I'm taking grade 2 jazz piano (gulp)... tomorrow...anyone else?

Good luck - hope it goes as well as the grade 1!

I'm taking Clarinet Grade 3 on 9th July!!! Already panicking!

Well I'm back and doing the inevitable raking over my performance. I got really nervous and fluffed in the the opening bars of my first piece and asked the examiner if I could start again. Do you think I'll get some marks taken off for that...?

My first piece was a bit rushed as a result but I got through it. The second one was okay, if a bit shaky in the first couple of bars. The last went well - a few little slips but I felt it was a really musical performance. The examiner even had a little chuckle over what I did after the improvisation (a little snatch from 'Long Time Ago In Bethlehem' (!) over the Calyso bass leading into a development of my impro!). In a good way I think!

Scales fine, quick study okayish, aural tests all good I think.

Having set the bar high (got 137 in Grade 1) I put a lot of pressure on myself to get another distinction, but I don't think I was as polished as last time.

As I went into the exam room, the steward whispered to me 'He's really nice and really young' which was offputting in itself. It was Jonathan Taylor who is quite well known - he's a similar age to me and was lovely and friendly (which I always think is worse!)

Now I've got to try and calm myself down to the business of work.

I did my exam yesterday morning and it seemed to take all day for my nervousness to wear off and my heart to beat normally again. My examiner was really kind and tried to put me at my ease but I still felt I'd faint with terror. But it's over so now it's time to relax and learn some pieces for fun.

I know exactly what you mean!

I'm doing grade 2 jazz flute tomorrow....and grade 6 organ on 1st July.......aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!

I did my grade 2 tuned persussion exam today (for charity) woo!! So much fun! The examiner asked me if I knew what a treble clef was and asked me what the time signature of the Blue Danube was...

I'm doing Grade 4 piano on 4th July - does anyone have any tips about what to do to calm nerves? I'm terrified that my hands are going to shake.

I'm also worried about being the only adult amongst lots of teenagers!

Good luck to everyone taking exams.

I'd not done one (or even picked up an instrument) for 25 years, so it was a very nerve-wracking experience.

I was surprised to receive the results less than a week after the exam.

123 in Grade 3 flute, which I was very pleased with indeed.

My daughter also got a merit (120) in her Grade 1 flute - I was even more delighted with that!!!

Well done to you both!

Chris - I was the only adult amongst teenagers last time. This time, there was a cancellation so I got whisked straight into the practice room and then went straight into the exam. I actually felt it would have been better to stew in the waiting room for a few minutes rather than do it that way.

I get very nervous too and my hands shake. I don't really have any tips, but last time I got really nervous and fluffed in my solo. When I told my teacher she said that the examiners do take into account that nerves are more of a problem for adult players. I remember saying to her that I didn't think I'd get a distinction because I fluffed up, but she said "Oh I don't know. Sometimes they just know..." and she is always saying that little slips don't matter so much, it's whether you give a musical performance overall.

When I play in concerts, I sometimes have a sneaky glass of wine to calm my nerves, but not really an option at 9am!!

About 7-8 years ago, I had singing lessons and my teacher entered me for a local music festival. I got SO nervous, I just did appallingly. I was mortified, but picked myself back up and did another one a few months later...and won all the classes! Looking back, I think it was because the worst thing that could happen had happened. Although I felt bad for a couple of days, I realised that it wasn't the end of the world, nobody had died etc etc. So I wenr into the second festival with a completely different attitude. Since then I've gradually got more and more confident. I'm not the best singer in the world, by any stretch of the imagination, but I sing solos all the time and hardly get nervous at all. If I make a mistake I can deal with it.

So back to piano... that's why I'm pushing myself to do exams/concerts etc. I am hoping that the more I do it - even if it doesn't always go brilliantly - I'll have enough experience/confidence to get through. That's the plan, anyway!

Just got back from grade 2 jazz flute.

It was fine, apart from the fact that I didn't realise I had to take my own CD player! I did grade 1 at the end of the AB Jazz course and they had a big CD deck in the room. Having gone through the minutiae of every aspect of the exam on the course, I really thought I knew what to expect. Well, it just shows that it is worthwhile doing the occasional exam as a teacher - I'll never make that mistake with a pupil!

So what happened, could somebody lend you one? Or did you have to play the piece unaccompanied?

