Hi, I know quite a few people are taking grade 6 this term (myself included) & I just wondered if anyone had had their exam yet. I'm not sure but I think Anakrron's exam was March 8th. So......how did it go?!

My exam is March 22nd so I've only got about a week to go! Went through the aurals again today with my teacher & am feeling a little bit more confident about it. My pieces & scales are good at the moment, I just hope they go right on the day!

Anyway, if anyone has taken their grade 6 exam please let me know how it went as I'm feeling very nervous & would love a bit of reassurance that it's not as bad as it seems.

Lisa xxx

I'm working on it, I'll probably skip it actually because by the time I do my grade 5 theory (which is ages from now), I should be around grade 7 standard.

Good luck anyway, tell us how it goes!

Wow, thanks for remembering! It was okay - I'm fairly confident that I passed, but don't really want to think about my actual mark...

When I went in, I thought the examiner looked really hostile... and the way she said hello told me that she was a bit annoyed. Probably because it was the last exam of the day and she was feeling tired... but she became much more friendly by the end and not discouraging at all, so that was good. The piano I had to play on was the one I used for the past 5 exams, but the keys were quite heavy and hard to play.

Scales... she gave me a choice between doing scales or pieces first, and naturally, I went with scales. I would advise you do too, because it lets you break into the piano and give your fingers some warming up. My scales went really well, much better than they usually are - because of all the adrenaline, I think! She gave me all the really difficult scales though. For example, she gave me the arpeggios for F# major, Eb minor, C# minor and Ab major... and for the contrary motion she gave me Bb minor and C# minor!!

My pieces... well, they were passable but I don't think they were as good as they could have been. I did Corant, Vals Poetico and Prayer of the Matador. In the Corant, all was going well until the 3rd page, where I slipped somewhere and had to stop for a fraction of a minute before continuing - nearly made my heart stop! I'm just glad my ornaments (well, apart from one) didn't go out of the window, like I expected. In Vals Poetico I *think* I misplayed a chord, but again I can't remember where exactly. And in Prayer of the Matador - this annoys me no end, because it's easily my best piece - I made a stupid mistake that I have never made before!! It just had to happen during the exam, didn't it? So it was really frustrating, not being able to play even one piece accurately. But I'm a pessimist, so...

Sightreading... I think your teacher would have told you this, but they really are easier than the practice books. Mine was just two lines long, it was in 4/4, in G major and with several repeated chords - much easier than some of the other ones I had to practice. Again, it was definitely not the best, but I hope it was passable. That's all I want with sight-reading really; to pass - I failed it a few times.

Aurals... well, the singing-back-a-tune was, again, easier than the practice ones, partly because it went back to the tonic at the end. The sight-singing was awful - when I hummed it during the 30 seconds prep time, it was perfect; but when she accompanied it with the piano I was completely thrown off. Ah well, it's only one component, I guess. The tell-the-character one was okayish, although I really wasn't sure if it was Classical or 20th C or Baroque (haha, and I'm meant to be taking GCSE Music) but I guessed.

Did you read through all that self-centred rant? All in all, it was not as bad as it could have been, and I'm just glad it's over. In terms of aurals and sight-reading, they were definitely easier in the exam, in my case at least, so I think that would be the situation in yours. Best of luck for yours Lisa; I'm sure you'd be fine. If you're well prepared, nerves will actually do you good. I'll be thinking of you on the 22nd. Eat a banana before your exam, *try* to relax, and take a bit of time to compose yourself before you play each thing.

If anyone else is taking their Grade 6 piano, or any other exams for that matter, good luck to you too!!

Thanks for such a detailed reply Anakrron! It's really made me feel a lot better about the whole thing knowing that at least some parts of the exam are easier than you think they will be. I was never really too worried about sight-reading as I'm not that bad at it unless there's a funny rhythm or something but I'm glad they're shorter in the exam! I didn't know you get 30 secs prep time with the sight-singing, at least that will give me a bit of time to get some kind of idea of how the melody goes. Do they give you the starting note before the 30 secs? Also, you know the questions bit at the end of the aurals? Well, how many questions did they ask you cos I've been worried that if I'm looking for certain things in the music like structural features, form, texture etc. I might be too busy looking for one thing & then forget about the other. My teacher thinks I'll get two questions & then the composer/period one as a bonus question but I'm not sure.

Anyway, it sounds as though you're exam went really well - I'm sure you'll get a good mark. Don't worry about making mistakes in your pieces, I bet they were only small but they seemed more to you because you were under pressure. I'm a perfectionist so I hate making mistakes too but I know they're almost always going to happen in an exam so you just have to work through them & carry on as if they were 'intentional'!

