Hi folks,

Did grade 5 on Monday. I have really struggled with the pieces and probably over analysed them and lost sight of the overall musical picture, if you know what I mean.

Midway through the Guilmant Adagio, I thought I had hit Sw3 piston with my L foot, but clearly something else happened (possibly hit Sw to Ped instead) and it suddenly sounded all wrong. Played on for a couple of bars but decided to stop and reset the registration and explain what had happened. The examiner was lovely, but I felt like a twit.

Also made loads of mistakes in the other 2 pieces, sigh.

What's the best thing to do if you suddenly find things going pear shaped? I guess experience makes you less likely to do this in the first place, but perhaps you could correct things without stopping.

I really want to play well, but it is soooo hard.

Argh,

Sue

How well did you know the instrument on which you did your exam? Playing at an unfamiliar console can be very difficult for a novice, even if the pieces had been thoroughly learned.

It is best to double check all the piston settings just before starting the exam.

All the registrational changes must be practised carefully, like what one would do with the notes. It is best to make such changes rhythmically, at exactly the same spots every time you play the piece. Prepare your foot before hitting the piston. If necessary, look at your foot to make sure that it is placed on the correct piston.

Just curious: Can you operate the swell pistons with the left foot? How are the toe pistons laid out on your instruments?

Hi Sue, good luck with the results - I'm sure it's ok to stop once in a piece and still pass it . I suppose it also depends on how 'wrong' it sounded. Grade 5 will probably be my first organ exam, not sure when, so I'd be interested to hear.

Jen

I've only ever played one instrument - the one I took the exam on, so should have known what I was doing, but a combination of horrible nerves and lack of preparation did for me!

The organ I play has a row of Swell pistons on the L side and Pedal pistons on the R and various coupler pistons above those.

The urge to have a ceremonial bonfire of my organ music has passed. I will make friends with my organ.

Oh Sue, I am sure you did well, I admire anyone who plays the Organ, I simply couldnt cope with the volume of bits and bobs for the organist to use, the consoles, the stops, the pedals to name a few...add to that you were being examined on a different organ so all a bit scarey really...

Don't get disheartened I am sure you did ok,

fingers crossed

Andrew

Thanks Andrew,

I think doing an organ exam was a foolish idea and I will not be repeating the experience, whatever the outcome.

However, I shall return to th console and continue what I think will probably be a lifetime's work to get to grips with the magnificent beast. There are so many amazing noises to be had!! Do have a go some time, there's nothing quite like it!

I might just do so, though I wouldnt have a clue where to start...

A freind of mine nearby trained at the RCO and is very accomplished maybe I can twist his arm and get him to show me the way...I would love to see what its all about.

Oh well, you did it , you had a go, but feel you wouldnt do it again...I do admire you for having a go though...

In truth I am just worrying about getting back to the piano, cannot imagine my hands will ever do what they once did nearly 35 years ago...at the moment even scales and arpeggios seem a million miles away..oh well once I get with Jeff and he sorts me out I'll get cracking...

Sue,

Don't be disheartened. I can't count the number of times I felt like stamping on my trumpet having practiced hard for a concert and then done a spectacular split and missed an entry. Nevertheless I continued my studies and and have gained much pleasure from my playing over the years (though the organ is nowadays my primary instrument). Whatever the exam result, don't let it knock your confidence but just enjoy your music-making.

Best wishes

Martin

Thanks everyone. This forum is such a help. Non musicians (ie husband in particular) just do not understand what it's all about!

One doesn't really train with the RCO. Especially these days where they have no premises, which is a sad state of affairs IMHO. One might go on a seminar or two and pay the fees to take the examinations, but that is it...

NO , MR B is that true, the Royal College of Oganists has no premises anymore, didnt it used to be right behind the Albert Hall...I can't believe what I am reading...that is a disgrace...the thin end of the wedge...

Really shocked here...

Hi Sue,

Where did the examiner sit/stand during your exam?

I have my first organ exam next week and I don't know what to expect. This will be my first keyboard exam since I was 9 and I'm far more nervous about it than I am about non-keyboard exams. I think that's partly because all the examiners can play the piano, so if they watch what you do they'll know if you're using incorrect fingering and so on.

Hi Teigr,

There was only one candidate - me - and my teacher arranged for the examiner to come to the church where we do the lessons. The examiner sat a little way behind me, slightly lower down, so she would not have been able to see my fingering very easily, but could have seen my feet.

Bizarrely (it seemed to me) she didn't know any of the pieces I was playing, so she came to have a good look at the music before I started. She said she was a pianist but had learnt a little organ at school (so probably at least grade 8 then!!!)

I think it's up to you to put out a table and chair, so you can choose where to put it, but obviously the examiner does need to see what you are doing. You can put a little distance between you. She played the piano bits for the aural tests on a Yamaha keyboard that belonged to the church.

