In one of my friends exams she was playing the nutcracker the examiner got up off his seat and started doing pirouettes around the room! She was quite confused and a bit put off but I think that she just carried on playing.

One of my examiners offered me a mint when i came in.

so many people have done exams here and I wondered if anyone else had had any funny exams.

When I took my grade 1 exam I fainted in the waiting room!!!

And also once the examiner burst out laughing for no apparent reason, v. offputting!

Also once my examiner sat down on the stool to play the aural test and it collapsed! He had to call the steward to bring in another one... that time I couldn't stop laughing!!!!

QUOTE (bernie @ May 30 2004, 10:33 AM)

One of my examiners offered me a mint when i came in.

i wish i had examiners like that, it would make me so relaxed and i wouldnt b as nervous-then i might do better!

hey that's really funny! an examiner doing pirouettes whilst you playing the nutcracker. was it christmas time then? does he do ballet in his spare time or was he on caffeine!

My accompanist (whilst trying vainly to make me relax- quite a feat seeing as I'm terrified of him!) once told me a story about he went into an exam and the student and examiner had this majorly long conversation and he thought they'd never get done; he was sitting there at the piano like a wet lemon for ages waiting.

then you get back to all the stupid things I've done during exams, which maybe aren't particularly funny, a few classics from my Grade 7 (aurals naturally)

Examiner; Now can you tell me how the two halves were different texturally?

Me; It was in two halves? I didn't really notice.

Ooo cringe!!!!

And them there was the melodic memeroy test...

examiner plays for what seems like ages (and I'm thinking- this seems like a very long test, how am I going to cope) stops and gives me this expectant look.

Me (faintly); Oh did you play that twice then? I hadn't realised.

No wonder I failed!!!! (the aurals, that is)

Please say someone else has done anything nearly so cringeworthy in an exam!!

none of my exams have been even remotely exciting! how sad!

there was a water pitcher thing on the table and the examiner went to pour himself more water and tipped the whole thing over ALL over the floor!! He went bright red and halted the exam so they could clean it up

I once heard of a person who fainted in an exam and the poor person who went in next saw them being dragged out!

Why is it if there is an examiner in training the real one always asks you whether you mind them being there? I never though you really got much choice!

I have often done more than one exam at a time and then I often seem to get into long conversations about what other instruments I play and other hobbies etc, and it almost becomes quite friendly and for the second exam gives it quite a different mood. I once even had an examiner who the second time he saw me commented that I had liked the dress I had one the day before better!

I have never had an examiner dance in a music exam, but in dance ones the examiner often is dancing (feet only normally) under the table, which can be quite, funny, off-putting or helpful depending on the circumstance!

Forgot to add this...

In my grade eight my examiner seemed to go to sleep during one of my pieces, a calm quiet one, and when I was finished he was gently rocking to and fro with his eyes closed! I had to smile!

Hee-Hee!!
(Lovin this thread)

The funniest thing that happened to me in an exam was last year, when I was doing my piano exam. I was taking it at xmas, and the lady's house where I took it was really excessively decorated with christmas stuff. I walked into the room and walked straight into a bit of tinsel, hanging over the door. I then sat down at the piano, and noticed there was a miniture fibre optic christmas tree next to the piano stool. The exam went fine, apart from when I stood up to do the aural tests, I stepped backwards and knocked over the xmas tree!!!

Thankfully, I was able to just put it back quickly, but then I couldn't stop laughing at myself throughout the aural tests!

I don't think the lady ever found out, but I hope I didn't break it or anything!!

QUOTE (cecilia @ Jun 1 2004, 02:28 PM)

When I took my grade 1 exam I fainted in the waiting room!!! And also once the examiner burst out laughing for no apparent reason, v. offputting! Also once my examiner sat down on the stool to play the aural test and it collapsed! He had to call the steward to bring in another one... that time I couldn't stop laughing!!!!

Hi Cecilia.... that was hilarious that one of your examiner collapsed when he was about to do your aural!!!! I never had any experience of a funny exam.. before....but.... it was very intersting to read people's experiences..... hehe...:-)

QUOTE

one of my examiners offered me a mint when i came in.

I had a theory when I was taking exams:

The friendly examiners marked harshly and the serious examiners marked generously.

I remember an examiner for my violin exam wearing plus fours!

Nothing funny has ever happened to me in exams but my friend sat her grade 6 last session started to play a diminished played it wrong stopped said sorry then did the same thing again!

