...both for a specific student and generally.

My particular pre-exam student... G3 flautist. I'm more nervous than she is - first time I've entered anyone other than myself

Her study is good, both her pieces are "getting there" - one is all fine except for two tricky bars, the other is good except for grace notes.

Sight-reading she's better than she thinks she is and needs confidence to just TRY and to keep going more than anything.

Aurals I don't think will cause her any problem.

Scales she finds the hardest - once this exam is over we shall be attacking them methodically so she won't be playing catch-up in future: I don't think her previous teacher did a lot with scales and making them make sense to her in the first place is half the challenge. However she's doing OK and she still has a few weeks to brush up (it's a special visit outside the exam period) so although I'm not expecting her to get great marks in this section I don't think it will jeopardise her result.

What kinds of things do you do in the run up to the exam? What last minute things do you do with your student?

I can't do a proper mock exam as I don't have a piano in the teaching room and I don't have the piano skills to administer aurals anyway. I do plan to do some sort of mini exam even if it's only pieces with the piano part on CD/scales/SR and maybe some of the "options" from the music medals book.

What she needs most is an injection of confidence: whatever the final result I really would like her to come out of her exam feeling she did her best. I showed her the marking criteria in These Music Exams which I think helped - the criteria for passing are well within her reach even in HER estimation

Any suggestions for building confidence and getting her scales a bit more confident...? And any just general "what to do 4 weeks before the exam" advice?

Like I said - I think I'm more worried about it than she is (if it were me taking the exam, it would be my money "wasted" if I failed miserably, and my confidence bashed... I feel scared taking on the responsibility of someone else's money and confidence!) and I really DON'T want to pass on that apprehension to her.

Argh. Help!

Definitely not going to be succumbing to any ideas her parents might have of her taking another exam for at least a year - don't know about her, but I can't take the pressure

Do you know another teacher who could conduct a mock exam?
Probably more tricky when you need an accompanist (I suppose for this a recorder accompaniment might do?) but my teacher will do this for my students if they want to.

I think your mock exam using the CDs is a good one - for one thing, you can then sit to one side and pretend to be an examiner. My son really benefited from going through the whole rigmarole, including walking in, adjusting the piano stool (or tuning up, in your pupil's case), stating choices for order of play, etc., and having the "examiner" sit writing, looking up, and saying the occasional "thank you". His teacher did this twice, and the second time even had her husband sit in for extra stress practice! (He is a benign gentleman, but a retired sheriff*, so a very dignified person ). It's not so much going through the drill of the various exercises, as doing the routine of the exam which helps - so using the CD aurals and CD accompaniments would be fine.

*sort of judge in the Scottish legal system, before anyone has visions of ten-gallon hats, guns at hips and loud yelling of "yeeeeeee-haaaaah".

Have at least one run through with the accompanist. Perhaps prevail upon the accompanist to do some aural tests as well at the final run through and build it up into a mock exam

Sarah, do you have the Aural Training In Practice CD? That has specimens of all the aural tests.

If not, PM me, and I'll lend you mine.

Ooh that would be good. Her piano teacher has gone through some tests with her so they aren't foreign (and we do do lots of aural stuff, just not in that guise) but the more the better.

She seemed to be doing well in the lesson today - I think she's going to be fine, whether *I* will survive or not.........

Thanks for all the input and ideas...

I always do some sort of mock exam 2/3 weeks before, complete with marks and comments, to help the student focus in the last few weeks. If you use the criteria you mentioned, you can often come up with a pretty close estimation of the mark (provided all goes well on the day). After that, I ask the student what they most want and need to work on, and they will usually mention anything that's worrying them. Otherwise just keep things ticking over - a couple of weeks before an exam is late in the day to be fixing anything major - but your girl doesn't sound like she needs to. Good luck to you both.

P.S. First time I entered anyone we were both terrified - but he got merit!

I think what most helps confidence is feeling that you know what to expect.

Anything you can do to underpin that is worthwhile. But it does sound as if you've got her well prepared. Hope it goes well!

It's one reason I'm tending to avoid exams if possible - I can't take the pressure myself!!! I get terribly nervous about the pupils and being in the Waiting Room is like torture!! But to try to prepare them I do mock exams so they know not to expect anything except "thank you" as a response after they've played - I make it into a bit of a joke with them so they find it amusing rather than scary.......

First time I entered someone I told her mum not to be surprised if she failed - she got Distinction!!!

Wow!!!

I think the lesson here is the more scared the teacher the better the mark

True - I'll bear that in mind.




Thanks for the well-wishing - and possum, if that's true, she should get 149 (She won't, but it would about fit!)