Every year hundred’s of students of all ages enters for the Contemporary Music exams offered by “The Music Academy SA(TMASA)” for a variety of reasons. Many take exams on the advice of their teacher or as a prerequisite for tertiary entrance or as a benchmark of their education or for recognition of their year’s hard work and achievement. Preparing for exams can be challenging and time-consuming and sometimes the effort and time required to complete an exam seem insurmountable.
So why follow an TMASA exam you may ask? Here are 5 reasons why it really is worth it after all:
1. To assist in setting goals
Preparing for an exam requires a significant amount of planning and hard work. Exams provide clearly defined goal posts that are a powerful motivating force. Leading musicians and educators set realistic and appropriate goals within TMASA syllabuses and examinations are an opportunity for students to measure themselves against these goals.
2. To encourage the development of a broader range of skills
TMASA exams challenge students not only to perform repertoire on their instrument, but also to demonstrate other important skills like sight reading, aural development, technical skills and most important the knowledge of the use of various improvisation techniques. These additional requirements support their learning and provide context and meaning to the experience. Gaining this full range of skills supports their overall music education creating successful musicians and giving them the tools required to develop into well-rounded, professional players.
3. To gain valuable performance experience
For many people, one of the hardest parts of taking an exam is presenting your program in front of someone. Performing in front of others helps to develop poise and confidence: life skills that are useful for all sorts of future endeavors. The fact that the TMASA are taken place in a digital format, relaxes candidates and thus they perform better and ultimate receives better results in the end.
4. To get constructive feedback
Every candidate that completes an exam receives a personal written report from their examiner. This independent feedback encourages the student to progress by highlighting areas of strength and weakness under performance conditions to help guide students in their development. The feedback provided can confirm issues previously identified by the teacher and also introduce areas for improvement and further study.
5. To recognise achievement
Each successful candidate receives an official TMASA certificate recognizing their achievement. This certificate is a tangible reminder of a milestone achievement and a source of great pride. Our qualifications provide a national benchmark.
Most students after completing their exams are not necessarily on their way to becoming professional musicians. That being said, there is overwhelming evidence demonstrating that childhood music education leads to well-rounded, high performing adults across all fields. For students to set and then achieve a goal such as an exam, they are learning the value of hard work, discipline, and the incredible feats they are capable of in their lives ahead, and it has been proven that these candidates demonstrated to have more respect towards other persons.