Hallo list,

The receipt for my application says that exam date will be mailed 2 weeks before the date. How annoying, I'm kinda stuck and cannot make any plan for anything else

When do you think the approximate exam-date for this season of Oct-Nov 2009 in the US will be? Sometimes in Oct, Nov or Dec? Anybody has an intelligent guess?

Thanks list!

Hallo list,

At last my schedule came in the mail! It's gonna be in Oct-25-2009. So, I have 25 days to prepare now. I'm pretty excited since the last time I gave a recital was like 22 years ago, before I abandoned the guitar for more realistic things in life. You know, dollar-wise ... Anyway, I guess I'll just devote these 25 days to the guitar again.

One thing that I like about taking this exam is the chance it gives me to think again about music in general and the guitar my instrument in particular. The formal nature of the exam forces me to verbalize and to clarify anything that I think and already know, thus it becomes clear. Not just a vague and unpronounced idea. This musical journey through the exam even cracks open some fields that I have always been curious about, like the philosophy of music, the art of practicing, the physiology of music making, up to the brain and neurology or neuroscience of music! Suddenly, music and my wooden girlfriend (aka the guitar) turn to be a door that leads to different other doors of equally interesting and enriching subjects.

So, on that day there will be 11 candidates; 10 play the piano, 1 the violin and me the guitar. 2 do the Diploma, 2 do grade 7, 1 grade 5 and 6 grade 8. Judging from the last names of those candidates, obviously 10 are Asian, Chinese in particular, and 1 sounds like a mixed. Culturally this makes sense, since playing music is a major and important pre-requisite for being a Confusian gentleman. It is a must for a refined Confusian gentleman or its wanna-be. Maybe that explains the predominance of Asian with Confusian influence among the candidates. Another possible explanation is because the ABRSM is practically unknown in the US although it's very popular and prestigious enough in Asia. I've tried to research an American board like the ABRSM, and couldn't find anything similar. Too bad.

Ok, I'd better prepare for my show-off time now ... Good luck to you all with your exam. And don't forget, it's the journey that counts, not really the exam itself

So, don't forget or lose sight of its fun part

25 days to prepare? Surely you had it all under control BEFORE you submitted the application?

Nothing like living life on the edge!

Way before actually. Some are even like way before 20-25 years ago. I just play all pieces that I have played. That's it. Originally I promised myself to learn new stuffs (that seriously, mostly I don't really like nor enjoy listening to; at best I'm just 'curious' about those pieces); but I then learn that working 40 hours plus occasional over time plus some girlfriend-maintenance stuff .. all mean that I just have no time! The problem is that I've sent the application and paid.

So as the time progressed, I changed some of the programs too. As long as it is in the list and can fill up the 35m; I don't see a real problem. Moreover, diploma is not like LRSM in which we must tell them what we're gonna play. For that LRSM I promise myself to really learn new things and make things interesting and fun. And I wouldn't rush to send the application too.

You seem quite relaxed about it, at any rate. And why not - what's the worst that can happen?
Good luck with it - let us know how you get on!

Very true. Look at the lighter side of 'music' that actually is nothing but 'partying'. That primordially every culture knows it so well! Music presents in their dance, wedding, and any celebration. Maybe only in Asterix they shut up the musician while dining on the boar collectively

So, making music must be like revoking this primordial partying mode too ... at the very least, party with yourself! And this kind of 'music exam' seen this way is thus just a way to get certified as a 'homo-party'; a person who knows how to party

Be jovial, light and entertained. What's the worst that can happen in a party, after all?

oh my god, i submitted the application form in july, and now im just practising full on before my piano exam, which the date is to be informed. hopefully, the letter would come a month before the actual exam. i really need the mental peperation, if not really the practical peperation. i think i should calm down a little, even if my exam peices are still emotionless and notes are missing (yes, a month or two before the exam and im still lookg for the notes ). thanks for the 'music is for partying' thing. it was comforting (deep breaths)

i live in australia. any ideas when the examination dates would be?