Just found out that I failed my grade 8 piano exam. It was the result I was expecting
as things fell apart pretty badly in the exam. I had found G8 something of a struggle compared to G6 and 7
(the other exams I'd taken as an adult) but things had started to come together recently. Unfortunately I
was very nervous in the days before the exam, and on the day itself I got a bit lost on the way to the
venue. When I arrived (still early) I was told that the previous person hadn't turned up so I could go
straight in. So, not in the best mental state and I found myself making _lots_ of errors, even in places
which normally went OK.

Now I need to decide whether to retake or not. I had been thinking of starting to learn jazz after this, but
don't really want to move on after a failure. Of course, if I fail a second time that will really destroy
the remnants of my self-confidence!

Oh dear
I can only speak for being in front of 3 Tae kwon do Examiners, that got me really nervous and found myself more conscious. ~ If you know you can pass grade 8.. then you can, ~ maybe a touch of an aggressiveness toward yourself, say you can do it !! ~ Im sure getting lost on the way didnt help you and worried that you wouldnt make it and maybe lost your mental attitude of getting through it to.. relieved im here on time, then no chance to re energize you brain to piano.

Based on this, and based on the effects it put into your playing. I would be inclined for you to take it again. You do indeed have a few months to improve further.

Im sad, that you didnt manage to make that leap.. ~ get that confidence back, play in front of family members, even ring a few teachers pay them a few $$ to listen to you and give feed back.

The thing that really tests my nerves is playing on camera to put videos on youtube.
Anyhow, tell us how you come along

So sorry to hear that you failed your exam, nerves do make a difference. In my experiece with friends when they have failed an exam if they take it again the next time they come out with a merit or distinction. I suppose it depends on how much you need the certificate whether you should go for it again or not. At the end of the day, you know what you can play like and whether you are grade 8 standard or not.

Nevertheless it is a blow to find out that you failed so I am sending you a hug and hope that you can manage to put this behind you fast and look at the positive side of things.

Hi Spaceman,

sorry to learn about your grade 8 result . Sounds like your preparation didn't help on the day. Should you re-take the exam? Much of the answer depends on why you want the certificate in the first place. Do you have a teacher to discuss the exam with you?

Please don't let this perceived "failure" stop you moving on to other musical genres. Keep playing and learning!

Sorry to hear of your result, spaceman. Failure in something that is important to you is hard to come to terms with. Getting lost etc certainly didn't help - a reminder to check the venue out beforehand if at all possible. Also, you can opt to wait on if the previous candidate hasn't turned up. A few minutes to compose yourself and warm up might have helped you to calm down a bit. It might be an idea to give your grade 8 stuff a rest now, and go on and do the jazz that you were talking about. Jazz piano is completely different from classical and when you get the hang of it is fun to do. I have got grade 8 classical, but started on jazz piano at a teachers'course, after which everyone took grade 1, even those with music degrees! I found it difficult at the start and didn't get as high a mark as I had hoped. After a bit of a rest and two jazz workshop weekends later with an excellent tutor I did grade 2 mostly by myself (I sent a recording of my pieces to the workshop tutor, who made useful comments) and got a Distinction. If you haven't done jazz before you will probably need some help to get going because the language and style is quite different.

I was going to suggest going to a forums concert to improve the performance nerves, but I see that you are based in the USA. How about organising something in your home town? The forums would not be much help for advertising in your case, but you could advertise locally, contacting teachers, music clubs, bands etc. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

Oh I really feel for you! This happened to me in the practical part of my school music exam. I was already fretting about not being able to find an empty practise room to tune and warm up, and getting sent in early just threw me completely: I messed up a section so badly I had to stop and ask to start again.




I would retake, for the sake of your own self belief, as your post makes it sound like you're really quite down about this. But don't prepare thinking in your head that you're a failure! If you go into it with a negative attitude you'll keep worrying and probably won't do any better the second time around. You CAN pass the exam - you were just nervous!

Though maybe, if you're really keen on learning jazz, it might be an idea to start on that (rather than feel that it's your Grade 8 that's keeping you back from it, which might make you resentful of your Grade 8 - making it seem like a total chore). The jazz will teach you new skills (working on improvisation could really help with your confidence!) and then you could go back to your Grade 8 at a later date with a fresh eye.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do!

I am really sorry for how it went


maybe going in straight after arriving didn't help either, I wish that they didn't ask that to someone who 'just walked in', they shouldn't put you in that situation to begin with.
Having a few minutes to relax and 'wind down' before going in can be very healing (to some it might not be actually, but it would help me!).

I think you should go for it again maybe in June so that you have time to brush up on things, see how you feel after the christmas break and talk about it with your teacher.

