I have now been entered for the piano exam in the B period (June - July) and I was just wondering how the exam works (If that makes sense)
I mean, can you take the book with the pieces in, but i know you can't take the scale and arpeggio book.
Thanks

Is this your first exam with ABRSM then?

This is how it works:

• When asked, you enter the exam room
• The examiner will ask you if you want to do pieces or scales {if I were you, I would do scales first, and it warms up your hands so you're ready to do the pieces}
• Scales: the examiner will ask you a few scales, arpeggios, broken chords, etc.
• Pieces: the examiner will ask for your first piece. If you want to play the pieces in a different order (not A,B,C), then inform him, otherwise he/she will assume you're doing them in the right order but they might end up writing their notes in the wrong boxes, which makes it confusing for them. After the first piece, you need to wait for the examiner to finish writing the comments about it, then he will ask for your second, and then your third piece
• Sight-reading: the examiner will give you a short melody, and you can try parts of it out, but you will only get 30 seconds to look at it, then he/she will ask you to play the melody
• Aural Tests: the examiner will tell you to stand somewhere, and he will do the aural tests with you
• After that, you can then leave the room

You are allowed to bring the book with the pieces in to the exam room, but not the scales book, because you're expected to know the scales from memory.

Hope that helps!
Car Expert

Yea thanks alot, and yea this is my first exam with ABRSM
Apart from my Grade 5 theory in March.

Nice one CE! I bet the AB couldn't put it better themselves

If the examiner asks for your next piece almost immediately after you finish playing (as mine did) DON'T jump right in and start. Take a few seconds to settle yourself and think of what you are about to play before you start. (I was just about in control enough to do this probably because I've been in a similar situation before...though not in an exam)

I love this bit at the end, makes the whole thing sound so easy .

Doesn't it!

A very good description, CE. There's just one thing which needs to be clarified for the OP - your description of the sight-reading does make it sound as though even a pianist only has to play one line of music. Pianists' sight-reading, as you know, is a piece written in both clefs for both hands, and at Grade 6 level can easily include things like LH playing in treble clef here and there.

Hehe - yes and it's good advice. Don't do what I did and just stand there looking shell-shocked - the examiner had to say "You can go now." !

I usually like to escape as quickly as possible .

Everyone else has pretty much explained what happens in the exam so I was just wondering what pieces you're doing? Also, how are you getting on with the scales/arpeggios?

Lisa xxx

of course you can take the pieces in!
;-}

Well.... In A I'm doing Andante which is going good - I can almost play perfectly. In B - Einsamer Wanderer which is ok and finally Bagatelle No 9 in Section C.
Don't even mention scales and arpeggios!!
As this is my first exam, i haven't really practised them alot before so I got to learn them all!!
I can do Melodic but Harmonic are more difficult (Yea I know this is VERY wierd!!)
I can do chromatic scales fine but I CANNOT play arpeggios But practise makes perfect

Well you're very brave taking grade 6 as your first practical exam as you're right, you do have to learn ALL the scales & arpeggios for this one. I learnt them in sections to make them easier so one week I'd learn all the majors, the next week harmonics & then finally melodics until I'd got them all done. I found arpeggios hard at first too but as everyone always says, the more you play them the better & easier they'll become. It's funny that you find the melodic scales easier than the harmonics as it's usually the other way around!

As for your pieces, I don't think many people chose Andante as their A piece so it'll be nice for the examiner to have something different to listen to. To be honest, I don't know the other two pieces you've chosen too well but I'm sure you'll play them brilliantly in the exam!

I really hope you do well & try not to worry too much. Easier said than done I know, but try to relax as much as you can & don't think of it as an exam, just imagine you're playing for a friend or relative. Lots of people have said that eating a banana before an exam helps to calm nerves so it might be a good idea to eat one just before you leave. The exam seems so scary especially when you're waiting to go in but once you get in there it's never as bad as you think it's going to be. They usually only last 15 mins or so so it'll be over before you know it! Good luck & let us all know how you get on.

Lisa xxx

This was funny! Yes, it is the best part of the exam I think, when it's over! In my last exam, the examiner said, "And that's the end of your exam, and now you can relax and enjoy the rest of your day." I just beamed at him!

Thanks everyone
I'm a bit more confident now!
I'm surprised not many people chose Andante, it's a lovely piece!

I've never quite managed to grasp when the end of the exam is...for grade 6 I couldn't get out and had to ask the examiner where the door was..and for grade 8 I started laughing and carried on answering the D part of aural tests before the examiner gave me a weird look, laughed and said 'that will do..you can go now'...

Most of my grade 6 students chose it, and one of them won a festival with it.

Good luck with your grade 6!

Andante does seem like a less common choice, but from the sound of the CD it is a nice piece. Einsamer Wanderer is lovely - I wish I could've learnt that one (although Vals Poetico was nice too). I don't know the Bagatelle that well (that seems to be a less common choice as well!).

As Lisa said, break your scales into chunks and just work through them steadily, and don't try and do them at once. People do find harmonics easier than melodics, but with practice, harmonics are not bad. And I sucked at arpeggios too for a long time - I kept on missing the notes and it sounded awful - but in the exam, it went much better than I had expected. It's just practice!

Good luck!