Yes, I'm not too sure that Jinxi's suggestion of a glass of wine would be a good idea - the exam's at 10.15, so they may think I'm an alchoholic

I am convinced they must be very used to adults with shaky fingers. When I took G6 piano last year the examiner told me at the end of my first piece to imagine I was at home and no one else was listening.

Three years ago when I took G4 after a 30 year gap I was worried about being the only adult too and I think I probably was but who cares!! Its so much harder to do as an adult.....work and home commitments, children....partners......parents.....meals......and yet you have still put the effort and time into practice and got there in the end....not to mention paying for your own lessons.

I get a little resentful of my 11 year old who has coasted to G3 with the minimum of effort and practice. Who will go days without touching the piano and yet still put on a polished performance. Yet I squeeze practice inbetween a thousand commitments (there has been many an overcooked tea due to my total absorption with one piece or another).

However, for the last 2 years her exams were on the same day as mine so everyone just thought I was a bit of an anxious parent rather than a canditate myself!!!

Good luck and congratulations on coming so far !

The examiners do sometimes give a little advice and encouragement to help you.
When I did my grade 8 piano I started with scales and was less than my best..... after the scales the examiner told me to let my hands and arms relax at my sides and then reminded me about not rushing when doing the arpeggios. It allowed me a small space to settle down.

I've just recently taken my Grade 1 Trombone to get me back back into the swing of things after a 14 year break since my last exam!
It went suprisingly well (I think) compared to how i thought it was going to ....... i'll just have to see if the results reflect that now!

I just sat my grade 3 clarinet exam - my first exam - I squeaked my way through the first pice, my second piece the timing was off, my unaccompanied piece was ok.

My scales we abysmal i messed up 3 of them - on G minor my hand was shaking so much it rocked on the A key and I got confused and it all went downhill from there.

Needless to say I will be very lucky to pass this exam!

I was so nervous - I arrived with 20mins to spare so I could use the loo, read through my music, have a good practice and relax but nope I got there - the little twerp who was before me forgot his piano accompaniement so they said as I was there early they would switch our exam times which gave his mum time to drive home and get the music.....so I was rushed in practicing, didn't get to use the loo and was rushed in befor I had a chance to breathe deeply and relax!!!

Oh well here's to two weeks or however long it takes to get the results.....

You are allowed to refuse to change your time. It's pretty hard if the rep is encouraging you to help someone else out!!!! Don't worry.... your scales are a very small part of your exam.... you may be surprised by your result! My Gr 3 candidate had a squeaky day yesterday in her exam.

Grade 7 exam tomorrow... I'm terrified!



Sorry I'm an idiot, didn't register that this was in the adult learner forum til just now!

I never know what forum I'm in anyway as I always click on "View New Posts" and just choose from the list .

Good luck for tomorrow.

But aren't you technically an adult now, Lucky?

I'm doing my G3 Clarinet exam tomorrow. My first exam for nearly 20 years - I know I can play the pieces fine and my scales and sight reading are OK, but I also know that like Katy Clarinet I'll be shaking like a leaf and won't play as well as I can.

Mixed feeling today - sort of looking forward to the exam, or perhaps just looking forward to it being over.

I think the wait for the results has to be the worst bit though, especially if it doesn't go very well.

Has any one got any tips on what to do next - Should I just play stuff and enjoy it or start planning G4?

Ooh, good point! I don't feel much like an adult... *ponders*

So, are adult learners any adults who learn, or people who began learning as adults?

I plan to pick up piano properly at some point anyway, so presumably I'll be an adult learner in both sense of the word then!

GOOD LUCK!!! What pieces are you / did you play?
Let me know how it went!
Fingers crossed
Katy
x

Thanks Katy.
I guess it all went OK - I thought the pieces were fairly good (Menuet A1, Carol B1 and Shanty C3) although the examiner seemed to have a lot to write about them afterwards - so I hope they were OK. Scales were good I think - although I may have ignored the slurred/tounged instructions due to nerves. My sight reading was awful and when I tried to do the singing part of the aural I found I couldn't 'la' anything let along in tune.

What pieces did you do?
Fingers crossed for your results too.
Sue

I did Witches Dance and then the same as you - Carol and Shanty!

I really like the pieces I did which is good but it took me ages and ages to get any sort of rhythm together on the shanty but now we walk around humming the tune all the time!

