Dear all

I am quite disheartened by my G6 result, I though I had done so much better than G5. I only got 106 and wonder if I should bother to carry on. BTW I am well into adulthood, having returned to piano 2 yrs ago after a 27 year gap after G4. I really love it and have a great teacher but wonder if I should stop bothering.

QUOTE (controlaguerra @ Aug 2 2004, 03:44 PM)

I really love it and have a great teacher

I have extracted what I think is the answer to your question.

Exams aren't the reason why we play! If you love playing, then carry on playing and there is so much lovely music you can play at this standard.

By the way, congratulations on passing your exam.

Congrats on passing G6! Doing it as a seasoned adult is not easy.

I agree with trio. You passed a higher grade, *and* you love it. On top of all that you have a great teacher. Why woud you want to give all that up just because one person out of the population of this planet, one whom you'd never seen before and are likely not to see again, gave you 'only' 106?

I think a lot of us do get fleeting moments thinking of quitting when we get disappointed about a result but if we followed through with it there would be no musicians left in this world.

Play because you love it, not because you want someone whom you have no control over to give you a good mark.

Well done on passing your grade 6. I agree with the above comments and think it would be a real shame if you gave up just because of one exam result.

QUOTE (controlaguerra @ Aug 2 2004, 10:44 AM)

I am quite disheartened by my G6 result, I though I had done so much better than G5.  I only got 106 and wonder if I should bother to carry on.

By the way, does your question about "carrying on" refer to playing piano or taking exams?
If it's playing piano you answered the question yourself as others have pointed out.
But maybe you may want to stop, at least for now, taking exams...?

Deja vu, as you will see if you are prepared to wade through the thread adult beginners on this forum.

Like you, I am also "well into adulthood" (I like that phrase !) and I scraped my grade 6 in March and I beat you getting 101! Like you I was fed up but I love the piano and will never give up. Unlike you i have just lost my excellent teacher (retired) and will have to find a new one.

Dear all

Thank you for your encouragement. I will carry on enjoying playing and lessons and practice and using exams as a slight yardstick of something!

QUOTE (controlaguerra @ Aug 2 2004, 03:44 PM)

really love it

you dont do it to pass exams or impress your lover,
you do it to raise your spirits, brighten your eyes, put hope in your heart, chase away the blues, make your mouth curl, and laugh outlandishly at your own mistakes because you can, because you have permission to and anyone else doesn't have the right.
I think you should exercise your right to smile and laugh at yourself, to take fun where you find it and go back for more when you want.
Practice your giggle muscle, not your whinge muscle - get on with it! Just think, while you were reading this old tosh, you could be halfway through Greensleeves. (Can you tell I dont have the knack of timing yet?)
There are old fellas in town centres playing instruments for pennies and fun, bands and groups who play for beer and fun, its the spirit not stiff cat (certificate).

most of all, we all do it for common reasons.


It really annoys the neighbours, makes the cat run through the cat flap you locked before you started, and gives anyone who hears you really repetitive 4 or 8 bar melody's to repeat all day long....



Keep going - form a group and have a gig in your living room.

But you passed and congratulations.

That's where it's at, surely. Much is down to the examiner too, I'll bet. It would be interesting to look at the results of say, 50 examiners examining the same pupil at the same session. How wide would the spread of marks be? 10%? 20%?

I recall the aural tests at a viola exam when the guy claimed I'd got a few wrong and suchlike (when I knew I hadn't), and the next exam...excellent.

So you are not the only factor in the marks.

Keep going. Even if you pass grade 8 by 1 mark, you've passed.

Hi controlaquerra, of course you should keep on playing, why stop what you enjoy doing? I know about being disappointed I failed my grade 4 violin on 3 July (97 points) I was really gutted. I put it down to nerves. By the way I did not pick up the violin unitl my early fortys.

I am wondering what it is that can destroy your confidence so badly in the exam room.
As a brief potted history of me. At 41, after 22 years of army service, I decided to learn to play the guitar having never played one before. I took my first lesson 2 years ago, following 5 months of picking at a guitar trying to teach myself. I took grade 1 March 2003 and followed about every 3 months with the next grade along and sat the grade 5 last month (July).
In grades 1 to 4 I never got less than 121 and as much as 137.
In the grade 5 I had an absolute nightmare and nothing went right. I got lost, started again, and then got lost again. I cannot possibly have passed that exam. Which is really annoying when I came out of the exam and played the offending piece perfectly.
However, after 10 minutes of being suicidal, I realised that nobody was going to die or get sick because I had messed up. All i've got to do if i failed is do it again.
When I started to do this, I went in with an open mind not knowing where it would take me, and if I am being honest, I am much further along this road than I ever expected to be. And still I have so far to go with the enjoyment of the journey.

Dear all

You are all inspiring me esp to cheer up and get a grip!! Thanks xx

Passing Grade 6 is brilliant! Congrats. I bet when you were at Grade 3 standard (as I am) you couldn't imagine ever being at Grade 6.

Keep on enjoying your playing

Congrats on passing your grade six. Although you might be disheartened, as I was when I got 104 for my grade seven organ exam, you still passed, which means you have met the requirements for that particular grade. As many others have commented, it would be a shame if you quit now having got so far. Use this experience to your advantage, by picking up on the examiners comments and striving to better yourself in the area(s) picked up on by the examiner.

Best of luck in the future.