Hello. Today I had my DipABRSM in piano performing. I have found people's experiences posted on here really helpful, particularly the viva section. So here goes.

I was asked in what order I wanted the exam to go - good, left quick study till the end.

Viva
Why did I chose the programme I did
What is hard about playing the Faure Barcarolle (I did the 6th one)
What did I think about pedalling in the Faure
Who were Faure's contemporaries
I wrote in my programme notes about chromatic twists -she asked me to point some out

Beethoven (op 10 no. 1 in c minor)
The slow movements are notoriously hard to play - what problems did I have? This was preceeded by question on keeping the pulse in the slow movement (which I knew was not secure!) I talked about technique, orchestral sounds, and thinking of song / opera - which led to a question as to whether he wrote any songs.
I mentioned Beethoven's first teacher in my programme notes - she asked who he was
Did Beethoven write any other sonatas in C minor?
Talk about the piano Beethoven had and the one in todays exam. I had mentioned in the notes how this sonata spanned the keyboard of Beethoven's time

Bach prelude & fugue f# minor book 1
Are there any technical things in the fugue e.g. stretto / inversion I pointed them out in the score
Did I make any adjustments to the way i played it because of playing on the piano

I think that's about it. I felt that most of the questions were just token really I wasn't probed at all for further information. She seemed quite concerned about running out of time (even though my programme is only 30 mins) and I didn't get the chance to expand on my answers that I would have liked - we were onto the next question!

Good luck to all who have their exams this week.

thanks, that was really helpful - the viva questions seem quite easy from what others have posted. I'm sitting the dipabrsm in piano on thursday and am most worried about quick study - how did you find the difficulty of the music they gave you? how did you prepare for this part of the exam?

Hi Hannah - the music for sight reading I didn't think was that difficult, it was 3 variations in 6/8 4/4 and 6/8 again. I think she may ahve chosen them to see if I coudl count after the pulse probs in the slow movement of Beethoven! I didn't think I had prepared very well for sight reading before the exam - it was easier than I expected. My preparation consisted of occasionally (2-3 times a week) playing a couple of pieces from various books I had lying around. Good luck for Thurs.

Thank you *very* much for posting this. I have mine tomorrow :/

I'm awful at sight-reading.. but hopefully, having 5 minutes will be an improvement on 30 seconds. Hah! I think I'm quite a quick learner of notes, I just need some time to play them through.

I'm sure you did excellently!

Malrase - I replied to your "honesty" post before seeing this.
All the best for tomorrow - and to you Hannah!
Well done Barcarolle - sounds like your last minute programme change worked out alright then?

yes thanks, programme change worked out fine - great to have the luxury of being able to drop something that's not ready - I will have to bear this in mind for the future and maybe always prepare more than really is necssary!

49% - fail
50% - pass
51% - wasted effort

Sounds like it went well barcarolle. Hope you get a good mark

I'm not really sure what the point of the wasted effort comment is - whether you pass or fail you will have learned absolutely loads of things anyway, and surely that's the point of learning new pieces....

I think Fen was being just a little tongue-in-cheek there!

I was - honest
It's a nice position to be in to have a choice of final repertoire for the exam.

I had the enormous privilege of sitting in on Barcarolle's recital as page-turner - what a treat to be so close to such lovely music. Barcarolle, I hope you've recovered from it all now, and am glad you survived the experience unscathed.

Good luck to everyone else taking their diploma this week, I hope people's posts about their Vivas have been useful.

I'd be afraid if I was page turning of getting so carried away by the music that I forgot to concentrate on the music

My teacher did to me once.... the nicest compliment I ever had.

Hi, Im 21 and interested in doing the ABRSM Dip. Can anyone tell me what it involves? Cost - Experience - what exams/grades u must have taken before etc.

I've been playing for 17 years and I havnt taken my Grade 8 or Grade 5 theory although I can play it easily and know the stuff well. I didnt really see the point in taking the exam as I just wanted to concentrate on getting better and better.

Would this be a hinderance to me?

I'm afraid you'll need Grade 8 before you do the ABRSM Dip, and you need grade 5 theory before you can do Grade 8...

I think in some circumstances you can do the dip without the grade 8, but they are exceptional circumstances/you have to have some sort of equivalent experience or qualifications, and I don't think "I never got round to it" would cut the mustard. If you know the necessary stuff and can play the necessary pieces, why not get grade 5 theory and grade 8 done, the work you put into getting your best possible marks on those exams will be good prep for the hard work you have to put into a diploma anyway!

Will do - thanks for te info and advice. I've been playing through the Grade 8 books anyay - so I guess a little extra effort and practice wouldn't go a miss to getting the grade once and for all!
Thanks very much