Any Unusual Exam Experiences?, Here's Mine Options

[Howie]

Hi All

I took Grade 5 piano this week and, well it could have gone a lot better.

Like most adults I am really nervous in the exams and don't handle them well so imagine when, firstly a huge, lazy fly was buzzing around the room and although I tried to ignore it, it kept landing on my hands during the scales and pieces and at one time even landed on my nose! How on earth do you deal with that?

Secondly, although apparantly a new piano, the notes were sticking badly in the heat and humidity and not just a bit sticky but completely staying down - again during the pieces and the scales.

I should add that I took the exam in a hot country which accounts for these conditions and the examiner was brilliantly understanding and couldn't have handled it better or more fairly.

I'm not sure how examiners are able to assess how pupils would have performed in the absence of such distractions but to be honest I'm happy that I got through it and any future exams I take can only be easier at least from the point of view of distractions!

[Tassimo]

Howie

That was a great example of what you don't want to happen in your exam. Good for you. The fly landing on my nose would have done it for me though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[jod]

In the olden days of the Advanced Certificate, my examiner was delayed due to a signalling problem on the railway. I arrived and he did not. Eventually he did and was very apologetic.

I passed with distinction, he was very pleasant, and my accompanist and I talked about what I was going to do next. I mentioned going to Howarths to get Oboe and Cor Reeds (the exam was at RAM). The examiner looked at me and said, but you took your supporting tests on the piano and your advanced certificate is in singing? Piano is my third study! Oboe is my second.

I just got the feeling at that point I'd done rather well as he said, I wish more of our students were as complete musicians.

[Czerny]

I passed with distinction, he was very pleasant, and my accompanist and I talked about what I was going to do next. I mentioned going to Howarths to get Oboe and Cor Reeds (the exam was at RAM). The examiner looked at me and said, but you took your supporting tests on the piano and your advanced certificate is in singing? Piano is my third study! Oboe is my second.

I just got the feeling at that point I'd done rather well as he said, I wish more of our students were as complete musicians.

Are we to assume you will also be singing that well-known ditty "One's Own Praises" in your FRSM programme? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[celloml]

I don't know that this accounts for an "unusual exam experience"

About 12 years ago, an acquaintance of mine took grade 5 piano (she was approx 10yrs). At the beginning of the exam, the really-nice lady examiner asked her if she was an "advanced" or "normal" student. My friend was totally befuddled as she'd never heard anything about that from her teacher. The examiner then proceeded to ask for scales she had never learnt before (presumably from the "advanced student's list of scales"). Near the middle of the exam, the examiner finally realized that this poor child probably was a "normal" student (whatever that is) and tried to make the rest of the exam as simple and easy as possible. She seemed "apologetic" about how it had gone; but, as they were completely out of time, she had to finish off the exam.

Needless to say that my friend had a much lower aggregate score than she would have gotten had the examiner examined her as a "normal" student.

[Tassimo]

Needless to say that my friend had a much lower aggregate score than she would have gotten had the examiner examined her as a "normal" student.

Oh no. That seems so harsh (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Alicia Ocean]

An examiner said that he had an accompanist die of a heart attack during an exam. Since then he's always been nervous of examining grade 7s.

[balu114]

Oh, I have a good one. A story my tutor told me.

He was accompanying few of his students for the exams and he saw a ten year old kid crying and his mother was quite anxious and kept looking outside the building. It turned out that the kid's accompanist didn't turn up and the examiner was kind enough to let them wait well past the exam start time.

Even after my teacher had finished accompanying many of his students, the accompanist didn't arrive. So he offered to play the accompaniment for the boy, much to the relief of the boy and his mum.

Even after this ordeal the boy managed to pass with a decent score! I can't say if I would've passed..

[thouston]

An examiner said that he had an accompanist die of a heart attack during an exam. Since then he's always been nervous of examining grade 7s.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) oh dear...poor examiner - and pupil - and accompanist...

My Grade 5 theory exam was in a centre a 16 minute drive away, so we left an hour before the event to allow plenty of time for parking etc (hubby driving so I could relax and focus on the coming ordeal exam - thank goodness, given subsequent events).

There was a traffic jam. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) On a bit of dual carriageway where there was no possibility of getting off. Moreover, traffic was then diverted through a route that neither of us knew (the original route was so simple we hadn't bothered to take a map).

It turned out that a lorry had jackknifed, completely blocking the road and with its cabin lodged in somebody's house (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

I arrived 33 minutes after the start of the exam but was allowed in to take it (I learnt later that after 35 minutes they don't allow any late-comers - glad I didn't know that beforehand).

