Far from fading away in the era of streamed music at our fingertips, the mastery of an actual instrument is still something aspired to by thousands.This week, you can even aim to play in one of the Proms this year by “auditioning” online a piece of classical music with any instrument of your choice as part of the BBC Get Playing Virtual Orchestra campaign.

And thousands of us are still putting ourselves and our kids through the tried and tested route if the formal Grade examination. Founded in 1889, and in place ever since, the stern requirement of musical grade from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music has been the following: the performance of pieces A-C, in chronological order, a strict array of scales, a piece of sightreading and the dreaded Aural (clapping, singing, chat about musical history). It is an unwavering and daunting syllabus, but one mastered by over 630,000 quavering candidates in 93 countries across the world, every year.

more at Source: Why I’m proud to be a pushy music parent