If you or your children are anything like me, you spend a lot of time thinking about all the worthwhile things you plan to do without ever actually getting around to doing them. With good intentions and no clear-cut, tangible goals, it's easy to float through life. Learning piano is no different. If there are no specific goals, it is easy to float from week to week making minimal progress. For this reason, I like to help my students set goals within the structure of their musical education.

There are a variety of options available to music students to encourage progress and growth. The Minnesota Music Teachers Association (MMTA) offers a number of programs for music students, among the most advantageous being the piano and theory exams. These exams are administered biannually at various locations throughout Minnesota (our most local testing locations being Duluth and Bemidji) and afford students of MMTA certified teachers the opportunity to have their musical skills and knowledge evaluated by qualified music examiners from around the state. There are eleven levels of curriculum in the piano exams and seven levels in the theory exams. The exams are given individually to each student, and no one is allowed in the room with the student and adjudicator. Each student receives a written critique and ranking from the examiner - an objective opinion from a well-qualified source.

The piano exams consist of keyboard skills (scales, triads and inversions, arpeggios), contemporary studies (learning to read and understand modern music), repertoire from the 17th-20th centuries, sightplaying, and oral questions. Students are required to play from 2-4 pieces depending on the level, and this music must be memorized. Repertoire is from a specifically graded list of music and is scored on the quality of performance.

The theory exams have been developed to equip keyboard students with knowledge of traditional harmony as well as twentieth century idioms. Each level consists of written, aural, and keyboard sections, thus integrating these practical aspects of musicianship.

There are several reasons why I believe these exams are excellent goal-setters: they are a measure of achievement for both students and teachers, they give students an opportunity to learn to prepare something musically, and they offer students an opportunity to share what is often the lonely study of piano with others sharing their common interest. Very often friendships occur. These exams are designed to challenge each student's level of musical ability rather than placing students in direct competition with one another. All in all, the MMTA exams are one of the most worthwhile activities afforded music students in our area.

© Copyright 1998, 1999 Joe Gallant. All rights reserved.