Hi, i'm sitting my grade 3 piano exam on the 24th of March and having skipped grade 2, ive only sat one piano exam which was only at grade 1
does anyone have any advice on sitting this exam and how to do well??
thanks if you do

Try to enjoy it as it comes across in what you play.
Be as well prepared as you can. Play your pieces to family and friends to get used to an audience.
Try to have scales well prepared. Enjoy trying out new pieces to help your sight reading and keep on working on aural with your teacher.
If you are not sure about an instruction in the exam do say so.
Remember the examiner wants you to do well.

The only thing I can say is to pace yourself.

I went straight to grade 2 with no formal instruction or idea of what an exam was like.

I knew all my pieces and had practiced my scales to death so that wasn't a problem.

But when I walked into the massive church hall with its grand at the front and a single solitary person sitting and watching I started to freak out a bit.

I made a couple of mistakes on the pieces and an arpeggio which I ignored and kept on going (v. important to do this, small mistakes are ok as long as you keep going. If you make a big mistake,or have to stop and repeat a passage, it won't be looked on so well.).

My biggest issue was that I was so nervous I tried to blast my way through everything as quicklyas possible to get it over with.

Thus I got comments such as: nice sense of rhythm and style, but erratic tempo caused mistakes.



forgetting which key is which when you sit down also doesn't help.

So just sit down, take a deep breath and take it at a speed your comfortable with.

Hope all goes well on 24th, I'm taking the same route as I also skipped G2.
Best wishes.

I took my first exam last year. Having skipped G1 and 2, I was totally nervous. My fingers were so numb and were moving automatically while playing the scales. Luckily there weren't any mistakes made It is alright to repeat if you are so nervous and don't know what you're playing anymore. I had to repeat for my first piece as my fingerings were all wrong. I took a deep breath for every scale and piece I had to play, and it worked.

Act calm and remember to smile! Good luck!