I got the result of my G4 clarinet today...

I passed but only just and I'm finding it hard to believe...

Am I really that bad... I didn't think I was... I got 127 for G3 and I don't even want to say what I got this time for G4.

I just can't believe it... I thought my first two pieces went well but obviously the examiner didn't...


I could do with a hug....

Try to find something positive in the examiner's comments - we've all had results like that...

W

Right skylark, read the quote I'm going to leave below, in bright orange...

You have passed grade 4. You have been successful.

When you've read that several times, go through with your teacher what you need to work on, and look forwards. Sometimes, we get results we feel are a little disappointing. I know I have. But now, it's onwards and upwards.

Well done on your grade 4 , now look forward to the future!

A pass is a pass is a pass - congratulations on getting it!

I never got anything more than a pass in my clarinet exams - I scraped grades 4 and 5 with something like 105, and got pretty close to a merit at grade 6 with 118 (appalling aural result let me down on that one).

I can understand that your first reaction would be disappointment, sometimes though I think we learn more when we don't do as well as we were expecting. It forces you to analyse what went wrong (or not even wrong in this case, just not quite as good as you'd hoped) and what can be done to correct it and ultimately may even lead to better results in the long term. Remember its all about the journey, and sometimes we have to go through the grotty places to get to the nice ones.

Congratulations

Well done to you skylark!

But here's a hug anyway...

Skylark, I know it seems disappointing now but think about how far you must have come in the last year or so to get to this point - well done you! *hugs*

Personally, I scraped through my first 5 grades, failed grade 6 and only then started getting distinctions from my second grade 6 onwards, and I now rule at playing the piano - so I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it...

Ditto Barri-Clari's bright red writing. Crikey gal......YOU PASSED......................................

Well done for passing your grade 4 Skylark.
Onwards and upwards
Love Bev. xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sorry to hear of your disappointment, Skylark. I think it's important to remember that it's just one person's opinion on one day, and I'm sure even examiners have off days when everything sounds below par to them.

Pick yourself up again, be proud of your progress, and move on. Trust your teacher - (s)he hears you week by week and is a much better judge of your overall ability than someone who heard you once on one occasion in an unfamiliar acoustic.

Congratulations on passing grade 4!

Well done! I got 101 for my Grade 3 piano, and am just hoping that I'll pass Grade 4. The exam went badly!

Well done Skylark,you passed, that is a great achievement, I am sure that as you go up the grades tha they expect a lot more from you.

I'm sending you a hug.

ET

Congratulations you passed! Well done.

Congratulations - when you get your grade 8 you will stop thinking about a difference of a few marks on all the grades on the way.
Good luck with the future work and exams

Congratulations on your pass, Skylark. I too have had disappointments, and indeed failures - the first time I took grade 6 piano as a teenager I got 85 - can you believe that! I passed the next time. I have never, ever got a distinction for a practical exam, and have only in recent years got merits due to a more focussed approach and very good teachers. Do as others have suggested and study the comments carefully so that you know what needs to be worked on. Don't forget that each time the grade goes up the goalposts move, so you need to improve considerably to maintain the level that you got last time. Now enjoy making lots of music before you think about grade 5.

Well done Skylark ..... you have passed..... and that's an achievement. I've had pupils get distinction in one grade and a pass in the next... it happens. Maybe the examiner had an off day...who knows? Don't let a snap judgement of one person on one day get you down, or stop you enjoying and pursuing your interest in music!
Listen to Barri-Clari..... he's always wise!!!!!!

(I think there is a big jump between grade 3 and 4 clarinet by the way!!!!!)



You've done well, passing a hard exam. Be encouraged....

Congrats Skylark, you've passed. Don't worry too much. Remember that everything is subject to interpretation i.e. in this case the examiner's interpretation of what he heard. I know this is not fair but you did your best and passed the exam. That's what counts! If you're not satisfied with it, use it as a challenge for your G5 exam and work even harder!! You'll get your rewards, don't worry too much.

Well done for passing.
As others have said I'd see what advice you can pick up from the mark sheet and also discuss it with your teacher so that you can start after the summer break with a plan for consolidating and moving on.

But still, despite the disappointment, you passed! So congratulations

Don't worry about it too much. This is in no way an indication of how you'd do going forward. I barely passed G4 piano, but then went on to get distinctions at both G5 and G8 - with higher marks at G8 as well (skipped G6-7); so, your lower marks for G4 compared to G3 doesn't mean it's down hill from here, you know. As others have mentioned, discuss it with your teacher. The mark sheet may be revealing and it will help you improve further.

