Another Exam Story, grade 6 violin Options

[AntonPiano]

EDIT!: RESULTS ARE IN!
DISTINCTION 131 =)











well, overall, it was prettty bad!
i can honestly say that no one..
and i mean no one has ever done scales quite as bad as me.

i slurred everything wrong
i went too fast
every time he asked for harmonic
i played melodic
and couldn't get out of it
my aural!
the sightsinging upset me a bit
being as im grade 8 vocals
and can sight singing is quite good..
i lost complete control of my voice!
i was proper upset about that.

sight reading..
my mind just went blurry
and i played it too fast.

and i said double instead of triple time
eventhough i was trying to say triple.

i can honestly say i am gutted.

my pieces were...okay
i think i lost sync with my pianist a little tiny bit in the canzona seconda..

and to make matters worse.
i had to go back in to accompany 3 other pupils.

i dont think i could face playing the violin again in all honesty,
i was thinking about leaving about it before hand
and this exam just put the cherry on the cake for me.

[melody_maker]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thereThere.gif)
I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you thought it was.
The examiner would know you were nervous and mark accordingly.
You are your own worst critic!
So cheer up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Miss Ross]

Oh Anton, I'm so sorry to hear that you feel this way. But, really, there must have been some really good parts as well - your pieces, how did they go? Dynamics, bow control...At the moment, I can see why you're focussing on the negative elements, particularly as you were thinking of giving up before, but please try and find some good in it. Also, you had nothing to lose by sitting the exam, and the chances are that things really aren't as bad as you think. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thereThere.gif)

[AntonPiano]

Diolch yn fawr iawn (Thank you very much..) Miss Ross and Melody Maker.

My pieces went fine i suppose...
I did the Canzona Seconda, which was good apart from forgetting to speed back up after the meno mosso.
(Also, haas any one else noticed the allegro marking on the piano part, but not the violin part in this piece? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) )
Then the Bohm Bolero, which went suprisingly well, apart from the scalic run with position changes, they just sounded rushed and totally out of tune
And the Blues at the end, It survived.

I did the majority of the dynamics and the bow control was fine for the pieces.
I just hope they can pull me through,
but I really do think my fiddle days are over.
I should really concentrate on the piano.

[Alicia Ocean]

Oh you poor thing. There's no use telling your not to beat yourself up - it's human nature to kick yourself afterwards. I wish you speedy results. I'm sure there'll be lots of good things said about your pieces in any case - and that's the important bit.

[skylark]

I really felt for you, reading your post. I hope it won't turn out to be as bad as you fear - you did say that your pieces were "okay", which probably means that the examiner thought they were more than just "okay", and they carry by far the most marks.

You could try to work out objectively how you might have done by having a look at the Assessment Criteria which the ABRSM use - go to the Exams page of the ABRSM web site and click the PDF of "These Music Exams". Pages 39-43 give you the objective marking criteria for each element of the exam. And even if you fail one of the sections, you can still pass the exam overall if your marks in the pieces are good enough.

Why were you thinking of packing in the violin by the way?

[HazelKay]

commiserations on your horrible experience. I felt the same way about my exam - fluffing things I never have problems with and singing the echoes completely out of tune etc etc and I still passed, so there's hope yet.
Bet you play the piano fantastically (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif)

[Melody Amour]

Hi AntonPiano, I am sorry you are feeling despondent about your violin exam. As Skylark said, the pieces carry the most marks so it may not be as bad as you thought. I don't know about you but I tend to end up concentrating on what I thought was really bad and forgetting about the rest of the exam, which can just happen to be all right and get you through. Good luck for good results.

