I would be interested to hear what exam conditions were like for your piano exam. In my nearest centre they have a warm up room, with a very simple digital piano in it, then in the exam room we have a Boston upright. I find it quite a challenge to jump from playing all my scales, etc. on a digital and then a few minutes later having to play them on a "proper" piano. Do others think this is fair? What do others centres have for warm ups? Do you have a warm up room?

I don't have a warm-up room before going into the exam room because my practical exams are at my teacher's house. I do think it would be a good idea to have one because then you could cram in some last-minute practice.

Car Expert

my last exam, g7, was at a big old house.

the exam room was miles away from the waiting room, so sounds could not be heard.

i was a bit miffed that i had a bloody trainee examiner, who did not really know what he was doing.
in fact during my pieces he started talking to the older examiner, which was a bit annoying.

The exam centre I use has a grand piano in the warm-up room and two grand pianos upstairs. The exam is taken on a new Bechstein - lovely!

However, I don't see the point of warming up for piano - it's not as if the instrument needs it, after all! - and it won't be on the same piano as that used for the exam. When I was waiting for my grade 4, a young boy was warming up with his mother looking on. She was criticising his playing (kindly, not sternly) and I thought how little that would have been doing for his confidence !

Most of the exams i've had have been in a church, a big grand piano (I've never bothered checking what type, i will next time!) and in a big hall. The examiner sits in the audience bit and looks up at you on the stage. The acoustics are really good but its really cold. There isnt a warmup room either.

I once warmed up - realised I couldn't play one of my scales at all and panicked. Then the scale came up in the exam

Sometimes there is no warm-up, sometimes digital, sometimes very old and bad upright and sometimes it's nice - there's no obligation to give you one at all so you just have to make do with what you get. It's when the exam piano is rubbish that you're in trouble.

When I did piano exams there was never a room to warm up. I agree that you don't need to warm the instrument up, like I did for flute and recorder exams, but the fingers definately need warming up, and I always found this a problem. I used to do my exam in the choir rooms underneath Coventry Cathedral!

In a big house, though with no warm up room. There is another piano in the hallway but this is for tuning. We sit in a waiting room which is like a sitting room, and the exam room has a grand, but I can't remember what make. The examiner sits at a desk in a big window space. If you listen carefully from the waiting room, you can just about hear the music.

Sorry to complain about your complaint, so to speak, but you're actually quite lucky; not unfortunate. The AB make no guarantee that there will be a warm-up room and many centres don't have them. If you get a warm up room this is a bonus so whatever you get is better than what you should get (i.e. nothing) as you can simply choose not to play at all.

Personally I learn on a digital piano, and experience exactly the same exam piano conditions as you (same centre perhaps?), I do notice some differences in making the switch but I do find it quite possible. Remember that the switch is even more difficult if one learns on a digital piano! It's not ideal, but one can't really complain about the warm-up piano as there doesn't have to be one there at all .

Having said all of that I do like to have a warm-up piano at the venue so that I can convince myself that I've not forgotten how to play between leaving home and arriving at the exam centre .

I love my exam centre! It's my school's main music room and we have a 104 year old Rosewood Ivory and Ebony Steinway Grand to play on for all exams! Quite quiet as well. The pianos to practise on...well it depends what room you get, only one room has a decent piano (a baby grand) and the rest are either piano-less or horribly out of tune uprights

Me too!

Ditto

Glad it's not just me . Any other time I would be perfectly rational, it's not like one completely forgets how to play really, but it's amazing what one believes can happen on the way to an exam .

Randall McGregor Watt: Having read some other of your posts giving greater detail of your location I think we do use the same exam centre and the warm up piano isn't that bad, certainly better than nothing . You could always go and play one of the Steinways in the shop downstairs .

We don't have a warm up room at all.

NM

Never, ever had a warm up room for my grade exams...

For me, it's a case of: I could play when I left home, so I don't want to find out that I can't before I enter the exam room

My exam centre is the local 6th-form college, and there is an upright in the practice room (Steinway/Bechstein/Yamaha?!?!) which is exactly the same as the exam room... The only trouble is that the practice piano is somehow about a quarter-tone lower than the exam piano. Which means in exams other than piano, you have to tune twice

That must be annoying

I've never had a warm-up room or an instrument to tune to. I sat grade 7 on a piano which had a very stiff action, and was taken in for my exam an hour later than I should have been - the examiner was already running late and decided she'd have a cup of tea just as I was being brought to the door- so I got sent back to wait some more. I think things have got better since those days. The waiting room for the centre I was at in Edinburgh had heating...but it was broken, so I huddled with my whistle under my jumper and my hands in my pockets. I've also been able to hear the exams of other candidates going on for every ABRSM exam I've ever done, but not for the Trinity one.

When I did my grade 1, there was a warm-up room. Then I didn't do exams for ages, but when I started again you couldn't warm up. Which is why I keep washing my hands in the hot water in the loos. The piano was one of the upright pianos. The ones with the slightlier heavier keys.

Another Pianist: I don't know when you last took an exam at this centre but the digital seems to get downgraded each time. It is quite a leap to go from an extremely average digital warm up to an upright BOSTON! It does seem quite unfair to me that exam conditions vary so wildly across the country - not really a very level playing field for everyone is it? On balance I don't think I'm going to bother warming up my fingers next time, although the centre is SO cold I need to wear gloves prior to each exam.

In my experience that's exactly what the opportunity to warm up does!!!

On a day that I am about to play a piece on stage I allways swear that I will *not* play the piece until the actual event, and struggle to convince myself that If I could play it last night before I went to bed, then I can play it now!!

It seldom works, I usually convince myself I've completely forgotten it and then uncover all sorts of mistakes!

The worst thing is playing after a dinner - you sit pushing food around your plate trying to make polite conversation getting more and more nervous!!!

I am more or less of the same mind as AP on this BUT
The day before the adult learners concert in July I played my 'party piece' the best I could do. Being hostess for the concert meant letting other people get in the practice they wanted and Katyjay stopped me from playing when I was at the piano for the local press photographer. I think that not playing before the concert helped me to keep that last really good run through fresh in my mind.

Rotten of me, wasn't it? But you sounded fantastic in the real performance.

Thanks. (And you were pretty fierce!)

Fierce? Me??

Ah well, you can turn the tables in February - I'll be playing the piano in the Adult Learners' Concert!

I agree that the variation in exam conditions around the country does make things unfair to some candidates. however, anyone playing in that exam centre I would think is in the fortunate fraction of people rather than the unfortunate fraction, I've heard quite a few bad stories about the actual exam piano and know that a lot of centres don't have a warm up piano at all. The examination piano in that centre is excellent, and nicer than the one in the other centre I have used (not that there was anything wrong with the other centre I just find Bostons to be wonderful pianos ).

Incedentally the last exam I did there was in the last exam session, December 2005. I don't find that the warm up piano is that bad (although if it were the exam piano I would be complaining!) but I do agree that it's quite often rather cold; I'm someone whose always cold but actually I'm ususally okay during the exams, the nerves seem to keep me warm, but I do notice (usually on the way out ) that the centre is cold. I intend to solve this problem by changing my exams to the Spring session in the future, I don't really like doing them in the cold and just before Christmas anyway .

I have used two different exam centres and neither had a warm up room.

One of the challenges of doing an exam is playing on an unfamiliar instrument. Worst experience I had was when the piano in the exam room resonated with something in the room every time I hit middle C - despite this managed to get the best mark I have ever got for an exam (130).

Ive been to loads of places for piano exams. Only one had a warm up room...in a church hall AND it was out of tun. I'd reccommend starting with scales in the exam so you can get more used to the piano.