This is a proposal, and 'request for comments', for a grading system for ocarina players. It was based on studying the ABRSM and Trinity College curriculums for flute.
Both of these systems grade players from 'grade 1' (beginner) to 'grade 8' (professional) through their ability to perform music matching a given set of criteria. I have found them largely comparable, although the Trinity system does tend to introduce complexity earlier.
My proposal draws more from the structure of the ABRSM curriculum, but is somewhat an average of both systems.
In common language the term 'ocarina' is used to refer to any instrument which produces sound using a hollow chamber.
Within the scope of this work, the term 'ocarina' is assumed to mean the Italian (Budrio) transverse ocarina, and direct descendants of it including transverse multichambers.
Ocarina is most often approached through self-learning, frequently exclusively through a player learning to play the music they like. But this approach alone tends towards uneven skill development.
If one wishes to learn to play the ocarina well, it can be difficult to know what one needs to study to develop broad musical skill.
At the current time, there are numerous guides for ocarina targetting total beginners. There are a number of exceptionally skilled players, most of who are classically trained on other instruments, and a total lack of information in the middle.
I am a self-taught musician who started playing the ocarina as an adult, and have spent a great deal of time studying ocarinas. But this prior work has focused primarily in understanding the ocarina regarding good playing technique, not the playing of a diverse range of complex music.
Thus, a large part of my reason for conducting this study was to find areas of my own skill that are lacking, and know where I could improve.
As such, the intention is to:
There are a number of challenges in creating a grading system for ocarinas which have no clear answer, inducing:
The biggest challenge in creating this proposal is that there is a complete lack of difficulty graded music for the ocarina, which ranges from beginner to virtuosic. I have based the difficulty scaling per grade on the flute syllabus used as reference.
For anyone wishing to start putting common ocarina music into difficulty levels, I would advise referencing the exam books of a graded music curriculum for a similar instrument.
For this initial proposal, I have opted to introduce multichambers to match the range scaling within the flute syllabus. The reason for this is that the multi-chambered ocarina is a direct extension of the single chambered ocarina.
Learning scales on a multichamber constitutes developing the same skills in fingerings / blowing pressures. It is easy for a player to then transfer this knowledge back to a single chamber ocarina.
Volume dynamics have been omitted due to the technical complexity of creating them. Varying blowing pressure alone changes both pitch and volume. Creating volume dynamics demands changing pressure while partially venting or shading finger holes. It technically challenging and not in the common practice of most players as of writing.
The highland bagpipe is probably the closest instrument to ocarina regarding its technical limitations, which has an established grading system.
Due to its military connections, the highland bagpipe has long had a tradition of teachers, students and an established system of difficulty progression.
The ocarina is a limited range instrument, and ocarinas are made tuned in many different, overlapping, 'keys', in order to span a wide range.
For this proposal, I have assumed these to be 'equivalent' transposing instruments. Any grade may be completed using an ocarina in any key. Ocarinas in different keys use the same fingering system, and provide the same relative sounding range.
This is an oversimplification if one considers ocarinas with extremely high or low sounding ranges. Very low pitched ocarinas are less-apt at performing technical high-tempo passages due to physics, and the fact that such instruments generally have a smaller sounding range.
However, that technicality has been ignored as these instruments are not very common. The most widely used ocarinas have a base pitch between C4 and C6.
The ability to understand how ocarinas in different keys relate to each other is also very important. In practice one frequently has to use an ocarina in a given 'key' in order to attain the required range of notes.
Thus:
The ocarina is an instrument with a limited sounding range. Much of the music that works well on the instrument is modal in nature, and often ends up using ranges of notes that would be considered 'odd' in art music.
Due to this, I have opted not to differentiate between major scales, minor scales / and modes. Key signatures imply all equivalent modes, and the relative minor keys.
I have noticed that the flute syllabus used as a reference bases its music complexity in a given grade on when the scale and time signature the music is in was introduced.
These are introduced gradually over sequential grades, and music of a given grade level using previously introduced keys is considerably more complex than music in keys and/or time signatures which were introduced at the same grade level.
