ABRSM Initial Grade Violin: requirements and mark scheme
The ABRSM Initial Grade violin exam scores your playing out of 150. You can take it as a Practical Grade (pieces, scales, sight-reading, and aural with an examiner) or as a Performance Grade (a recorded video of four pieces). Absolute beginners, often six to twelve months in, taking a first exam. The fastest way to prepare is to record your pieces and score them on the same performance qualities an examiner marks, before exam day.
Practical Grade
Three pieces, one each from Lists A, B, and C (30 marks each, 90 total); scales and arpeggios from memory (21); sight-reading (21); and aural tests led by the examiner (18). Total 150. Pass is 100, Merit is 120, and Distinction is 130.
Performance Grade
Four pieces, three from the syllabus lists plus one own-choice piece, and a mark for the performance as a whole. Submitted as a single recorded video. No scales, sight-reading, or aural tests. Total 150. Pass is 100, Merit is 120, and Distinction is 130.
Piece lists and scale requirements differ by instrument and change each syllabus cycle. Always pick your pieces from the current official syllabus: ABRSM bowed strings exams
Frequently asked
What does the ABRSM Initial Grade violin exam involve?
The Practical Grade is Three pieces, one each from Lists A, B, and C (30 marks each, 90 total); scales and arpeggios from memory (21); sight-reading (21); and aural tests led by the examiner (18). Total 150. Pass is 100, Merit is 120, and Distinction is 130. The Performance Grade is an alternative: Four pieces, three from the syllabus lists plus one own-choice piece, and a mark for the performance as a whole. Submitted as a single recorded video. No scales, sight-reading, or aural tests. Total 150.
What mark do you need to pass ABRSM Initial Grade?
Pass is 100, Merit is 120, and Distinction is 130. The total is out of 150 and is the same across instruments and grades.
Do I need music theory for ABRSM Initial Grade violin?
No. The theory prerequisite only applies to Grades 6, 7, and 8. To enter Grade 6, 7, or 8 (Practical or Performance), you must already have passed ABRSM Grade 5 in Music Theory, Practical Musicianship, or a Practical Grades solo Jazz subject, or an accepted equivalent.
How can I practice my ABRSM Initial Grade pieces?
Record a take of your exam piece on Orchestra Kingdom and get a score on tone, intonation, rhythm, tempo, and musicality in about a minute, the same kind of performance qualities the examiner marks. Since the Performance Grade is a recorded video, you are rehearsing the exact format. Your first take is free, no signup.
Other ABRSM Violin grades
Walk into your Initial Grade exam ready.
Record 30 seconds of your exam piece. Get a score on tone, intonation, rhythm, tempo, and musicality in about a minute. First take is free, no signup.
Score your take