My daughter is taking her grade 4 violin exam and grade 2 piano exam in a few days time. She is well prepared in all areas for both and particularly on violin has been preparing the pieces for so long that she is very fed up with them ! Technically they are there and I think they communicate the character and dynamics very well, apparently her vibrato is excellent, which I don't think is even expected at grade 4. Her teacher is still commenting however on building more character into the pieces. She is finding this difficult to do as she has had enough of them and is saying that she wishes she hadn't gone down the exam route. I just don't think that they will improve much more and that it may be better to have a couple of days not playing them then running through a proper focused performance of them maybe twice before the exam. I suppose what I am asking is can one over practise or is this a myth? She is saying not to worry and that she knows them so well and that she knows how she needs to play them in the exam, should I trust this and leave her alone?

Yes, I would let her leave them well alone for a few days - let her play some other music to keep things ticking over. You can indeed over-do it and new mistakes can start to creep in. If your daughter is well-prepared and confident, trust her to do what she needs. Hopefully she will enjoy playing her pieces in the exam.

yes- take a couple of days off and then when she returns back to the pieces she will have a fresh mind and won't feel so tense about them.

I often tell my candidates that the best bit of an exam is the lesson afterwards - when we can say
'right - what now?'

It can be quite a balancing act having pieces ready but not 'past it', and I find some youngsters easily get a bit bored with their pieces. Perhaps your daughter could find some sight-reading to do and ease off the exam pieces (as others have suggested) for a day or two?

As others have said, it's a good idea to have a short rest from the exam pieces - then they will come out fresh on the day. But it's quite good to play something on the violin so that she's still in practice; does your daughter have a "fun" book to play along with a CD? Playing something different could be just what she needs at the moment.

Very best of luck to your daughter in both her exams!

Perhaps it is possible to over-practice, but I have never seen it. On the other hand, its opposite - not practicing enough - is almost universal.

it is possible to get bored with pieces. That is a different problem.

I'm only a parent but I agree with Tom on this one. I can honestly say there was only one time when I thought my daughter was past her best with the pieces. With hindsight I realse that it was not the case in reality. It was simply that she didn't know what to do to improve them further and there was proably plenty of scope to do so.

I suppose being a multi instrumentalist and generally having lots of pieces on the go at the same time she doesn't tend to get bored. I'm also of the opinion that any playing is practice in a way so even looking at new pieces can help.

that's why I don't like having more than a couple of weeks without lessons on pieces which I know really well.

Thanks everyone for your advice / comments. My daughter played her pieces for the first time since last Thursday today in her lesson. Her teacher only made one comment about one of the pieces. Everyone was delighted with how they sounded (incl daughter)! I will let you know the outcome of the exam.

Good luck to your daughter for the exam.

Hope all goes well