As you can see from my post, I made a bit of a hash of it, but she was very nice and said I'd done well afterwards, so I'm fairly sure I've passed (will be gutted if not!!)

I too was very nervous. There is such a lot to remember and I find the co-ordination of all 4 limbs very challenging to say the least. Remember not many people do organ exams, so it's a bit of a novelty for the examiner and I think they are reasonably sympathetic to the difficulties of the instrument. Good luck, let us know what happens!

Sue

Yes, then they moved to Holborn and then onto Birmingham where they were going to do big things and have an organ commissioned. In the end the finances didn't work out so they decided to live a virtual existence instead, with no premises and everything done via magic phone numbers and email... I mean there is still a published newsletter, email updates, a website and of course examinations and occasional courses. Nothing much else really. I keep the membership up so that I might take FRCO one day. One day....

Mr "B", I think thats incredibly sad..I really do, what a dreadful shame and terrible mismanagement on behalf of the board of governers...its a crying shame..

A very great friend of mine was trained at the RCO, he loved every moment of it, I am sure he knows of their demise and I can only imagine how he must feel...it was a lovely building and many great organists walked its halls...

I am surprised that someone somewhere hasn't rallied to try and get the whole place up and running...

Maybe its a job for "Mr B" me thinks....not that I want to put anything on your already heavily laden yet I hear magnificent shoulders

Kindest regards

Andrew

don't worry about it.....
i do have problems like this.... it's actually a nightmare for me.... at the university, they only had a chamber organ at the music department, but i have lessons at manchester cathedral (what a fantastic organ they've got and i really enjoy playing there)... anyway, i have to re-adjust everything during my lessons. there's no swell box, choir box at the chamber organ, only 3 stops per manual and the pedal boards. there's only two manuals as well: it is a problem for me as i'm working on big, major works at the moment. therefore i'm quite rusty when it comes to stop changes and other stuff (used to be very good back in my old school, as it had a proper organ).

Hi Sue,
Thanks for the reply.

I don't think it's strange that the examiner was unfamiliar with your pieces. Not a lot of people take organ exams and there are plenty of options on the lists, so the examiners can't possibly know every piece from each list for every grade of every instrument. They'll know the popular choices for the most-played instruments, but they can't know everything.

I've arranged to take the exam at a local church which is used as an exam centre anyway (I've taken other exams there). It's not my usual organ, but I've had a couple of lessons on it and some practice time and it's an extremely nice instrument to play. (3 manuals, electro-pneumatic, and the building works well with it)
I think it's my preferred instrument of all five of the ones I play (2/3/4 manual electro-pneumatics and 2/3 manual trackers). My "usual" organ is a nice 2-manual e-p, so I'm used to the time-lag.

I played my exam pieces before the service there (the church where the exam is) yesterday and didn't make too bad a mess of them, so that's a confidence boost. I played one of them as the voluntary on my usual organ a couple of weeks ago and make a spectacular mess of it even though it was the one I knew best.

When are you expecting to get your exam result?
And have you decided what you're going to aim for next?

:-)

Sorry for the double...

Had mine today and it went really badly. The examiner turned out to be an organist himself, which made me more nervous. I bombed out on my first scale and that rattled me quite badly. Slipped in it when I replayed it. Slipped in the next one too. Rest of them went OK.
Made a mistake in my first piece, a bad mistake in my second and messed up an entire section of the third.
Some mistakes in the sight-reading.
Aural wasn't too bad, but I may have got one test completely wrong.

I think I've probably just scraped a pass, but I really wanted to do better than that.
Very frustrating given how hard I'd worked for it and how well I was playing everything in practice recently.

My fingers just kept slipping on the keys. Never had that happen before - anyone got any ideas how to avoid it in future? (Yep, there's going to be a future. Even if I flunk this one, I'm not giving up.)

T.

the slipping might be caused by nerves... this sometimes does happen to me.
anyway, i had an organist as my examiner for my grade 6 and enjoyed the every moment of the exam....unlike my grade 8, had a female pianist as my examiner and certainly annoyed me so much (her attitude and the comments on the mark sheet)

It was indirectly due to nerves. My fingers got all sweaty because I was nervous, and that in turn made them slip. Seems to be just an exam thing - I'm always nervous when I'm playing for services, but never had the sweaty fingers thing before.

Now wondering if anti-perspirant works on fingers...

T.

You could try climbers' chalk?!

Try talc - the unscented variety. Rub it in well or it will make matters worse.( you'll end up with a sweaty talcy film all over the keys)

Talc is nice and inert so won't damage the keys - it will be much kinder than sweat will be.

Only just seen the last few posts. Sorry things didn't go as well as you had hoped, Teigr. That's exams for you.. It probably wasn't as bad as you think, in terms of marks. I knew before I went in that there would be some mistakes, and I was not wrong!

Still no news on my result. I'm going to carry on playing, but I think I will concentrate on the piano again for a little while - I have the same teacher for both, and we have been doing mainly organ for the last 2 years. I want to go back to some of the pieces I have half learnt on organ and get them right before moving on to anything more difficult.