If it were me I'd want to retake - but not in the next session - it's too rushed. I'd recommend using the examiner's feedback to help you structure your studies with your teacher. I'd take some time out, learn some new repertoire at grade 8 level, but just for fun. Then when your playing ability becomes on a safer level, learn new pieces for the exam so they are fresh and retake. (I'm assuming your aural and sightreading went OK, but even so, keep working on those - don't leave it until just before the exam.) And if you don't already, make scales part of your practice warm up. Make sure you are playing all your pieces to pass standard BEFORE you enter. That will leave a few weeks for polishing.
I'm sorry you didn't get the result you hoped for, but speaking from experience, by consolidating and keeping going you'll end up a better player than if you'd passed first time.

Sorry to hear this, it must be a huge knock to confidence.

I agree with AnnC. Probably best to get lots of new repertoire in and re-take the exam perhaps next Summer rather than rush for the next session. This should give plenty of time to build your confidence.

Good luck with whatever you decide

For many of us, grade 8 is still a distant dream, which we may never even reach, so first of all you have done extremely well to have reached a position where you can actually sit down and take the exam in the first place!

If I were in your position, I would try to view this as you playing on a bad day under extreme stress, rather than see it as a reflection of your ability. Only you know how well prepared you were but I think if you were happy with your preparation, it might be worth considering whether you need to work on your performance. Many of us are not natural performers (myself included) and I think that this is an important consideration in preparation for exams - many of us need to learn to perform, in addition to learning to play, if you see what I mean!

I started a thread in Viva Piano recently about performance and exam nerves and was offered some very helpful advice by many very experienced players - it might be worth a look in case there is anything there which might also be of help to you.

I hope that you can retake the exam when you feel ready and come out with a good result. In the meantime, try to see it as a temporary setback, put it behind you and get on with enjoying your music!

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

Plenty of good advice here, I'd just like to offer my comiserations, and the best of luck in your future music making.

I'd say go for the retake too. It sounds as if the main barrier here is your mental state, and you don't want to be thinking in a few years, 'I could have done this if only I could have wised myself up'. Memory plays tricks with us too - you also don't want to be thinking 'I wasn't up to it', when in reality you probably are, and I think you know that now. I wouldn't particularly agree with leaving it till two or more sessions down the line. Preparing for Grade 8 piano takes time, and you already have three pieces more or less in the bag. If you really feel that on a good day you'd have passed, then I think you should just get the entry straight back in and work as hard as possible in the time that you have. Aim beyond a pass to allow room for unforeseen errors. Things don't improve when we're under pressure, so, as somebody said here a long time ago, practise, not till it goes well most of the time, but until it can't go wrong. You say that 'things had started to come together recently' - maybe you just need a little more time for things to settle securely in place as opposed to just 'come together'. 'Just come together' is fair enough for a confident child doing an earlier grade, but for an adult who will be nervous, and whose confidence might crumple under pressure, you might just need to go beyond this. I hope I don't sound harsh. But I think your confidence will take a bigger longterm dent if you just let this go. And if you wait too long, and have to learn three different pieces, it may never happen at all! Why not work a little at the jazz alongside it, for light relief, and do it again in the spring? And if you pick yourself up quickly and get straight back into the practice you'll have a focus again rather than just a feeling of despondency.

Doesn't everyone, at some point in their lives "fail" at something? I certainly have, both in exams, and in practical matters in life that matter more than some certificate or other.

It is not a disaster. It is an opportunity to learn, to rethink the way you study and practice, to get a deeper understanding of yourself. And for those of us that previously found everything came too easily, the shock of failure teaches a bit of humility, and proper appreciation of other people's struggles and achievements.

Of course you must retake it. If you don't then what ought to be just a temporary setback, a glitch in your progress, will become a real failure that haunts you for years. Alternatively (as you say grade 6 was the last exam you took) you could prepare instead for Grade 7, as a stepping stone and a confidence builder.

But there is no rush. It might take 6 months, it might take 5 years. It doesn't matter. But when you do eventually make the grade it will mean more, and will have been a far more important learning experience than if you had sailed through easily.

Read the examiners comments, analyse what you remember of the exam, discuss it with your teacher, formulate a plan to put right whatever went wrong. Then do the work, and wait until you are totally confident, and the exam material has become easy, before you put yourself to the test again.

And you know where to come for specific advice and encouragement if things get tough.

Just sending you my commiserations - the same thing happened to me in Grade 5 (I was asked to go straight in as the previous candidate was too upset to start - as he was about 30 years younger than me I accepted but it really threw my confidence!) Don't let this setback put you off though.

This is quite unfair, and the organizers should not do it. They ought to know that any change to your expected schedule can be un-nerving, especially if you are the sort of person that needs the time to compose themselves - rather than the sort that gets more and more tense and worried through waiting.

