LC Music study guide
LC Music · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
London College of Music Examinations (LCME) is described on its own site as "a university-owned, inclusive board for performance exams." It states that LCME was established in 1887 and that it offers "globally recognised qualifications and awards in music, drama, communications, and creative media." LCME sits within the University of West London, and its published address is University of West London, St Mary's Road, Ealing, London W5 5RF. The provision is broad rather than single-instrument. The LC Music study guide has 9 sections and about 2,634 words.
01Graded Music Exams: Instruments and Subjects, Grades 1–8
LCM's graded music exams run from Grade 1 to Grade 8 across piano, singing, guitar and ukulele, strings and harp, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard/organ/accordion, jazz, traditional music, musical theatre, drama, communication, ensemble, conducting, composition and thesis, music in worship, creative media, early learning and Stave House. The subject changes the repertoire list and the technical work; the architecture of the exam barely changes.
347 words, about 2 min02Recital Grades: Programme Building as the Exam
Recital Grades are performance-only. The candidate presents a prepared programme and is assessed on the playing and the programming - there are no scales, no sight reading and no aural tests.
309 words, about 2 min03Leisure Play: Performance Without the Technical Apparatus
Leisure Play exams exist for candidates who want to perform without the machinery of a graded exam: no scales, no sight reading, no aural. The candidate offers a short programme of pieces, songs or own compositions - flexible instrumentation and backing tracks are normally permitted - and is marked on performance alone.
279 words, about 1 min04Pre-Grade 1 and Early Learning: The First Assessment
Pre-Grade 1 is the first formal exam a beginner meets: two or three short pieces, some echo-clapping or singing, and simple listening questions, finished in a few minutes. Early Learning covers the years before that, and the Stave House strand teaches notation through characters and stories rather than abstract drill, so a child meets the stave as a place with inhabitants rather than a grid of lines.
293 words, about 1 min05Digital Exams: Recorded and Live Online Delivery
LCM’s digital route lets candidates take graded and diploma exams either as a recorded submission or as a live online session with an examiner. The syllabus content is identical; the rules of evidence are not, and most lost marks in digital exams are technical rather than musical.
292 words, about 1 min06Performance Diplomas: DipLCM to FLCM
The performance diploma ladder is DipLCM, ALCM, LLCM and FLCM. Each is a recital-based qualification: the candidate builds and performs a substantial programme and supports it with written and spoken work.
263 words, about 1 min07Teaching Diplomas: Evidence of Pedagogy
The teaching diplomas, DipLCM through FLCM, assess whether you can teach rather than whether you can play. Typical evidence is a portfolio of teaching materials and lesson plans, video of real lessons, a written assignment on pedagogy, and a viva with the examiner.
274 words, about 1 min08Theory Exams: Grades 1–8 Written Papers
LCM theory grades run from 1 to 8 as written papers. They test literacy: notation, keys, intervals, chords, harmony, melody writing, analysis, and knowledge of instruments and terms.
303 words, about 2 min09Theory Diplomas: Analysis, Scholarship and Thesis
Theory diplomas - DipLCM, ALCM, LLCM and FLCM - are written and research-based. They move from doing theory to arguing about it: harmonic and structural analysis, counterpoint, orchestration, editorial and performance-practice questions, and at the higher levels a dissertation.
274 words, about 1 min