you could try goat's or sheeps milk... though I don't recommend the powdered versions which can be utterly foul. or have a cooked breakfast!

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Jan 23 2005, 05:17 PM)

this relaxation "oil", do you drink it or rub it in?????!

you drip it onto your tongue and wait for it to evaporate. it's very bizarre... my highly-strung friend uses a lot of it...

QUOTE

you could try goat's or sheeps milk... though I don't recommend the powdered versions which can be utterly foul. or have a cooked breakfast!

Hmm, but as we are having to cut back on our budget don't think that would be viable! As for cooked breakfasts, I'd have to get up extra early on school mornings!

I have some oil stuff which you rub in, it is lavendar and meadowsweet or something like that.

Lavender is meant to be one of the most relaxing smells in existence.

I have a lavender incense burner but as I once set fire to my chemistry homework with it by accident it tends to make me nervous rather than serene.

Cheeble are you on MSN, I am trying to get on but internet connection is being awful. I have a lavender joss stick thing but don't want to use it!

QUOTE (cheeble @ Jan 23 2005, 05:30 PM)

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Jan 23 2005, 05:17 PM) this relaxation "oil", do you drink it or rub it in?????! you drip it onto your tongue and wait for it to evaporate. it's very bizarre... my highly-strung friend uses a lot of it...

hmmmm... how strange!

nicki: fruit juice? toast? (has less milk in bread than in a bowlfull of cereal!)

lavender is good.... relaxing but not too soporific.

QUOTE

nicki: fruit juice? toast? (has less milk in bread than in a bowlfull of cereal!)

I like orange and apple juice...it depends how late in the day it is I suppose, and how many meals I would have to think about!

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 23 2005, 05:49 PM)

Cheeble are you on MSN, I am trying to get on but internet connection is being awful. I have a lavender joss stick thing but don't want to use it!

I can't get onto MSN for some reason: it's telling me my internet connection isn't working as it should be. Sorry!!

Don't be scared about using your lavender joss stick - it's only silly people like me that set fire to things with them... lol

QUOTE

I can't get onto MSN for some reason: it's telling me my internet connection isn't working as it should be

Ditto, despite the fact my internet connection isn;t working very well. I tried to get online for 35 minutes this morning without success. I am logging on using MSN Web Messenger.

my internet access has gone floopy, too

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 23 2005, 06:15 PM)

QUOTE I can't get onto MSN for some reason: it's telling me my internet connection isn't working as it should be Ditto, despite the fact my internet connection isn;t working very well. I tried to get online for 35 minutes this morning without success. I am logging on using MSN Web Messenger.

What's MSN Web Messenger?

It is where you log-in to your account online without needing to have MSN on your computer. Type MSN Web Messenger into Google, and you'll come up with a link. Slow, but at least you can talk!

Ah fair enoughski. I always find MSN is good for calming down lol.

I could chat for hours on msn, but am on pay-per-min internet as my other connection just started playing sillythingywotsits, so I should really not be on at all.... at least it's the weekend so it's cheaper rate!

I am so glad we have broadband and pay per month now! We used to have AOL and my Dad used to print off how long I'd been online for, everybody else would be on for X amount of minutes and I would have been online for days!

ahhh broadband... I can but dream...

Broadband is bliss

*sigh*

*glares at computer*

isnt it just!!

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Jan 24 2005, 02:41 AM)

ahhh broadband... I can but dream...

Me too.

Folks, we've gone a long way off-topic.

However, all I wanted to add on the topic is something Dacapo said (and sent me a badge saying):

NERVES ARE NORMAL!

Cheers

katyjay

QUOTE (katyjay @ Feb 12 2005, 12:21 PM)

NERVES ARE NORMAL!

Now ain't that something we all need reminding of!

Another thing that's easy to forget... nerves can be beneficial... in moderation... as a performance with no nerves or adrenaline flowing can be very dull...

Sorry, I do tend to go off topic *zips up mouth*

Well I have my exam date now, March 4th, so I am thinking positive thought....the examiner is human....I have practiced these pieces and am fab at playing them......

GOOD LUCK, nicki_flute. *waves flags*

Awww wow *feels special* Thankyou so much

QUOTE (CMORRIS @ Oct 30 2003, 01:39 PM)

Everyone is equipped with the adrenaline-fuelled fight or flight reaction to an approaching challenge but neither course of action is an option in an exam.

Has it occurred to anyone else that sometime the "fight" option would be nice with the less friendly examiners?? Though I'm more likely to opt for "flight" myself!

Yeah Nicki... you are going to do GREAT!

you are so going to do great nicki, we'll have 2 parties, one for you passing and one to cheer me up after ive failed

QUOTE

Yeah Nicki... you are going to do GREAT!

Thankyou Sarah

QUOTE

you are so going to do great nicki, we'll have 2 parties, one for you passing and one to cheer me up after ive failed

Nat!! *insert sarcastic face here*. You are not going to fail. You have to try and be more positive, I promise, if you feel more positive you will play better. Think of times where you have just played brilliantly, or soared through a difficult passage of any of your instruments. You have the ability to do it!!

Thanks for the compliments.

