Just what I was thinking!
Accompanying pupils is scary enough, and the accompaniments can be very tricky. Why put yourself through more, you have a busy enough life as it is.
Pick yourself some nice new pieces and enjoy

Commiseratons jod, sickening. Close enough that if you were feeling better and had a different examiner you would most likely have passed. Hopefully you will get some useful comments and can try again at a time when life is a bit less stressful.

Sorry to learn of your result jod.

I took grade 3 piano yesterday - scales and aural were OK, sight reading not too bad, but I messed up in a couple of the pieces again. Heaven knows why. Pass or fail, I'm going to ask my teacher to move on to grade 4 stuff...

Sorry to read of your frustrations, Jod.
Next time you go for it, you could have a family meeting and formally spell out exactly what you need to happen in the home for you to realise your dream, and how much it means to you.
Keep playing.

Jod, so sorry to hear this one. I agree with the others - get well, concentrate on accompanying and find some new shiny pieces to have a go at. Then pick the easiest session as a parent and go for it....sending the biggest hugs from gibraltar - and a large virtual bar of chocolate xx

Sorry to hear about your fail Jod. I can't add something that's not already said.

Sat G1 piano two weeks ago and achieved 126.

For the one-page version of the "surprise symphony" I had practised a beautiful "surprise" chord: a clear ringing fortissimo chord, held for just the right length of time. Of course in the exam, it came out as a wooden thud on the wrong notes. Hastened to redeem myself with the "Soldier's march" (which in the end achieved the same mark as the Haydn anyway.)

Well done on your merit, good job!
I too find that the exam situation can be a catalyst for all sorts of new and interesting mistakes that have never been made before

Thank you so much for the kind messages.

I did not realise so many people cared and I promptly burst into tears knowing there was so much support (something I'm not used to).

I will try again even though there are some of you who are advising me against it, yet just to tell I am listening, I will be kind to myself too.

I am learning some 'shiny new pieces' at present, but at least one of the pieces I played, the Chopin Nocturne in B major will be offered again as I love it so much, and I will probably play the Scarlatti Sonata in f# minor, because the only reason that was a disaster on the day was because I was ill, and developed cramp in my right hand.

When my dad finally gets council accommodation around this way, I know that he will be able to take some of the pressure off me as we had a long chat yesterday. I love my boys and husband very much, however they don't always appreciate how demanding they are. The children, I can understand, however my husband is less excusable.

At the same time, I bet there are many other couples in a similar position, and he is not a 'bad person' just human like the rest of us and he has many good points too, just as I have flaws.

Enjoy your new pieces.
I didn't pick up if you had any input from a teacher during your exam preparation?
Maybe It would help to give you another perspective. It's so easy to miss those little things.

slightly embarrassed to report that I got 143 for my grade 3 exam. What a girly swot
really puzzled though that I seem to have got an aural question wrong, grrrrrrr!

Well done; ditch the embarrassment.




Naturally. Well done - good result.

That is a fantastic result Congratulations

Well done Kate, fantastic result.

WOW! Well done Kate, that is fantastic.

Very well done, you should be very proud of yourself...not embarrassed at all. Hope you will be celebrating tonight.

Well done to GrantM too - excellent result.

Hope you enjoy your new pieces for a while, jod. Hopefully you'll be able to have more support next time you give it a go.

Very well done, Kate...and you too Grant. Kate, no reason to be embarassed, that's a great mark!

Well done.

I got 16 out of 18 for the aural section of my exam as I somehow confused smooth and detached notes. I think I can usually hear the difference between legato and staccato notes; it must have been a 'senior' moment.

Congratulations, both of you!

Congratulations everybody.
And admiration to jod, never give up.

Well done to everyone that has their results already.

I have my G1 piano this afternoon, quite nervous. Done plenty of written exams in my career but never really played piano to a complete stranger.

Wish me luck xx

Good luck!



Wow, excellent! Well done, I hope for similar embarrassment after my grade 3 : )

Good luck mopsey





tell us how it went!

[quote name='fluteabi' date='Dec 6 2011, 12:27 PM' post='1111793']
[quote name='Mopsey' post='1111785' date='Dec 6 2011, 11:44 AM']
I have my G1 piano this afternoon, quite nervous. Done plenty of written exams in my career but never really played piano to a complete stranger.

Wish me luck xx
[/quote]
Good luck!

[quote name='katemorrisviolin' post='1111540' date='Dec 5 2011, 12:20 PM']
slightly embarrassed to report that I got 143 for my grade 3 exam. What a girly swot
really puzzled though that I seem to have got an aural question wrong, grrrrrrr!
[/quote]
Congratualtions Kate and Grant M - very commendable results!

Well did the exam really unsure how I did, it all seems a blur!!!!

How long does it normally take for results?

Played 2 pieces well (I think), my 3rd I played a ###### note near the end but carried on playing!

Chords and broken chords - ok

Unsure of the 1A test so it was 50/50!

Sight reading - fluffed a little but kept going making sure that I finished on the correct note!

for a good result Mopsey

That sounds great, well done for not stopping after the ###### note! and for keeping going in the sight reading. You should do well; one ###### note will make very little difference. I was practically improvising in one of my guitar exams and still got a decent mark as it sounded musical
My result took 11 days. It's usually two weeks at the most. Good luck!

