Assessments

Assessment specifications by department

• Accompaniment Stage 1
• Accompaniment Stage 2
• Chamber Music Stage 1
• Chamber Music Stage 2
• Composition Stage 1
• Composition Stage 2
• Conducting Stage 1
• Conducting Stage 2
• Historically Informed Performance Practice
• Jazz Stage 1
• Jazz Stage 2
• Opera Stage 2
• Guitar and Harp Stage 1
• Guitar and Harp Stage 2
• Keyboard Stage 1
• Keyboard Stage 2
• Strings Stage 1
• Strings Stage 2
• Timpani and Percussion Stage 1
• Timpani and Percussion Stage 2
• Vocal Performance Stage 1
• Vocal Performance Stage 2
• Wind and Brass Stage 1
• Wind and Brass Stage 2
• Performance and Pedagogy Stage 1 and 2
• Piano for Dance Stage 1
• Piano for Dance Stage 2
• Repetiteur Stage 1
• Repetiteur Stage 2
• Traditional Music Stage 1
• Traditional Music Stage 2
• Negotiated Study

Recital conventions – programme notes and announcements

It is usual practice in many music recitals to provide printed programme notes for the audience. Such practices differ between musical forms and communities – in jazz, for instance, formal programme notes are rare. Where programme notes are indeed expected, these should at a minimum give the name of all the performers, the composers, and full and accurate titles for all the works. You may also wish to include brief contextual notes on each piece. In Traditional Music recitals, such contextual notes are expected.

For vocal classical recitals, it is usual to provide the text of all of the works to be sung, with accompanying English translations where needed. However this is not usual practice for Scots or Scottish Gaelic Song recitals.

In all recitals it is also good practice to plan to address the audience briefly at some point. In Jazz and Traditional Music, always plan to introduce your music and accompanists at some point during the recital. It is not enough to state the title, composer, and musicians' names alone; practice stagecraft and carefully consider how to engage your personality with the audience.

If you are not sure about how to present yourself during an assessed performance, you should seek guidance from your Department.

Timing penalties

In order to keep recital days to schedule, grade penalties are applied for performances that under- or over-run their alloted time, as follows:

• Recitals that over-run by 10% - deduct 1 mark (eg B1 → B2, minimum of D3)
• Recitals that under-run by 10-19% - deduct 1 mark (eg B1 → B2, minimum of D3)
• Recitals that under-run by 20% or more - mark as fail (grade of F)

The timing is for the complete performance: essentially, from when you walk on stage at the start to when you walk off at the end. When planning your programme, you should include time for tuning, introductions and gaps between items.