At the very least it should be done in a way that makes it very clear to you that there is no pressure or obligation to start earlier than you expected, and that you are quite at liberty to wait until your appointed time.

In any case it is done primarily for their and the examiners convenience - to finish and be done for the day a little sooner than expected. Some candidates might well be happy to start and finish sooner - but if that is so it is an incidental benefit.

From the other side - asking candidates if they'd be happy to go in early means that by 4pm things are less likely to be running half an hour late, and this is not a nice scenario either for the candidates' nerves. Certainly any time I've been stewarding and have asked someone if they'd go in early it was to avoid people having to pace up and down in a state of nerves later on, rather than so that the examiner would get an early tea! Nobody should feel pressurized, though; it's just a suggestion, and some go for it and some don't. Pianists are usually more likely to be happy to go ahead than singers or instrumentalists.

The answer to this, maybe, for candidates who don't want to go in early, is just to arrive exactly 15 minutes early and tell the steward as soon as you arrive that you don't want to be asked to go in early. It saves having to deal with the question when it comes!

Oh dear & Sorry. Try to think of it as just a step along the way. Winston Churchill said "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm"

Don't forget that the exam is a small snapshot of your playing and this particular snapshot things didn't go to plan.

This is an opportunity to learn loads more pieces to really consolodate the level you are at, and there is no reason why you can't do Jazz at the same time.

As they say, "Get back on the horse"...

Sorry to hear you did not pass go for it next time...

Yes, I'd do it again (and sooner rather than later). Lots of good advice here.

Also look at you pieces critically. Where are the weak points? Deconstruct and rebuild if necessary, then bring back up to speed and fluency.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll do it next time

Mole

So sorry that you had a bad time in your exam. I would re take next year sometime. MAybe doing different pieces if you are sick of the ones you have done.
Good luck.
Bev

Thanks very much everyone for your replies.
Although I don't need a grade 8 certificate for anything (very few people over here have even heard
of the ABRSM) I am tempted to retake. Because there are only two sessions per year it would be
in the summer of 2010 - but I'd have to apply by the middle of January.
I may spend a little time now polishing my pieces further, take a "beak" with a jazz teacher, then return
back to my current teacher nearer the next exam time.
Even if I don't take G8 again, I'd like to have 3 reasonably polished pieces at this level I can use
to "audition" with. (This might help if I want to take classes at the university that employs me.)

MadTom - I did already take Grade 7 over 2 years ago and passed with 128 - I'd have got a distinction if
I'd passed the aural Strangely, this time aural was one of the only two sections I passed
(along with scales).

Sorry. I read your OP too quickly. It does indeed say Grade 6 and 7. But 128 on Grade 7? All the more reason to believe you can do very well in Grade 8 if you identify and put right what went wrong this time. Best wishes.

Spaceman,

Lots of good advice for you in the above posts.

I went through the grades quickly - I'm in Bermuda, and like you we have the exams bi-annually.

I found grade 6 easier than 5 and grade 7 easier than 6, most likely because I think my playing was improving.

However the jump between 7 and 8 floored me!!! It might have been because I was in awe of "my goal", but more I think because the pieces had changed - they suddenly became much more demanding and also much longer, requiring stamina (both physical and mental) to get through them. The sight reading standard is higher and also the aural gets trickier - but you will know all this!!!

Only you can decide whether or not to retake Grade 8 and if you do how long to take to prepare for it.

As Mad Tom points out you had a good pass at grade 7, so there is much encouragement to be taken from that. The examiner's comments will also give you guidance on the areas for improvement.

You will also have the opportunity to either pick up new pieces or strive to improve ones that you are comfortable with - but do also consider if you are affected by a change in syllabus.

One thing that struck me was your being flustered at being ushered in early - the same thing happened to me at Grade 7 and I left two pieces of music in the waiting room. In the exam I played my first piece and then turned over to play the next one and there was no music!!!! - PANIC - Raced down two floors to retrieve said music, Heart rate went through the roof, exam went decidedly downhill, but thankfully I still managed to pass. However if it were me I would have not passed me on that performance on that day, notwithstanding all the hard work that had been put in.

If it were me I'd want to re-sit, you've come so far and got so close - and Grade 8 is an important milestone.

Don't forget exams are somewhat of a lottery - even with decent preparation there is a chance that something will go wrong.

I've failed loads of things (OK intermediate accountancy exams) but managed to pass them at the second attempt. I encourage you to regroup, give it some good thought and then go on and pass your Grade 8.

Good luck,

All the best.

Nigel

Hi Spaceman,

Firstly, I am really sorry about your exam. Even if you think you've done badly it's still a horrible shock when the result arrives.
Also as you know it's possibly at least partly not your fault, with being ushered in early etc., it must be really frustrating too.