Congratulations on your Grade 4 - well done!
Think of all you have had to learn and become good at over the time since your last exam - that is real progress, the marks from one snapshot of your playing won't matter to you in the end. And anyway, as someone else has said there is quite a gap between Grades 3 and 4.
Have a nice glass of red and be pleased!
N

Thank you everybody for your encouragement. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for having got “only” a pass, but it’s hard when you want so badly to be really good at something and you have to acknowledge that you’re not as good as you want to be, especially when you know how much work you’ve put into it

The Scales, Study and Aural were all within one mark of my estimate and the Sightreading was within two marks of my estimate, so although I’m disappointed particularly with the comments on my scales, the marks haven’t been a surprise. It’s the accompanied pieces which have been marked a *lot* lower than I expected. I felt they went quite well, so when I saw the marks I was very confused because they were only one and two marks higher respectively than the Study which I knew I’d fluffed in places. The comments for the accompanied pieces are mostly to do with tone and control, such as...

- Tone needed greater purity of focus
- The first important note lacked focus
- Tone needed more subtlety and intonation was approximate in places
- Needed more legato control at the opening
- The legato lines unfolded [I’m not even sure whether that’s a good or a bad comment]

I know my tone isn’t very good but I didn’t expect it to be marked so harshly at Grade 4. I’ve never been clear as to how to improve my tone and my teacher has never demonstrated. I’ve only ever heard my teacher play the clarinet once, and that was three years ago when we had an informal lesson at the end of term, when I was pre Grade 1. So I don’t even really know what a good tone should sound like, let alone how to achieve it.

Shortly after my exam I changed teacher and in the first lesson with my new teacher, she demonstrated some things on her own clarinet and gave me some specific advice as to what to do about my tone which I’ve not been given before. So although it’s early days, I think she will prove to be a better teacher, and in other ways too, not just on tone production.

It was hard getting the result and even harder reading the mark sheet because it’s nearly all negative. So I really appreciate all the encouragement and advice you’ve given here. It’s been a blow, but not an insurmountable one, and now that I’ve hopefully got a better teacher, I might be able to make some headway. And I'll try and view the examiner's comments as doing me a favour in clarifying where I need to improve. Thanks again everybody.

No problem, big hug coming your way............ HUG!!

You passed it hurray! I passed my grade 4 clarinet with a 'pass', didn't stop me getting a merit on my grade 5.

It could have just been the examiner had a bad day. You passed. Be happy

If you really mean that you have not heard your teacher play in three years I think you should be extra proud of yourself for passing. I am not a teacher but I do feel that a student needs something to imitate and aim for! I have learnt so much from listening and watching that I could never have picked up any other way. Part of that is the feeling that 'if they can make that sound it must be possible, so I can do it too...'
I hope things go really well with your new teacher.
N

You passed!

Congratulations!



Ditto what Barry and others have said.

Now go out and celebrate!

Congratulations on passing, Skylark.

I don't entirely understand what the examiner's comments all mean, especially the last one - I'm sure they mean more to other clarinetists - but it does seem a particularly negative set, bearing in mind that you did pass!

It's done now, and of course you won't be able to forget about it completely, but you've obviously made a positive move changing teachers and so the very best of luck for the next step.

I don't think that a teacher necessarily has to do much in the way of demonstration though it will be more useful to some students than to others. Knowing what will improve tone and how to explain it as well as come up with exercises and repertoire that will best develop the sound you make is essential though.
My clarinet teacher doesn't demonstrate much but everything I do is aimed at making the sound that comes out of the end of my clarinet the best possible sound ALL the time. Fortunately this has been so with all the teaching I've had on clarinet. I'm some way off that yet but am still novice enough to notice improvement.

Good luck with your new teacher. It sounds as though you'll be getting more help in this area now.

Well done for passing!

Don't be too hard on yourself (easy for me to say I know!)

Enjoy your playing

Congratulations Skylark. Your teacher, assuming they're experienced and competent, will have a much better idea of your ability than the examiner. Examiners are human and maybe their marking was off par on the day. Trust your teacher's opinion more.

Well done again.