This is so funny I had to share it. I've just got my mark sheet back and it praises my vibrato. Vibrato??????? I can't do vibrato yet. That was my arm shaking from nerves! Ha ha ha!

Hello everyone,

Bit shy, as first post here.... or anywhere else come to think of it...

Definitely want to say a big thanks to the person who posted about the chromatic contrary motion scales for grade 5 piano. I didn't even realise there were any til I read the post a week before my exam! (My teacher only did the pieces with me)

Feeling a bit down about the exam actually (even though I flew through the Ab contrary chromatic after only five days' practise!) - I was so nervous, I flunked most of the scales due to shakey hands, racing heartbeat and deep trying-to-control-my-breath sighs, and played an entirely different tune to the piece of sight reading in front of me. How I managed to keep going (cardinal rule, I'm told) I don't know, perhaps they'll give me points for perseverance against all odds! I think the pieces were ok, but I'm not optimistic about passing.

In the meantime, well done to those of you who've already passsd this sesson!

Welcome to the forums, eve.b!
Bit naughty of your teacher not to at least give you indications of the supporting tests.

Hi eve.b, welcome to the forums. I'm quite new but have found it really enjoyable reading and posting here.
It sounds like your teacher has let you down with the exam preparation. Ideally you should at the very least have had a mock exam with him/her so you know how nerves will affect your performance, and what still needs work.
I recognise all those horrible adrenaline symptoms you describe, I suffer all those symptoms too regardless of how well prepared I am, and still haven't worked out how to manage it. Well done for keeping going. You may have passed after all! If not, there's always next term, and you'll be better prepared by then. Post here when you get your results

Hi Eve.b and welcome!

Yes, do keep us posted! probably your exam was better than you think at the moment.

If you used the main book, the scales would be listed in the front cover - but maybe you chose alternative pieces and so used three separate books? You could check the syllabus online another time too, if you feel that would be useful.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for your result

Hello Eve B. lets hope you get a good mark and not a fail like mine.

Congrats Kate and Grant it is always good to share in the good news of other people.

I have had so much support from the other people on this thread, and some personal messages too.

It has been a roller-coaster of a week when I found a member of the family who I was fond of had died in June, and yet I have gained her children and at least one of her grandchildren as a branch of the family who care and want to rekindle family links.

I feel that once my Dad is settled and with this new support, life is going to start looking up. Before we scattered, we were an East-end family and have those values instilled in us. We know how to be there for one another. I hope we can be as close as our Nans once were.

With that support it will be third time lucky for Grade 8 Piano.

These two had their exams today and I had two grade 3s to accompany as well. They all played their accompanied pieces beautifully I do hope they've done well overall

Well done katemorrisviolin and GrantM excellent results.

Did the recital this morning in Leeds and it went as well as I could reasonably have hoped. Was practising my fingering on the music copy whilst I was on the train and although at the time it felt a bit desperate, I do believe it helped! (At least I didn't stumble over that bit when it counted.)

Felt like the piano was on my side instead of fighting me.

No idea whether I did enough to pass but all I have to do now is to wait.

Tonight I plan to flop on the sofa, stare vacantly at the tv and guzzle a glass (or 2) of wine and not even THINK about playing the piano.

(Found a copy of Music Teacher on a swivel stand in the exam centre and skim-read Cyrilla's article while I waited for the taxi. )

Air piano in a public place???? cool! never seen that before! Did the other passengers mistake you for a Tommy Cooper impressionist?
Good luck with your results and enjoy your wine

Tried to do it discreetly on my lap - would hate to look like a 'pseud'! I figured the slight drumming sound couldn't be more irritating than peoples' phones pinging all around me.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Thanks for all your kind comments and welcome... should hear next week.

(Will be 11 days on Monday, so I guess I'll start looking then - eek!)

In the meantime, I've decided to make handmade truffles this weekend as Christmas pressies (which will require careful testing of course!), so if I fail, at least there will be chocolate in the house!

Awww!!!!

Glad it all went so well, mel2!

Well done mel2!! Hope you enjoyed the wine

Not quite in the same league, but daughter got a 122 merit for her grade 2 piano, utterly delighted for her as she worked so hard to get there in 10 months from scratch. Her teacher took a leap of faith to enter her back in Sept - at the time she had nothing hands together and her scales/sightreading were not good. Shows hard work and perseverance really does pay off.

Excellent : well done to her!

Re-sat Grade 5 violin a few weeks ago. Almost pulled out due to an ongoing situation which is causing an immense amount of stress and then waking up on the morning of the exam with a huge migraine.

Just found out I passed

So wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who gave me such support and encouragement when I felt so down after the disaster in the summer - you really kept me going when I wanted to give in and quit and also to my new teacher for giving me back my confidence.

Off now for some cheesecake and a bacon sandwich

Great news! Well done.

Beats champagne any day - congratulations and well done for sticking with it.

Many congratulations, Blackbird77 : thoroughly deserved

Ha ha! in that order? superb!
Congratulations on your success.

Well done for having another go, Blackbird77, and congratulations on your result

Well done, excellent news!

A big well done to you for persevering! Great feeling to have succeeded.