I'm aiming to take grade 1 piano in November. I think my pieces are all broadly there, albeit there is always some improvement possible. If I keep playing them until November I think it'll be counter-productive, so I'd like to stop for max 4 weeks and play some other stuff. My teacher reckons you should only 'rest' a piece once it's cracked. (I think the sub-text here was that she doesn't think my pieces are there yet!) Her reasonong appears to be that if you put it down before this, you are at risk of losing most of what you've learned when you pick it back up. I'm not convinced about this logic. I would have thought after 4 weeks you'd not play a piece as well as you previously did, but that it would only take a few hours to get back on top. With a bit of luck, what you've learned in the interim might help you improve the piece.

Does anyone have any thoughts on resting?

I reckon you should have booked in for this term's session I know it'd be a mad rush, but I was put in that position and it actually forced me to practice like my life depended upon it and I think I pulled it off

I'd still play your pieces, perhaps not so much, but find some other material to play for fun, I can PM you a load of suggestions and links to sheets if you like I think it's important to play stuff that *you* like and want to play otherwise I can see it just becoming a bit of a grind.

Did you have a go on one of the pianos in London, out of interest? Shame you were in a bit of a rush as I'd have been up for a play & a pint!

Perhaps you should be guided by your teacher? She knows your playing better than anyone. It could be that she feels "resting" your pieces would be better done further down the line. But since you don't plan to sit the exam until November, definitely do some other pieces alongside.

I was originally going for this term's exams, but my time is really limited and I don't think the time pressure would have worked for me. I basically have no further space in the diary!

I didn't manage to get on one of the london pianos as my meeting ran over 1.5 hours, which meant I was already 30 mins late for my evening session, and still had to get across town. I don't think I've any meetings lined up in town for a few weeks so it looks like I might not get the chance to listen to the crowds singing along to my Kummer chorus.




You are probably right. I know everyone will say this, but my playing at home is much much better than at my teachers. In part, this is due to my entry level keyboard v acoustic piano. It would be really useful to find a piano to practice on. Eventually, I'm going to have to buy a digital (as I play mostly at night when the kids are asleep) I guess.

Even though I might be better at home, since the exam will be on an unfamiliar acoustic, I guess my performance at my teachers is no doubt similar to what will be achieved in the exam.

They let you have a bit of a play around with the piano beforehand. I definitely played better in the exam than I do in front of my teacher most of the time, despite the pressure. That makes no sense at all

I would only deliberately rest a piece if I could play it so well that the performance was beginning to get stale and mechanical (or I was beginning to make mistakes again, or on sections that I always previously got right).

I would play the pieces through at least once a week, if I expected to perform them in the forseeable future.

But maybe thats just me