I remember in Grade 3......I was playing broken chords. ANd I accidently played appeggios!!
The examiner said"No!" and I thought"I am really DEAD".
When I got back my results. My scales mark was 20/21!! I was definately shocked!

QUOTE

In my grade eight my examiner seemed to go to sleep during one of my pieces, a calm quiet one, and when I was finished he was gently rocking to and fro with his eyes closed! I had to smile!

When that happens in my lesson it means I played well.
My teacher says he forgets to listen

Trouble is he sometimes does it when he is meant to be turning the page for me

QUOTE (Seashellmusic @ Jun 4 2004, 12:03 PM)

I once heard of a person who fainted in an exam and the poor person who went in next saw them being dragged out!

LOL

What a great thread.

My piano teacher from years ago told me about this:

A pupil was having an examination and had just identified the pulse of a piece of music the examiner was playing as part of the aural tests. The examiner then said to the pupil "now beat it," meaning he wanted them to conduct along with him, but they took it literally, burst into tears and ran out the room!

oh dear, im in hysterics, this thread is sooo funny!!!

i have a friend who was in her grade 8 violin exam when she was nervous she played one of her pieces very vigoriously (I mean really, really fast) and she accidently snapped one of the violin strings..,but thats not all...when the string snapped it bounced onto her face (ouch) and she could not finish her exam because the examiner recommended that she go to a clinic immediatly because she might need stitches! (they used surgical glue on her face instead!)

Hi. i remember doing grade 2 thoery exam and i was just sitting there doing it and there was this girl doing the same grade as me was she kept lookin at mine so i looked at her once or twice.. quite funny rly

Also in my grade 3 exam i got a merit in very glad bout that i was just sitting there and he was eating an orange then i had to do my aural but his hand was all orange so he told me not to do that till last but he forgotton and i also forgotton and i got a 0 in my arual and he wrote.. couldn't doing because examiner was eating an orange and forgot to do it in the end.. Doh! i would of passed that im good at aural then becuase my teacher trained me.. my teacher thought it was bnag out of order so i went back and had to do the aural again .. and i got full marks.

Edit: he had orange fingers which is proberly why he didn't wnt to do the aural at the time.. guess he didn't wnt orange fingerprints on the piano n the pages.

That is very strange.

What I took Grade 5 theory there was this oldish lady there who was doing Grade 1.

She seemed to be really struggling, which I could hardly believe as grade 1 seems so basic to me. She was there right up till the last second, when they kick all the lower grades out, sighing, and scatching her head. It was so distracting!

This isn't like really funny but anyway. When I went into my grade 4 I was supposed to tune up to the piano, but as soon as I got in there I was so nervous that I began to play all my pieces!

I was once in an exam (in a music centre) and a teacher from the school just walked in on us. When my examiner asked him what he wanted, the teacher said that something he wanted was in the room and he just thought he would pop in and get it, and surely the examiner wouldn't mind! Then the exminer got really cross and almost yelled at him to get out and that he had no place to just walk into an exam. It was quite funny really as the teacher thinks that he has the right to do what he wants and he seemed really taken aback that he couldn't just come into an exam, serves him right ! The examiner then appologised to me, and then asked me to carry on as though nothing had happened!

Another time in an exam the examiner asked me to play A minor and I played A major by mistake, she wasn't really listening but writing comments instead; and at the end she looked up and said 'Did I ask for the major, I thought it was the minor?'. But when I assured her that I thought she had said A major, even though I knew I'd played the wrong one, she just sighed and said' Oh dear, I must be getting old, I'm getting rather forgetful'!

When my Mum took her grade eight she hadn't done any aural practise at all and when in the exam she had to admit to the examiner that she didn't even know what the question meant, let alone be able to answer it! So he gave her multiple choice answers and told her to look on the bright side as she had a one in four chance of getting it right! She still passed the exam overall, although suprisingly not the aural section.

One of my Mum's pupils who was and adult, although she didn't have a funny experience in an exam the comment report was amusing. The examiner had written 'Tone a little breathy', he clearly hadn't noticed she was 8 months pregnant'!

Although this isn't funny: Don't you think it is odd that an examiner can begin writing away as soon as you have played the first note, and not even got to the second? And when you get the report back the first comment for that piece isn't even about the first note! They must be able to see into the future and just instinctively know how you are going to play!

Sorry, I've remember something else I find funny that will probably bore the rest of you!

