I think my last exam was in 1994 for grade 4 tenor sax. Well honestly it was grade 5 but I chickened out at the last minute. But this time its different. I really love music and I want to know everything about it. So I've planned to do all my theory grades. I could go in at grade 5, but I'm going to start on grade 3. I have a feeling I already did grade 3, because as a teenager I was planning to jump to grade 5 so I could go on to grade 6 saxophone. But now I really want to do ALL the theory grades, from 3 to 8. Are there many people who go beyond grade 5 theory?

I am also planning to start my grades in piano, since I bought a piano a couple of years back and I love it, so at the minute I'm looking for a piano teacher ready to start in the new year and I can't wait. But I am petrified. The last exam I did I bailed. I can't bail now...

As an add on I've also planned to do grades 1-5 in Jazz piano. Boy am I mad.
(Secretly too, I've also collected the recommended reading lists for diplomas, its part of my amazon wish list)

Ambition is a fine thing but it is not bad either to take pleasure from where you're at at the moment. You obviously love music. That's the main thing. It is no great shame to have chickened out of exams in the past. Exams can be but aren't always scary things. So you didn't feel ready for them then. Fine. If you want to give yourself the best possible chance in the future find yourself some good teachers who can pace you well and match your technical facility to your pleasure and pride in playing. Look around to see if there's an ensemble you could join. That way you may make new friends and improve your playing at the same time. See if you could come along to one of the Forum events. These are organised by Forum regulars and they attract people at all different stages of playing. The camaraderie could help you stick at the challenge you have set yourself and have some fun along the way. Certificates are nice but only if you still love playing once the certificate envelope has dropped through the door.

Have fun learning. There are loads of us on here who have had long, and sometimes very long, breaks in learning. I had a break of about 15 years!!!!!!!

But, I'm loving it all now

One word of warning, don't let the obsession of passing all those exams dampen your enthusiasm or enjoyment. We all get excited about passing this or that and a sense of achievement, but the novelty of continuous exam study can wear off in a surprisingly short space of time.

The main priority, enjoy your music making and you will still feel a huge sense of achievemnt. Exam success will then be made more palatable via the enjoyment of learning.

It is a lot of exams and I'm trying not to think of it that way - just trying to keep it in my head that its a progression of learning - the exams just being a mark of how much I have done so far. (I hope!). But really, I dropped out of music, I dropped out of school and I dropped out of college, I've had a family now and they are going to both be at school next year and I am thinking about the future. Its defo something I want to achieve - the nerves are going to be the biggest hurdle (and the aural tests).