Only 116....my teacher said the examiner was very strict with her marks!
I really think I deserve more than 17 for my scales. She said the staccato and legato have not enough difference! What does she expect? The piano was to hard and stiff.
My teacher said thats her 1st year of examining. I am so disappointed. She should have at least gave me a merit. My teacher split her students into 2 batches. The other batch had another examiner and that one was better. My teacher said I could have got a distinction under that other one.
My 1st piece she only gave 24! I did that better than my 2nd one which she gave 28.

Congratulations on passing your exam. Sorry you're disappointed with the marks. 116 is a good pass though - only a few marks away from being a merit.

but still it's a pass and many congrats too....please don't be too upset about this....i remembered i got 117 for my grade 8 piano..... the examiner was straight as well.... u can do better next time....

no offense here...what grade are you ?

I'm scared...........my results are out in a few weeks. G8 piano. I didn't think my staccatos and legatos had too much difference either. And I made soo many mistakes. Boohoo.
I'M SCARED!!!!!

Oh and congratulations on passing tzl_tzl

congrats! its not that bad!

I am in Grade 7....doing Grade 8 net year.....I swear and hope I will get distinction for my last grade.
But I still think my scales and 1st piece should have got better marks. I only made 1 mistake at the appeggios but I attempted a second time perfectly. My speed was also the speed of a Grade 8. I was expecting a 19 or 20. My first piece was the best but the examiner gave me the worst among the 3.
Well.....I hope I won't get someone that strict next year. She failed my friend and I thought he would pass.

First of all, congrats for passing grade 7. You must be utterly disappointed & mad at the examiner because of the mark is below your expectation, especially only a few marks from merit. Overall, at least you had passed. Move forward & prepare yourself for next year.

Never mind! At least you passed and made a effort! I'm taking Grade 7 tomorrow!

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~tremolololo~

good luck tremololo!

Yes good luck tremolololo, and remember to tell us all how it went!

OK I've just done my exam, and everything went OK. Scales was the best (but arppegios wasn't always that smooth!) But for the aurals, I really think I messed up (don't worry I still think I can get a merit!)

--------------------
~tremolololo~
Just done Grade 7 Piano (22nd Sept.) (done well except aurals!)

I hope you do better than me tremololo!
I thought I did quite well but sometimes the examiner plays an important part too.
By the way, what piece did you choose? I did A2(Fantasia in C), B3(Mazurka) and C1.

Dear tzl_tzl,
You think 116 is bad???? I got 101 for my Grade 6!! I felt terrible about it! It would have been brilliant to know I was a bit safer on the pass side of things but no-one is ever going to ask me what my exact mark was and the main thing was that I passed. So don't worry about it!! I got 116 for Grade 5 piano - it's not that bad!! Well over the pass mark!!

Tremololo: I really, really, really, really, really messed up my aurals in grade 7 piano. I had to ask the examiner to play Test A a third time because I really couldn't remember it and then sang it totally wrong. I only lost a couple of marks, and still got a merit, so I'm sure you can!

i got 107 for my grade 6 violin, there is nothing wrong with a pass!

QUOTE (cecilia @ Sep 22 2004, 06:17 PM)

Tremololo: I really, really, really, really, really messed up my aurals in grade 7 piano. I had to ask the examiner to play Test A a third time because I really couldn't remember it and then sang it totally wrong. I only lost a couple of marks, and still got a merit, so I'm sure you can!

i messed up my grade 7 aurals too! the bit where you have to sing the note after they play it (at least i think it was grade 7), and if you didnt quite get it they would play it after again for u, well on the second note i didnt think i got it, but i must have because the examiner played the next note, but i thought she was still on the second and it didnt sound quite right so i was concentrating on getting the second note, and every not the examiner played i persistently stuck to my second note, until eventually he said "we've moved on to a different note now". i was really confused at the time. anyway i passed! and ive got grade 8 aurals to do now in november, but im having singing lessons

i dont think what ive written makes much sense, but it was meant to.

