Exam Stress, Not theirs. Mine!!! Options

[Dora]

Up until now teachers have accompanied my children, apart from one instance where a teacher teaching one instrument accompanied another instrument.
This time I have two Grade 5 exams, one per child, where the teachers can't accompany.
One teacher was confident she could find someone so once I had the exam dates I let her know and left her to organise it.
No communication between potential accompanists and the teacher soon had my blood pressure rising. So I spent yesterday and today trying to resolve it.
I played seemingly endless games of phone tennis with various people but finally got one slot sorted. This was a bit of a disaster because I had used up my best hope just getting one slot covered.
Finally today I rang the Board.
They took the whole thing very calmly and offered me alternative times, but not at my local center. I rang back my best hope and he could do the time at the other centre.
A phone call to the board changing the time and venue solved my problem.
It was a complete nightmare.
So how do other people manage?
Is shifting dates as simple as it was for me today or should it be a last resort.
I'd hate to think I'm going to have to go through this again but I guess some of Grades 6, 7 and 8 await me.
Dora (off to take a valium I think)

[notmusimum]

One good thing about taking the exams during the Music Service special visit, there is a resident accompanist. She is very good but daughter prefers her Piano Teacher as she gets more practice with him. I used to worry about accompaniment but it's always been easy for us. I should say the MS will enter daughter even for instruments that they don't teach her on, that gives her access to aural lessons as well as accompanist.

[Minstrel]

I have always found the AB very helpful on the occasions I have had to ask for a change of date - more usually if a music exam has coincided with public exams (GCSEs or A levels) but also on the occasion when my booked accompanist found that he had a clash with another instrumentalist at another venue and obviously could only be in one place at a time.

[all ears]

Must admit that I move heaven and earth to accommodate the ABRSM exam schedule! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) That being so, I rather wish they'd give a bit more notice of exams, especially when accompanists are required.

I've taken to asking around about potential accompanists before the exam date and time arrive. That way I have my telephone list ready for action the moment it becomes obvious that Accompanist Plan A isn't going to work. It's still a lot of stress though.

I still can't figure out why it's so important for instrumentalists to play with piano accompaniment in every single grade, but it's not important enough for pianists to demonstrate accompaniment skills at any grade!

[BerkshireMum]

This sounds a bit of a nightmare! I must admit, piano exams are easier in this respect! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I didn't have a problem at lower grades, as I accompanied my children myself up to grade 5. For grade 6 and above it definitely was a headache, but my son's clarinet teacher seemed to feel it was as much her problem as mine, and it was she who got dates and times changed (by arranging a swap with another teacher), and sorted out an accompanist, when several people I'd tried for grade 8 were unable to oblige.

If it's bad for grade exams, it's even worse for diplomas, where you are performing a lot of repertoire - too much for an accompanist to get to grips with in a month. True, the diploma week is known well in advance, but how many accompanists are willing to set aside an entire week in order to accompany your offspring for under an hour? And they really don't like changing times for diploma exams. I was very lucky that although my son's usual accompanist couldn't do his time, an accompanist he had played with before was willing to do it and was already familiar with most of his programme.

I don't think there's an answer to this. It is a headache, but I think it's something you have to go through because you want your child to have the certificate. And it's like giving birth - although you remember later that it was a pain, it soon becomes a distant memory!

[jod]

Unless one of my pupils chose a piece with an impossible accompaniment, I normally play for them, otherwise I have a number of tame pianist that I know whose arms I can twist.

The other nerves I get are when pupils who when I entered them were well on course just don't progress as well as the did to convince me to enter them, and I have a mad scrabble to make them ready. The only AB failure I've had has been caused due to my own son convincing me he'd be ready then not practicing!