Essential Music Theory: Grade 5

Public booking opens at 11am, Thursday 28 November. Join our mailing list before Monday 25 November to receive priority booking.

Ages 11–17

Course Dates & Times

Easter Course
Monday 7 – Friday 11 April 2025
10am–4pm 

Summer Course
Monday 28 July – Friday 1 August 2025
10am–4pm  

About Essential Music Theory: Grade 5

This five-day course is ideal if you are preparing for the ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory exam and/or want to improve your knowledge of music theory. The course draws upon intuitive musical understanding and focuses on stave notation and associated knowledge. The syllabus will also provide you with a foundation for more advanced music theory studies.

ABRSM music theory exams are now taking place online. Please check the ABRSM website for information. (Please note exam entry is not included in the course fee and exam entries are not administered by Guildhall School.)

Who is the course for?

Anyone aged 11 to 17 with knowledge of ABRSM Grade 3 Music Theory, or the equivalent, preparing for the ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory exam and/or wanting to improve their knowledge of music theory.

What can I expect?

The course offers collective demonstrations and discussion, alternating with increasing elements of individual work and one-to-one attention as the course proceeds.

The sessions will focus on the following areas:

• Time: understanding the notation of durations, metre and rhythm
• Pitch: understanding the notation of steps, intervals and patterns, tonality and harmony
• Sound and sense: understanding terminology, concepts, instruments and voices

Some of the activities will be online, but most exercises involve writing within the required publications and on manuscript paper.

Do I need anything for the course?

• Manuscript paper
• Pencil
• Pencil sharpener
• Eraser
• Some appropriate published material from the list below. Please ensure you have access to the following material prior to the course:

Workbooks

• Discovering Music Theory, The ABRSM Grade 4 Workbook
• Discovering Music Theory, The ABRSM Grade 5 Workbook

Sample papers

One or two sample exam papers (a Grade 4 and a Grade 5, or at least one Grade 5) which can be found on the ABRSM website. 

Course Fee

£475

Public booking opens at 11am, Thursday 28 November. Join our mailing list before Monday 25 November to receive priority booking.

Participation Bursaries are available for this course. Please note the application deadline for Participation Bursaries on the Easter course 3 March 2025 and 28 April 2025 for the Summer course.

Eligibility

• For everyone aged 11–17
• A pass-level grasp of Music Theory at the ABRSM Grade 3 level is recommended for the course. This is based on self-assessment using the ABRSM online Grade 3 sample paper as a guide, please check ABRSM: Exam preparation resources.
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills in order to fully engage with the course 

About the Course Tutor

The course is taught by pianist Andrew Bottrill, professor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Primarily a pianist, Andrew Bottrill enjoys a variety of occupations in music.  He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music, and now teaches at Guildhall School for both the senior school and Junior Guildhall. He is also Head of Keyboard at Latymer Upper School.  His four-hand duo with Zrinka Bottrill appears regularly in the UK and Croatia, and he has amassed numerous compositions and arrangements that are yet to be published.

His studies with Edith Vogel and James Gibb resulted in winning all the major Guildhall School piano prizes, together with the Premier Prix Concert Recital Diploma, success in the Dudley Piano Competition, and appearances for the Park Lane Group and the Kirckman Concert Society.  In 2000 he acquired an MA in music Education from the University of London. He published a substantial collection of Edith Vogel recordings from her broadcasts, and articles about her artistic legacy.