I am taking Grade 4 piano soon and have already done 1 2 and 3. I am in year 8 and I want to take ALL my piano exams without missing any out (cos I'm really fussy). Is there a chance I'll be able to have done the other 4 by the time I leave school. By the way I have all the scale books and pick up on them quite easily because I like playing them but I know it takes loads of preperation. Can I do it all of them or do I have to miss some out to do Grade 8 by the end of year 11?

You don't have to do them in order, but I wouldn't try and gain 4 years in 3 or so years. Not only do the higher grades get more technically challenging but examiners are also looking for more expression and musicality in the music. By the time you are year 11, you might decide you want to stay on at school anyway! What is the rush?

OK thanks, yeah I guess I could do them when Im in college. thank you

Yes, I would definitely not rush. I have done one every year for 7 years but now I have got to the point where I have to do my Grade 7 either now or in the winter because of my exams (GCSEs). I don't think somehow I will be doing my Grade 8 this time next year but I don't especially mind

that really depends if you have enough umph ( forgot the word) to like pay attention do really well but yeh i guess you can but i wouldn't rush it i'd play it in my own time but it up to you really..

I'm taking my time and i'm nearly in the end of year 9 and i wil not get it done by the start of year 11 i know that for sure but i'm just going to say to my tacher can i have some time off whilst i do my GCSE so i won't have to much work and i overwork myself.

try to get one in school if possible if you really want to and try to play as much as you want to but it just depends on you weather you like it or not you should just consider it with you parents really although its not exactly their choise because it is your life

hope that helps

what's the point of doing them in a rush...all of my exams...i mean grade 8 here.... were done in a rush...and you can't get anything out of that...except that i did them at the age 14 and 16 respectively...and guess what...bad result....117 for piano and 123 for singing....

another thing is....don't bother doing all the grades...it's not necessary.... i'm doing grade 6 organ this term...but i haven't done any organ exams before.... no point of fussing...

i wish you'd stop saying marks like 117 and 123 are bad. doesnt exactly make people like me and Helen feel any better

Yep, they are still a very high pass/low merit. And, you've passed, that is what counts....and at grade 8 it is still very good

thank you everyone yeah i am kind of fussy. by the way baby banana do you mean umph as in motivation. well i do think i ve got quite alot of umph cos i luv practising but i shall just have to wait and see. by the way 117 and 123 arent bad marks theyre good cos i know sum1 who got 101.

You can skip exams, but say you wanted to skip Grade 4 (even though you're not) and go onto Grade 5, I would make a decision that is partly based on your Grade 3 result. If you got a pass, or even scrpaed a merit, I think I would not skip it.

QUOTE (musicbox @ Jan 14 2005, 06:36 PM)

I am taking Grade 4 piano soon and have already done 1 2 and 3.  I am in year 8 and I want to take ALL my piano exams without missing any out (cos I'm really fussy).  Is there a chance I'll be able to have done the other 4 by the time I leave school.  By the way I have all the scale books and pick up on them quite easily because I like playing them but I know it takes loads of preperation.  Can I do it all of them or do I have to miss some out to do Grade 8 by the end of year 11?  :unsure:

hi

for some reason I think that you wont be able to though but you should have started alot earlier. I started when I was 5 althpugh now I think I am on either Grade8 or 7 Im not that sure

Pandas_r_da_best

QUOTE

for some reason I think that you wont be able to though but you should have started alot earlier. I started when I was 5 althpugh now I think I am on either Grade8 or 7 Im not that sure

I think that is a bit unfair, as when you start at X age, you don't start just so you can get Grade 8 by another age!

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 15 2005, 06:03 PM)

I think that is a bit unfair, as when you start at X age, you don't start just so you can get Grade 8 by another age!

Yeah, it depends on how fast you work. I did grade in the summer when I was in year 10, and then did garde 5 at Christmas when I was in L6th, and I'm in U6th now. I didn't do grade 4 because I didn't want to, and if I pushed, I could probably have taken grade 6 by now. I'm not rushing exams because I don't want to, because I play for the experience of playing, not to see how quickly I can get through exams.
But, I think if you set the target now to get through all the exams before you leave, it may be a bit of a scramble to get there by year 11, but another 2 years and you'll do it! You never know til you try!

