Hi folks,
long time no see....
I've been rather busy these days, getting ready for my Dip exam that are coming up in less than one month's time.

I just wondered whether if I should do the repeat in one of the piece that I'm playing- Schubert's A major sonata.
Since the piece is quite repitative, it'll be rather dull to just repeat sections. However my entire programme is risky in length if I don't do the repeats....(maybe just reaching 30 minutes in length).

So.....
should I do the repeats in that piece??

You can repeat.

When I first see your thread title,
I thought you're talking about re-taking dipABRSM again because you've failed or something.
*laughs*

Anyway,
I don't think you should repeat,
30 min is the requirement time!

I'm taking my dipABRSM this year too,
and I'm not repeating any repertoire.
Good luck to you!

Just for all your interest...
my repertoire is: Bach's Well Tempered Clavier No.12 (bk1), Schubert's Piano Sonata is A and Debussy's Prelude-"The Sunken Catheque" ?sp....
maybe someone can do the caculation of time for me....I think it's just reaching 30 min but I'm not sure...

As your exam is in less than a month, unless you are very experienced at performing in stressful situations, play it however you have been practising up until now. Otherwise you may panic in the exam and it could throw the whole programme out.

If you have not been practising with the repeats remember the programme length is inclusive of breaks, so make sure you don't rush into the next piece, take a few moments, thinking through the opening then go for it.


Good luck

D xx

Which diploma exam is this pianist_1210?

The best thing to do would be to time your performance with the microwave or something. Like set it for 30 minutes and see how far you get before the beeper goes off, (if you can hear it ). I looked up some times for you though.

Bach Prelude and Fugue, no. 12 book 1 in midi form (so in real life it probably is a bit longer) was 4:22.

Schubert Sonata in A Major, I found one performance at 17:28 and one at 21:15.

And if your Debussy is the same one as la cathedrale engloutie (I don't speak french, so I don't know), then I found a midi at 5:30, and one at 7:48. However, I also found a live performance at 6:47 which is more reliable than a computer generated midi. So........

4:20 (probably a bit longer remember) + 17:30 + 6:50 = 28:40 which means you need an extra 1:20. Take 10 seconds between pieces and before starting which will give you an extra 30 seconds. 1:20 - :30 = 50 more seconds needed which I highly suspect will be made up in the Bach LIVE. The problem is, this time is WITH repeats. So, what you need to do is time YOURSELF. But you really might need to do that repeat as much as you don't want to. Especially in an exam where you might play a bit faster than normal due to nerves. What does your teacher say? What do the rest of you say now that you have an idea of how close the time is?

(I'm not commenting as with RCM it's the opposite. We have a time limit to stay under not get over).

DipABRSM

It's in a month, and you haven't done a timing run yourself? All we can do is do as Christian has done and get indicatives off CDs and so on - no match for setting a clock running and timing it.
How are the programme notes coming along?

It sounds mighty close without the repeats. Allow yourself 10-20 seconds to compose yourself between each work.

How are the programme notes going?

One other suggestion if you need a longer programme: in what state is the grade 8 piece for which you got your best mark?

Programme notes are o.....k......
I've writen a page for each of the pieces, I have talked about the Composer's life, The history of the piece and it's unique things...is it ok to be like that??

And what are Viva Voce?? Is it like questions about the things which I 've written??


Sorry YAP.....don't really get what you mean.

If you do a particularly good job of playing one of your grade 8 pieces you could include that in your programme as an own-choice item.

Hi Pianist 1210
When my son Daniel took his Guildhall diploma I phoned the Board about repeats because we were worried about the length of the programme. We were advised no repeats except for Da Capo etc. This considerably shortened his programme and infact meant we had to choose a longer Prelude and Fugue. I think you should phone the Board asap and check with them. You may need to put in another piece (don't mean to scare you but best to sort it out).

I don't know whether you're doing your exam under the 2005-onwards or older syllabus (you're not in the UK are you, so the older one might still be valid, not sure!), but check what the word limit is. It'll be around 1100 words which which is a couple of pages for the lot by the time you've done the title. If you're using a word processor make use of the word-count function.
Don't overdo the biography. Your notes should be nice and concise, and be more about the "what" of the piece than the "who" of the composer - anyone can grab a potted biography! Of course, if something in the composer's life was a major influence on the work, include that.
Viva Voce (oh PLEASE tell me you've had a read of the syllabus.... ) will cover the information in your notes (the examiners will be making sure that you are the author) but may range far more widely - what else did the composer write, how did you put your programme together, really anything goes.

Thinking of repeats...

Last night my teacher (who is also a good mate) and I were going through one of my pieces and discussing whether or not I should do the first time bar. I said no, we should just go through into the second time bar. So he asked me to go over to his bookshelf and find a pair of scissors, which I started to do, then asked him why he wanted scissors - "so we can cut out this bar!" I'm so gullible I actually believed him for a while... apparently he enjoyed the look on my face!

Just out of interest...does it matter if my programme notes are about 1500 words?? Will it be too long then? It's very detail about the composers' life and also I've mentioned about the pieces (but without using technical language)...it's about one page each on the pieces.....(do I need an introduction and conclusion in the each of the programme notes??)

However, I'm extremely worried about the pieces, because my exam is in three weeks time and I 'm still trying to get the notes right.... and the speed....(I can never do the 3rd mvt of the Schubert Sonata as fast as Allegro....)
And also, the unfortunate thing about me is that when I'm very panick, my mind goes blank and cannot play anything...oh no....imagine how awful it'll be if I stopped in the middle of the exam and can't carry on....I'll be so shameful

Yes I have...it says 1000~1200, so I was just wondering whether they will accept around 1500...i mean will I get marked down by the length??

Right, so you need your programme notes to be between 1000 and 1200 words. Not 1500.
I suspect you'll be able to trim a few hundred words by removing unnecessary biographical information. You've not wasted it, as you'll probably need to call on it from memory in the Viva (no, you can't take any other notes into the exam!). The headings (title of the work, composer name etc) don't count towards the word limit. If you've got multi-movement pieces these start contributing big time, so make sure you eliminate them from the count.

As in all University level examinations they will be VERY strict on the word count. If it is 10% more than the allowed number you will get 0 - ZERO - marks for the programme notes resulting in a failure in the whole exam.

You don't seem to understand the rules - you MUST follow the guidelines set out in the syllabus regarding programme notes and recital timings. Otherwise, you simply don't stand a chance.

This sounds harsh BUT it would be unfair to everyone who does follow the rules if they didn't adhere to them.

Oh, ok....I thought they do count....so I'll subtract them from the total