Hello, I'm just sorting out what I'm going to take and was wondering...Is it better to take music that I can't play just so I can show I'm aware of it or should I leave behind anything I'm not reasonably proficient at incase I let myself down?

When I did my exam back in May I took almost all of my music and the examiner wasn;t particularly interested. He commented that he was surprised because some people bring nothing! It was said on my mark sheet that the selection of music I brought was commendable.
The music I took was only referred to in passing so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can comment on repetoire that will probably be enough. There just isn't time in the exam to discuss everything as it goes so quickly. Good luck anyway..

Thankyou,

So you weren't asked to play anything except your graed 6 pieces?

No... and I only played half of each one of those! It's a good job really as I couldn't play any of the other [pieces in the book..

Did you sit at the piano with the examiners close by?

I was overseas so I only had one examiner and the exam was recorded. Before we started he asked me where I wanted to sit and it went from there. We had an initial discussion sat on chairs... like a doctor and patient and then he stood by the piano while I sat on the piano stool at the piano. It all went very well and very quickly and was actually quite enjoyable. It's good to be able to show off what you have worked so hard for.

OOh I'd not thought about the examiner standing! I've never played to anyone standing before, but if you enjoyed it, I expect I'll cope.

Thanks for the "chat", I'm off for an early night.

its a pleasure.. you could pm me if you want any more info! its all still fresh in my mind,

Don't know if this advice is too late, but I sat my Teaching Diploma on Wednesday so I can give you my perspective.

I took a Tesco Green Bag full of music, but only ended up pulling out about 2-3 books. I took stuff that, mainly, I'd used in my teaching to date, plus some recommended by my teacher.

The lead examiner in mine (it was a singing diploma) stood between me (at the piano) and the examining table. It was quite off-putting to start with as I wasn't exactly sure where to sing to! In the end, I just sang like there was a whole audience there.

I think it went okay, but I'm still dreading the 8-week wait. Good luck with yours.

Sarah

My exam was on Monday. Thanks for replying. Just curious, but do you have twin brothers, Colin and Stephen?