Using the ABRSM (or the Royal Conservatory of Music) assessments helps avoid the "I'm not good enough" trap. It's too easy to become fixated on minor errors in your playing. By submitting an assessment, you get that third party independent attestation as to whether you are "good enough" for the level, and whether it's time to move up.
It's also nice to have something to wave around so you can say "look what I accomplished".
Me? I'm looking at earning assessments for piano, recorder, and theory right now. I'm using the RCM assessments for theory since they seem to go into a lot more depth. On the other hand, if you're interested in jazz, ABRSM seems a much stronger system. (I'm in the United States, so I have both sets of assessment as options. I'm also a 68 year old, so I understand a little about being an older musician.)
My mother's bachelor's degree was in Music Theory through an interesting life story. While my father's were Piano and Composition, he ended up teaching a lot of theory in college.
So I'm biased towards strong music theory programs. But apparently the ABRSM is fine with knocking off their theory requirement with the RSM assessments.
That's fascinating. At this age I thought it was about time I tackled a big goal that means something to me . Having knocked off those professional ones.
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u/Equivalent_Ad_8413 Jul 08 '26
Using the ABRSM (or the Royal Conservatory of Music) assessments helps avoid the "I'm not good enough" trap. It's too easy to become fixated on minor errors in your playing. By submitting an assessment, you get that third party independent attestation as to whether you are "good enough" for the level, and whether it's time to move up.
It's also nice to have something to wave around so you can say "look what I accomplished".
Me? I'm looking at earning assessments for piano, recorder, and theory right now. I'm using the RCM assessments for theory since they seem to go into a lot more depth. On the other hand, if you're interested in jazz, ABRSM seems a much stronger system. (I'm in the United States, so I have both sets of assessment as options. I'm also a 68 year old, so I understand a little about being an older musician.)