To avoid this conflating my difficulty scaling, I have based this study on the difficulty scaling of music in G, D, and C, and 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4 within the exam books. These are all introduced in early grades in the referenced syllabus.
Grade 1 targets a single chamber transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 1 octave between low C and high C.
I advise starting learners with the notes G to high C, and gradually working downwards. Doing so reduces the risk of mis-covering holes, and the higher notes are considerably more pitch stable.
Grade 1 should introduce these concepts:
Posture:
General music concepts:
A player at grade 1 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4 and 4/4
F, C
Notes:
Rests:
Rhythms may include ties between 2 adjacent notes, and may in rare cases cross the bar line.
Melodies at grade 1 should be rhythmically sparse, and mostly move stepwise.
Practising the following is recommended as it will help you move around the notes on the instrument:
* 1 octave: ascending to highest note, descending to the lowest note, and ascending to tonic.
Players at grade 1 should be able to sight read melodies in the previously given keys, time signatures, and using rhythms built from the above specified note types.
These melodies should use the intervals:
With a length of:
And up to a tempo of:
1/4 = 50
Players should be able to perform prepared (practised) music with a length of approximately 24 bars, using the previously given keys, range and note types.
The trinity exam pieces include 8th rests and some minor syncopations even at grade 1.
Grade 2 targets a single chamber transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 1 octave and a forth between low C and high F.
At grade 2, players should be introduced to the 3 point grip, and how it allows the 3 high notes to be easily played.
One should also introduce how to balance the instrument while leaping around the range at a low tempo.
A player at grade 2 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4 and 4/4
F, C, G, D
Notes:
Rests:
Rhythms may include ties between 2 adjacent notes, and common use of two quarters tied over bar line.
Melodies at grade 2 should be slightly more rhythmically complex, and may make use of larger intervals more often.
Practising the following is recommended as it will help you move around the notes on the instrument:
These should be practised within the range of the instrument, ascending to highest note, descending to the lowest note, and ascending to tonic.
Players at grade 2 should be able to sight read melodies in the previously given keys, time signatures, and using rhythms built from the above specified note types.
These melodies should use the intervals:
With a length of:
And at a tempo of:
1/4 = 56
Players should be able to perform prepared (practised) music with a length of approximately 24 bars, using the previously given range and rhythms.
Mostly stepwise in sight reading.
Introduces Staccato dot.
Grade 3 targets a single chamber transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 1 octave and a forth between low C and high F.
Additionally, an ocarina with the same fingering system, in a different key is required.
The range of notes that we use in music should be introduced using a piano keyboard as a visual aid. Demonstrate how any given ocarina provides a 'slice' of the total range of avalible notes.
Demonstrate how ocarinas in different keys play a scale that sounds the same when the same fingerings are used, but sound at a higher or lower pitch.
Explain that ocarinas in different keys may be used to match the sounding range of other musicians.
A player at grade 3 should be able to play music using the following features:
Grade 3 introduces the concept of accidentals, and music should include them infrequently.
2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 3/8
F, C, G, D, Bb
Chromatic scale (one octave starting on G)
Notes:
Rests:
Rhythms
Rhythms may include ties between 2 adjacent notes, and common use of two quarters tied over bar line.
Practising the following is recommended as it will help you move around the notes on the instrument:
These should be practised within the range of the instrument, ascending to highest note, descending to the lowest note, and ascending to tonic.
Players at grade 3 should be able to sight read melodies in the previously given keys, time signatures, and using rhythms built from the above specified note types.
These melodies should use the intervals:
With a length of:
And at a tempo of:
1/4 = 63
Players should be able to perform prepared (practised) music with a length of approximately 45 bars for rhythmically simple music, and 26 bars for music including higher complexity (16th notes).
Sight reading exercises are balanced in how often they move stepwise, vs move in thirds.
ABRSM introduces accidentals.
There are a few syncopations in Trinity exam pieces:
ABSRM sight reading exercises do not include 16th - 8th pairs, even though the inverse rhythm is used.
Exam pieces include ties on eighth notes.
Grade 4 targets a double chamber 'Asian' system transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 2 octaves between C and C, 2 octaves above.