I'm doing Allegro, Vals Poetico & Lavender's Kind of Blue (from the alternative list). The piano at the place where I'm taking my exam has heavy keys too & it's really hard to play on but I recently bought a digital piano which has heavier keys than my acoustic piano & I've got used to it really quickly so hopefully it won't be too different. My acoustic piano is really old so the keys are very light. You hardly need to press it at all to get sound out of it!

Thanks again, I'll 'try' not to be too nervous although I think that'll all go out the window on the day! My exam is in the morning which is not a great time for me as I have M.E. & feel at my worst then but that can't be helped so I'll just try to get as much rest as I can the day before.

Lisa xxx

Mine is on Wednesday - aah! I'm doing Corant, Impromptu and Bagatelle No. 9 - and I dislike two of them... and I can't sightread. But how bad can it be?!

In terms of sightsinging, I'm not actually sure if it was 30 secs - but she certainly gave me some time. It might have been 15 or 20 seconds. And yes, she did give me the starting note. You can also see the piano accompaniment underneath your stave, so if you look out for some notes that are the same in the piano line, you can use the piano to your advantage.

And.... I'm sorry to say that I can't really remember well. I think she asked me two questions, something about dynamics and something about articulation. Then about the period (which I messed up completely!), and clap a rhythm from the extract. I think the most questions they can give you is two or three though.

The electric piano thing is a good idea! For my next exam, I might ask to practice a bit at school - the school piano has really heavy keys as well.

So best of luck. I did Allegro for several weeks at first, then dropped it for Corant But I'm sure you'll play it beautifully.




Which ones do you dislike? Corant is lovely And don't worry, I suck at sight reading too! Good luck!

Thanks again. I don't really mind that it's not exactly 30 secs as any prep time would be be helpful. I also didn't realise that you were allowed to see the accompaniment below your stave so that will probably help a bit as there's usually at least 1 note that's the same, well in the practise ones anyway.

The questions you said you were asked were not what I was expecting. Those were the kind of questions (not including the composer/period one) that I got in grade 4 & in the aural practise book they say they're going to ask you questions like: How long, in bars, was each phrase? Describe the form of the music. Describe the texture of the piece....You get the idea. So they sound a lot easier than the ones I was expecting which is good although it obviously varies with different examiners.

You should try to practise on a piano with heavy keys for your next exam as playing on my digital one has really got me used to the heaviness of the piano I will have to use in the exam. Knowing my luck they'll have changed the piano since my last exam & it will be even heavier!

Good luck with your results, let me know how you've done.

Lisa xxx

No, I love Corant too; it's the other two. I do sort of like them (love-hate relationship)! They're quite different to what I normally enjoy playing but I've enjoyed the challenge. They all have something I like about them though!

I got my result today - I got 126, which is a merit. Quite pleased, but I am slightly disappointed... But I shouldn't be ungrateful

126 is good, especially when you know you didn't play at your best (annoying to know that of course, but 126 when you were below par just shows you must be pretty good!)

Lisa: I believe they always tell you before they play what they are looking out for (correct me if I am wrong, someone) so at least you can keep those things in your head whilst you listen.

That's fantastic anakrron!!! Don't be disappointed with 126 as it's only 4 marks off a distinction! I'm so pleased for you. Your results came quite quick - only 10 days.

sarah-flute - I knew that they told you what you had to look out for before they play the piece but I'm just worried that if I'm looking for, say two things, I might concentrate too much on one & not enough on the other. Also, my teacher said when they ask you certain questions e.g. about phrase structure, they won't actually tell you exactly what you're supposed to be looking for i.e. 'what structural feature did you notice at the start of each phrase' or 'what length, in bars, was each phrase'. So I'm just worried that I won't know what I'm looking for. I guess I just don't want to be in the exam & not know what to say.

If anyone's got any last minute advice for this part of the exam I would really appreciate it.

Lisa xxx

I'm in another country so I am unaware of the regulations of overseas countries, but we're given a percentage rating. I passed Grade 6 last year with the following three pieces:

Bach's Badinerie
Mozart's Turkish March
Chopin's Etude Op.10 NO.1

I came second, but with 91%

I was thrashed by a girl who played Chopin's NO.2 Nocturne in E flat major, Schubert's Op.90 Impromptu 2, and wait for it, Brahms Op. 79 Rhapsody 1. The examiners basically rushed towards her and pronounced her their new god

I secretly believed she's way past grade 8 and just back for bragging rights I didn't think Brahms piece is even Grade 6 or is it? I am yet to master that piece, all part of my long term goal to add some new pieces to my repetiore.

