Following an issue raised in my thread below on timings, does anyone know exactly how strict examiners will be with playing under or over time? I think the dip is 35 minutes plus or minus 5, with a 5 minute pause for wind players allowed. Timing could be a real issue in my choice of pieces.

I don't actually know...but I think I've read that they can stop you

I'd rather not be stopped mid piece though, but thanks.

I do not have experience as a DipABRSM examiner. I do have experience of assessing 'A' level students coursework performance and recital options, subject to moderation.

My 'examiners' guidelines included penalties for under\over shooting timing requirements. I would be surprised if DipABRSM guidelines did not include such guidelines.

Timing requirements are exactly that. Any attempt to regard them as a basis for negotiation risks penalty. I suggest for your own sake that you time your performances to a high level of accuracy.

How about if my recital for dip is around 28-30 minutes only? Does it will be a matter? or it doesnt matter?
need help....

There is a penalty for performing your programme outside the limits. It's in the regulations! You need to time your individual pieces and perform them as you intend for the examiner(s).
So, it does matter if your programme doesn't fall within the time limits.
You need to pay careful attention and take your recital planning seriously - that is if you really want a Diploma...

Of course you have to be near to at least filling the required time because the a major point of the diploma is that you can play repertoire at that level; and enough of it to fill that time... If you're only two minutes short though taking pauses between the pieces could be sufficient. You'll probably play slightly faster than normal on the day, if anything, so you'll need more pieces rather than fewer.

If you're looking for something short to boost your current programme without having to tear it apart, try some of the Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm from Bartok's 'Microkosmos': I'm not saying they're easy/quick to learn simply that they're 70 seconds long (it specifies in the score that the piece should take that long...) so it'll add something to take you to being long enough (obviously adding a piece adds another pause) without having to abandon any of the other pieces that you've worked so hard on to put another longer one in.

What we should do is to count from the beginning of the 1st piece until finish the 4th piece with the rest or just the timing of the piece?? If the rest is also to be count, how many seconds that we allow to stop for a little rest between the song and the other piece??

It's the total elapsed time, so include your breaks -- the duration of the breaks between pieces will depend on your instrument. In the dips I've done to date, it's about 30 seconds a go. I did get a comment for ALCM that I rushed between pieces (too much adrenalin I guess!) so perhaps 30s is not enough?

For Trinity Dips you have to put accurate timings for each piece and then the total programme (as part of the programme notes). You get caned if you mess up in either case. A bit harsh, compared to the ABRSM. Somehow I managed to play my ATCL exam where - looking down at the stopwatch as I completed the final piece - I had finished at the exact second that I'd put down in my submission! lol

My instrument for dip exam is piano, what do you think?
What is your instrument?

Another thing for non-pianists to bear in mind is that you need to leave enough gap between works for your accompanist to change their music too.

My accompanist and I actually practised the transitions between works in our last session before ATCL. And because I tape all my rehearsals and lessons (with her or with my singing teacher) I was able to check the transition timings as well as the lengths of the songs to make sure I was within the overall boundaries.

From memory, I think we ended up allowing a quarter to half a minute between songs, which isn't much - but when you're a singer the works all tend to be short and the recital was eight items, so we had around three minutes of breaks in all.

Cheers

Katyjay

As an organist, the changes are perhaps a little slower because of the need to change registration, set the (swell) box(es) into the correct position.. move the feet into a good starting position.. have a quick swig of the hipflask and a cigarette...

if you're on piano, about 30 secs is right i think
if you're a playing a wind instrument or singing you get an additional 5 minute break if you want (so you only have to perform for 27-33 mins) easy for some...

Huh - you pianists get to sit down for the whole thing! Talk about easy.....

Cheers

Katyjay

Not sure about the cigarettes, but during my final recital at college I certainly could have done with a hipflask!

I think I read something in the regulations that wind players and singers are allowed liquid refreshment though; can anyone confirm this? (If I ever get round to doing a diploma, I'd better not have any coca-cola halfway through - I'll be bouncing off the ceiling otherwise!!!)

never heard of it but in your 5 minute break i doubt they'd stop you from drinking

.. especially from the hipflask.. It always helps if it's winter, the venue is cold and you can then offer the examiner a nip too

always a good idea to try several runs of the whole programme with the stopwatch on, but not rushing things. If your timing is slightly under, are you playing the repeats ? - obviously, you need to make them musical and interesting rather than just repeated to gain more time! Remember the examiner will want to see poise between pieces rather than feel you are scrambling with the music to get onto the next piece. YOu want to feel that when you're in there doing the exam you don't have to think about the timings at all - you can just concentrate on all the other things, and enjoy it! Hope you get on well.

I've always wanted to run a thread on ABRSM vs Trinity

yes, the WILL stop you.

for my exam, the day bfor my teacher and i realised we were about 10 minutes over! so we cut the Bach piece i was doing. By doing that we made the limit, without barely making it..

However!! during my exam, the examiner accidentally presed the wrong button during one of my most physically demanding pieces! I had to play the piece over, but because of the nature of the piece, and the nature of the pieces following it, i really needed to catch myself mentally and physically before i could start again, and well, you know they count EVERy second, whether you're playing or not.

All in all, he made me cut my last piece...my Favourite piece...the first Gershwin prelude!!! Because i was over time....simply because he pressed the wrong button, and i could not get any extra time to compose myself after something that was his error and not mine.

So yes, they will stop you. penalise you...not sure..haven't gotten my results yet. I'll let you know how that turned out as soon as i find out.

hope that helped.
jiselle

I'm slightly confused by your description of the situation; but if you're saying what I think you are it seems a little unreasonable. Was it the first piece this happened in? The reason I ask that is that he presumably wouldn't be pressing buttons on a stopwatch during any others as the time doesn't need to stop between pieces. Or was it just somewhere completely in the middle? Did he just demand that you stop playing whilst he sorted it out? If that's the case why did he not just estimate the time that has gone and start the clock again? Sounds like a fairly odd situation to me and I wouldn't have expected it to be dealt with in that way: if I was an examiner I would most probably have just pretended it didn't happen and assumed the candidate was in time; or if it went a lot over my estimate then stopped the candidate then rather than in the middle!

i also don't understand why the examiner would be pushing any buttons during your recital, but the result sounds very unfair. it's not all bad though - there is no way you should be marked negatively, since it was entirely his fault, and you actually got away with playing less material, because presumably he had a schedule to keep to. post later when you get the result, but i'm sure it'll have no negative effect on your mark.

sorry, so maybe i wasn't totally clear. It was my third piece in the programme. The examiner pressed the wrong button on the recording device he was using and so he didn't record the piece while i was playing. He didn't stop me in the middle of the piece, but at the end of the piece he told me what happened and made me start it all over again.

and that's why my time was 'out of sorts'. Because i had to take personal time to catch myself before i could start the piece again, and i suppose somewhere amidst all that confusion, the examiner himself started back his stopwatch or whatever while he was telling me what happened. I'm not sure why he made me cut the last piece...but i know it had something to do with that slip up he made. Because i'm dead certain that before i went into that exam room my entire programme made it within the time limit.

It seems that he would have been better just not having stopped the recording for the silence and carrying on; why stop it and take the risk?! Anyway, hopefully you won't be penalised because of that (If I were in that examiner's situation I'd feel obliged to be more generous due to my error!), good luck for your forthcoming results.