The choral society I play for has a concert in a church in Decemebr, so depending on the difficulty of the pieces I may be able to accompany some of those on the organ - would be nice...

Let us know how you got on, won't you..

It was my first organ exam, so it was mostly for the experience anyway. At least I'll have a better idea what to expect next time and hopefully a better idea of how to deal with the nerves.




Your result should be through any day now. Do let us know when you get it.

Which do you actually like the best, piano or organ?
Definitely sounds like a sensible plan to consolidate stuff before moving on.

I'm going to plough on with organ regardless. I don't actually like the piano and I love the organ.
Going to learn some more repertoire that's at and below my current level, to build up a reserve of things that I can play quite fluently and confidently (for services, organ visits, etc. and purely for the enjoyment of playing). Also going to work on technical stuff, keyboard skills and on exam work for the next one. (So, a mix of consolidation and muddling onwards - I can recognise sensible but I can't actually do it!)



Will do! :-)

T.

I would have to say that I like the piano best, but that is probably largely due to having spent 30+ years at it and only <2 on the organ. I like the fact that the piano is subtle and instantly responsive. However I enjoy the miriad noises I can get from a church organ. I still have the feeling of novelty when playing the organ whereas the piano is an old friend and companion. I've never had fantasies about my piano burning down, but I can't say the same about the other beastie!

Hi Sue,

Sounds like some time concentrating on piano would be great for you then. :-)

Once I started organ, I knew I'd never want to go back to the piano. I prefer the sounds of the organ (I listen to CDs of organ music - I never listen to piano music), I prefer the feel of it to play and I love being able to make so many different noises with one instrument. I really enjoy the challenge of it. Plus my musical background is mostly in woodwind - organ is kinda like being able to play a whole bunch of woodwind instruments all at the same time. The way each one is different is also really interesting and I like the way you can be inventive with it. (Like, the one I played for my exam doesn't have a quiet enough pedal stop so the organist there showed me a work-around using the open diapason and suboctave on the choir (which I didn't need to use) coupled to the pedals. I thought that was really cool.) The organ brings out my geeky side in a way that other instruments don't. ;-)

Any news of your result yet?

T.

I know what you mean about the woodwind sounds. I love the reeds and flutes.

Well, I'm almost embarassed to report my result, given all the whining I did, but my teacher just called today - I got 136. I'm absolutely stunned. I guess it just reflects the insecurities of being an adult learner and being so much more aware of every little imperfection. I genuinely thought I would struggle to pass, so am completely over the moon with that result.

Congratulations Sue! That's a brilliant result. :-)

Does it change your mind about concentrating on piano for a while?

T.

Well done!

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone.

No, don't think it will change my mind. I'll continue to play the organ, but I really want to push on and improve my piano now. I've had a couple of years of messing about, but it's time to get back to some serious piano work, I feel a diploma coming on!

Congrats Sue! I've just caught up with this well done!!

Wow, excellent result, well done!

Well done Sue, thats a huge score and wonderful news for you...I expect, having read your posts awhile back that this came as a huge surprise...I couldn't be more thrilled for you..

Regards

Andrew

Thanks, yes I was truly gobsmacked!

That's fantastic! Well done you

Hi Sue

I note that this is an old posting (2007) but was looking for a topic covering performance nerves, when I came across your post.

I also did grade 5 in March 2007, and passed, but didn't achieve a merit. Making so many mistakes on the day, which I didn't normally make !! So, I decided to take a 9 month break, just from the syllabus pieces, and play things I liked (!!) re-starting with the syllabus for grade 6 in Jan 2008. I have found grade five to six a big step and really struggled with the pieces. Finally, after almost 2 years (!!) I now 'getting there' as they say. My problem is - similar to yours (but I don't know if the reason is the same) in that I can play quite relaxed, and accurately, until I get to my lesson, when it all comes apart. I do lots of slow, steady, practice and even feel confident ..... but my confidence just vanishes when out of my comfort zone.

My teacher is very good, patient, encouraging, and motivating. Also his organ (Viscount) is the same make as mine, but a slightly different model. So, I haven't any excuse for the mistakes I make.

Did you pass your grade 5 Sue ? Were your errors due to nerves on the day ? Have you found an answer to them ? If so, will you share it with me please ?

For grade six I am doing Healey Willan's Chorale Prelude' Buxtehude's Bux WV199 (Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott and Orlando Gibbons song 22 (edited by Sior Charles Stamford). The latter piece is giving me the most problems.

Dorothy

Hi Swaami,

I got over myself in the end and did grade 6 the following year! I wasn't nearly so nervous second time around. I think I was very nervous for grade 5 as it was my first 'public performance' on organ. I only play the organ very occasionally now, but continue to play and teach the piano.

Good luck with your exam. I did the Gibbons piece too - lovely, but hard!

S