When I did my Guidhall Grade 6, the results took just 6 days to come!

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Feb 13 2005, 12:16 PM)

When I did my Guidhall Grade 6, the results took just 6 days to come!

what a nice thought....

i'll have to wait about 3 weeks to get mine. i might disappear off the forums in that time

btw, read a post on the flute list I'm on today about someone who saw a programme about James Galway making a recording - and he apparently slipped up a few times and commented how nervous he was! so obviously nerves don't have to mean you will never be good!

QUOTE

When I did my Guidhall Grade 6, the results took just 6 days to come!

that's quite a difference isn't it ? I would guess the volume of exams is the reason - but I've no idea how the numbers actually compare.

When I did my arcm, the last bit of the exam was on the Saturday afternoon, and my results arrived on the Monday morning - I was really bowled over by that. The office staff must have worked all the weekend to get those results out. There must have been Sunday postal collections in those days too - what a thought!

Maggie (feeling old!)

Well, this year, my exam is on practically the same day as last year, so hopefully it'll be quick again!

Wow, Maggie, that is a very quick result. They must have wanted you to get the result quickly

QUOTE

i'll have to wait about 3 weeks to get mine. i might disappear off the forums in that time

Nattt!! Shhhh! You are going to do well, and you are not disappearing off the forums for those 3 weeks!

if i pass i will come back, if i dont...................au revoir!!

arcm?

I'm being thick I expect...

QUOTE

if i pass i will come back, if i dont...................au revoir!!

This might sound harsh, but it doesn't mean to me, but a fail isn't he end of the world. You can build from the experience and it'll make you a better player. James Galway never did any grades. I am not letting you go from the forums!

lol Nicki

but im gona feel so stupid when i fail and have to come on here and tell everyone

You don't have to tell anyone cos you won't fail.

QUOTE

arcm?

associate royal coll of music

M

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Feb 13 2005, 12:59 PM)

You don't have to tell anyone cos you won't fail.

lol

well if i do i can probably actually manage to tell you coz ill get some practise at it tomorrow when i also fail my driving test!

*raised voice* NAT!

Look, I really tell you, (this gets a bit Sociological), if you get told you are going to fail, after a while you'll believe you will fail, so will fail. Self fulfilling prophecy.

Today, be positive and see what happens tomorrow

Hear, hear !

We aren't arguing, I am just getting Nat to realise she isn't worthless.

Nice colourful intervention though!

yes boss, whatever you say!

QUOTE (maggiemay @ Feb 13 2005, 01:00 PM)

QUOTE arcm? associate royal coll of music M

ahhh - ta.

Im okay with singing exams as I get lots of performance practice - but how do you do the same for piano?

Im only grade 3 so where I can play and what are limited technically and being at the beginning of my studies also makes me feel unconfident and shy about playing in front of anyone - even my teacher - My grade 3 exam - I cried all the way through - only just passed and fluffed my pieces.

Problem mostly that I expect too much from myself and then it all goes wrong.

Any advice?

Id like to play more and I am an adult learner and enjoy playing for myself but never enjoy or feel good about in front of others - which I long to do cause music is about sharing.

You need to make yourself more confident in playing the piano.
Maybe you could play in front of family or friends, because they will appreciate your playing, and you might feel more comforted playing in front of them.

I am sure you have improved a lot, since you started the piano, think how much you have come on. I didn't know how much I had improved on my flute in the past year, but I asked my teacher and she said I had come on so much, and that was great to hear.

Hope this helps and good luck

My brother and I played piano duets at our local residential home for the elderly. The residents loved it, and it got us used to playing in front of people. Would this be any help to you? Maybe if you played as part of duets, you wouldnt feel so much of the spotlight and/or nerves?

I am just about to sit my Grade 8 (finally decided to do it after nearly 20 years with only a Grade 7) and my biggest concern is that I will just crumble in front of the examiner and not be able to concentrate on the music at all. Maybe, these are just childish fears though? Hopefully, I will be O.K. as I do perform pieces in front of more people these days than I did when I did my last exam and I have also accompanied soloists and Amateur Dramatic societies etc in the past. I am more confident in my playing and experience has taught me that it is best to just continue if you make any slips, mistakes. Also, we should allow ourselves a few mistakes in our performances so it takes the pressure off a bit. What has helped me personally is that every time I practice my pieces, I record my performances and then sit back and listen to them from the Examiner's point of view. At the moment, I am reasonably happy with them but I still make the odd slip/mistake here and there. Of course, ideally, I want to get rid of all mistakes by the day of the exam, but as things stand I am at least confident that I will pass the Exam so long as I get through the pieces and dont just totally "blank out" on the day

Wish me luck!!

Gae
P.S. I'm off to practice my harmonic minors in 6ths!!

If you possibly can, arrange to perform your exam pieces in front of people as often as possible - anything from one person to a whole hall full - and if you can get someone to give you a mock exam eg play your pieces, do some sight-reading, have them give you a selection of scales from the syllabus and do the aural tests... all pretty simple obvious stuff but can really really help master nerves (I was so glad my exam was not my first "performance" of those pieces) I found the exams much scarier as an adult than I remember them being when I was a kid!