So sorry this is last minute! I have a student taking the grade 8 piano exam this Tuesday and she's come down with tendonitis in both arms. She is able to play everything but not to the same level as before. My advice to her was that she wrap up her arms with ace bandage before the exam and tell the examiner that she is injured but still able to sit her exam. Is it allowed to tell the examiner as you walk in that you have an injury/tendonitis and what should you say? Does it affect your marks at all? Any comments are much appreciated! On a personal note, I remember for my grade 8 piano exam I broke my right foot two days beforehand and didn't tell the examiner. I lost some marks for heavy pedalling so I guess he didn't notice my bandaged foot ...

How vital is it for this student to take her exam at this session? The fact that she has come down with tendonitis just beforehand suggests that she has been practising way too much and /or has some serious technique issues. I think taking an exam with your arms wrapped in bandages sounds fairly ludicrous (sorry if that is a bit harsh, but really - is it going to help?)

Keep the long term goals in mind - will it seriously derail your student to have to delay this one exam? Perhaps this is the wake-up call that she needs - tendonitis is not trivial and needs to be addressed properly before moving on as it will keep happening until whatever caused it is eliminated.

You can send a note in to the examiner with the student, or contact the Board and see what they say. It wont make any difference to the marks in all likelihood - the examiner has to mark what he/she hears on the day, but your student may feel better knowing that the examiner is aware of and hopefully sympathetic to her situation.

Good luck.

Unfortunately we can't delay the exam as we are in Kenya and the examiner is only in certain parts of the country at certain times of the year (they are only in our area once a year). She delayed the exam from last year because of tendonitis but it doesn't seem to be as bad this year. She wants to do it this year because then she can use the music that she was going to play last year (countries outside of the UK can play exam pieces one year past the normal date).

I would diagnose her tendonitis as overplaying ... she usually practices one hour a day but lately has gone up to three to five hours. I've been working with getting her to relax with playing so that the pain doesn't flare up but as she tends to get nervous once she is performing for someone all the relaxation goes out the window!

I have mentioned to her if she pushes it too much it could mean serious repercussions on her playing in the future but she is insisting. If she goes into the exam room and tells the examiner "I have tendonitis so please bear with me for this exam ..." with that help? Or should she say nothing and just grin and bear it?

Thanks for the input SueHM! Much appreciated.

Right...

THis isn't easy for me to say - the main reason being as I'm possibly in the same situation as your student....(I'll know better when I see a doctor tomorrow) but basically if she has tendonitis in both her arms, which are a repercussion from last year then she has technique and possibly practising problems that need to be addressed.

It is your responsibility as her teacher to correct these problems and protect her long term future - despite what she wants. I would heavily recommend that if a doctor has disagnosed this problem (as opposed to yourself or the student) then you get a doctors letter and submit it to the board withdraw her from the exam. SHe should not be bandaged up and allowed to play.

In the UK you can offer evidence for a withdrawl up to 4 weeks after the exam date and you recieve 75% of the fee back.

I too am desperate to pass the exam - but I'm more focussed on my long term goals...your student should be advised to think the same.

Out of interest which pieces has she been practising that may be the cause of this ?

Poor student. Although I alslo think it is best to treat physical injuries before thinking about passing exams, I do understand how difficult it is to arrange for an exam in certain parts of the world.

Frankly, I don't think the examiner can give "compassionate marks" for the poor student, even if he/she knew about the candidate's injuries. How would the examiner know whether a miss/slip is due to poor technique / lack of practice or an injury? It's a little tough to judge. All I can phantom is that the examiner would write under the remarks column that the candidate is suffering injuries, and should treat them before the next exam. Examiners can only mark according to what they hear on the spot. No special consideration for nerves either...

Why MUST the student sit for the exam? Is she trying to get into University for a music degree? If so, she has to figure out why she's having such injuries. If not, why is she in such a hurry? Not having a Grade 8 right-away is not a failure or anything, as long as she still loves music. Is there an underlying reason for her to pass Grade 8 this year, by hook or by crook?

fatar, she is playing the Bach Prelude and Fugue in A flat, the Mozart Allegro from Sonata in F and the Grieg Notturno (since we are outside of the UK we can use last year's syllabus). She is a strong player and I have a feeling some of the pain comes from that! She tends to like Rachmaninoff, Khatchaturian, etc. type pieces in which she can pound out the loud chords! She has very good form so I am thinking that practising so much more than what she is used to is part of the problem.

As her exam is tomorrow, I have told her not to practice too much this week (leading up to the exam) and the pain seems to have lessened. She has decided not to tell the examiner about the tendonitis so we shall see how it goes ...

Frankly, I have told her not to sit the exam but she is 17 and is quite insistent! She was going to take the exam last year but broke her wrist one week before the exam and had to pull out. I have a feeling she just wants to get it out of the way as she gets quite nervous and likes to do things as early as possible so she doesn't have to fret about them too long ...

Thanks to everyone for your words of advice! Much appreciated.

Hmm, so it's tomorrow... Guess there is no point advising against taking the exam now. I hope she passes the exam as she wishes, and seek treatment immediately after that.

ALL THE BEST!

Nice choice of pieces there! Lots of luck for your student's exam tomorrow.

But seriously, it's probably a good idea to stop playing for a while afterwards, and let her arms heal...

Just a quick update. Student had exam this morning. She claims she was pain free so we'll see how everything goes! She said things went really well so now we are just waiting for results! Thank you so much to everyone for your comments and advice!

Glad to hear that student's decision to take the exam seems to have been justified.

However, if you are in a big enough town, can your student see a sports clinic to check on the causes and current state of soft tissue damage?