My examiner wrote a lot too - I had time to have a drink between each piece - lets hope that is a good sign!

I think I prefer Witches Dance to Menuet - but thats probably the result of playing Menuet so much . I found the tune of Menuet really stuck in my head the first time I heard it on the CD which is why I went with it and I found it was easy to hum in my head before I started which I think helped to calm me down a bit in the exam.

I just noticed your theory result - well done.

What are you planning next? Part of my wants to plough straight into G4, and part of me wants to back off exams for a bit. I haven't got a lesson until next week - by which time I'm hoping I'll have recovered from my exam and will be in a better position to plan for the future.

Well done to both Katy and Sue. I've got my Grade 3 Clarinet in the morning (my first ever clarinet exam) and am not feeling too comfortable. I haven't had time to practise much recently with work, children's concerts, end of term activities, etc - my excuses are endless! I got going again on Sunday and found I made such a terrible noise and had no stamina. Eventually this evening out of desperation I changed from a 2 1/2 reed to a 2 which I seemed to be able to cope much better with. Only problem is I only have the one reed at that size - and tomorrow is likely to be the day when I bite the reed, stand on it, ........ I'll need to get to a music shop first thing to get a back up.

I'm doing A6 - the Mendelssohn, B2 - Jazz Three and C1 - the Demnitz study. The pieces are not too bad if my lip holds up (and my nerve) - at least I can have the music in front of me! but my scales are awful. I got my daughter to ask me them this evening and got everyone wrong. It seems pretty straightforward when you are working through them in sequence, but to be asked for G minor arpeggio slurred out of the blue just throws me completely and my mind goes blank.

I dread both the sight reading and the aural - never mind it will be over soon and I'll remind myself why I go through this torture!!!

Good luck tomorrow, taxidriver. I'm sure you'll do fine

I just got my theory results for Grade 6 (Trinity)- 86% so its a distinction for me and on to Grade 7, hopefully Nov. Not bad for a 40-something mother of three who truly didn't believe she could do it!


elizabeth

I don't think Witches Dance was on the syllabus when I did G3 but it was in the book I had and it was one of the pieces I just enjoyed playing.

My examiner wrote a lot too! I haven't got the result yet to know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing!



I did G4 clarinet this session and I'm consolidating before moving on. I'm learning some of the other G4 pieces off the list, and it's encouraging to discover that I don't find them anything like as difficult as when I first looked at them when I was choosing which ones to do as exam pieces; and I'm addressing my weak spots and putting those right (hopefully!) before moving on. But it might be different for you - you might not have any weak spots and you might already be a "solid" G3 whereas I don't feel as if I'm a "solid" G4, although I feel more confident about it now that I find I can play the other pieces I've tried as well as my exam pieces. It's exciting isn't it! I wonder what your teacher will suggest!

Welcome to the forums by the way!



Hope it goes well for you - remember that the examiner is on your side and wants you to do well too! A banana or two, half an hour or an hour before the exam, is supposed to help calm nerves!



That's a great result! I'm just starting G6 and there seems to be a lot to learn so I think you've done fantastically well !

Hope it goes well for you - remember that the examiner is on your side and wants you to do well too! A banana or two, half an hour or an hour before the exam, is supposed to help calm nerves!

Thanks Skylark

It's over (and I forgot about eating a banana) My pieces went ok - a mistake in the study but at least I kept going. The scales however were awful - she first asked for F major and I forgot it!!! Took three attempts. I don't really remember what happened after that. The aural was pretty ropey too however I think the sight reading was ok - except that the second last note was a low F sharp. I hadn't a clue how to play that so just played F (I think!)


Thanks for the tip of having a drink of water between pieces - I felt that really helped to keep me calm and give me some space between pieces.

Surprisingly I was quite disappointed when it was over - I throroughly enjoyed playing my pieces to someone (if only I didn't have to do scales and aural I would be quite happy to do another exam pretty soon)

Good luck to everyone who still has their exam to come and fingers crossed for some great marks (a good pass will be fine for me)

You can do a Performance Assesment instead. I'm toying with doing the LCM G6 Piano one - I'll just have to play four pieces instead of the scales/study, aural, & viva. I wouldn't get a G6 certificate - but it would be useful to work up the grades in this way and on to a performance diploma (maybe one day). I don't know if AB does Performance Assesments.

Well done Taxi Driver - I hope your results are OK.
I agree about the scales - in practice mine are fine but when the examiner (or even my teacher) asks for one I can't even remember what letter comes after D!
If you're just worried about playing a F instead of F sharp in sight reading then you should be fine. I just couldn't get into the rythem of my piece and it was really bad.
My aural also was bad - next time I will do a bit of singing before I go into the exam as when I tried to do the echo singing my voice just wouldn't work at all.

Now just the wait for the results......

Yes. You can have 15 minutes of own choice music and the assessment comments are based on what you decide you want to get from the assessment.
It's not graded and you can use it at any level from beginners wanting another pair of ears to hear how they are doing to diploma candidates wanting to try out a section of their recital.

Is the LCM one you are talking about the Leisure play syllabus?

I didn't know if you messed it up you could take another attempt on your scales - I messed them up and just went on to the next one!!!

That's a great result! I'm just starting G6 and there seems to be a lot to learn so I think you've done fantastically well !
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Thanks, yes there is quite a bit that is new, but i think if you have someone who can guide you and explain the things that just don't click even though you read them over and over, then that is a great advantage.
Good luck!

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What are you planning next? Part of my wants to plough straight into G4, and part of me wants to back off exams for a bit. I haven't got a lesson until next week - by which time I'm hoping I'll have recovered from my exam and will be in a better position to plan for the future.
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Well I had my first lesson after my exam last week....on Sunday.

I have a new teacher. My old teacher entered me for grade 3 and then was unable to continue teaching me about 1/2 weeks later so I got a new teacher who frantically worked hard to get me up to scratch for the new exam and now I am starting 'proper' lessons with her.

Last lesson we went through a few grade 2/3 pieces which I have to practice this week. It gave me a chance to practice my sightreading but she also taught me LOADS of new things like alternative fingering better technique. I think it also gave her a chance to see what I could do as up until then she was working really hard on my aural and pieces etc.

My new teacher is awesome a real good find! She really knows her stuff and is strict but very encouraging at the same time. She really gave me a confidence boost on my aural tests as I was scared of them.

I think we will be gradually moving on to grade 4 pieces but she is working to get me up to scratch as I was more of a shaky grade 3.

I bought the ABRSM scales book the other day soin my own time I plan to start work on the grade 4 scales so when we look at them in the lesson my teacher is pleasantly suprised!

I'm a geek - I know it - but hey I love the clarinet!

It's G5 Singing this afternoon. I'm doing Trinity so I'll have my results by nightfall.

good luck!!

Thanks - it's all over now. I'll have to wait until next week for the results though as the examiner is in town a bit longer.

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Well I had my first lesson after my exam last week....on Sunday.

I have a new teacher.....

I bought the ABRSM scales book the other day soin my own time I plan to start work on the grade 4 scales so when we look at them in the lesson my teacher is pleasantly suprised!

I'm a geek - I know it - but hey I love the clarinet!


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My teacher told me he was leaving at the end of term just 4 days before my exam - So I'm going to be starting with a new teacher after the summer too. I hope my new teacher is as good as yours sounds as there don't seem to be many Clarinet techers in this area. Like you I'm also planning to start learning the G4 scales over the summer as for G3 I left it a bit late to learn them properly so I could play them when I was nervous.

Glad to hear you're a Clarinet Geek - I am too. I'm totally addicted and bore my husband silly - He's given up asking 'What are you thinking about?' everytime he sees me looking thoughtfull as the answer in invariably Clarinet related.

I had a couple of bad days after the exam when I didn't seem to be able to play anything, but have now started on a couple of pieces that seem to be going well.

I am taking G7 singing on Thursday (17th) with Trinity. I'm so scared!

G5 Singing (Trinity)

Teacher just rang - I got 68%

Well done

Well done Alicia Ocean!

I have a suspicion it may be me doing grade 5 singing in the not too distant future...

Thank you, and to Katyjay too.

I'm not a "natural" and it's an amazing success for my teacher to have got me this far (and less than 20 months after I first started). Singing is far and away the hardest thing I've done in music - I'm so used to having the pitches laid out before me (flute/keyboards). Woodwind players do have a head start on the breathing though.

Go for it Barry-clari.

Just got my result in for G2 jazz piano distinction (135) and lots of really nice comments from the examiner. Really chuffed!

Wow - Congratulations!! Jazz Piano is not easy.

Brilliant. Well done