Oh god Skylark I'm really sorry. This is the sort of time you really want a recording of the exam so it can be reassessed by someone else. If universities can do this with their assessed recitals which go towards degree marks, why can't the AB?

Is this worth a complaint to the Board perhaps? If you really feel the pieces went well? Perhaps you should talk to the accompanist and see what they said about your performance? If he/she thought you were fine then perhaps you really should take it up with the board...

Big hug for you.

Thank you for the hugs and the support everybody, it really does help.

Violinia, I really appreciate your thought. I don't know if you saw the further post I made above about it being mainly the accompanied pieces which let me down, and it was a shock because I did think I'd played them nicely. My accompanist was my then teacher, and at the time I got the impression he thought the pieces had gone well too.

If I had failed, then maybe I would have wanted to query it, but as it is, I've since reflected on what the examiner has said, and although I still think it's been a harsh judgement, I'm going to use it as a wake-up call. It's possible that I was using Grade 3 criteria to judge my performance, and as others have said, there's a big jump between Grade 3 and Grade 4.

Having changed teacher shortly after the exam, I can't discuss the result with him, but I feel sure he would say something along the lines of "well I've kept telling you to improve your tone" Well now I've got a teacher who I think will give me more specific advice on exactly *how* to improve it, which is what I was missing before.

It's a *HUGE* comfort to know that others have even failed some early grades and then gone on to do fantastically well at later grades so particular thanks to all those who have posted those experiences.

Exactly. Well done skylark.

Yes - many congratulations Skyers - onwards and upwards !
x

Thanks guys, and yes I'm trying to convince myself to be more positive about it.

I have to say though that the whole tone of my mark sheet gives out the message that a "pass" is not a good result.

I know from the marking criteria in "These Music Exams" that the examiner should "use the principle of marking from the required pass mark negatively or positively, rather than awarding marks by deduction from the maximum or addition from zero". But virtually all the comments are about where I've fallen short of a higher mark rather than giving credit for having reached a pass mark.

In my A piece, for example, I played one wrong note I know, which the examiner picked up on, but gave me no credit for prompt recovery, which is what is listed in the "pass" criteria. In my B piece, I know I made no note slips (and I'm sure the examiner would have mentioned if I had), but no credit has been given for secure notes or rhythm, or tempo, or preparation, or any of the factors which constitute a pass. Virtually all the comments for the A and B pieces are about why I fell short of the merit criteria - subtlety of tone, dynamics, phrasing.

If the ABRSM want to give out the message that a pass is a good result, then what the examiner could have done is pick out what I'd got right **in terms of a pass mark**, and then used the Comments box at the bottom to encourage me to get a higher mark by greater attention to tone, dynamics, phrasing etc.

I'm sorry to go on about it, and as I've said, I will use the examiner's comments as a "wake-up call", and it has helped that you've all been so encouraging on here even if the mark sheet wasn't.

I know what you mean - I just got my G5 Piano results and the comments are desperate - even sarcastic sometimes and at one point simply untrue (he said I'd made pitch errors in one piece and I know I did not). Oh I did pass - I got 72% - only another three percent and I'd have got a merit. But the tone of the comments were that I'd wasted his time.

But that's just one grumpy man's take on one performance. I'm very pleased. His comments didn't take into account that I've never had a piano lesson, only very rarely played on an acoustic piano, and was completely thrown by the music stand being six inches higher then I'm used to (it was a grand piano). It doesn't encourage me to go on though.

I'm pleased to hear you have changed teacher, as for whatever reason it does sound as if your previous teacher wasn't helping you to improve your tone. Put all this behind you and let your new teacher help you get to the next level in style - bet you do much better at grade 5!

Who knows how many people give up because of the sort of mark sheet you had Alicia Ocean, or even mine, even though it wasn't unpleasantly written? Particularly for someone who let's say doesn't have a teacher or a supportive teacher, and doesn't get support from this forum, and doesn't have a supportive family, then discouraging comments on the mark sheet could just be the final straw. I've looked at the mark sheet I got for Grade 2 when I "only" got a pass (and a better pass, even though I know I played far worse because I remember it well ), and the comments were balanced and restrained - there was no sense that the examiner had to get everything off his chest as to why my performance didn't deserve better marks, which is what he seems to have done this time.

Good on you Alicia Ocean for getting a good pass mark in spite of the circumstances

And thanks BerkshireMum, I'll do my best! At least my new teacher might get satisfaction from knowing that she can make a difference instead of thinking that she's got a lot to live up to!



