Of course it is possible to take the King of Kings exam, but since you only have a little piano foundation, taking the CET-8 exam is too far away. If you are not prepared to take the lower level and insist on taking the CET-8 directly, it will take many years to prepare. Anyone who has studied piano knows that even if you just want to pass the exam, it will take many years to get to the highest level. What's more, Emperor's Piano Level 8 also requires you to have certain knowledge of music theory, sight-reading ability and good musical hearing, which is very difficult. It is even more difficult to learn that level on your own, so you must be mentally prepared!
As for teaching materials, of course the one you have is fine. Yes, this one is far from enough. In addition, you can choose Hanon, Beyer, Czerny 599, and Bach's elementary piano music. Collection, Bugmüller Advanced Piano Etude Collection, Bach Creative Pieces Collection, Sonata Collection, Czerny 849, Czerny 299, Czerny 740, etc. (including Hanon, Bayer and Czerny's Those books are all etudes). At this stage, you can play Hanon, Beyer, Czerny 599, etc. During the practice, you must be as serious as you are when learning other subjects, otherwise it will be difficult to learn well, and you must be prepared to endure hardship. The whole process will be more complicated. hard.
As for where to take the exam after learning, the difficulty of the music at Emperor's Level 8 is roughly equivalent to the most advanced amateur level in domestic exams, and is roughly equivalent to Czerny 740 level. However, due to other requirements, We must pay attention to the cultivation of comprehensive music quality. It is not enough to reach the Czerny 740 level to take the Emperor's exam.
You asked if there are any other piano textbooks with more explanations, then there is a book called "The Road to Learning Piano for Adults" compiled by Zhang Shigu, which is okay, but these self-study textbooks contain There are still not enough. At present, I have never seen any extremely complete piano self-study teaching materials in China. The main reason is that piano is not suitable for self-study. This is the same reason that many craftsmen have masters. To say the least, it is difficult to learn well by self-study because the knowledge contained in piano playing is too detailed and fragmented, and many things cannot be used. If the written expression is clear, you need step-by-step instruction, and you also need a real person to find out the mistakes for you, and correct them in time to avoid future troubles.
To take the Emperor's Band 8 examination, you need the Emperor's Band 5 Music Theory Certificate (or Band 5 in Practical Music Skills or Band 5 in various jazz solo subjects). As for whether Uncle Song's music theory is enough, that depends. Which of them you look for depends on how well you digest and absorb them. The Emperor's examinations all have examination syllabus. You can go to the Emperor's official website or the official website of the Emperor's representative office to download the examination scope of the corresponding subject and level (it is not convenient to post the URL here, you can just search it on Baidu. If you can't find it, ask me again), and then focus on the examination syllabus. Review carefully and ask questions if you don’t understand.
Sight-reading and listening (what you call listening, its official name is "listening test") are the differences between the Emperor's exam and the domestic exam, because most domestic piano exams do not test these two items. Sight-reading mainly tests the familiarity with staff and piano keys. The listening test tests your basic musical hearing. There will also be a section where you can model singing or playing, and a section where you can share your understanding of music with the examiner. The listening test also has an exam syllabus, which you can download. have a look.
Would it be easier to take the Emperor's Piano Level 5 exam? It is certainly easier to pass than CET-8, and Emperor Piano CET-5 does not require an Emperor Music Theory Examination Certificate, but your current level is still far away from it.
Additional questions
1. You can take the music theory test separately, as I have mentioned above. As for sight-singing and ear-training, Emperor does not have an examination subject called "sight-singing and ear-training", which means that it does not specifically test "sight-singing and ear-training". However, Emperor's various performance examinations (such as piano) are all required at the same time. The more basic sight-singing and ear-training test is the listening test.
2. Vocal music and piano have their own difficulties, but many people may feel that vocal music is easier than piano, because after all, singing is something that many people naturally love to do in life, while piano playing is a relatively unfamiliar thing. , start learning from a more in-depth starting point.
3. It is in pure English, but you can request a translation (if you require a translation, please indicate it on the registration form in advance when registering, and the Chinese version of the test paper will be given to you directly during the exam).
4. Then you should use official textbooks. Emperor has almost no unofficial textbooks because they pay great attention to copyright issues. On the day of the exam, they will also require you to bring the official textbooks to the exam room to show. Otherwise, your exam qualification will be cancelled. Some of the official textbooks (and exercise sets) have explanations, and some do not (for example, music theory has explanations, but piano has almost no explanations, only a performance demonstration tape). Obviously, for any subject, you only need to look at this official thing from the King. It’s not enough. The requirements for the Emperor’s exam are much higher than those for the domestic exam. If you play well in the domestic exam, you can barely pass it if you can still listen well. However, if you play poorly, you won’t be able to pass the Emperor’s exam. Especially a level as high as level eight. When learning music, don’t always think about self-taught. If you can become self-taught, why do so many people spend huge sums of money to learn piano from the best teachers? In fact, the students taught by good teachers are really good. Moreover, self-learning will take many detours, and the progress will be slower than learning with a teacher, and the learning effect will be worse.
When I say this, I don’t mean that you can’t learn by yourself, but I just want you to be fully mentally prepared as the road ahead may be unbearable (nearly half of China’s piano students give up halfway because it’s so difficult to learn piano).
5. Try to ensure that you practice piano every day. As for how long to practice, the longer the better. As long as you don’t hurt your hands from practicing, of course, as an amateur learner, you generally don’t need to practice for too long. If you can really Make sure you practice every day, then just practice for two hours a day.
If you have any questions, please ask me again.