Well I've just committed myself to an exam next term, too late to change my mind now I have paid up. Anyone else doing one in the autumn session?
N

I'm going for Grade 3 theory and Practical

I'm doing Grade 1 Theory and Grade 1 Practical (Piano) in New York.

Possibly Grade 8 singing, but it rather depends if I have to resit anything else.

I may be going for G5 flute

Unlikely I'll be ready for a 'cello exam this session - so I don't think I'll have any exams this term : good luck to all of you doing exams this coming session!

Grade 5 theory - bring it on!

I may be going for Grade 6 flute. Go on Claudia, with your brand new flute you may as well do Grade 6 [runs and hides!]

I may also be taking Grade 6 Flute, although could live to regret that decision!

Grade 8 piano, with LCM.

Likely TG G5 recorders...

It's ok, I'll let you lot race ahead to G6 while I play my little G5 tunes

Grade 6 clarinet.

What pieces d'you think you'll play jazzycat?

I think it's going to be a while before I've moved on enough for the E word to come up again.

Me too! Or so my teacher says. There seem to be a lot of scales! And whilst I can play them, and I can work out which notes should be in them, I don't understand the point of diminished and dominant 7ths. Scales and arpeggios are related to key signatures and are the notes you'll expect to find in that key (and the 3rd, 5th etc for the triads of those keys), but what, really, *are* these dominant and diminished 7ths all about?
I love the Handel piece though, I like the Rutter (I'll confess to doing it with my singing teacher before I went to uni, which helps loads) and I haven't found anything I like from List C at all yet despite ploughing through about 4 of them!

Good luck with the G5!

I think I will do grade 5 piano and grade 3 oboe.

It looks like I will be going in for Grade 2 piano.

Not entirely confident about it yet, I really need to put more practice in! Still there's a few weeks before the deadline and hopefully things will have improved by then

I'm doing a grade-1-athon in aid of Children 1st (One of Scotland's leading child welfare charities) Doing Trombone Very excited Have the a lesson on the 12th September, exam on 29th November

I'm being an idiot next session

Grade 3 piano
Grade 5 clari
Grade 5 theory

Well done! : good luck with that lois!

Mozart from the A list. Either the Rachmaninoff or the Finzi from the B list. And the Demnitz Study in B minor from the C list. But there's plenty of time yet for me to change my mind! I'm quite tempted by the Rach studies for list C so the B/C pairings are Rach/Demnitz or Finzi/Rach. Hope that makes sense...

It does.

I've really got into the Rach studies now on the grade lists : they're well worth going through.

You're brave - good luck!

No just incredibly stupid

To be fair Clari and Theory are re-takes of long since done exams but as I have completely lost all ability (and certificates) in both I thought I'd start again

Grade 1 here.

I've heard you play clari...you haven't lost all ability. You're very good.

Had to laugh last night - I was looking at my notebook where teach writes in my tasks for the week and at the bottom of the notes she'd written "Turkey"

I jotted down "my playing isn't that bad" although hopefully she was just referring to my Turkey in the Straw piece

Lois

I'm doing Gr 6 trombone.

Hopefully grade 4 harp, gulp.

Good luck on your exams,hope you can pass with flying colours.

I always forget you play harp : good luck with that!

I can't see it happening! 2010 sounds like a much more sensible and feasible target!

Ahhh fair enough - even so! I did once do 3 grades in one session, but if memory serves at least two of them were only G1





Oooh good luck!

I thought I might ease my way back into making myself take exams (you know how much I love them!) by fiiiiiiiiinally doing G1 harp... depends if I can find the music as much as anything else hope the syllabus hasn't changed


with noodle! I know I have a string background but I did G1 cello in a couple of months and survived... you know you want to

Hi everyone, my first post here.

Committed this week to grade 5 violin this Autumn.

I started learning 2 years ago (50th birthday present!) and did grade three last summer as my fist exam. I don't like even numbers so I'm going to grade 5 now.

I hope I don't shake so much this time. I thought I messed up big time and was expecting to fail. It was a complete shock to get a distinction: the bribe clearly worked.

John

Hello JLW and welcome to the forums, and good luck with the violin exam

It would be lovely to be able to : but it ain't gonna happen, I'm afraid...

cluck

Sensible I'm not happy to do an exam I won't be 100% confident of passing.

Apologies in advance that I kind of went off on one here

Realistically, grade 1 in a relatively short time frame for an experienced and accomplished musician like Barry wouldn't be that big an issue, especially on a melody line instrument.

