I am planning to take my grade 7 in the autumn. I am worried that my pieces may go stale before I have got them exam-ready. Has anybody got any good suggestions about how you maintain interest in exam pieces while you are polishing them up for performance?

Cheers

Take a break from exam pieces and do other stuff at a similar level or easier for sight reading practise. (I prefer sigh reading real music to ploughing through Speciman tests) Then come back to your exam pieces refreshed. I got this way with mine, especially the Allemande. Do some fun things then go back.

Absolutely agree with that advice... make sure you're playing lots of other stuff as well as your exam pieces. Take regular breaks from them as well - don't play them every single day once you've learnt them properly.

This was one of my biggest fears before my grade 8 as it happened for my grade 6...

What I did, as has already been suggested, is lots and lots of sightreading. Not only does this improve your sightreading, but if you play pieces that you like, you'll have fun and will be more likely to work in a productive way for other pieces too!

If there are any other areas of the exam, i.e. scales or aural that you don't feel confident with, try concentrating on them as well, as you might as well get them up to scratch if your pieces are already ok..

Hope that helped..

Good luck! *sprays good luck mist*

Mothball the pieces that you are frightened are getting stale playing them through after a fortnight to check they are still under your fingers and use the time constructively practicing the two much neglected areas of sightreading and aural.

Thanks for all your thoughts.

I had a good chat with my piano teacher and, to indulge my thirst for new repertoire, I am going to start work on a Haydn piano sonata. I think my real fear was that all my work was going to waste as I felt I had hit a glass ceiling but my teacher was very firm that I would and could get better so I'll keep on with my pieces for a bit until I mothball them ready for final run-up to the exam.

Unbeknowst to my teacher I am working on a blues improvisation book which is great fun but probably not to the taste of my church organist teacher. It is great fun and I want to carry back some of that vitality into my grade pieces.