Today was my A2 Music recital. First time I've sung in front of an audience for two years (I had vocal damage) and it was awful.

I was doing a Ravel song cycle and it was all fine apart from the second song. I was a semitone flat in relation to the piano part for the entire song. I don't know what happened. I couldn't hear the piano very well but I don't see how I could have misinterpreted the pitch in such a weird way.

I don't know if it would have been better to have corrected it when I realised (which was about two-thirds of the way through the song) or to have done what I did, which was plough on regardless and continue singing as though nothing was wrong.

I am so angry at myself. I need an A for university applications and I don't see how I can get one after a mistake like that. I was starting to build up my confidence after the lousy performances I had before I stopped being able to sing all together, and then this. Worst mistake I've ever made, and I'm wondering if I should be applying to study music at all if I'm capable of doing something like that, but there's nothing else I want to do.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here. Thoughts on whether I really screwed up as badly as I think I did, I suppose. And a probably vain hope that I'm not the only one who's made this mistake.

I don't know if any words will make you feel better, but I have made a right idiot of myself in front of an audience ( more than once if I let myself think about it) So straight away <virtual hug>. Perhaps another is in order <virtual hug>. There are lots of things you can learn from this and I'm sure I don't need to spell them out - you're probably already saying them to yourself. So allow yourself a little time to be unhappy that you FEEL that you didn't do your best and move on to the next challenge. There is lots of good advice in this forum to help you work out what went wrong and how to put it right next time!

When will you know what the results are?

On the positive side - you did a song cycle and everything was fine bar ONE song.

*more hugs*

I am sure you did much better than you think. Plus, they look at the big picture. For A2, interpretation is weighted more heavily than accuracy, so, although it could affect your mark, they are looking for a really musical performance. You will get that A

Plus, after performances, you only focus on what went wrong - I am sure the vast proportion went right

You will probably get extra marks for your professionalism in acting as though nothing is wrong - that is if anyone even noticed... Don't worry, the examiners/teachers want you to get good marks, so they'll justify giving you an A in anyway they can - don't forget, good marks for you means value added, and payrises for them.

I'm sure it wasn't half as bad as you thought... and even if it was, I'm sure everyone was concentrating on your other songs which went so well. Perhaps they in themselves will be enough for an A...?

Hi Satine

I just wanted to remind you how fantastically well you've done to be at a point now that you can do a vocal "A"level recital.

Your journey of recovery has been a long one, and this is a major milestone.

So many congratulations for that.

Now, I know your performance wasn't everything you wanted it to be, but I'm prepared to bet it was still pretty impressive. One duff song in a cycle isn't that big a set-back.

So onwards and upwards. Well done you.

Yes well done, maybe it sounded worse to you than it did to others.