WAHEY!!! I PASSED MY GRADE 5 PIANO! i swear i didnt pass but i did it!

Piece 1 (Rondo from Sonatina in E) 24/30
Piece 2 (La Tarentelle) 23/30
Piece 3 (New Orleans Nightfall) 23/30
Scales 14/21
Sight reading 17/21
Aural 10/18

i messed up EVERYTHING in the exam (sightreading aurals and scales the most) but still please with my result

obviously not what i expected but hey i passed

time for Grade 8

Well done

thanks im suprised at it actually, i ended up playing G major 3 times and STILL got it wrong and when doing A flat arpeggio i kept doing G# minor but anyways, i'll have plenty of time to relearn my scales and learn new ones along with the pieces

Congratulations!
That is so cool, GoneChopin! My student did the exact three songs too, and I like the song selection. Your sight reading was good! Great job! Now you can go and celebrate.

i really dont think it was that good you know i was REALLY suprised

celebrate? hah no chance, i got my Grade 8 to prepare for! Chopin, Beethoven and Scarlatti, what masters.

im kinda scared of chromatic minor 3rds in one hand though

Congrats!

Well done, great news!

Withoug reserve, very well done. And now it's time to get real. Sorry.

111 at grade 5 means you are ready to start work on grade SIX not grade EIGHT. The only possible exception to this would be if you had done grade five in a very short time indeed - I'm talking like a couple of WEEKS.

I'll give you a "for instance". At one stage in my career I needed to pass a grade 5 exam specifically for part of the Trinity College Certificate in Music Education. Pervious passes didn't count, it had to be done during the time when you were registered for the exam. By then I had progressed well beyond grade 8 on viola. I had never actually done an exam on violin, and I didn't want to waste money doing grade 5 in an instrument on which I had already passed a higher grade, and I was teaching violin for a living, so I thought, right, i'll do violin grade 5. I did a couple of weeks work on it, no lessons just a couple of weeks practice totalling perhaps 10 hours or so, and i got a distinction (just). That would have been with full marks on aurals and viva voce (this being a Trinity exam) and with a very high mark on both sightreading and scales. The reason i got a distinction after a couple of weeks work was very simple: in reality i was above grade 8 standard.

A similar example would be the lady here, whose name I've forgotten, who did grade 4 piano, grade 6 violin and a diploma on clarinet, knowing that she was way above the required standard on piano but just doing it to get back into the routine of doing piano exams. She got a distinction after very little work because her time of course was being spent on the diploma. SHE would be a likely candidate to skip a couple of grades. You're not.

You'd be far better, honestly, to take your time. I don't know how old you are but I'm guessing that you have time to take things at a more normal pace. One grade every two terms is QUITE fast enough unless you have a couple of hours a day to devote just to your piano, and you will have to work hard just to keep up a safe passmark if you do exams at that rate. One a YEAR is the norm. Go any faster than one every two terms and, frankly, you're going to come badly unstuck. you're obviously not disappointed with 111 (no reason why you should be!) so it doesn't look as if you thought you should have done better and just fluffed it on the day. Slow down and don't encourage your teacher to rush things!

Liz being an old fuddy-duddy

im not encouraging my teacher to rush me at all, and regarding my mark, bearing in mind i REALLY messed up on the day due to nerves and being early in the morning (im no morning person) i was a little dissapointed but still quite pleased with it

Well done - a really good result.

And now yes, I agree with Liz.

I would recommend that you work on the areas that earned slightly less good marks. Work out the percentages if you haven't already, and you can see which they are - but I expect you already know.

I would work on these areas even before starting on grade 6 work if I were you!

There really is no hurry - is there?

Aural tests i really dont care about, sightreading im normally VERY good at and scales i did struggle with more complex ones, but nerves and cold fingers caused me to mess up all the basic scales.

yes there is a rush sort of, i need to get my Grade 8 Piano by Summer 2007 (maybe Winter)

I'm with Liz and Maggie - the only person I know who got through grade 5 and 8 in a short space of time was (and is, actually) one of the finest pianists I know, IMMENSELY naturally talented, and got a great mark at grade 5, (after a few months' formal tuition I believe) then got 130 at grade 8 practising for literally HOURS each day... and he got through that exams knowing essentially 6 pieces (his exam pieces) and the scales for those two exams. He's had to really go back and fill in the gaps big time, and has said to me he does regret it now although he needed to do it to qualify for a place at uni.

Unless you are a total musical genius, (or even then) there's simply no point rushing through unless you HAVE to get grade 8 for some reason. If you had got 130 odd, AND really NEEDED this exam under your belt... well even then it wouldn't be the wisest thing, but I could see the point. But long term you will do yourself SO many favours going through the intervening stages, and will be a far better pianist as a result. Do a bit more groundwork and your piano playing will be much better later on. Nerves don't help but everyone gets them... if your playing is really solid then they won't affect your playing nearly as much and you will get marks which reflect your better performances not your shakey ones.

