I've got my first piano student doing an exam this session, so looking for advice from the experienced!

Their own choice piece is the William Tell Overture from Me and My Piano 2. I know that usually you don't do repeats that are longer than a few bars and the repeat here is for the whole piece (8 bars), but it's so short!

What would you do?

Thank you in advance for any replies!

Sorry it's not a reply to your question but are they allowed to do that piece? My understanding was that the pieces, even their "own choice" piece, had to come from either of the two which are printed in the Prep Test book or something from the other 3 books which are mentioned, Party Time, Roundabout and Party Time on holiday. I will be entering a few pupils for the Prep Test next period (I've never done Prep Test before) but the instructions aren't very clear. At the moment they're working through Michael Aaron book 1. Does it mean that they could play one of those pieces for the exam?

I'd do the repeat if she wants to.
Prep test set pieces tend to be nearer 16 bars than 8.
Can you get her to vary the dynamic second time.

Their second piece can be anything at all Last session one of ours did the Birdie Dance!!

I would repeat, and do as Sbhoa suggests and try varying the dynamics level.

I have found pupils have loved doing the prep tests, and got really helpful comments.
Best of luck for your pupil

Thank you for the replies!

She loves doing the repeat so we'll do it, thank you. I suppose even if the examiner is having a grumpy day, he can't deduct marks when there's no pass or fail!

I'd been thinking about changes in the dynamics if we did repeat it, so that's good to know others advise it! Do you know the piece? I was thinking either same dynamic level first time (maybe mf) then as written second time, or as written first time then second time p/mp until the last phrase then f/ff. What do you think?

I've entered plenty of pupils for Prep Test over the years, and yes, 2nd piece is genuinally 'own choice', it can be anything you want. One of mine had a lovely time last term with her chosen piece which she repeated an octave higher using a different dynamic. Length and complexity wise I try to go for something on similar lines to the 'set' pieces. And please ABRSM could we have a new book at some juncture- some of us have been teaching Walking Rocking and Hopping for longer than we care to remember!

Ooooo - octave higher?! That would be different!! Might give that a go with her!

I did suggest longer pieces, but she really loved this one when we did it and has asked about it several times, so I relented, given it's in F major with a hand position change and a different tempo from the set piece (she's doing Boating Lake). Plus I didn't want to spend too much time on preparation for the exam. But I did think the examiner might miss it if it was played without a repeat!!

Oh, well I wouldn't know about that, not having ever entered anyone for the Prep Test before. So how often do the pieces change? There are no dates on the front of my book so I guess that they don't change every 2 years like the grade exams, do they?

As far as I can tell they haven't changed. Yet. At all.

I'm not sure that they've ever changed! I think it might still be the same original book.

My daughter went in with Boating Lake from the prep test book, and an own choice. When the examiner asked her which two pieces she'd like to play, she took it a bit literally - the result being that she played two own choice pieces!

It didn't seem to make any difference - the examiner either didn't notice, or didn't care

Great ! Children can be so literal . . . .

Porilo, if it helps, you have to play :

1 - a set piece which can be either of the two in the Prep book OR any piece from one of the three alternative pieces books.

2- a free choice piece which is 100% free choice - absolutely anything, about 16 -24 bars long being the only stipulation.

I usually get mine to prepare two free choice pieces, one easy one (maybe already done from their method book but kept going) and one more challenging. And then a couple of weeks before we decide which one to go for.

Where does it say the 16-24 bars long bit? I didn't see that. Not sure if I need to start panicking!!

... just found it on the website. Would be helpful to have it in the book!

Do you think 8 bars repeated will be ok or do we need to do something different?

This is a non-official reply i.e. I don't really know (!) but I don't think they'd be any problem playing a 8 bar piece plus repeat,, especially if the repeat had different dynamics etc.
The free choice piece does seem to be very 'free' - I've had a couple of entrants play extremely easy pieces, for instance, and no one's ever mentioned it.
You could always phone and ask if you were worried but I wouldn't think it'd be mentioned.
Actually, I find that relatively little is said about the pieces on the sheet and quite a lot about the exercises and the listening games (and general position at the piano etc. etc.).

Thanks for the reply - that's put my mind at ease.
Interesting to hear where they focus their comments. I wonder if others have found the same...