It is always good in percussion exams when you get to playing scales and the examiner hasn't really ever examined percussion before. Firstly they get very confused when you ask them how they would like you to play the scale, as they just say things like 'B major', but you can play it with even notes or a repeated tonic. Then when they have finally ummed and arhed for a little while and read the syllabus a little better and decided how they want the scale played, they then fall at the next hurdle. In percussion you have to play the scale twice but they aren't expecting this and start to speak after the first time round, then you hear a small intake of breath as they look at the syllabus again! They then get on alright untill arpeggios, when you play them three times, but after the second they try to butt in again and once again have to consult the syllabus!

For my first percussion exam my examiner just throughly confused and scared and started asking me about how it all worked!

i had a car crash on the way too mine, n i insisted in the ambulance that i wanted to do my exam - i was told thsi was the shock x

In a viva voce part of an exam, the examiner asked me to point to a place where it modulated, so I did, and asked me which key it went to. I said D minor, but he said "are you sure??" and I thought I had it wrong. But when I checked it again, I couldn't see what else it could be and I'd learned it pretty thoroughly so I said "D minor" again. He then asked again if I was sure, and I said yes, before he said "Oh yes sorry, my mistake it was an imperfect cadence before, you're right it goes to D minor"

One of my teachers, an examiner, told me this true story. She was sitting at her desk waiting for the next candidate when in walked a little girl, very beautifully dressed, who jumped onto the piano stool quite happily. My teacher asked her if she was ready and then asked her a scale. There was total silence and after a very long pause the little girl said "why haven't you said anything about my lovely new shoes!'

I only had two exams until now... both very simple - i hope my next exam is gonna be interesting

I took G6 clarinet with guildhall just last thursday, everything was going just fine until my examiner gave me the sightreading test when a large boiled-sweet shaped decoration fell from the ceiling and burst loudly right next to his chair! I also tried to walk away with the sightreading book too - i had to run back in and give it back (cringe..... )

Someone else had a worse one than me though; she played her sightreading test and the examiner said to her "just put the book on the piano". she put it on the piano and began to play - but he interrupted, just telling her to put the music on top of the piano - which of course she did and began to play the test standing up, straining to read the music. He then lost his rag a bit and told her just to leave the test where it was and walk away from it. She must have been so embarrassed; but to top it all off she left all her music in the room and walked out (he had to call her just as she was about to leave the room - he must have felt really sorry for her by this point)

I suppose all of us make mistakes sometimes

When I was a kid doing grade 3 or 4 clarinet, I walked into the room, shaking like a leaf, and one of the lenses in my glasses fell straight out onto the floor!

Nerves don't wear off though, do they? I tried grade 5 jazz the other day and still shook...

so at the end of the 6th exam of the week I had taken,
my examiner comes up and says
" You don't have to take six exams in one week!!!!!

I always either walk off with the sightreading book or leave my music in the exam room... and have to wait for the next candidate to finish before I go in and get it!!
For my grade 5 piano I marked all the pages with paperclips and left a zillion paperclips all over the piano... AND the examiner made me come back and pick them all up!!!

oooo i had mi horn exam 2day....i had emptyed mi water frm mi horn and just fin misight readin. the examiner ask 4 the sight reading book back & i sliped on da water!

I was takin my garde 1 violin ages ago at NBHS I was shaking like a leaf but played everything ok then I went to go outside and I couldn't open the door no matter how much I tried I couldn't get the door open. The examiner asked whether I wanted help and I said yes so he came over and opened the door first time. How embarrased was i?? Ahhhhhh"!!!! laugh now though anyone else has the same problem emails me!

Just got my singing exam results sheet. "Blah de blah... The voice was mellifluous, with an incipient vibrato."

It wasn't vibrato, I was shaking. With nerves.

xx
singingsiren

QUOTE

It wasn't vibrato, I was shaking. With nerves.

I had a friend who in her grade eight singing exam asked her accompanist if she could "tune" to an 'A' on the piano. She adjusted her 'A' by means of adjusting the pitch by twisting her ear!

QUOTE

had a friend who in her grade eight singing exam asked her accompanist if she could "tune" to an 'A' on the piano. She adjusted her 'A' by means of adjusting the pitch by twisting her ear!

omg that is seriously weird..!!!!

