundreds of quality recordings for students to listen to or use as backings. Finally, there are many composers and arrangers (such as Gilbert de Beneditti and Stephen Walter) who have made modern pieces available for free for education purposes. These composers also often include MIDI or mp3 audio files with their work. Our syllabus also uses "horizontal programming". That is, we frequently will use one book that will have pieces for several grades. A fine example would be Christopher Nortons' excellent MicroStyles Collection. This book includes 48 graded pieces. The easiest (such as Metal Merchant) can be used as a Grade 2 piece. The most difficult pieces are still acceptable at Grade 6. Parents can therefore buy one book, knowing that it will last for FIVE years of exams!!! (This book also includes an outstanding CD with the composer playing the pieces on piano, and separate recordings done by a live rock band - way cool!)
So to summarize:
See "What Does It Cost" for more details
Parity with AMEB Piano For Leisure Exams The current syllabus is identical to the AMEB Piano For Leisure syllabus... ...except that AIME Students must do extra...
This means that students can easily do an AMEB exam without any disadvantage. For more details, see "What's wrong with the AMEB"
Our exams are longer... Well, at least longer than the similar AMEB Piano For Leisure exams. Why? Firstly, students have to play an extra piece, and some triads etc.
But mainly, we want students to have time to THINK!
An early AMEB exam may last 10 minutes. In this time, the student has to play four pieces, their scales, do aural work, answer general knowledge questions etc. AMEB examiners are VERY kind, and VERY qualified. But they are constrained by the short time format. If a student doesn't know the answer immediately (or rushes into a scale, for example) the examiner is faced with a choice: give the student more time (and run ALL the subsequent students later and later); or move on to the next question. Now of course, students who aren't as well prepared should suffer a penalty for taking extra time, or having a second start. But what about shy students, or younger students, or nervous adults doing a first exam after retirement? Should they be discriminated against by the clock? Our philosophy is that exams should test what the student knows, not how well they cope with exams!
Musician Oriented Learning Our exams integrate chords, lead sheets, composition, and improvization. These are the cornerstones of being a well-rounded musician. Students of most other instruments learn these skills as a matter of course. Guitarists learn to read and play chords from Day One. Sax players play in the school band, violinists join a string ensemble... ...And piano students sit alone at home learning their exam pieces EXACTLY AS WRITTEN (or else!), year after year. Many professional musicians will be able to tell you stories of piano students that have learned for many years (and can play their four or six exam pieces beautifully), but can't read a chart, or can't improvize. They can't read a lead sheet for primary school students, or play choruses in a church. And they can't write their own songs, to help them find their own musical voice... We consider this a very state of affairs. Part of the delight of playing an instrument is self-expression. We believe that without learning these other skills, many pianists will never fully enjoy music in all its splendid wonder.
HUGE amounts of FREE Support Services Starting in 2008, we will provide FREE backings for all technical work from Preparatory Grade to Third Grade. We are also updating our syllabus to link to various open-source projects to provide free recordings for as many classical works on the syllabus as possible. These will be available in mp3 format for use with iriver or iPods etc
Support for mp3 Players We already have downloads for iPod and other mp3 players that will allow you to use your mp3 player as a metronome, drum machine, or guitar tuner. iriver users can take advantage of our high-quality versions.
Outcomes-Based Assessment Theory Exams Commencing in 2008, we will offer outcomes-based Theory Exams, utilizing weekly computer challenges. There may be a small charge for this, but at this stage we hope that this will be essentially free.
Notes 1. a minimum 3 hours of examining applies
©2007 Australian Independent Music Examinations. The use of images, text, music scores, backings or acrobat files without permission is illegal. Material noted as 'free to download' cannot be used for commercial purposes. Equipment & courses offered may vary without notice. Views
expressed in this newsletter are opinions only.
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