QUOTE (pandas_r_da_best @ Jan 15 2005, 05:33 PM)

QUOTE (musicbox @ Jan 14 2005, 06:36 PM) I am taking Grade 4 piano soon and have already done 1 2 and 3.  I am in year 8 and I want to take ALL my piano exams without missing any out (cos I'm really fussy).  Is there a chance I'll be able to have done the other 4 by the time I leave school.  By the way I have all the scale books and pick up on them quite easily because I like playing them but I know it takes loads of preperation.  Can I do it all of them or do I have to miss some out to do Grade 8 by the end of year 11?   hi for some reason I think that you wont be able to though but you should have started alot earlier. I started when I was 5 althpugh now I think I am on either Grade8 or 7 Im not that sure Pandas_r_da_best

oh yeah i shud hav started earlier but i started when i was 6 and didnt take g1 till i was 10 but then i was totaly scared so i didnt do my next one bout 2 1/2 years later. but thanx

QUOTE (elmo @ Jan 15 2005, 06:43 PM)

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 15 2005, 06:03 PM) I think that is a bit unfair, as when you start at X age, you don't start just so you can get Grade 8 by another age! Yeah, it depends on how fast you work. I did grade in the summer when I was in year 10, and then did garde 5 at Christmas when I was in L6th, and I'm in U6th now. I didn't do grade 4 because I didn't want to, and if I pushed, I could probably have taken grade 6 by now. I'm not rushing exams because I don't want to, because I play for the experience of playing, not to see how quickly I can get through exams. But, I think if you set the target now to get through all the exams before you leave, it may be a bit of a scramble to get there by year 11, but another 2 years and you'll do it! You never know til you try!

yeah well i want to do grade 8 cos i love music and want to do a degree thingy my frend told me about but she said youve got to have done grade8 im dont want to rush though cos so glad i can read and play music

most colleges are looking for grade 8 students, or better, but not all of them require it, and some of them will audition you so if you are at the right standard but just haven't taken the grade then you'd be OK, or you can take a year at the end of school to get through the grades. depends where you want to go really. but there's no point at all in missing out grades just for the sake of getting through them all, or rushing through them just to get to grade 8 "in time" - if you have enough talent and work hard enough to get to music college standard, then which grades you have taken becomes beside the point. a lot of music students who want to take music, especially at one of the royal colleges or a conservatoire, take a year out to have intensive lessons even if they took their grade 8 and got distinction several years before. so don't worry about exams, just practice hard and get as good as you can be, and see what happens.

QUOTE

oh yeah i shud hav started earlier but i started when i was 6 and didnt take g1 till i was 10 but then i was totaly scared so i didnt do my next one bout 2 1/2 years later. but thanx

And you don't call starting at 6 early?

I would call starting at 6 quite early. Of course there are some children who start when they're 3 or 4, but I think starting at 6 is still early in my opinion.

Yes, I started at 7/8, but I would call 6 early. I can't imagine playing an instrument when I was 6....or earlier!

I f 6 isn't early, and I started when I was 12/13 that makes me middle aged in piano playing terms, and for adult learners, they must be ancient!
Go for it!!!

okay...i started at 5 and this is quite common in hong kong...to start early....as parents are crazy

Yes, I suppose in some parts of the world children will be encouraged to start earlier than in others. I could be wrong, but I think this is particularly true of the Far East.

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Jan 16 2005, 08:26 AM)

QUOTE oh yeah i shud hav started earlier but i started when i was 6 and didnt take g1 till i was 10 but then i was totaly scared so i didnt do my next one bout 2 1/2 years later. but thanx And you don't call starting at 6 early?

well it is kind of early but i didnt do my first grade till i was 9/10 and left grade 2 for a while it took me ages before i clicked and also i do think i started early but it took me ages to get the hanbg of it