I go into the local primary school on a voluntary basis to help with "music". Coming up to music exams this translates as helping the children playing violins with pieces, scales, sight reading, aural work... I am accompanying them in their exams, also playing for one of my own doing grade 1 flute.
There is a young teacher in the school who has been given the job partly based on her meeting the criteria of minimum grade 7 piano (she has grade 8). she is accompanying a couple of clarinet exams & is supposed to be accompanying a child playing Tuxedo Junction & the Policeman's Song for grade 2 trumpet. The problem is that she can't play the 1st piece adequately & the exams are in a week.
It's not that she's not had enough time to work on it - she's had it since Easter. I went over it with her & explained how to simplify the walking bass line.
Do I offer to play it? - let her off the hook as it were. Disadvantages for me are that I will need to spend some time playing over the other piece & time is something I'm a bit short of. i've got my own exam the next day & i know my nerves will be frayed by accompanying 4 other children, never mind my own exam.
If I offer to do it will she see me as the easy way out whenever anything difficult comes up? She gets paid for this whereas I'm doing it in my own time, to try & help the children.
Why can't she play it ?- look at my signature -I haven't grade 8 piano, yet I sorted it.
Do I do what's right for the child who is very able & deserves a chance to play her best? Or what??

i do think you have quite enough on your plate...i don't mean to be selfish....but you can't have that much time to deal with every thing.... prehaps you can ask a friend to help you...

Yes, concentrate on your own exam, the acompanist should have been able to play it by now though. The examiner would be marking the child anyway, and if they can clearly see that the accompanist isn't play it well, then they'll take that into consideration maybe.

I think you might cause a little ill-feeling if you offered to play. If you are asked, that's a different matter. If the accompanist is unsatisfactory this time it will get around and you will probably be asked to accompany next time. Hope all goes well.

I already have been asked by the mother of the child & by the head.

Or do it this time, but don't do it again? If the accompaniment isn't satisfactory, the child isn't going to be the best she can! And you said yourself they are able.

It's not fair of them to put pressure on you if you've also got an exam. If you didn't have an exam I think it would be totally different, but there are times when you have to put yourself first. I had to learn to say no to people and it's hard! I have to though otherwise I'd be snowed under with no time to myself!

I'd be inclined to let the other teacher get on with it. She has got some responsibility for music so its her job and she should be more than capable of accompanying exams. If she got a job partly based on her ability to play the piano and she can't then she should be exposed and the job given to someone who is competent. Its not fair that this pressure is being put on you and as a volunteer I hope this school value all the work you do. Sorry if this seems a bit harsh. I am tired of having to 'rescue' students of incompetent teachers who think they are better than they are. Saying no is hard, but as I'm beginning to learn, it gets easier with practice! Don't let them pressure you or make you feel guilty. Your time is important and someone who has passed grade 8 should be able to practice the pieces ( if she couldn't sight read them) from Easter and know them by now. Obviously she's not prepared to do it so why should you?

You probably will because you seem like a nice person and it can be very hard to say no!

If you manage to say no, I hope that goes well. It sounds like you have already taken a lot on for one exam session!

But, if you do it, I hope you will get something positive from it, and find it useful experience - both of performing, and learning to say "Just this once, but never again"(at least, never at short notice with no pay again...) - and meaning it! Good luck, whatever you decide. Hopefully if you stress how hard it is for you this time, the circumstance will not arise again and in future you will be able to say you did your bit last time.

Regards,
Fred

I think that the word distinction in your signature and the requirement for a grade 8 pass might explain that one...

I agree with what other people have said: don't do it, the children won't suffer as much as it would appear so long as the accompanist can keep going (or they can ignore them) as the examiners don't mark the accompanist and ignore them as much as they possibly can. They may even decide that on the day they were let down by the accompanist and that affected their performance by two marks, or whatever, that they can then award to them anyway.

I only managed a pass for my Grade 8, but I think I could've sorted out Grade 4 violin accompaniment hands down. (faking anger) I don't see why that teacher of hers can't sort it just before the exam. Maybe she needs a push like this to get her to sort out her piano skills.

I'm just listening to the Glen Miller band playing Tuxedo Junction on CD. May I suggest that some people - whatever qualifications they may have otherwise - just can't get their heads round this style. Is the teacher one of these? Also, you can pass Grade 8 sight reading with minimal ability at it - I speak from experience! I feel sorry for all concerned here.

Thanks for all the replies - a lot of good points in them.
Suepea : I think you have a very good point there - have now told her in some parts to concentrate on getting the bass line in & forget the right hand.
Fred: Yes it's very hard to say no but I think i have managed to indirectly indicate that I really can't do any more.
Noodle: Do they value what I do? Not too sure about that - especially the teacher in question. For instance arranging my day yesterday so i could go into the school for a runthrough with the ones I am accompanying - going into the school & after 5 minutes being asked "how long are you going to be with the piano because we want to use it!" (This was not the first occasion on which this has happened) These children have an exam in less than a week & they rate some class singing as more important.
Let's face it I'm not doing it for the money cos I don't get paid & at the minute it is leaving me feeling depressed & demoralised.
When I was asked to listen to the rendition of the piece causing the problems it was obviously being played much faster than the child was comfortable with - apparently the child hadn't even been asked to hum the speed she wanted to play at or play the first few bars on her own. I thought 1 of the roles of the accompanist was to follow the soloist not to expect them to follow you. Is that just total inexperience or a lack of commonsense.?

This reminds me of a Grade 8 student I had a few years ago who was using the college accompanist. The pianist told her she was playing her pieces too slowly and needed to get them much faster - one week before the exam! I told her to stick to the speed she was comfortable with, and she ended up getting 25 and 26 for them. When I told the accompanist the marks she had got, she looked at me in disbelief. If she'd played them at the speed the accompanist wanted her to take them she'd have been lucky to pass.

I take it that she cannot read the chords and use them as a guide?

In a word - "No".

Indeed, I didn't mean to imply that all people who got a pass at grade 8 couldn't do it; I meant to imply as Selme said that in her particular case her pass at grade 8 was probably achieved as a jump through a hoop with poor sightreading, rather than through an all-round performance.

Andy, you are right. The accompanist should follow the soloist, not the other way round. Sounds like you have more musical ability than she does. It seems to me you don't get much support - if they can't wait to get you out after 5 minutes. They should be extremely grateful you are there at all and let you stay all day if you want to. Have you decided what to do yet?
I know someone who was in a similar position to you. She voluntarily helped out with various musical activities, and worked with children doing exams. It wasn't a question of money, she did it because she enjoyed it and because she had time. This school had a teacher who had a music post who was more than capable of playing exam accompaniments, aural tests etc - she just was too lazy to be bothered. If she could have got a monkey to play in assembly she would have. In the end my friend decided she had had enough. She was effectively doing the work someone else was getting paid for, and the more she did, the more they let her.

Put yourself first Andy. I don't know if you work part-time, but I'm sure nobody would volunteer to do your work while you got paid for it.
Good luck with your own exam and Happy Birthday too!!