I KNEW that I got Test A wrong. I didn't hear the lower part! The examiner said 'It wasn't quite right. Listen to it again' or something like that. When I sung it again, it was even more wrong! Test B was better and all was right except one of my notes near the end was slightly out of tune. The exainer asked me to try again. Test C I think I got part (i) right but I hesitated in part (ii) of it. It was interrupted and I guessed it was V-VI. Part (iii) I'm not too sure but I think it's right. For part D, he asked only about the period the piece was in. I guessed Late Renissance but I forgot all the composers in that period! Clapping the rhythm wasn't entirely correct, either.

I think I got a merit, if it wasn't for the aurals (I won't be surprised if I got 10 for it.), I might have got a distinction!

--------------------
~tremolololo~
Just done Grade 7 Piano (22nd Sept.) (done well except aurals!)

Look tremolololo, it sounds like you've done fine, you're just picking on tiny details- you certainly didn't mess up as badly as me and I got 14 in aurals in the end... So even if you don't get your distinction (which you might still), I'm sure you've done very well!

i agree with cecilia - it's all over now, and there's no point in worrying about it any more! just forget about it - you'll probably be pleasantly surprised!
good luck!

same piano though the second batch did better.!!!!!!!

QUOTE (cecilia @ Sep 24 2004, 01:35 AM)

Look tremolololo, it sounds like you've done fine, you're just picking on tiny details- you certainly didn't mess up as badly as me and I got 14 in aurals in the end...  So even if you don't get your distinction (which you might still), I'm sure you've done very well! Â

[re-reads my last post]

Okay, looking back at what I did in the exam, I just realised some parts were good. Still there were quite a lot of errors but maybe I could have passed aural because it was partly okay!

--------------------
~tremolololo~
Just done Grade 7 Piano (22nd Sept.) (done well except aurals!)

Exactly- the further away from the exam you're getting, the more you're seeing how well you did- unlike me, who became more and more depressed until results day when I was suddenly delighted and forgot to be disappointed that I didn't get my distinction!

QUOTE (tzl_tzl @ Sep 22 2004, 07:45 PM)

I hope you do better than me tremololo! I thought I did quite well but sometimes the examiner plays an important part too. By the way, what piece did you choose? I did A2(Fantasia in C), B3(Mazurka) and C1.

I chose A2, B1 (Etude in A) and C3. (Allegretto)

--------------------
~tremolololo~
Just done Grade 7 Piano (22nd Sept.) (done well except aurals!)

I chose A3 (Moderato) (and yes the examiner listened to all 6 pages!), B5 (Berceuse, in the pink keyboard anthology book) and C1 (Elegiac Blues). And the marks, from worst to best, were in that order!

well... at least u passed... u shd b happy with it...

got a fren who took grade 8 six times... and failed! the worst thing is the last 3 times she took she got 90+... just a few more marks to passing! so she have to take again next year... 7th time..

you should be grateful.... work hard for the next level....

QUOTE (phoebe @ Oct 12 2004, 04:58 PM)

got a fren who took grade 8 six times... and failed! the worst thing is the last 3 times she took she got 90+...  just a few more marks to passing! so she have to take again next year... 7th time..

I don't mean to sound judgemental but why, if this person has failed grade 8 six times, does she just keep taking it again and again? Surely if she's failed she should address the weaknesses and go back work on the aspects of technique which are lacking. If she takes it lots of times she's bound to pass just out of the sheer luck of a good day eventually (plus the fact that she'll have exhausted all of the aural questions and played all of the sight-reading several times before!) but she won't really be any better. If she's been working at grade 8 for long enough to take it six times and still fail she's clearly not grade 8 standard (unless she's been struck down by some terrible illness every time she's taken the exam!). Why not go back to basics (well as basic as is needed) and learn what is lacking? Then she will have achieved something.

