My teacher has totally left me in the lurch and I've got an exam coming up in December and I don't know anything about what I'm supposed to do :-(

I'm doing the intermediate Music Certificate with Trinity.

I don't know anything about stage etiquette, what to wear, how to present myself, whether I'm expected to bow or smile, or speak or introduce my pieces. :-( (and what is stagecraft??)

I also don't know how to correctly finish a piece, especially pedal pieces - do I take my hands of the keys and then release the pedal? Or do I release the pedal and the keys at the same time or....

I also have NO idea how to write a program or even where to find an example of a program.

The pieces call for variety to show your various skills. I have chosen (not in order and forgive spelling)

Gnossienne no. 3, Satie

Bullitt Theme, Schrifrin

Andante Con Largezza, Bruch

Les Petits Moulins a vent, Couperin

Cuban Serenade, Kember

Moment Musical in F minor, Schubert

The musical Clock, Nielsen (maybe not sure)

Is this suitable? I have no idea whether it will over 15 minutes worth without all the repeats. I might have to add more.

I should be asking my teacher all of this but she's gone and I live in a rural area so I can't find another one thats close enough and not fully booked!

First of all, breathe! There's plenty of time before your exam - definitely enough time to sort out your problems.

Secondly, don't worry so much about the stage etiquette - there's really not that much to it. I once read somewhere that you should acknowledge your audience as though they were a room full of your friends, i.e. look confident and happy to be there. You could give a little bow too. Have a look on the Trinity website, they might have some stuff written down about what they expect from your presentation.

As for the pieces, I don't know most of them but just looking at the composers' names it seems like quite a balanced programme.

What I'd recommend is even though you live far away from any other teachers, do try and get yourself a lesson with one, even if it means travelling quite a bit. Even if they can squeeze you in for just a couple of lessons between now and December you could write down your biggest worries about the exam and ask the teacher to just cover those things.

Good luck!

Sounds like good advice, and good luck. Do post again if you get that aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhh moment, we all suffer from feeling overwelmed sometimes!

The one thing you don't need a teacher for is timing your programme! Find a clock or watch and get on with it. Even if you play it continuously,( without natural breaks for finding the next piece of music etc),I believe it's going to come to well over 15 minutes. Maybe think about dropping a piece. Also, I think you are making life difficult for yourself by having so many widely differening styles ( Couperin to Kember!) and having to adapt to their stylistic changes. It could make it quite difficult to listen to as well. Fewer pieces but with more substance would be my suggestion.
I agree with the suggestion of travelling to the nearest town or city and running your programme by an experienced teacher. Also, if you can have a go at playing to a group of friends in a formal situation, that would be helpful. Are there any local music festivals you could enter, where you would get instant feedback?

Best of luck.

Never take your hands off the keys and leave the pedal depressed, especially when finishing a piece. It's Just Not Done. Both at the same time, or pedal just before hands.

Edward

Thank you for your help, I will take your advice on board. There is a teacher I might be able to travel to at least once before now and december.

About the choice in pieces each piece is listed on the website in groups, group A, group B etc - so I've assumed that I need to pick a couple of pieces from every group which I've done. They ask for a variety in techniques so I assume they want a variety in styles, but I will read the syllabus again.

What I was thinking is going from baroque gradually to the more modern pieces towards the end. The only problem with that is that couperin has a lot of trills which I can't do without a very good warm up.

Any advice on programs, or where I could look at example program notes? I'm supposed to write 200 words I think.

ABRSM does some advice on programme notes for diploma candidates, but a lot of this applies to programme notes in general and I'm sure would be useful to you. Here is the address-

Programme notes

x Bass Clef

Thank you

I've since contacted a couple of other teachers, one of them is fully booked and the other hasn't got back to me yet. I might have to accept that I could be going it alone.

I guess its a test of strength and perseverance (sp?). I'm going to be listening to the pieces a lot! it may help improve my performance. The biggest worry is performing, because I've never done it before, I'm going to have to do a few family concerts I think, so I can get used to it. Musicially, I feel very lonely right now.

I'd say stage etiquette and 'stagecraft' are one and the same. Regarding your outfit, I'd go for smart casual - smart enough that you feel dressed for the occasion, but sufficiently casual that you feel comfortable (and make sure that what you wear isn't restrictive - i.e. that you can move your arms freely - and doesn't make you too hot or too cold). I think a formal dress (I think you're female - apologies if not!) would be a bit over the top, but it does come down to what you feel comfortable wearing. Just use your common sense.

As for introducing your pieces, whether you are expected to do this should be in the syllabus (on the website, or free from a music shop). If it's a recital then bowing would seem appropriate and you're not going to lose any marks by smiling (well, not unless you spend the whole time grinning manically like a Cheshire cat, I suppose!).

So keep calm and you'll be fine - you've still got quite a long time in which to get everything up to scratch. Good luck!

Firstly get hold of the syllabus and read it.
I have it here in front of me so here are a few points (I've not read it in detail).
For Intermediate recital you need 4 pieces (the numbers of pieces is the same for all piano certificate exams) totalling 20 minutes including breaks between pieces. The recital timing should be accurate to within 10%.
It specifies a wide stylistic and historical cross section of repertoire. You have to provide copies for the examiner.
There is a little about programme planning and notes in the syllabus as well as a short paragraph on Stagecraft and presentation.

Has the entry already gone in? I think that Trinity sometimes have different final dates for this depending on the local rep.

Plan the order of your pieces

the default approach tends to be generally chronological, but you might like if possible to start and end with ones you're really confident about. One would tend not to program 3 successive very loud pieces in order to give your listeners ears some respite, or even 3 pieces all in the same key. Think about contrast between successive pieces but beware of a piece being swamped by its neighbours. Imagine or try out some sequences.

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Never take your hands off the keys and leave the pedal depressed, especially when finishing a piece. It's Just Not Done. Both at the same time, or pedal just before hands.

Edward
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At the moment my teacher is teaching me to do just this. What do others think?

[quote name='Hotair' date='Oct 5 2009, 07:48 AM' post='880736']
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Never take your hands off the keys and leave the pedal depressed, especially when finishing a piece. It's Just Not Done. Both at the same time, or pedal just before hands.

Edward
[/quote]

At the moment my teacher is teaching me to do just this. What do others think?
[/quote]

The logic must be that if you leave the pedal down after you take your hands away, there is no visual cue that the piece has finished and more importantly you are no longer in control of the length of the sound.

I would generally agree, but what if a piece finishes with a spread chord, (e.g. I am currently playing Clair de Lune), and you really can't hold the notes down?

Surely there can't be any hard and fast rules about this. If a piece ends with a pause on a pianissimo chord and a diminuendo effect is required, release the hands off the keys (but keep them hovering over the keys), then release the pedal as slowly as possible. This is what my teacher has taught me.

Maybe Mad Tom can tell us what he thinks. Glad he is back!

I know that one piece I played had a rest after the last chord, but the rest was also a pause. My first teacher directed me to use the pedal and keep the hands hovering over the keys. If its about signalling the end of the piece and not so much about sound it should be sufficient but I'm not an expert.

Thinking about final spread chords; for example Clair de Lune or Grieg's Nottorno ... I think I still finished with the top note depressed, holding it for as long as I wanted its sound to die away. Otherwise, relying on pedal, the lower notes will resonate longer. (But maybe you want that). Also there tends to be horrible whine when trying to release the pedal slowly. In the end you just have to use the technique that suits your musical purpose best.
Just thinking out loud ... I'm no Authority!