Even if one is learning an entirely different instrument, with a new clef, the knowledge, experience and other advantages an advanced musician brings to a new instrument is simply enormous. Sense of pitch, sense of pulse, sense of rhythm, wide knowledge and appreciation of music... seriously, I could go on and on! These are all things that most beginners will take a while to learn and which many advanced musicians will find as natural as breathing.

Some instruments transfer skills better than others, of course, and each person will have instruments they do or don't "click" with, but even so, at G1 level the already acomplished musician has a wealth of knowledge and experience to help them in preparation and in the exam room that the beginning musician can (usually) barely dream of having.

Passing G1 for a "normal" (for want of a better word) G1 student is one thing, G1 for someone who is highly proficient on one or several other instruments is a different ball game entirely. Learning a new instrument and being a beginner again can be immensely frustrating, and has pitfalls and difficulties all of its own, but those of us who have a good deal of music under our belts so often have an easier ride in so many ways than children and adults who are genuinely starting from nothing. (Those who teach or play full time for a living also have another disadvantage in amongst the advantages of course, in that music practice can end up feeling like an extension of work, not an escape from it!)

I'm very grateful for that and I have to acknowledge, as I have before, that adults especially who are learning entirely from scratch get huge, huge admiration and respect from me for that - I can't imagine what guts and determination it must take when one has no musical background at all and has to start out from the musical equivalent of "A is for apple...". I feel quite awed at the dedication so many adult starters put in.

It's the one thing that sometimes makes me feel a bit of a fraud describing myself as an adult learner. I often try and stretch my musical wings, but the language, aurally and theoretically as well as practically, of music is something that's been part of my life for 24 years. It's an enormous advantage, and I can't ignore the fact that it makes life appreciably easier for me - it would be disingenuous to downplay it or make out that it was a level playing field.

The only analogy I can think of is when several 4th year students in my year (I was among them), having just returned from a year in Russia, took a class in beginners' Croatian (a related but in many ways quite different language) with a group of 2nd year students (most of whom had had only a year of Russian). There was no getting away from the fact that, although we might all occassionally slip into Russian instead of Croatian, or get muddled between Cyrillic and Roman scripts, or muddle grammar between the two languages, overall we had an enormous advantage; not least that we just weren't phased by speaking and writing in a new language. The class was hugely easier for us in many ways than it was for the 2nd years.

Anyway... straying quite badly off the topic, aren't I? Sorry. Quite honestly, if Barry wanted to take G1 next term, I wouldn't bet against him, and I'd be far more surprised if he didn't pass than if he did - it's just being realistic. Obviously I'm not trying to guilt trip Barry into it (honest! no seriously, he should only do it if he wanted to) just putting it in perspective

As always, a top post from Sarah

To be honest, I think workload is against me to do it in one term. Aside from the day job, there's three forum concerts/playdays to sort out, plus a recital with music that can best be described as 'not easy'...

I think if I had less to do this term, I'd give it a try, realistically though, it'll be 2010.

Oh good - I wasn't convinced I'd made as much sense as I'd hoped!


Yeah, absolutely - hence my disclaimer! After all, even if you could do it this term, with workload and all, it would probably end up being a source of stress, and who needs that on an instrument you have taken up for the pleasure of it!

You've got it in one Sarah!

('course, once you get some teaching no doubt you'll be taking grade 5 next term instead... *grins, ducks, and runs vvvvv fast*)

It's those sorts of comments that make you the bad influence you are Sarah...

Awww, Barry, you say the nicest things

Oh dear, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't entered... What with the summer break and too many people around at home, and no lessons for a few weeks, my practice is getting less and less useful and everything is sounding bad. I'm not sure what would be worse, failing (embarrassing) or backing out and losing the fee (expensive), or just going with it and hoping for a breakthrough.
N

When do you have another lesson, nova? You are bound to feel better with a bit of guidance. Hang in there!

jazzycat

A couple of weeks time. I'd really like to go for it, but suddenly it seems that time is running out. I hope I get a late date!
N

See how you feel after a lesson - things may click back into place. When you have a gap between lessons, it's so easy to feel that nothing is going right, and then you have a lesson and sort out lots of bits and it all feels much better. I assume that you felt that it was OK when you put the entry in. I don't think you said in your original post what exam you're doing, or did I miss that bit?
Let us know how you get on