I think there is a bigger gap on the piano between gd7 & gd8 than on any other instrument, on technical expectations and musical. I also think you will probably end up retaking and that the extra term and this experience will help you to do well next time. It takes a strong person to post about an exam fail, so I congratulate you for that and your own insight into yourself, and wish you luck in what you decide to do next.

This is quite unfair, and the organizers should not do it. They ought to know that any change to your expected schedule can be un-nerving, especially if you are the sort of person that needs the time to compose themselves - rather than the sort that gets more and more tense and worried through waiting.

I recently filled in a survey about exams for the board, and this was a point I made quite strongly.

Pupils of mine have at times felt that they should agree to go in early if asked, when just a few minutes' mental-prep time might have made a difference.

Spaceman - commiserations. I agree with those who've said retake.

Sounds like you should have been able to pass. Unfortunately, we can't control what will happen on the day, I mean external factors.

If I were you I'd go for the next exam as soon as available (summer 2010?). Try not to analyse too much about it or you'll start having doubts. You definitely are capable of passing the exam.
I had to resit a grade 8 too (6 months gap), but unlike you, my grade 7 was already a struggle. I'm glad I didn't leave it too long before resit or it'll become too weary for me with all the anticipation.

Go for it! Make sure you apply this January!

Well, I went ahead and took the grade 8 exam again. After taking a bit of a break from the exam pieces I worked away at everything with my excellent teacher and got rather more "fluent". But, when I got into the exam I had a huge attack of nerves again (not helped by the warm up piano being in the center of a large room where many people were preparing for a party that evening!). So, lots of mistakes and stumbles in playing pieces and scales (although not quite as many as the first time) and my hands were sweaty and literally shaking a little. I was extremely disappointed with myself. (Examiner was friendly, polite, and professional though, like all the ABRSM examiners I've met.)

Got my results today and I found I got exactly 100!
Although at one time I'd have been a little disappointed with 100 (I got merits at grades 7 and 8), I'm actually very pleased to scrape through. It gives a reasonable completion to this stage of my music learning. One lesson is that playing in front of other people is something that needs practice too. Also, it shows that contrary to the common "folklore" the ABRSM does give scores of 100. (Hopefully they don't read this and decide to remark me down to 98 or something!)

[100 is a pass isn't it? I didn't need to get 101 did I?!]

Well done! Having just read the rest of the thread I'm really pleased you passed this time. I get horrible nerves when playing in front of people and know exactly how frustrating it is.

Good luck with the jazz. I think I'd like to do exactly the same as you, get to grade 8 and then start jazz piano -I love jazz (and classical!)

Congratulations!

Congratulations Spaceman

Well done, Spaceman! Good on you for persevering, especially when you don't exist!

*groan* - and how do you know if he's urban or not, anyway?

Congratulations spaceman!

Well, to achieve his grade 8, he did go to town on it!

(Where are cymbals when you need 'em? )

I am a teacher and I know that you may be offered an earlier time to go in if the examiner finishes their previous candidate early, but you are under no obligation to take the earlier time. It may be offered to you, but you can politely decline and say thanks but you would rather not, and stick to your actual given time.

Well done, I have just read through your whole thread and I take my hat off to you, well done again! An especial achievement to have the guts to overcome any negative vibes from the first experience and pass it the second time! Good for you.

Congratulations,

I am pleased you chose to sit again. A success after a struggle is much sweeter.

Yes, well done indeed. So pleased you made it this time. And yes, 100 is definitely a pass!

Congratulations! It should be a lesson to us all that a failure must be viewed as a temporary slip along the path ... and that it should only help to take a break, get up again with renewed energy and resume the walking.

I'm not an adult learner, but this happened to me also for my grade 3 exam. It started about half an hour early. It wasn't nerves that caused the problems though, it was my hands. I had walked to the exam center after school which took about 20 minutes in the freezing cold so my hands were almost numb and I found it near to impossible to play, although somehow I still managed a pass with distinction.

Well done Spaceman. Its lovely to hear of your success

Well done Spaceman!

I doff my hat, and tug my forelock in deference to you. Once I pass my grade 8 piano I will no doubt come over all modest say it's not that big a deal, but at the moment it is a big deal, and you passed, so good for you.

I think exams are worse than concerts. In fact, they are like concerts where you have an audience of one person, and you know they are much better at the instrument than you are, and they will mark you down for your mistakes.

At least in a concert you can make sure your wife/mum/friends are there to give moral support. I am too old to have my wife take me along to music exams!

N

Well done, spaceman!

Congratulations and for having the courage to retake. You can now officially say you are a grade 8 player. Well done.

Great news, spaceman! Congratulations on both your perseverance and your pass

Well done on the pass.

If it puts it into perspective, I wish I was good enough to fail Grade 8 by a few marks!

Collyermum

Very well done, great news

Thanks very much everyone!