A player at grade 4 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8
F, C, G, D, Bb
Notes:
Rests:
The rhythmic complexity of grade 4 is similar to that of grade 3.
Melodies at grade 4 should be more rhythmically dense than grade 3, and make use of scale runs over a larger range.
Rhythms may be arranged to create higher densities of 16th notes. Pitches used may leap around more frequently.
Players at grade 4 should be able to sight read melodies in the previously given keys, time signatures, and using rhythms built from the above specified note types.
These melodies should use the intervals:
With a length of:
And at a tempo of:
1/4 = 72
Players should be able to perform prepared (practised) music with a length of approximately 45 bars for rhythmically simple music, and 26 bars for music including higher complexity (16th notes).
ABRSM introduces:
The main changes from grade 3 are the additional keys, increased range, and use of larger intervals.
Grade 5 targets a double chamber 'Asian' system transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 2 octaves between C and C, 2 octaves above.
A player at grade 5 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8
F, C, G, D, Bb, Eb, A
Chromatic scale (two octaves, starting on C and F)
Notes:
Rests:
Melodies at grade 5 should be quite dense, making extensive use of 16th notes, accidentals, scale runs and arpeggios. Large leaps may be used a number of times per bar, creating pedal notes or for other reasons.
Music may feature ties to 16th notes.
Practising the following is recommended as it will help you move around the notes on the instrument:
These should be practised within the range of the instrument, ascending to highest note, descending to the lowest note, and ascending to tonic.
Players at grade 4 should be able to sight read melodies in the previously given keys, time signatures, and using rhythms built from the above specified note types.
These melodies should use the intervals up to one octave.
With a length of 8 to 16 bars.
And at a tempo of:
1/4 = 84
Players should be able to perform prepared (practised) music with a length aligning with the following note, using the previously given range and rhythms.
Length of prepared pieces:
Introduces 16 16 8 groups.
There is still no 16th dotted 8th pairs in ABSRM sight reading.
Introduces syncopations
Makes use of longer 16th note runs in 3/8 and 6/8.
32nd note triplet in trinity pieces.
Largest common interval is 1 octave. There are a few occurrences of larger
intervals in the trinity exam pieces.
More substantial use of accidentals, including short chromatic runs.
Ties to 16th notes.
Details of grade 6 have not been filled out yet.
Grade 6 targets a double chamber 'Asian' system transverse ocarina, and uses a range of 2 octaves between C and C, 2 octaves above.
A player at grade 2 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 5/8, 5/4
F, C, G, D, Bb, Eb, A, Ab, E
Notes:
Rests:
Tempo: 1/4 = 96
ABRSM introduces:
- Changing time signatures
- Triplet patterns
- reduce tempo and return to tempo.
- Swung rhythms
Length of sight reading: 12 to 16 bars
Details of grade 7 have not been filled out yet.
Grade 7 targets a triple chamber 'Asian' system transverse ocarina.
A player at grade 7 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 5/8, 5/4, 7/8, 7/4
F, C, G, D, Bb, Eb, A, Ab, E, Db/C#, B/Cb
Notes:
Rests:
Extensive use of 16th note runs
Extensive use of 16th note triplets
Common use of 32nd runs (about 4 notes long)
Some use of grace notes.
Notable rhythmic contrasts, half note followed by a run of 8 16th notes.
Sextuplets of 16th notes.
Book includes the notation for both the flute part and piano part.
Smaller staff size.
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Length, sight reading: 16 to 20 bars
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Tempo: 1/4 = 112
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Length, exam pieces: 48 (considerable variance in rhythm lengths), 85 (varying between 6/8 and 5/8)
Grade 8 targets a triple chamber 'Asian' system transverse ocarina.
A player at grade 8 should be able to play music using the following features:
2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 5/8, 5/4, 7/8, 7/4, 12/8
F, C, G, D, Bb, Eb, A, Ab, E, Db/C#, B/Cb, Gb/F#
ABSRM adds:
Quarter note triplets
Accelerating tempo
Simple ornaments
8va sign (play an octave higher than written)
Tempo: 1/4 = 132
Length, sight reading: 16 to 24 bars
The following people have contributed suggestions to this work: