I've written my programme notes and done a little bit of research for the viva. I don't think I'm that prepared in terms of the playing side...oops...!

I'm waiting till my A-levels end to start properly working for my lrsm....

My programme notes are only half-written, but my pieces are just about there! (Although none are reliably memorised as I had hoped).
I'm really looking forward to learning playing some new and different music, am really sick to the death of the same pieces again and again (and probably, so are my neighbours).
Are you getting some chances to perform your diploma pieces in public before the exam, Scaramouche?

Jo

My playing is just about there -but am havinga a maddening time with one of the pieces.

If any of you know Lutoslawski's dance preludes for clarinet, then advice welcome....

Although my accompanist and I can play our parts separately very well, they are written in different time signatures and when we come together to rehearse we cannot put the 3rd movement together properly and stumble every time.

It is driving us insane.

My advice - avoid them .

My programme notes are pretty much done, playing is quite amusing, research for viva not going great either. Roll on the re-takes!

I won't be playing the pieces in public beforehand no, are you?

I am playing them for a small group of friends on Friday evening, (performance-lite), they are all amateur musicians though so the feedback should be very helpful.

The idea is to gently break me in to performance before an audience. I hadn't realised before the last attempt that I suffered from almost crippling performance nerves and don't want this to happen again.

vulpus_rex, I will be thinking of you and willing you on! It was so helpful to share our experiences last session. I'm sure you'll pass this time.

I played two of my pieces at a Festival yestarday, and the other one is tomorrow. I only got Commended and am tempted to prepare for failure, but there's still two weeks to go and now I know which bits "come apart" in performance, I can go back to slow practise. It's about a two hour journey; walk, bus, train, walk, and I have questioned the point of traveling all that way to play the piano for about 4 minutes when I could be practising. However, my hands will get strained if I practise all day, I can read on the train and at least I get to discover which bits will go wrong in this one. Joy!

Nat, have you found this URL Southis might help you with your Viva research for your Amy Quate.

Thanks - I think I am much better prepared for it and the rehearsal this time has been specifically geared towards addressing the examiners' comments from the last attempt, so fingers crossed!

Anyone wishing to send out positive, affirming thoughts should do so at about 9:45 on Tuesday 15th July and direct them towards the Belsize Park area of London where they will most gratfully be received!

Thanks for the link jod, but given they don't allow 2 hours for the viva I am not entirely sure how all that information needs to be in my head. Perhaps I am missing something...

This will be my first exam since the early 1990s (a fifteen year gap since Grade 8!), so I can't remember what usually happens - approximately how long will it be before we know the results?

They've said they aim to post the results in the week starting 8th Sep.

Which exam are you taking?

I'm taking the Dip ABRSM (performance) on piano. Oh dear I didn't realise you have to wait so long for results - I was hoping to use the qualification on my applications for some jobs. Thanks for the info!

Is anyone else a little...worried...or is it just me?

I'm going to be sooo fat! I keep wanting to eat. Yes I'm a bit...worried, especialy as there's a few bits of one piece that just fall apart if I play up to speed. And I haven't got a clue what to wear.

I'm so looking foward to sitting in front of the tv in the evening once it's over. And sitting out in the sun during the day too.

I'm beginning to freak out too...
I've finally finished my first draft of programme notes. My pieces are all pretty good, but some of them have passages that aren't clean enough yet. My sight-reading has always been pretty good, so I'm just sightreading something each practice and hoping for the best. And, as for the viva, goodness knows! I'm reading books on the cello etc, so....

Gah!!

I'm so looking forward to an exam-free time....

Wench is freaking out slightly! Piano Dip is TOMORROW and I suffer very badly from performance nerves. I love singing but there's something about the piano (even though it used to be my first instrument) that sends me into an absolute panic. I'm playing on a fabulous concert steinway but won't allow me to the glissandos the way I've practiced! Why am I doing this to myself??


arrg . help.

Good luck for tomorrow, Jazzywench! Have you played on the piano you're playing on already? If so - that must be a confidence booster?

Has anyone else had a nightmare about the exam?

I can't stop thinking about the 50% pass rate for diplomas, and the 50% of diploma candidates who are obviously self-deluded enough to think they're capable of passing it. Lots of self-doubt - am I one of these deluded people or not! Playing the piano is the only thing I consider myself good at so it is going to be a huge blow to the old ego if I fail this

I am excreting myself muchly! Had a lesson today, programme notes are fine, I can't play the pieces that well, I've not done any quick study practice, and as for the viva...

All is good LOL.

I know how you feel...

Am I dreaming, or did I read somewhere that you're guaranteed to be playing on a grand piano?

I think there are a few reasons for the high failure rate. The diploma exams are still relatively new, so there are a high number of candidates who aren't aware of the actual standard required - just look around the diploma board and see the number of people who view DipABRSM as the next step after Grade VIII. Whilst it might be the next step, there's a huge gap between the two.

I suspect that the requirement to pass all sections also inflates the failure rate. At my first attempt, my total mark was above the pass mark, but I failed the viva, so I failed the exam (but was nevertheless relieved to have passed all the playing bits). I wonder if the pass mark for Grade exams would be quite as high if candidates were required to pass all sections.

Well I'm back! Had to have a sleep when I came home because I was so tired after (woke up at 5 this morning!)

I opted to do the quick study first and that way I had five minutes to get re-aquainted with the piano (had played it earlier this week thanks to a piano teacher in the know). The piece was pretty nice, a few modulations but no real tempo or metric changes, quite nice to play although I did make up a few of the notes

The recital had some interesting splashes but then some bits went better than normal so swings and roundabouts I guess. No real breakdowns or loss of flow, so that was promising compared to earlier in the week!Glissandos went a LOT better than in rehearsal- it was lucky I had tried the piano and knew it required a different technique

Was a bit annoyed in the viva, I hadn't researched enough about compositional output context, I had studied more biographical and analytical, so make sure you know other compositions for that time and other works for that instrument! I was very hazy!

All in all I was satisfied how it went, as piano is my second study and I hate performing on it, I'll be delighted with a scraped pass!
Just waiting til September!

Relieved Wench (who now needs to do all her neglected housework! )

Well done, jazzywench!

(You not at the inaugural KSONI Summer School????!)

Well done! Now lie back and enjoy the summer. The diploma is to be forgotten about for the time being, and that's an order...

excellent...just enjoy the sunshine in your garden with a nice cup of tea (or anything you fancy)

Good for you, I can't wait to join you out in the sun!

Had a rehearsal with the amazing accompanist this afternoon and got my old teacher to record it, so now I have recordings of the pieces and the bits that went wrong so I can listen to them and know what to work on.

Sounds good, Scaramouche. I'm glad you like the accompanist - have you timed your programme with him?

My son is working on his programme notes, but finding it hard to get back to the grindstone after A-levels - good job there's another 10 days before the exam! The pieces sound fine but he has a couple more rehearsals with the accompanist coming up and needs to play right through to check the timings and see how long a break he can have. The Schumann is 10 minutes solid playing (should have no break between the movements), so he's hoping to take at least three minutes after that.

I think the programme notes/viva part is the one he's least prepared for, though he's doing a lot of reading for the viva at the moment. He's done some Quick Studies with his teacher and that seems OK now.

all i can say is work hard and good luck to all diploma-takers, you'll be fine by the end.

When they say a practice room will be available for a 'short period' before the exam, about how long can this be? I’m travelling 121 miles to Manchester so 5 minutes warm-up time won't be enough!

I contacted the RNCM and all they said was that I have to pay £35 to hire a practice room for an hour which didn't really answer my question.

have you considered asking the head of keyboard at rncm to see what you can do? the students are off on holiday so there should be plenty of practice rooms available without charge.

Good idea! Although, if push comes to shove I'll just have to pay £35. It all depends on how long a 'short period' is.

At mine last week I arrived half an hour before my time and there was no problem getting me a practice room. As the dips last an hour I wonder is that how long you could get?

If your centre's anything like the one I had for my Dip at Christmas, the practice room will be free from just after the candiate prior to you goes into the exam.....

I had the same experience and mine was in Manchester....

I'm having another run through next week and will double check timings then. I think I should be ok, I just need to practise an awful lot more...

Listening back to the CD recording...not very good at all, and glaring mistakes so lots of work to be done in the next week...

Good idea to get a recording - scary though! At least it's obvious then which sections to work on. A week should be plenty for sorting things out.

I've decided to take time off work so I can drive my son to the Oxford centre; he can drive, but I'm worried about the parking, and if I take him I can just drop him off and then look for a place to park. Which day is your exam? We have the Thursday (17th) at 10am, which I'm assuming is the first session.

I think mine is 9.15 at the same centre (though more like , really...)
Yes, I hate listening to recordings of myself, though I know it's useful really. There are always glaring mistakes. And the mistakes stand out worse if the rest is okay!

That's why I was asking before about whether you are given the result on the day, or as a result of listening to recordings (still not sure about this). If the examiners give you your result from listening to a live performance, I'm much happier - you can pull things off in live performance that you can't on record.

Thanks for responding. Surely then, if I was to turn up just over an hour before my exam, they couldn't deny me access to a practice room because there would most definitely be one available...



I totally agree with this. Recordings are never flattering. A live performance has lots of elements that recordings lack, as well.

One more question (sorry, I have a lot to ask all the time): I take it that I absolutely can't give examiners photocopies?

not unless there is has been written permission granted from the publisher of the score. Buy or borrow are your main options (v annoying to get second copy for no other reason but it had to be done as no one else had my piece!). Libraries often have scores but check the edition, the examiners do prefer you to have the same edition but sometimes it can't be helped.

How about if I used photocopies and gave the examiners the books?!

How strange - is that the same day? I thought the shortest dip exam was an hour, so would have expected yours to be at 9am. Our notification definitely says 10am though. Maybe we shall be "on" second rather than first then.

9.15 is quite early, isn't it? I hope you don't mind and can get there easily. My son is pleased it's in the morning, as he's practised from 7am for years so it will feel normal to him even though it's an unusual time for a concert. Very best of luck to you; I hope they ask some nice questions in the viva.

No - on the Saturday. Last day (phew!). And it lasts longer than an hour - 1h15 or 1h30 or something. (LR).
I hope they ask nice questions, too!
How's your son getting on?

Ah, that explains things. I did think after I'd posted that some people will be just doing part of a diploma, as with the overall failure rate so high there must be various candidates doing e.g. just the viva section or just the quick study, so perhaps that's why our time is 10am.

Sorry to see your Noooooo thread - hope that works out OK for you. I think you're very brave to do LRSM at such a young age. How have you found doing the programme notes?

BerkshireSon feels he's OK with the recital and the QS, but is still refining the programme notes and preparing for the viva, which is not something he's done before for music, so is a bit scary.

He has a timing run through with the accompanist on Thursday and is hoping to find out exactly how long a break he can allow himself in the middle of his programme. Last time he timed it (33 mins), he thought 4 minutes maximum, but one or two movements have changed tempo slightly since then, so he's hoping for nearer the full 5 minutes. I know he's allowed 38.5, but things can change a bit on the day, so he doesn't want to plan to go past 37 minutes.

Best of luck to you and I hope your thumb heals quickly.

Brave - or stupid?! I'm beginning to wonder...
The programme notes were more scary to contemplate writing than actually to write! But I've found with both diplomas I've taken so far that my main problem has been that I don't know what standard is expected, and it's the same here. I know I need to write good/informative/analytical etc programme notes - I just don't know what standard they are really meant to be!


The viva is terrifying! I sympathise! Just tell him to keep calm - and it's not the end of the world if he can't answer a question either, they chuck all sorts at you.
Good luck with the run-through! I envy those with time for a rest-break - last time I timed my programme, it came to 43'30" (it's meant to be 40 plus or minus 10%), so I'm only allowing myself page-turning breaks...

Thanks for the luck - same to your son.
And I also hope my thumb heals

But presumably, having done one diploma and got the marks back, you would have some idea of how you'd done? I know they don't mark the programme notes separately from the viva, but if you got say 60%, your programme notes must have been OK, whereas if you got 41%, perhaps they weren't quite good enough?

I imagine the LRSM is a big step up, because it's two levels up from DipABRSM in the National Standards table. Haven't looked at the requirements for it, but I know the programme notes are longer and written for a more knowledgeable audience, and presumably your musical knowledge has to be correspondingly greater.

Are you doing Music at uni next or going to a conservatoire?

Yes, well I managed to only drop 2 marks on the viva/programme notes last time, so I must have done something right! But that doesn't mean I can replicate the feat.. It was a couple of years ago now, so I'm hoping my knowledge has increased the requisite amount...

In fact, like your son, I've picked neither of the above! Grades permitting, I'll be another Oxbridge entrant, but to read Classics.

It's a week today...hardly have time to practice, haven't done any quick study exercises, and haven't a clue about the viva...

I think it's safe to say we have a fail over here!