Adrenalin and blood pressure were through the roof but I got through it by thinking how lucky I was compared with the poor people who had a lorry in their living room.

[JamesK]

There was a traffic jam. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) On a bit of dual carriageway where there was no possibility of getting off. Moreover, traffic was then diverted through a route that neither of us knew (the original route was so simple we hadn't bothered to take a map).

It turned out that a lorry had jackknifed, completely blocking the road and with its cabin lodged in somebody's house (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

I arrived 33 minutes after the start of the exam but was allowed in to take it (I learnt later that after 35 minutes they don't allow any late-comers - glad I didn't know that beforehand).

Adrenalin and blood pressure were through the roof but I got through it by thinking how lucky I was compared with the poor people who had a lorry in their living room.

I did something much worse in my eyes. I read the time wrong on the letter which says the time/address of grade 5 theory exam. It apparently started at 10:00am, but I got there for 11:00am. Thankfully, I was allowed to take the test, but at the compromise of 1 hour rather than the allotted 2 hour exam. (Moast alert) Needless to say, I did not reach my full potential, but still got 82/100. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) Do more than neatness. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[bassoonista]

Not a music exam, but a hairy ballet exam.
When I was at dance college in London, during the third year, a notice went up stating who was being entered for the advanced exam. Just about everyone was, with the exception of me and a friend. We asked why, and were told that we would probably fail. So, off we went, and got our home town dance teachers to enter us, but at the London centre.
That was when the undercover work started! You wear a tutu for this exam, and of course, neither of us could practice in it. Our college was the exam centre, many of the teachers were examiners, and our fellow third years often acted as stewards. We were lucky, and were allocated a Saturday, managed to sneak into the building, and had an examiner who didn't know us.
When the results came out, most of our fellow students had failed, but we both passed!!
I went back to a reunion a few years ago to find that this event had passed into college lore, and attempted by a few other foolhardy souls.

[Tassimo]

Not a music exam, but a hairy ballet exam.
When I was at dance college in London, during the third year, a notice went up stating who was being entered for the advanced exam. Just about everyone was, with the exception of me and a friend. We asked why, and were told that we would probably fail. So, off we went, and got our home town dance teachers to enter us, but at the London centre.
That was when the undercover work started! You wear a tutu for this exam, and of course, neither of us could practice in it. Our college was the exam centre, many of the teachers were examiners, and our fellow third years often acted as stewards. We were lucky, and were allocated a Saturday, managed to sneak into the building, and had an examiner who didn't know us.
When the results came out, most of our fellow students had failed, but we both passed!!
I went back to a reunion a few years ago to find that this event had passed into college lore, and attempted by a few other foolhardy souls.

Good for you! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[NigelC]

Not unusual perhaps, but I post so that hopefully none who read this will ever do the same!!!

I arrived for my Grade exam, nice and early. Went into the practice room, did a few scales and ran through my pieces.

Still had time left, so as it was a nice sunny day I thought I'd have a look around the garden (Exam Center was in a private house).

Steward came and got me and told me that the examiner had finished his break and would I mind starting early.

Picked up my guitar from the practice room and headed off into the exam room, the lounge of the residence.

Examiner asked me to play my first piece and I did so. Examiner asked me to play my second piece BL**DY H*LL - I'd left half of my music back in the practice room. I'd got the pieces memorised but I didn't want to risk it without the music.

Went belting down 3 flights of stairs, and back up again in short measure. I felt a right fool!!

Heart rate was going through the roof. Exam went decidedly downhill after that. Sightreading rubbish and aural not much better.

On that day I was a nervous wreck and I even managed to leave my footstool behind when I left.

Anyway, luckily, I passed - but if I'm honest on that performance on that day, I would not have passed me!

So - moral of the story - make sure you have ALL your music and EVERYTHING you need for the exam!!!

All the best,

Nigel

[Misterioso]

So - moral of the story - make sure you have ALL your music and EVERYTHING you need for the exam!!!

.....Not like one of my violin students who departed from the waiting room to the exam room. He was back in under a minute to collect his violin! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

It gave the other ones waiting a laugh!

[Misti]

The worst I had was (being rather allergic to everything... or so it sometimes seems) settling myself down in the waiting room only to discover a bowl of highly scented hyacynths on one side of me, and a cat on the other. I was rather snuffley and wheezy by the time the exam came around!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)