All About the AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board)

Happy 2023! 😃I'll be releasing some new videos this year, so be sure to subscribe to the channel for updates!

Happy practicing!

-Allysia

[zavierfabijan]

I'm australian and I learned more about the AMEB from you than I have from actual piano teachers. hah. I started being graded and started some theory when I was 10-12 but I was pulled out from not practising as much as my mum liked and jumping to the present I can now say I can play a AMEB level 8 piece and good lord it was hard to do it by myself! Piano became a hobby rather than a passion but after you described it all for me it seems like something I'd be interested peeking into :) thank you

[KeepingOnTheWatch]

I would tread very lightly and simply call it ‘the Australian Music Examinations Board’. After disrespecting their country Bart Simpson was forced to travel to Australia to get ‘The Boot’ in parliament. It was a very big boot.

[dincerekin]

Thank you for doing this video even though it didn't get too many views. It is much appreciated

[TheALIMARS]

Yes, it’s A.M.E.B. Each letter said separately....I have done 8th grade with Grade 6 Musicianship...

[christinagreen]

What a great introductory video - thank you! Echoing others, it is pronounced as single letters, A M E B (unlike other more recent acronyms here like ‘NAB’ for National Australia Bank, pronounced as a word). I did grades 1-6 AMEB piano exams before university and have also taught - regular grades, piano for leisure, contemporary guitar. It has grown and has a lot to offer, and holds a lot of sway in the Australian music scene. I also recently enjoyed your video on sonata form - thanks so much!

[pukulsrod]

thank you for this!! I am from Australia so this was very helpful <3

[pianodudeler]

Great video! The syllabus is a great help for self-directed learnign with graded pieces in categories and a comprehensive list of teaching and study resources.

[Earlofmar]

I have been enjoying my journey through the A.M.E.B. grades as an adult learner for about five years now. I have two main gripes though: one is the need to pay just for the syllabus itself, which currently I have had to buy three times. The second is I feel the Music Craft theory books are poorly written for the self learner, which has required me to seek out specialist teaching. However, one of the great bonus's is the large selection of pieces I can choose from, I always find something in each list that I truely want to learn. The recent changes in Series 18, which have added technical exercises and other improvements is also a great move forward.

[volcano]

Thank you for taking time to talk about AMEB. I have passed my preliminary and Grade 1 exams with HDs for Piano for Leisure, working on Grade 2, and am sitting my Debut exam for Rockschool this weekend. I want to learn to play classical style (without going too heavy) and pop/rock songs, hence happily taking both courses.

[CaptainCaveman]

100% agree, I am not interested in the actual exam but love a structured approach, otherwise I would get bored and stop practicing

[cicicinca]

watching this instead of practicing for my A.M.E.B exam

[tubbie]

I did ABRSM piano and music theory up to grade 5 when I was a teenager. After migrating to Australia, I did AMEB violin then piano both up to grade 8 and music theory up to grade 5 as a adult.

You are right that ABRSM and AMEB are very similar. A while ago I compared the technical requirements and found that in general, AMEB asks for more in less keys while ABRSM asks for less in more keys.

For exam pieces, I remember that up to grade 7, you need to prepare 2 extra pieces of equivalent or higher level in addition to your 4 pieces. The examiner may ask you to play an excerpt of 1 or 2 of your extra pieces.

After grade 8, I decided I’m done with exams but not lessons. It’s been 12 years of piano lessons and still going. What can I say. I’m a slow learner 😅

[morganyuen]

Just an update to your video, the old syllabus are available until the end of 2021 because of the covid pandemic disrupt lessons. So, they have added one more year to do the old syllabus.

[madness]

The AMEB is the oldest and most popular music examination syllabus in Australia, but it's certainly not the only option for public music examinations. There's also the AGME (Australian Guild of Music Education) established in 1969, ANZCA (Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts) established in 1983 and St Cecilias Music Examination, amongst others including Trinity College of Music. The AMEB does have very high standards but it's IMHO not the best option for modern examinations where both ANZCA and AGME beat it with their modern stream examinations.

[scottredford]

This was a really informative video, thank you

[velcroman]

The prices of the Series 18 have increased, so that by 2024 not AU$30 + but AU$40+ to almost AU$50.

[dangerousateveryspeed]

oh good god just the acronym gave me flashbacks

[sasanof]

ANZCA is also a relatively popular music examinations board in Australia

[musicalneptunian]

I never did anything with AMEB. But from a long time ago I remember that at Australian schools you can sit the AMEB exams at school until about level 6. Back in the 80's the general music textbook was by Dorricott and called listen to the Music. That was the non controversial part. Prepare for rant:



I hate the Australian classical music scene. As an adult I have had to teach myself theory; I couldn't find a teacher. They only want to teach kids. I don't form their kids market.

[danielrennie]

Hi, I love your videos but I take my music exams for LCM (London college of music) so I was wondering if you could cover a video on that music school