.....my exam.

It is tomorrow - 2.15.

I am scared.

And i've found out i've got the same bloke for my piano exam (grade 8) tomorrow, and also my grade 5 sax on friday!!!

has this happened to anyone else? (anything to take my mind off the exam will help )

I'm going to get the same examiner for piano and descant recorder (both grade 5) as I'm doing them on the same morning at the same centre. Havn't done anything like that before but I've been told by an AB examiner that when they get someone doing two exams, they treat each exam absolutely separately and don't let any impressions from the first one influence their assessment in the second one.
I get to choose which one I do first (my teacher sets the running order for her entries), so I'm doing recorder first as I'm more confident about that one.

Good luck,

T.

Thank you very much.

My teacher can choose her running order as well, and she doesn't like two of the same grades one after the other so hers is going

Grade 6 person
Grade 1 "
Me (Grade 8)
Grade 1 "

HAHA, that made me laugh.
But it also reminds me (all those years ago) that i started Grade 1 and i thought "i'll never get to Grade 8, those people are just too good to imagine".
And look at me now!

My teacher usually mixes hers up a bit too, so the examiner gets to hear either a different grade or a different instrument, especially if she has more than one person doing a particular piece.
This time though it's been organised partly around the need for me to have a bit of space between my two exams (to put my recorder(s) away, take a leak if necessary, have a drink, warm up on piano, etc.)
So there's a grade 2 and a grade 4 between me and me-again. The three grade 1s are all before that, and the grade 3 or 4 (I forget which) that was between two of them has had to withdraw, having broken a finger. Not sure if the grade ones are all playing the same instrument, or if they're a mix of pianists and flautists. I'm the only recorder player.

I still can't imagine ever getting to grade 8 on anything.

T.

Good luck Dom Tre - I hope it goes really well tomorrow !

Don't be scared - try to enjoy it! I know this sounds daft, but if you can treat your grade 8 like a performance and communicate through the music you are much more likely to get a good mark. It always shows if a player is enjoying himself, and examiners are only human.

Very best of luck, and try not to worry.

Thanks

It's just nice to think that it's the culmination of around 9-10 years work.
Nice to see how far I've progressed.

I've performed quite a lot in the last year though, so hopefully, I won't be so nervous when performing. But to be honest, I'd rather play to a very large crowd than one examiner lol.

I'll give it my best shot, and give you all an update tomorrow.

Good luck - my son once had grade 8 cello and grade 6 piano on the same day with the same examiner with just a lunch break in between. it didn't do him any harm.

( I hear that bananas are good for nerves but there will be other threads on this)

Good luck!

So, how did it go?

Was the examiner nice enough that you're looking forward to playing to him again on Friday?

T.

LOL - I have my exam on the 12h of December..which gives me 3 more lessons...and I can't play my pieces yet.

Why am I sooo laid back about things?!

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, just has everyone has, I suppose. Have faith.

I had the same examiner for Grade 1 piano and Grade 5 piano!!

She was very nice! She gave me two distinctions

The exam was, in a word, AMAZING!

Here are the details....

Got to the exam, went into the practice room, and girl suddenly said i have to fill out this slip of paper for the pieces i was playing - never done it before. And then when she came and got me, she took me to the exam room, and saw that Mr Brayne (examiner), was still writing, so we waited outside the door. I was quickly trying to keep my hands warm, and the girl was talking about "so do you want to go into music as a career then?" and "that Bach in the practice room sounded really good, i've played that piece before." Then she said "are you going to music college?" I went to Birmingham Conservatoire and I'd really recommend it."
and then said "he's a really nice man, but he does write a lot"
And so i went in....

To probably the nicest examiner i've met. I went in, put my book down on the stand, then forgot about the slip of paper, and gave it to him. He asked about the usual - trying out the piano beforehand, scales or pieces first etc.