PS. I love the flutes on your profile Alicia Ocean!

Thank you - I stole the Boehm but the Traverso's my own doing .

As for what next... I've just dug out my G2 AB Jazz Piano book and am considering doing that next instead of G6 - To have a break from the classical requirements and maybe get more confident at recovering from errors - something which seems to improve through practicing Jazz. Also, I think I ought to consider buying an acoustic piano/having some lessons before going further.

If you haven't done a Jazz exam then maybe that's a good next option for you too .

A pass is a pass is a pass. Nothing to be ashamed of! You should feel rather pleased with yourself.

I "just" passed grades 3, 4 and 5, changed teacher and got a distinction at 6, a merit at 7 and a distinction at 8. You can do it too!

Wow!!

Well I'll certainly try! I've been concentrating on "long note" practice since last week and I spent an hour on it yesterday I think it will take a long time to improve, but at least now I've got some idea as to what I've been doing wrong... Got another lesson with my new teacher tomorrow

Glad you're feeling a bit better now, Skylark, and I have a strong feeling you will now go on to great heights with this new teacher, who sounds much better than the old one. A teacher who doesn't demonstrate (your old one) should solicit a big 'hmmm'. As everyone else says, a big congratulations for passing Grade 4 because however you look at it a pass is a pass. Also, it does get harder and harder as you go up the grades and more and more is expected of you but all power to you for putting this behind you and carrying on. I have a distinct hunch you will do much better in your Grade 5!

Hope you are enjoying lessons with your new teacher, and that you're feeling a little better about results.
N

Don't know how this post has appeared twice!

Good luck with your new teacher. I suppose that at least now you know what you need to do to get better marks next time, but I do think the examiner needed to be more thoughtful and encouraging with their comments.

When I got 101 in my grade 3, it had the effect of making me give up completely for 30 years - I hope my Grade 4 result doesn't have the same effect

Congratulations on passing Skylark!!! and hope your enjoy your lessons with your new teacher! It does sound like your old teacher did not teach you properly. I had the same problem with my old piano teacher...never played a piece for me...couldn't be bothered teaching me anything..always told me I played great...one time he told me a piece I played was in the wrong style but never told me or showed me what the right style was!!! so am still wondering today what he meant!!!
Luckily I've had a new teacher for the last 4 months who is fantastic. She always demonstrates how to play a piece, always tells me when I'm going wrong and I feel I've learnt so much since I've been with her. Whenever I have an "off day" she tells me to stop playing the way I was playing when she first heard me i.e. flatly!! I didn't realise I was playing so bad when I was with the old teacher so if at the time I had taken an exam I would not have understood if I hadn't got great marks!!
Hopefully your new teacher will help you improve and you'll be able to look forward to the next exam!!!
But in the meantime celebrate your pass as you have passed!!! Very well done!!!!

Congratualtions on your pass. As adults we tend to think that effort put in = result we hope for. Sometimes it just doesn't work to plan and the result doesn't reflect the work put in. The hours of practise are never wasted, and there will be benefits from having put yourself through this process.
Don't feel bad about a perfectly commendable result, I'll sent a hug, but give yourself a pat on the back too. WELL DONE

Thank you guys, I really appreciate all your support and it *has* helped me feel better about it.

I had a second lesson with my new teacher tonight and I think she's going to be really good for me. We spent virtually the whole lesson on my tone, and after she showed me one particularly neat little trick, there was an instant improvement. Obviously I can't sustain it yet, but at least now I know it's achievable. I just have to learn how to do it consistently, and I know that's going to take a lot of time. But she has a completely different technique and she's given me a different practice routine as well which is going to help so thankfully I'm feeling a lot more positive now

Skylark, I've had my results since you first posted, and I have one with a similar pass, although probably about what I expected.

Interestingly the remarks are helpful and I think more balanced than yours seem to be.

The general remarks at the foot of the page say ' now that grade x has been passed successfully a worthwhile next step might be to really boost the sight-reading etc etc . Oddly enough, this particular candidate scored well on sight reading at the previous grade, and not so well on aural. This time - full marks for aural and a just-fail for sight reading. I would not have predicted that.

However - I digress. passed successfully - that was the bit I wanted you to see !

Sounds like a great start with your new teacher - I do hope it continues to go well.