Anyways, cheers and goodluck with all your grade exams

Well done Anakrron, closer to a distinction than a pass at least!

Sounds interesting ye.zero, where are you from? The pieces sound a lot harder than grade 6 standard!

Lisa - go show em what you're made of!

Preferably not literally...

Good luck, those who've yet to take it

Thank you everyone! And good luck, Lisa on Wednesday.

Thanks for the luck everyone! Hopefully it'll do me some good on Wednesday. I've been practising as much as I possibly can recently but my Mum thinks I should slow down a bit & not go overboard before my exam (but this is probably a lot to do with me being ill & having to pace myself) - what do you all think? Do you practise right up until the exam or do a little bit so that when you come to play your pieces in the exam, they'll sound fresh.

Thanks again & I'll *try* to show em what I'm made of Boo!

Lisa xxx

I have my grade 8 on Wednesday and haven't been doing very heavy practice for the last couple of weeks really. Have been just keeping on top of things. Too late for major changes now and trying to do too much would be likely to add stress.
I have been keeping up with my normal scale schedule though.

Don't go mad practising, Lisa. As a fellow ME sufferer, I know what you mean about pacing yourself!

Personally, I don't like to do *little* as then I worry that I'm not doing enough, and if you're anything like me even stupid worry like that can cause enough stress to make me feel ill.

But don't go mad or overpractice, you don't want to run out of oomph for your exam, and you don't want the pieces to be so overplayed that you're completely sick of them.

...agreed, Sarah - this is just about where I've got to unfortunately - so much so, that I've started making mistakes I wasn't making last week...

When is your exam? might be worth leaving them completely for a couple of days or even longer...

...Tuesday... !

Be thinking of you! Hope it goes well.

Thanks, Sarah

Just wondering if anyone could help me as I forgot to ask my piano teacher this question today.

Do I have to take my grade 5 theory certificate with me to my grade 6 exam as proof that I have done it or do they have a record of all your exams with them?

Just wanted to ask as I know you can't take grade 6 unless you've passed grade 5 theory.

Lisa xxx

Jen: bon courage!

Lisa: if you took grade 5 reasonably recently then they will have proof on their records. I think that any other proof has to be sent in with your entry anyway, so if you were successfully entered then that should mean (I think) that they know you have passed grade 5.

Lisa - as far as I know, no. I didn't and it was perfectly fine. I guess if you had taken Grade 5 theory like 20 years ago, they might want proof, but if they did they would've asked you for it prior the exam.

Good luck for tomorrow! Break a leg! (or finger? lol)

That's right... proof is sent (if not on record) with the entry.

Thanks everyone, just wanted to make sure as I didn't want to get there & find that I needed to bring it with me. I'm such a worrier!

Anakrron - My exam isn't tomorrow, it's Wednesday.

Lisa xxx

D'oh, I kept on thinking it's Tuesday today (brought the wrong books to school and everything). Well, good luck for Wed anyhow.

Don't worry!

I'm REALLY worried now as I really don't know what I'm gonna say in the aurals for the question bit - see Thom's thread in 'students'.

Lisa xxx

I'm getting nervous for you Lisa, and my exam isn't even until July!

Hi Boo,

You're so sweet! Everyone's saying I shouldn't worry & my teacher thinks I'll be absolutely fine but I think I'll be so nervous that I'll go totally blank or something.

You don't know anything about these aural questions do you?

Lisa xxx

No sorry, I haven't even started the aurals with my teacher yet. I wouldn't worry too much though, just describe the pieces as confidently as you can, even if it is in bog-standard English!

About going blank, don't let yourself be intimidated by the examiner, there's only one of him, there's thousands of us!

I've replied in the other thread regarding those aurals, Lisa. Don't get too worked up over it though - I was terrible at the first two sections of the aurals while I was practicing (sight-singing and humming back melody), but on the day it was surprisingly easier and I got 16/18.

Thanks Boo, I'll try to be as confident as I can.

I replied in the other thread too anakrron - thanks for your help.

Lisa xxx

Oh.My.God. It's finally over!!!

I took the exam this morning but haven't had time to let you all know how it went as I've been asleep ever since I got home! Now this may sound lazy but I only got 2 hours of sleep last night (well this morning from about 6.30am - 8.30am!) as I was so worried about the exam. My pieces were going perfectly until yesterday when I think I got to the stage of over-practising them & then I kept making a few mistakes in the A piece. So I started to panic & couldn't stop thinking about it all night.....I sound obsessive I know, but I was just so nervous!

