Exams, why do people do it?? To show off?? Options

[mack4]

Yeah exactly a milestone for someone to reach.  I like to do exams though because I feel like have a chieved some thing and l am improving.

I have always hated the exams but working towards the exams helps to get me motivated and keeps the interest alive when learning the instrument.
With out the exams I'm not shure if I would think that I was achieving anything.

It also boosts my confidence when I pass :)

[tooty_flute]

I'm not one of those people who gets anxious or worried about exams. I just practise hard and do my best. I think its good that there are differnt grades to work up through. It gives you soemthing to aim for and keeps you intersted in achieving more on your instrument. I also like the achievement side of it aswell. Especially getting my grade 8! That was one of the best times I've ever had! Dancing round the house! lol

School exams on the other hand are stupid and should be stopped (I've just finished my GCSE's! :P )

[Mark the Harp]

Fascinating topic!

I particularly like sarah_flute's comments. It's not always easy to measure your progress - particularly for adults. If you treat an exam as an absolute measure of how you're doing that's healthier than treating it as a relative measure of how you're doing compared with someone else.

My last 2 exams were grade 5 and grade 7 organ, taken on the same day (examiner: "which one do you want to do first?") due to a mix-up with the bookings - I think I got the same score for each!! That was about 25 years ago. Since then, I haven't done anything exam-wise, though I've done a heap of playing of various sorts.

I recently entered a competition (you had to submit a recording in order to get into the shortlist) and I've yet to "do" the actual gig. Having been away from the exam "system" it did occur to me that I really didn't know how good - or otherwise - I was, hence entering for this. For this particular competition, you have to submit your pieces and a story about them, plus a duration for the performance. Since submitting my choices, I've been quite busy practicing but more importantly, playing them in front of audiences at every possible opportunity - in pubs, at 2 concerts this week, in front of my wife / cats / children. The mere fact of having something to aim at has really been wonderful. It's made me work a lot harder at my music and I've contacted various musicians to ask advice on interpretation and stage presence (including this forum!) - and I have been enriched as a result. For me the "point" of entering this competition was to be forced to take my music a bit more seriously, and that's certainly been the result. Of course it would be great to win a prize, but that's not really the point, is it!

[pianist_1210]

My last 2 exams were grade 5 and grade 7 organ, taken on the same day (examiner: "which one do you want to do first?") due to a mix-up with the bookings - I think I got the same score for each!!

So you mean you do the 2 different grade for the same instrument on the same day?? How can you do that :huh: ??

[Mark the Harp]

So you mean you do the 2 different grade for the same instrument on the same day?? How can you do that :huh: ??

no idea - I was at school at the time and I'm assuming someone stuffed up somewhere. However, I'm pleased to have got the same marks for both. I still wonder what would have happened had I "passed" grade 7 but "failed" grade 5??!

All I can say is that they're the only two exams I've ever taken, so there's nothing like getting them done efficiently - I'd thoroughly recommend it as it gets it over with!!

[sarah-flute]

:lol: that IS efficient :huh: *grin*

[AnotherPianist]

It is very interesting that someone doing two grades at once should get the same mark in both of them: one would have expected that the mark for the lower grade would have been higher! I guess it shows that the marking across the grades really is standardised well (even though it's supposed to be harsher in grades 6-8) and that really how well you play is told by your mark and the grade states how hard the pieces were. Or maybe it just shows that more practise went into the higher grade than the lower one. A very interesting result to ponder though, thanks for sharing it :)!

[musicbox]

[quote=pianist_1210,Jun 21 2005, 09:38 AM]
[quote=Mark the Harp,Jun 21 2005, 08:15 AM]My last 2 exams were grade 5 and grade 7 organ, taken on the same day (examiner: "which one do you want to do first?") due to a mix-up with the bookings - I think I got the same score for each!!

[/quote]

My old music teacher from first school was telling me the other day that he had his grade 8 piano and grade 6 saxophone on the same day! Phew stressful.

[pianist_1210]

On the same day?? Even on the succession of time?? Like one next to the other??
How weird!? I'd love to try that!! :)