It's over!
And it was a lovely experience, much lovelier than my G5 piano exam, though I am not sure if that translates to a good exam result.
The examiner was a big-strong-and-friendly man, who made the piano look small. He was friendly and apologetic when he stopped my List B song (it had 3 verses, and was a slow one) without warning me beforehand. He even told me where to stand and where to face, and assured me that even if he wasn't looking at me, he was still listening. Do examiners tell that to all candidates of all grades? That was very comforting for a first-timer like me.
My accompanist did slip once, but it was my fault, because I forgot to bring in the translation for the unaccompanied song, and had to leave her alone in the quiet room with the examiner to fetch the translation. Hence she started getting uneasy, and eventually nervous
. Ah, I was so careless.
Some funny episodes (hiccups):
1) The examiner was puzzled to see two ladies (my accompanist and myself) enter the room, and replied when I announced the name of the my accompanist," Oh, I was wondering which of you is the candidate!"
2) There were so many syllabus booklets lying open on the examiner's desk. He flipped through the Grade 4 lists looking for my selections, till I told him I was Grade 3. Only then did I realise that he had all the old and new syllabus booklets for piano, singing, cello, and maybe even violin... He was the examiner for so many instruments? No bio was available for me to read, so I am quite amazed.
3) After the aural tests, the examiner announced that we should now do sight-singing. Then he placed a blue book on the piano top. On reflex, I reached for it, and he quickly said,"Oh, not that book." That was the aural test book he was using. Hee hee, I was too eager
Some stuff I learnt from this first singing exam:
1) I am actually not afraid of looking into the eyes of the examiner! Must have been helpful that he looked friendly. But I tend to look around when the examiner looks down to write. I sometimes close my eyes too. Not sure if that is acceptable.
2) I do not know the range of my voice. I could only nod vaguely when the examiner asked me whether d' to g'' was my range during the sight-singing test.
3) I must not forget my translation sheet in future! I must have all the necessary papers in a convenient folder.
Thank you very much for all the luck, because I received it! I felt a cough coming hours before the exam, but it went away once I started singing. And after the exam, I went to eat a hearty meal comprising all the "voice-damaging" food e.g. carbonara, prawns, spicy rice! YEAH YEAH YEAH, good food at last! I almost wanted to go to Burger King too, but there wasn't any outlet in the area!
) I'm sure you'll do fabulously, smile, try not to get too nervous, don't drink milk beforehand, have a banana before the exam umm.... warm up properly, think positive, and tell yourself what an amazing singer you are before you start. Also, try not to let nerves affect your breathing.