Anyway, the pieces all went well in the exam especially the A piece which was the one I thought would go wrong as it's so fast. The only thing with the other two was that there's loads of pedal in them & certain areas where I put it on, take it off, put it on , take it off quite a lot to get a certain sound & the pedals on the piano were so high up! Everyone kept coming out of their exams complaining about it though so at least it wasn't just me! It flicked off one time in the B piece but I just carried on going. Everytime you lifted your foot off, it made a little noise like a creak which kind of ruined the sound a bit but then they probably take that into consideration & we all had the same piano so I just have to accept that.

The scales & arpeggios went OK, I only made 2 mistakes but the examiner let me do them again so that was alright. Sightreading was quite hard, I had 4 lines to read & it was a very busy piece but I just did my best. I knew that I hit a few wrong notes but I tried to keep the rhythm going so didn't stop to correct myself. Now.....aurals! They were very difficult, harder than I thought they were going to be. The singing-back-a-melody bit was OK, I think I got most of it right but the sight-singing was awful! She let me have another try but I wish I'd got it right first time. I still don't think I got it right cos I was so busy concentrating on keeping in time with the accompaniment but again, I just tried my best. I only got asked two questions on the piece she played, one about dynamics & the other about style & period. She didn't ask for the composer but I'd thought of one just in case she did! It sounded a mixture of different styles but mainly classical so I said that. It was quite a 'grand' sounding piece but wasn't cheesy like Mozart so I was going to say Beethoven. The identifying-a-cadence was fine as was the tonality question & clapping out a rhythm.

So all in all it went quite well. All I really wanted was the pieces to go well & they did so I'm happy about that. I know the other parts of the exam could've gone a little better especially the aurals but I did the best I could & considering I'd only had 2 hours sleep I thought I managed quite well!

Anyway, good luck to anyone else taking grade 6 this term. I'll let you know my results when I get them. I'm not expecting a merit or distinction which I never do anyway but I feel quite pressured to do well as every other exam I've taken I've passed with distinction. My family says they'd be just as proud of me if I failed as they know I always try my best but I'd feel disappointed with myself if I did.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to anakrron - you helped me out so much especially with the aurals & explained your exam in such detail so I knew what to expect. You're a star!

Lisa xxx

Well done Lisa, sounds like you did really well

Sounds like you managed better than I did this morning.
Well done.

Wahey, well done Lisa, it sounds like you've definitely passed at the very least! The pieces are the big fish really because they are worth so much. You can sort of get by with a few mistakes in the other areas (and we all do. ) I'm really glad you're happy with the exam, now comes the worst bit - waiting. But don't worry yourself about it, it sounds like you've done really well!

You're welcome Lisa, and well done! That doesn't sound bad at all and your after-thoughts seem to be much more optimistic than mine, so you probably did do better than me! As Boo said the pieces are worth the most, and by the sounds of it your pieces were excellent. Good luck with the waiting - mine came quite early, just 10 days afterwards.

HI EVERYONE , sat my Grade 6 today what a disaster. Piano was very heavy and had trouble controling the speed of A. Scales were a complete disaster and then the nerves set in, singing went out the window , looks like a resit in June. This is the first exam i've done for 31 years, passed my Grade 5 in 1975, I think it was a lot easier then. Any comments.

Thanks everyone, I don't think it went as well as it could've done but that was probably due to nerves & the fact that I didn't sleep all night!

EVEY - I'm sure you won't have done as badly as you think you have. We always focus on the negative bits & never on the positive. Considering this is your first exam in 31 years I would expect nerves to play a big part & so will the examiner. Even if you don't pass (which is unlikely) just think of it as a dummy run & retake it in June. The pianos always seem heavier in the exam which is usually because they are new apparently & mine have always had really high pedals like the one I played on today. You can only try your best & as long as you put in 100% effort then I'm sure you will have passed.

Try not to worry & put the exam to the back of your mind for now. Easier said than done I know, but if you dwell on it then you're only going to get stressed out. I admire you for taking an exam after so many years. I don't think I'd have the courage to do something like that so you should be proud of yourself for trying at the very least.

Lisa xxx

ETA: Just out of interest, what pieces did you choose EVEY?

The jump between grade 5 and grade 6 is one of the big ones anyway.

Well done folks.

.....it took 10 DAYS to get your result? are you kidding?

that's really fast!

Yeah, that's what me and my teacher thought too! It was the shortest wait I've ever had.

Sounds great, Lisa87! Bet you're relieved it's over.
Hope the wait is not too long - 10 days you reckon?
Mine came in 9 this time.

Mine took 12 days... not my exam, my student's.

That's a long exam!

Sorry...

Don't pick on me, I'm stressed waiting for the results on an exam that didn't go as well as it should....

Sorry I couldn't resist

*grovels on knees* please forgive me!

Pwease?