I'm taking my grade 6 exam on the 6th December (3 days from now) so I need some fast responses please!

I am learning Corant, Vals Poetico and Feelin' Good. On the 3rd page of Corant it has many mordents (Don't know if this on it. However, my teacher has been teaching me these as reversed mordents - a mistake I only realised yesterday when listening to the Grade 6 CD. I'm just curious to know if playing these mordents the wrong way around will lose a lot of marks - I'm currently trying to re-learn the whole of the 3rd page in a very short amount of time; quite hard when you've been learning the opposite of it for at least 3 months previously!

Anyway let me know, I would also like to hear if any piano teachers you have had have taught you the wrong thing for an exam as well, and how you overcame this problem (and if you actually noticed it in time!). This isn't really a problem I've ever had before so I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had this. I think mine is going mad - I listened to Vals Poetico on CD and my teacher told me I had been playing it far too fast, when actually I had been playing it far too slow.

-D

Well, regarding the speed thing the metronome marks indicated on the music are only suggested & a while back someone on here said they had played a grade piece slower than it sounded on the CD & they got full marks so really I suppose the important thing is giving a convincing performance more than anything else. Regarding the mordants, even though your teacher has showed you the wrong way to play them I wouldn't risk ruining the piece by trying to learn them a different way. However if you think you can do it then by all means try but if you're stuggling then I would just play them how you originally played them. It's difficult to know whether you will lose a lot of marks for this but if everything else is fine then I wouldn't have thought so.

I am going to be taking grade 6 during the easter term next year & I have chosen the same B piece as you. In my opinion I think the way it is played on the CD is too fast & I play it slightly slower as I think it sounds as though it's being rushed but that is only my opinion. How is everything else - scales, arpeggios, sightreading etc?

Good luck, I really hope you do well. I feel really sorry for you that your teacher has taught you something wrong. I'm sure you will be fine so just try not to panic.

Lisa xxx

Thanks, I think I'm getting the hang of it now, so I guess I'll just wait to see what my teacher says on Monday. Thank goodness for changing my lesson to be the day before the exam.

I agree that it sounds quite rushed, although the metronome marks do show that it is a fast piece. I thought it was extremely slow when I first started to learn it (Well, the metronome mark is a bit misleading, saying 50 or whatever it says).

Scales, fine. Arpeggios, matter of chance really, hopefully the examiner won't ask for Eb Minor, Bb Minor, C# Minor...stupid ones like that. I don't even want to talk about sightreading, it's hopeless. And I thought I was good at sightreading...

Thanks!

I haven't got the syllabus here, but I assume your Corant was written no more recently than the 18th century. I think it's highly likely that your teacher's interpretation of the ornaments is as valid as the one on the CD, and I wouldn't change them at this stage. If the performance is otherwise stylish and accurate the exact way you play the ornaments is extremely unlikely to to make a big difference to the mark.

If it is musically satisfactory at the speed you've been playing it, don't change it. Metronome marks are an indication, not a straitjacket. I'm fairly sure that ABRSM no longer makes it entirely clear in its publications anyway whether metronome marks come from the composers or from some unnamed editor. Perhaps someone from the Board will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong about that. Having CDs of exam music is quite a dangerous idea, because it obviously makes some people feel uncomfortable if they don't follow that interpretation. I wonder if the examiners are hearing lots of clone performances these days. What a horrible thought!

I take a lot of pleasure from turning dots on a page, together with any other clues the composer provides, into music.

Best of luck with the exam,

I agree, I think you should see what your teacher says in your lesson on Monday but as I said before, if you think you can pull it off then go for it but if you're nervous & unsure about whether it will go smoothly then I wouldn't risk it. I find the particular arpeggios you mentioned tricky as well! I hope I don't get asked those ones but knowing my luck I probably will! My teacher gave me the sightreading book last week to practise with & I think it is a lot harder than grade 4 (which was my last exam) which I found quite easy.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck & let me know how it goes on Tuesday.

Lisa xx

How did your exam go today Dannee? And what did your teacher suggest you do about the mordants?

Hope everything went ok.

Lisa xxx