QUOTE (ethnomusicologist @ Aug 6 2004, 12:17 AM)

I had a friend who in her grade eight singing exam asked her accompanist if she could "tune" to an 'A' on the piano. She adjusted her 'A' by means of adjusting the pitch by twisting her ear!

kool!! lol

QUOTE

I went to go outside and I couldn't open the door no matter how much I tried I couldn't get the door open. The examiner asked whether I wanted help and I said yes so he came over and opened the door first time.

Yesss! That happened to me as well! I couldn't open the door either!

I knew a student at music college who was so nervous during one of his end of year violin exams he managed to let go of the bow (on an up bow). He said it sailed across the room in a rather elegant parabolic curve and clattered to rest somewhere behind the piano.

Fortunately the panel of examiners were sympathetic and let him start again.

I got lost in the house where my exam was once. It was this massive maxe like building and I just couldn't find my way back from the exam room to the waiting room. The lady who owned the house found me randomly wandering through her kitchen- another cringe moment.

Aside, I always forget to take my flute stand with me, as its in my music stand case which of course I dont need. This always leaves me juggling my flute and three different music books as I try to adjust the stand or gazing around hesitantly trying to find somewhere to put it during the aural tests. It usually ends up on the grand piano, but I'm always wincing as I put it down afraid of denting the blessed thing!

QUOTE

Yesss! That happened to me as well! I couldn't open the door either!

I had an embarrassing door experience at my saturday music school, I was on the second floor and the doors are very heavy, and being rather small (not yet 5 foot) I couldn't actually open the door to get out to the stairs... after about 2 minutes of trying to open the door I had to go into a practice room and ask a total stranger to help me, he walked across and opened it first time! I was sooooooo embarrassed... the only thing I can think would have made it worse would have been if I'd discovered I was trying to push open a "pull" door or vice versa!

At least he brought his violin to his exam. Another friend of mine turned up to his grade 7 Guildhall exam without his violin. How could you forget your instrument? Luckily his dad had enough time to go home and pick it up.

i had done quite a few exams and there's nothing funny happened... however...when i did my grade 8 singing exam..the drummers downstairs were "hitting" like mad... and the examiner had to go and shut them up...the music director was embarrased as well as i did...coz i was doing the exam at my own school...

My teacher told me that once while she was giving her piano examination a large black cat jumped on the examiners table and the examiner screamed with fright!! (hehehehe)

My grade two piano exam was held at a school half an hour away and as my examiner was playing an aural piece he suddenly stopped and stood up and went "This is getting very annoying". I was pertrified thinking i'd done something horribly wrong but he walked over to one of the walls, pulled a clock off the wall, pulled out the battery and droped both the clock and the battery out of the window. He then added, "I was finding it hard to play this piece with that blessed clock ticking in the background."

Then the rest of the exam went very well and about 4 weeks later i received my results, i had passed with 137 and in the comments box at the bottom he had put "sorry about the clock."

Every1 has such amusing stories.
Mines not as good as sum of urs bt in mi gr8 sax exam mi accomanist instead of leaving the room after mi pieces walked straight in2 a storage cupboard.Also i tripped over mi music stand in mi gr5 flute thn followed on 2 impress the examiner bi trying to pull open a push door.Many ppl seem 2 of had problems wit doors!thy shud 4 all music exam rooms hav automatic doors- saves us lots of embarressment!Also wen i was younger inmi gr2 piano the examiner asked me "would you like 2 play your pieces first or do some scales?"I jus replied "skiis!"I will never know y bt it gave the examiner a good chuckle.

In one of my earlier clarinet exams my clarinet was very stiff when i tried to put it together, so i slathered plently of cork grease onto the joint corks so i was able to put my clarinet together. The middle joint of the clarinet was particularly stiff, so i made sure that it was good and geasy. All was going well until in the middle of my second piece my clarinet fell apart in my hands with me still blowing. The bottom clattered to the ground.
Very professional.
My finest hour, i think, was a few greades later, when i was in the middle of the second piece (it's always those pesky second pieces!), when i kind of switched off and went on autopilot and lost my place. The poor pianist was still playing, waiting for me. I claimed to the examiner that i had, "got lost in the music and was very sorry that i had got a little carried away", and then asked to start again. He agreed, and was, amazingly enough, very nice about it.
Still makes me cringe though!

A few years ago, I was a steward outside a special visit room in a school. I told my piano pupil to go in and sit at the piano, but instead he went straight over to the examiner's table. I was wondering what on earth he was doing when he slapped down some ear plugs in front of him and said "here you are, these are for when I play my scales cos you're gonna need them"...THEN sat down at the piano lol