I'm doing grade 4 in march- things should be fine, but any tips on keeping calm would be aprreciated!




chrispiano

In exams or concerts I try to remind myself that actually, I enjoy playing. I've chosen to share that enjoyment with the examiner/audience and there's no need to be nervous because I'm having a good time doing what I love.

If you can, play your pieces for as many people as possible beforehand so that you get used to playing when you are more nervous (at least this is what I did for Grade 2 and it really helped. By the time I played for the examiner all I thought was that at least it wasn't one of my friends!). I have started playing my Grade 4 pieces for friends now (exam at the end of March) and already I can see the difference - I can finish the pieces in front of them instead of falling apart and stopping....)

Good luck with yours.

Thanks for that advice-I am actually performing in a concert with the pieces before the exam, so that should help.


chrispiano

When you are nervous, your heart rate and breathing rate increase, so my teacher has me run up and down stairs a couple of times, then play a piece before things settle back down, so that I know that I can control things when this happens. My exam is next week, so I'll let you know if it worked