Scales - really quite good - only one or two hiccups (one of which i had to start the scale again).
Pieces - actually probably THE BEST i've played them (exactly what i wanted to happen ). And after each one he said "Thank you very much" but from what i could tell of the tone of his voice, he was really pleased. I was really 'in the zone' with these, and the room was warm so my fingers worked!
Sight-reading - an absolute GIFT. It was so easy really. I could see where some people might have slipped up though. At first glance, it looked like it went quite slow (if you get what i mean) but then it said 'Vivo e ritmico' over it. But it was actually quite a nice sounding piece - some sightreading i've had has been awful.
Aural tests - he had such a smirk on his face all the way through these! Not sure whether that's good or bad But I was quick to respond (to make it at least LOOK like i knew what i was saying). The singing (bottom part of a three part piece) was not really that bad, and then singing from score was mostly moving by step so it was simple.
But then he got onto telling him which chords he was playing in a piece (i had actually no f-ing clue) and i didn't really listen to what he said, and somehow for one of the questions i said 'relative minor' when he was actually wanting what the chord was
Then I didn't realise how the last question would be structured, the one with questions about a piece he played. In previous exams, he plays the piece then asks questions about it - such as 'was it chordal or contrapuntal' (this was two years ago when i hadn't a clue what contrapuntal meant lol.)
But this time, he said before "i'm going to play you a piece now, and after i've finished, i want you to tell me what you notice about the piece....as soon as he said this, i must have had the most confused look on my face lol.
luckily, he clarified..."you could comment on things such as style, a period for the music, a composer maybe, texture, structure and anything else you notice".
So he played and i rambled on for quite a while about "well it sounded baroque, perhaps Bach..." and then he asked a few more questions, and we were done.
When I got outside, the girl who showed me in was waiting, and just said "my god, what were the last two you were playing?" and i just said "oh well, it was the Allegro from Mozart's Sonata in F and Martinu's Puppet's Dance" and she said "it was really good, i'm sure he'll be pleased".
When i got into the actual waiting area, there was an old woman (another guide/representative of the board i'm guessing) and she suggested doing Diploma! I was wondering whether this was because she heard me and thought i was good, or she just wants more people doing Diploma and getting the Board more money!

But when i went into the waiting room, there was none other but a girl from a local town who i'd seen and talked to at 2 or 3 of the universities i've visited!! Apparently doing her Grade 7 violin, I couldn't flippin' believe it lol.

So overall, I think it went really well.

Quite a long post, I know, but I was just trying to tell you EVERYTHING.

So now we wait...
(and in response to Teigr, yes he was!)

Well done! I'm so pleased the pieces went as you wanted. Fingers crossed for really good news in 2 or 3 weeks time.

All the best for Friday now!

Cool! Glad it went well. :-)

And it must be nice to be able to look forward to Friday knowing that you're going to have a really nice examiner for it. Hope it goes as well as today's did.

T.

Such supportive people

Thank you

Great read Dom tre - thanks for posting ! Had wondered how it went.

It sounds - promising ?? you sound really positive anyway.

I am!

Everything went...too well tbh, and I got a good vibe from the examiner.

Let's just hope it's a pass....

I'm really pleased for you that it went so well.

Why does it take so long for them to reply with results???

I want to know them now! I mean the examiner puts marks and stuff down while you're doing it, and he doesn't make a recording so no-one can really disagree / criticise his marks so why can i not know now??

My mind is actually thinking of the results every spare moment....

It's only a week.
A long time is more than 2 weeks.

Doesn't stop me wanting my results now

I want my results so i can concentrate more on the loads of school work i have to do!!

Concentrate on the school work and the time will fly.

I just did my Grade 7. I went really well except for the Beethoven. I really cocked it up. Even made mistakes I don't normally make in practise which was very, very frustrating. But my hands were shaking so I couldn' t be helped. Also, this was the first music exam i've done since 1996! On a plus note the other two pieces went well and the sight reading was fine, scales no problem, and aural tests went as well as they coudl I think. Glad it's over, but upset there's absoluetly no chance i'll get a distinction after that terrible Beethoven distaster! :-(

Don't be disappointed if you don't get that distinction.
I'd be over the moon to get a pass at G7, if I ever reach those lofty heights.
When struggling with G5 pieces just now, that seems unlikely


Good luck for when the result comes!


A

I did my grade 7 on the 12th, so hoping the results will come soon...