Well this feels slightly embarrassing but it's less than 2 (!) days before my exam and I have no idea what to do. The piece goes on for five pages with no opportunity for page turns (that I can see), and I am unable to devise a system for keeping 5 sheets of music on a music stand at one time. Which leaves me with a problem. And that gets me a bit worried. And being worried before an exam isn't good. So if anyone could tell me either how to page turn it, or how to keep 5 sheets stable on a stand I would be eternally grateful and shower them with expensive gifts (well, maybe).

I have memorised the bars at the top of the 3rd page (up to the repeat sign) and photocopied the last page.

Maybe you could copy the last page and the part I have memorised and stick the half page copy to the second page as you have time to turn over then?
The teacher I am with now has never turned pages for me so I have to sort out a way to deal with it.

Good luck with the exam.... mine is on 22nd March.

That's an idea actually - because there is that small gap in the middle. Hmm...*goes off to play with sticky tape*

Good luck

What else are you playing?
I suppose you have the turnovers sorted for the rest?

Just wanted to say good luck .

My suggestion was going to be to tape them all to the book (and each other) but it sounds like sbhoa has a better one .

Mozart - fairly easy if you memorise the first page as there's always a hand free at page turns.

Liszt - very easy due to the lovely 7-bar rest (and it's only 3 pages long).

Edit: 7-beat rest is what I meant

My students photocopy the 3rd page so they can play 2 1/2 pages before turning the page at b24. They also photocopy the last page. Has your teacher not any suggestions?

Good luck!

Yeah I think that's what I'll do. My teacher wasn't sure what to do either and so left it to me

Oh. It's not an easy one as far as page turns go! Similar idea to sbhoa without memorising 4 bars. What are you doing in the Mozart - photocopying the first page or turning quickly after b18?

I'm playing the Mozart too.
I play the first page from memory and the other two are pretty easy.
My C piece is the Arensky Impromptu. Only one turnover with a hand free but the middle section is mostly memorised as it's easier that way than actually reading the notes... .

I've memorised the first page (and indeed almost all of) the Mozart without too much bother, but the Bach just wouldn't stick in time for the exam (if I make a mistake, I find it very hard to restart it from memory).

If you can't find a way round the problem with sticky tape, Trebor, you can bear in mind that candidates are not supposed to be penalised for interruptions in the flow to deal with impossible page turns.

I know it is better if you can avoid them, but the leeway is there should you need it.

Steve

actually in my grade 4 exam years back i got a 29 for one piece and the only thing the examiner wrote in the remarks column was "stumbled over the page turn." haha personally if i was going to give someone a 29 i'd justify it with more than a one liner but the point is i think the page turn does matter even though they *say* they're going to give leeway.

edited to add that i actually could have scored a lot worse than 29 for that mistake so yeah. leeway accepted. *sheepish grin*

Sounds like the days when school reports said, "Could do better"

Thats what I've done too! Though I'm now scared I'll panic and forget those lines!!

Does anyone know what to do with page turns in the Arabesque? I've not photocopied anything yet and am still trying to figure out what to do...

Good luck Sbhoa and Trebor...My exam is on the 27th so I have a bit more time...

I did wonder!

Good luck in your grade 8s, folks.

I play that part a couple of extra times when I practice that piece, someitmes i start a few bars before and sometimes from the top of the 3rd page so that I know I can pick up from there if I really have to.

Do what I did - memorise them all It's because I'm such a lousy reader, though I have a good memory. I played all my G8 exam from memory. The Bach Allemande was the hardest to memorise, and I find that if I forget where I am, I have to go back quite a few bars to what I think of as "milestones". Not much help if your exam is this week, I know. Good luck to you all!

Edward

As a postscript, I didn't end up having to turn a page at all. I had overlooked the fact I was playing on a grand, which means a flat surface on which music can be balanced. So I put the first page (which I had memorised) flat, and could just about see it, the other four fit (just) on the stand. So it all worked out

I've nevr tried this but would it work if I back pages in card?

Yes, I would think that would make them less likely to fall off....

I'm please you found a solution in the end, but I think the Board should have done a bit better with the placing of the page turn in the Grade 8 book. I struggled with it for ages until I found the AB edition of Partitas 4-6 which has the Allemande laid out much better ( and also includes a beautiful Sarabande and lots of other great music).

This might sound like a really really stupid query but this might help me out as I get to higher grades.

I have read here about photocoying pages of music to help with page turns and I find this interesting. But, I thought it wasn't allowed to photocopy music .... or is it ok when you are only doing 1 page or so and you already have bought the book?

Do you then lay you book and your photocopied pages all out on the piano in front of you?

does the loose page not be tempted to "fly" away? or perhaps it can be backed with card.

thanks and sorry for appearing so dim.

Yes - as I understand it you can photocopy pages from a book you already own in order to help with page turns or otherwise to aid your learning of the piece (eg to scribble all over, whatever).

If the pages are not stable you can sellotape them together; but how practicable this is depends much on the length of the piece and the width of the music stand on your piano. The traditional fold-down arrangement on an upright piano doesn't support much more than an average sized book. So lots of pages may not be possible, but for the odd tricky page-turn it can help.

Not a stupid question, by the way...