Effective practice will get the best results and save a lot of time. Playing through the pieces a few times is not practising and will only reinforce any mistakes.

To practise effectively, identify the areas that need attention and practise in small sections. Play slowly and focus on improving one thing at a time. Once the section can be played correctly, repeat it several times to make it more secure. Listen carefully to the sound and keep checking that you are doing what is written in the music (eg sharps, flats, rhythms, tuning, dynamics).

Download the 2020 - 2023 Trinity strings syllabus here.

Listening to recordings of the pieces regularly will reduce the amount of practice needed. It particularly helps with learning the rhythm, style, dynamics and tuning.

Playing along with the recordings is also helpful. If the recording is too fast, the ABRSM exam board provides free software called Speedshifter (free on PC and Mac) that slows down the speed of an mp3 recording or CD. The software works for all mp3 recordings and CDs, and so is ideal for those preparing pieces for concerts and other exams including Trinity. Click here for more information about Speedshifter.

If the exam pieces book did not come with a CD or the CD has been mislaid, the tracks are available as downloads to purchase from the ABRSM website. Click here for more information about ABRSM downloads.

Audio recordings of the pieces are available on some streaming services and as mp3 downloads. As an example, the tracks are available to purchase from Amazon Digital Music as mp3s. Click here to see a list of the albums for each grade. Click on the album and select the individual tracks required. I would recommend the 'Performance' tracks, however, you may find the 'Piano Acc.' (accompaniment) tracks useful as well.

Candidates preparing for the Trinity exams have a choice between preparing scales or studies. All candidates must prepare a bowing exercise then choose between learning the required scales or three studies. Candidates who choose to prepare studies are required to play two of the three they have learnt during the exam, the candidate chooses the first then the examiner chooses one of the remaining two studies. I would almost always recommend the scales option as they play such an important role in the overall development of any player.

Scales are a very effective way to improve your playing, allowing you to develop your technique, sound quality and tuning, without the complication of the pieces. Use the scale sheet (see downloads page) or the scale book (see recommendations page) and the free ScalesAce website to help learn the scales thoroughly. The key to learning scales is to give yourself plenty of time, starting well in advance of the exam. Nearer the exam, it would be helpful to choose scales at random, as the examiner will during the exam. Click here for more information about ScalesAce.

Sight-reading needs to be practised regularly, making sure they are as fluent as possible, with no pauses, no stopping. Clapping the rhythm helps to make the playing more fluent. In the exam you will have around 30 seconds to look through the piece before playing it. To prepare for this, the practice routine should be as follows:

• Look through the piece for 30 seconds. Check the key signature (sharps/flats) and choose the tempo (speed)
• Play through (keep going, no pauses) like in the exam
• Think about where you could make improvements (eg tuning, rhythm, counting, dynamics)
• Clap the rhythm
• Play through the piece one more time