General comment (not indended to be specifically about this person): It seems to be a common attitude now that when people fail an exam that, instead of working on their weaknesses to pass it, they blame the system for their failure and then re enter straight away. It's almost as if we believe no one ever fails because they weren't good enough to take the exam yet any more...

yar... that's quite true... my fren who failed 6 times..she keep blaming the fact that she had met 'bad' examiners who are too strict and do not want to pass her... she says that she practices very hard and she had 'good' teachers... but I think she's just practicing very hard to reinforce her mistakes...
I had told her to put in more effort to correct her mistakes and pull up her aural grades (coz she passed nearly all sections except aural), but apparently my advise fell on deaf ears as she is so sure that she failed because of bad examiners...

well... so now i can just hope that she can pass next year... by luck... or else she'll have to take d exam again n again n again.... n d pieces will keep changing...

QUOTE

I really think I deserve more than 17 for my scales. She said the staccato and legato have not enough difference! What does she expect? The piano was too hard and stiff.

Hi
When I was doing piano grades, I dreaded facing the wonderful pianos in the exam - because the worn out old upright I practised on was just about the worst piano I've EVER played - but it was all we had and could afford (is that a violin playing in the background I hear!?). So I only knew 'loose' light keys, and in the exam I'd meet a new mahogany beauty, sometimes a grand piano even, each key perfectly balanced and stiffish, incredible tone, totally different from what I was used to.
I quickly realised that I can't just sit at this new piano in the exam and start off playing. So I then always asked the examiner 'Do you mind if I just take a few moments to get used to this piano?' They always said 'go ahead'! So I just played a few straight chords up and down (usually Cmajor, come on I'm not stupid!), then a few half-scales, some 'black-notes' (oops, non-white notes, being PC). Then I'd turn around and say 'thank you, I'm ready now'!

Lets face it - pianists can be at a disadvantage as they don't bring the instrument they always practise on to the exam. Can you imagine a violinist being handed an instrument in an exam and told 'here play this and start straight away on piece A' !!! It sounds so ridiculous, yet us pianists are expected to walk up to any piano and get straight into what might be a very challenging piece.
Every piano is different, they each have a character all their own. I love trying out different pianos and 'get to know them' (hey I'd ask one out if I could!).

Under pressure, it's very easy to rush into playing an instrument you don't even know...
So my advice is - next time in a piano exam - try the instrument out first! And it helped me in one other way - it calmed the nerves, as I knew I wasn't been marked on it, and once you get playing, you feel a lot better, hands stop shaking etc....

QUOTE (indy_epx @ Oct 13 2004, 11:26 AM)

Every piano is different, they each have a character all their own.

me too...i love trying out new pianos.... plus...they are like organs..each have a different character....

I always get pianos in my exams that are about as least like the ones I normally practise on as you can get... not good for confidence but there you go, it's called LIFE isn't it?!

Hi tzl tzl

When I read the header for your post (very bad indeed) I assumed you'd got about 80 marks! 116 is a really good pass and you deserve congratulations on that.

Examiners don't always hear things the way teachers do and sometimes I've been disappointed for my students too. As a teacher I think that's because examiners only hear "on the day" what you can do - a snapshot view in a short space of time. When I listen to my students I know all the history (problems and good bits), that have gone into the performance and I think that affects my judgement sometimes.

If you had a new examiner you were actually probably getting someone who was really up-to-speed on ABRSM marking so she marked what she thought she heard. Because examiners play the Piano to do the Aural tests, I guess they get to know what the Piano can and cannot do.

I always tell my students to try the Piano before they play for real - that's good advice others have given you too.

So, overall, try not to be too disappointed. At the end of the day, you've passed your exam and there's MUCH more to being a musician than taking music exams. Enjoy playing, enjoy learning new pieces and then, when you are ready, crack on to the next grade. Hope that goes really well for you.

Congragulations and good luck everbody!!