I would say I have found the comments much the same - a broad overall comment for each of the pieces, lots written about how they sit at the piano etc, comments about the "tunes" are quite detailed, as are the comments about the listening games. And then usually a nice comment at the end about their general musical ability (eg. if their dynamics/tempo/flow/tone/ear/posture was particularly good) and very encouraging.

I would say 8 bars repeated with a change in dynamics should be fine - after all Jogalong has plenty of repetition in the melody!

The examiners really don't care what they own choice piece is. I've had kids play all sorts of bonkers tunes such as Lady Gaga, the Batman theme tune (very reptitive!) and some have even done a Grade 1 piece if they've had that ready.

Thanks - glad I can keep the piece! And really nice to hear a bit more about the test and comments - sounds like it ought to be a very positive experience ...and it's already encouraging more effective practice and pupil's mum getting involved in practice - yay!

I use Prep Test for most of my young pupils and regard it as a pre Grade 1 'exam'. It gives them a taste of what the exam situation is like and they always find it a positive experience. Parents seem to really like it, too.
Like other teachers, though, I would very much welcome an update of the 3 tunes and 2 pieces in the book - although I think Boating Lake is charming and most pupils choose to play it, I have been teaching it for a very long time!

We're a bit off the original topic about repeats by now but still on the Prep TEst so I hope it's OK to carry on in that line. Back on an old hobby horse of mine - the Prep Test here costs 52 euros and frankly you don't get value for money. You do get an exam experience for younger or nervous pupils but you don't get marks, you don't get even a simplified version of the section by section report - just some genral comments. The children have a choice of what is in the Prep Test book - none of which (in my humble opinion), has much musical value, or the Roundabout and Party Tme books.

Now I don't see much correlation in the standards of the pieces in these books (often with unimaginative tunes and pernikerty phrasing and dynamics) and the two dreadful peices in the PT book. Oh dear I am grousing, I know, but I feel very strongly about the beginnings of teaching music and I don't think this syllabus has been thought through. On the positive side the Party Time series does have a few better pieces but on the whole they are quite a lot more difficult than the two in the book. And also on the positive side you do have a completley free choice for the second piece. Like other teachers I have sometimes used a Grade 1 piece for a pupil who is on the way to Grade 1 but not yet able to sustain a whole Grade 1 exam.

That said, the very fact that the book has remained the same for so many years shows a certain disregard for the young beginner - and that is a dangerous policy. Children often begin the piano much earlier than they did some years ago. So they can take a lot longer to get to Grade 1 than the 18 months or so suggested by the AB. I certainly have some who start asking when they can do an exam like their older brothers and sisters long before they are ready for Grade 1.

In the past I used the PT fairly often but as the price went up I decided it was nolonger fair to ask parents to pay for something I only half believed in. Unfortunately I have had to use it again this year for two children. One is a little girl who has been learning in a group of three and the other two are ready for Grade 1. I thought she would be too, but circumstances exterior to music have meant that she isn't. She doesn't want to be left out so she is doing the PT so that at least she will feel the same as her friends. The other case is a boy who very much wants to do an exam but isn't ready for Grade 1 and is continually being told by his father that he is better than he is. I thought the PT in this case would help.

If and when the AB do decide to revise the PT I would hope that they discuss the requirements with a number of teachers of young children, including class teachers with experience of other learning situations.
At the moment I feel it is just a pick and mix of what some advanced musicians have thought could be dished out to beginners who needn't be given all that much consideration precisely because that is all they are.

I expect my judgement sounds a bit harsh, but that is what I think.

Having answered truly 'on-topic', I'd like to reiterate what Aquarelle has to say (by her own admittance slightly off topic) but it's important, she's right and I feel that the more times the Board hears it, the better.

At 52 euros, the cost of the Prep test in Europe is too high.

It represents over 5 weeks worth of lessons for a lot of pupils.

I use it for younger siblings who want to take part, or children who are taking quite a long time to progress and it's good to have some concrete achievement - but only for families where money is not too big an issue.

For my other families, I'm voting with my feet.

And, yes, Boating Lake is fine but Jogalong is irritating and the alternative set pieces are quite a bit longer and harder and Aquarelle's phrase "unimaginative tunes and pernikerty phrasing and dynamics" absolutely hits the nail on the head. The 6ths hopping exercise is poorly chosen too.

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