In July the Royal Conservatory of Music released its new flute examination syllabus and with it the new thirteen-volume “Overtones: A Comprehensive Flute Series.” Both are, in my opinion, giant steps forward for students and teachers of the flute.
One of the most notable changes is the addition of four new grades: a preliminary (pre grade one level), grades three, five and seven. The preliminary level is particularly welcome as it provides an achievable goal for beginners, for whom the first year of study is arduous, as it involves learning to produce a sound (not so easy), sustaining the breath long enough to play whole phrases, and gaining a foothold without straining in the middle register of the instrument. Grades three, five and seven, not offered in the preceding syllabus, bridge the large gaps between the even numbered grades, which most of us felt were too great to be readily navigated in a year of study. Another enormous improvement is that, unlike its predecessor, the 2006 syllabus, which was part of a book containing the syllabi not only for the flute but also for oboe, clarinet, saxophone and bassoon, this one is for the flute only, which makes it much more reasonable to expect students to purchase one. No matter how much exam information a teacher writes in a student’s dictation book, doubt about exactly what is expected of him or her seems to persist. For each student to have his own copy will be a great help exam preparation.
The thirteen volumes of the series cover all the grades from the preliminary level to grade eight. There are no books yet for grades 9, 10 and ARCT. Each grade level has its own repertoire book, which includes a flute part as well as a piano accompaniment and two recordings, one of each piece in the book with accompaniment and one, for practice purposes, of just the accompaniment. The recordings will be helpful in two ways: 1) they will be invaluable in helping students decide which pieces to prepare for the exams; 2) they will be helpful in learning the pieces, as they can get to know what the pieces they are learning sound like before and as they are practising them, and will be able to play them with the recorded accompaniment. Although there are many more pieces specified in the syllabus than could possibly be included in each grade’s anthology, they certainly provide enough choice for most students to be content to choose pieces from the book for their grade level.
The situation is a bit different for the study repertoire, of which there is an ever growing abundance for the flute. There are only two volumes – up to grade 4 and from grade 5 to 8. The compilers have done very well to include a representative selection, but that selection for each grade is necessarily small and needs, I think, to be supplemented by books of traditional and contemporary studies. The syllabus is so constructed that each additional book of studies that a student purchases should be good for at least two grades.
The series also includes a volume of graded orchestral excerpts, a really excellent addition, since the syllabus includes orchestral excerpts beginning at the grade 2 level! To be able to find all the orchestral requirements in one book up to grade 8 level is an enormous help to students.
For most students one of the most vexatious parts of exam preparation is learning scales. I’ve tried everything, from working on the notes of scales in pairs, groups of three and five as well as playing the opening phrase of “Joy to the World” (a descending major scale) as a way of learning scales. However, no matter what I try, it always seems hard! Sure, I’ll write each scale out, or get the student to write it, in the dictation book, but a month later, it seems to be irretrievably lost in the forest of verbiage that accumulates over the weeks and months! The “Overtones” technique book has a section for each grade in which all the scales, arpeggios and other scale-related materials are written out in full, just as they are to be played at the exam. This will be a great help to all my students and I expect to those of my colleagues.
An innovative change in the exam requirements for scales should be very helpful to students: the range of a scale, not the number of sharps or flats in its key signature, is now what determines what scales are to be played at any given grade level. Up to the grade 6 level, students are required to know a group of anywhere from six to ten scales per grade, so that over the course of grades 1 to 6, they learn all the scales but are not expected to be able to play them all at one exam until grade seven. This is a good idea, I think, in that with fewer scales to learn per grade, students should be able to learn them more thoroughly
Kudos to the RCM and to co-authors Diane Aitken and Jamie Thompson for a job well done. I expect a lot of good vibes will be going your way from flute teachers and students over many years to come!