[AntonPiano]

Thanks again for the supportive replies guys, it's nice to have (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

In reply to skylark - thanks - (i think it was skylark, sorry) - I want to leave it because I need to focus on getting Grade 8 Piano, and as I have never done a piano exam or had many lessons, theres alot of practise etc to do, and I dont want the violin to get in the way. At the moment, I've only ever had violin lessons at school and I am not leaving to go to college, and will have to return the Stentor 2 (which I hate ever so much) which I have used for the past 5 years, thus leaving me 'fiddle-less' and if I were to carry on I only have around 400 pounds in a saving account to buy a violin, and I am extremely disciplined where intonation etc comes in, and I would be expecting a nicer violin than the one I have.. the only problem being I have no idea where to buy one from, or what I need to look out for to get one...

Theres ebay...
but I dont trust the site much
as i've known violins and cellos to arrive at peoples houses with the fingerboard off the violin and ir-repairable.

I really do need to get grade 8 as Im late doing it as it is, and I would simply adore to attend music university, and if i couldnt do that, then theres nothing else I really could do. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Its all a big mess.
But, thanks again to everyone for the replies
They are more appreciated than you will ever know

[skylark]

I don't think it sounds like a "big mess" at all, Anton - I think you seem to be quite focussed in where you want to go with your music and what you need to do to achieve it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Even if you give up the violin at this time in order to concentrate on piano, what you've learnt so far on violin will stand you in good stead musically, and you can always return to it when time/money allows.

I'm just working out myself what I'm going to have to do in order to get to where I want to be, and I'm giving up a couple of music activities that I enjoy in favour of pursuing ones that I both enjoy *and* progress me. So I know it's a hard decision, but you have to think about what's best for you in the long term, which is what you're doing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Incidentally I just wondered if you do any composition work as well?

[_rai_]

Don't sweat it! I did my grade 6 violin 2 years ago, played the canzona, sonata movt by Fibich and Blues.

Even though I messed up a few notes at the start, I still got 29/30 for the canzona. The examiner looks at the big picture of a performance, instead of picking on tiny, minute details (unless they bring out the character of the piece).

And yes, I noticed the Allegro bit in the piano part (near the end, isn't it?) but not in the violin part. My violin teacher and I discussed it with our accompanist and decided to play that part as Allegro as marked in the piano part. We tried with and without speeding up for that part, and the 'Allegro' for that section sounded appropriate and good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif) It's up to the violinist, though.

[AntonPiano]

Incidentally I just wondered if you do any composition work as well?

I do do compostition and I do enjoy it. I have written songs ranging from guitar and voice to SATB choir and Organ.

[skylark]

It's really interesting that you've confirmed it's songs you write. I asked the question because I think your posts and your profile are quite creatively written, and, er, I don't want to be too personal but I think that some of your posts are quite poetically written as well - sorry, hope you don't mind my saying! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

But did you know that you can do exams in composition - you might find it easy to get a Distinction in them!

[mwl1]

Music is for life etc etc.

I'm sure you'll have done better than you thought. I bet you could make a similar list of all the things that went well!

[violin-ann]

Hi Anton!

I'm taking my Grade 6 violin next week too! Yes, I'm sure you did better than you expected. Like my student who sat for her Grade 2 in June, she said she played badly.. wasn't sure if she'd pass and guess what.. she got a distinction. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) All that stress for nothing.

Never mind, it's over and you can concentrate on your piano for now until you feel like going back to the violin. I'm doing the canzona secondo too (i keep calling it canonzetta for some reason! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ) and the Allegro Moderato and the blues as well. My pieces keep shifting. I mean my best piece was the canzona for a week, then the Allegro was better the next, and now the Blues is the best. At the moment, I can hardly say my pieces are ok though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) There are still some rather dodgy parts in them.

Scales are more of a hit and miss thing. I kept going up harmonic and down melodic but it's a bit better today. Anyway, you're not the only one, sometimes nerves affect people so badly. they cleanly forget everything they know. So no need to beat yourself up over it. You always have another chance.

Sight-reading is awfully confusing when there's like 5 flats. So I'll hope for the best. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Good luck for the results. When do you expect to get them?

Try buying your violin from elidatrading. Liz (the owner) is from the forums and lots of people including me have bought string instruments from them and are very satisfied with both instrument and service. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)