Hello!

I have a little question that I would be very grateful for your opinions on. I took my Grade 8 piano about a month go and I failed by 4 marks. I failed by the aural mostly: the singing the bass line was wrong (i couldn't hear the bass line from where I was standing ) and i couldn't name the last four chords of the cadence (true). I think I got the modulations right though (he didn't comment on them so I can only assume they went ok). My pieces were pretty fine, the only thing was that he said my dynamics weren't coming through enough, but I've been taking my exams for 7 years on the same piano and my dynamics never come through (it's not a very good piano, I think thats why I couldn't hear the bass line).

With reference to the crummy piano I played on in the exam, I'm not pinning the fail on that - I just don't know whether I ought to do it again as the things I failed on are things that I will always fail on because I will retake the exam on the same piano and i'm not pitch perfect so I find hearing the cadences really difficult. On the other hand, would it be really "un-completest" of me to leave it?

Has anyone else ever been in this position? What have you done?



Elle

I failed my grade 8, by 11 marks. I had to re-do it though as I am going on to do music at uni. However I think you could do it again and pass, improve the style in the pieces, and really exagerate the dynamics, could you take the exam at a different centre where there is a better piano, with a better dynamic range? The aural is a tricky bit, if you do say just 10 minutes everyday until you do the exam again, you will find that you will improve also, Something that I found helped was playing over the cadences over and over again, in different keys, and then playing over popular final chords until you hae them internalised, this will give you a better chance of getting it right. Also join a choir if only for a short while and sing the lower parts, you will find your ear improves and it will become easier to do.

What about switching to Trinity instead? The aural for grade 8 is about a million times simpler and way less scary - I'm terrible at aural usually, but in my grade 8 flute I got full marks for aural!

That is a good idea switching to trinity but would it be wise when all the hard work has already been done and it is only a small increment at which they failed, it could have been a harsh marker. Also I don't think that Trinity have easier aural, I just think their aural is more musically based and doesn't need the examinee to have excellent pitch or a good vocie and good at pitching. I think it makes more musical sense, where the AB seem to have thrown together the most random ideas all of which I doubt I will ever use again.