AMEB Exams and Singing

The AMEB or Australian Music Examinations Board is a national body which provides examinations for instrumental music and music theory students. The AMEB provides graded syllabuses from Preliminary through to Licentiate across a wide variety of instruments.

You can read more general information about the AMEB here, but generally it is a popular method of grading music students used widely by music teachers in Australia. 

Whether AMEB examinations are right for you or your child is a bigger question, but what I want to talk about here is the difference between the three different strands of AMEB Singing:

• Singing

• Singing For Leisure

• Musical Theatre

So, what’s the difference?

Singing

In AMEB terms, ‘Singing’ refers to a focus on classical repertoire and the classical tradition of singing. The repertoire lists are largely made up of classical repertoire, with some traditional folk song and some more classical-style, older musical theatre. In line with classical singing traditions, there is also repertoire in languages other than English, including Italian, German and French, though this is not required.

Who would suit AMEB Singing?

• Students who have a voice that sits well with classical repertoire 

• Students who enjoy a range of classical music from different periods (ie. Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century)

• Students who enjoy or are adept at singing in different languages

Singing For Leisure

The Singing For Leisure stream fits a lot of students very well. It offers a very broad variety of genres, and there is also a Repertoire exam option which focuses specifically on preparing and performing repertoire. In a typical Singing For Leisure syllabus you can find classical song, musical theatre, jazz and pop music. This doesn’t suit those who want to specialise but is great for students with diverse interests. 

Who would suit AMEB Singing For Leisure?

• Students who like singing in many different styles 

• Students who would like to do an exam but present a more limited collection of repertoire 
  

Musical Theatre 

Musical Theatre is the most recent addition to AMEB options for singers. As the title suggests, Musical Theatre focuses on repertoire from musicals. However, this stream also has different technical work that focuses more on techniques used in musical theatre. Even though the repertoire is strictly musical theatre, the list extends back to musical theatre of the early 20th century (that has a jazzy flair) to current musical theatre (which can often have a contemporary-pop sound) and everything in between. 

Who would suit AMEB Musical Theatre?

• Students who love singing music from musicals

• Students who enjoy acting and characterisation, as these are an important part of musical theatre performance

• Students who want to be in musicals and would like to prepare their skills

So, as you can see, it’s not a one size fits all. However, there is usually one stream that fits each student well. Furthermore, it’s possible to try out repertoire from a particular list and see if it suits you before you commit to an exam.

Have more questions? Feel free to contact me to discuss lessons and exams.