A guide by Simon Williams on how to prepare for the aural perception question in the ARCO diploma written papers.

Frederick Stocken looks at the 18th-century two-part counterpoint requirements of the ARCO written examination paper, in two webinars recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Frederick Stocken looks at the two-part counterpoint requirements of the ARCO written examination paper, in two webinars recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a series of three webinars, recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown, Frederick Stocken looks at fugal techniques for the ARCO written examination.

In a set of three webinars Frederick Stocken looks at the Bach Chorale question of the ARCO examination written paper, which requires the completion of the harmony to a given chorale melody, in the style of J S Bach.

The repertoire for the new ARCO examination syllabus, in a Spotify playlist.

Jonathan Davies regards achieving the ARCO qualification as his greatest personal achievement, though it was a long road from just wanting to play flashy pieces on the organ to acquiring the musicianship needed to qualify. He describes some of the techniques which led to final success, for the benefit of anyone else contemplating this examination.

In this film Matthew Martin discusses how to approach the improvisation tests in the ARCO examination syllabus. He suggests devices, patterns and techniques for the different tests, and demonstrates them on the Kenneth Tickell organ of Keble College, Oxford.

The ability to sight-read is enormously useful, but many teachers find it difficult to include in their lessons. This download from the RCO Academy aims to help teach this subject by suggesting resources, preparation techniques, and how to overcome students’ resistance to sight reading.