Aural tests show your musicianship... and if you really knew your scales you WOULD play them better under exam conditions. Why the rush?

That's 2 or 2 and some years away. Get stuck into the intermediate stuff now, grade 6, then grade 7, and by summer or winter '07 you may well be ready to take grade 8 AND DO REALLY WELL! Wouldn't that be great? You will have a solid grounding and good technique, you will know lots of repertoire and be really comfortable, and it won't take you an age to get your pieces good, or even, dare I say it, to master them... If you start work on grade 8 pieces and scales now, you may well take grade 8 by then (or even before then) but you will have missed out a lot of groundwork and be a less well-rounded and skilled pianist for it. It's entirely possible to learn those pieces, and even get a respectable mark, by muscle memory and crazy practice. It's much better for you and your piano skills to go the slow and sure route even if you do occasionally have a bash at pieces beyond your true skill level.

Getting grade 8 sooner will be nothing compared to the satisfaction of getting to grade 8 as a really good and well-rounded pianist with a wide repertoire and real ease and ability on the instrument.

Good result for grade 5 after not many months but it is harder to achieve higher in less time.

Why the rush to get grade 8 by summer 07. That is still a long time away. The higher exams are much harder to pass that is why it is called the Advance level. You might have messed up in the exam on Scales and some of your pieces, you maybe naturally good at sight reading but believe me that gets alot harder from grade 6-8. Also not worried about aural.....my kids are not worried about aural but you may well need those extra marks if you are going higher. ( that's what i tell them)

If you want to be experience and good at the piano you have to acquire alot more technique and be fluent in scales/appeggios under pressure. If you really know them well you should be able to play them anytime in quick fire succession.

Dont rush the exams.... my son hasnt done his grade 5 exams(probably xmas05) yet but he is predicted to finish his grade 8 with an excellent mark before the end of 2007 and he will be barely 12. I am trying to slow down the exam rate purely cos of his age and also because it cost me alot in music. He can virtually learn a book of music in 1-2 weeks and I dont mean play through them... I mean in great detail.
You can still make grade 8 by 2007 if you learn the technics for grade 6 and 7 too.

It's great that you are enthusiastic and determined enough to tackle difficult pieces of music and set your sights on higher grades. If you only wish to play for your own pleasure, then nerves are no problem. Indeed, why not continue playing advanced repertoire for your own amusement and forget about exams?

Unfortunately, musicians at an advanced level are expected to perform well regardless of other problems. You can say, "I can play post-grade 8 repertoire masterfully provided the room is warm and no-one is listening or there is no particular pressure", but no one will care. Pianists, and indeed all musicians, have to be able to perform reliably to an audience regardless of other problems. If you can't do it under pressure for grade 5 there is no reason to presume grade 8 will be any better - or anything other than a waste of your parents' money.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

I think maybe you should care.

Anyway, if you haven't got the basic aural skills to build on, you will find grade 8 pretty challenging.

first of all, congratulations on you exam result

don't feel put upon by users on this board but you really must appreciate the ASTRONOMICAL leap from grade 5 to grade 8, is not to be taken lightly. nerves are an unfortunate part of exams, but the resulting mistakes are taken much more seriously at grade 8 than at grade 5 (and i should know ) i think it's safe to say we both need a little more experience at public performing... i hope you take this into account over the next 2 years

that said, if you absolutely must achieve grade 8 before summer 2007, then at least make sure you follow a natural progression through grades 6 and 7, even if you only sit one of these exams. in school listening to other musicians play, I (and others) can somehow always identify those who only practice exam repertoire from those who are truly at the level they claim to be. and i can spot them, then you can be sure the examiners can! remember that a grade 8 certificate does not necessarily mean that you can comfortably play the repertoire at that level - it means you can play 3 pieces! so please broaden your sights beyond the exam, it will do you a lot of good, far more than rushing for the sake of a piece of paper.

i'm sure i'm with everyone when i wish you all the best, whatever you decide to do

*sigh* i've only properly learnt a VERY select few complex pieces, and try other things fun e.g. the 2nd movement of Beethovens Moonlight Sonata, Chopin's Berceuse in D flat ETC ETC

put it this way, is it really a crime to skip from 5 - 8? heck, Grade 5 is the first piano exam i've done, and i seemed to have managed that pretty well (plus i only had 8 months to get my Grade 5 ready including scales from scratch)

believe what you believe but i do intend to do Grade 6/7 stuff in conjunction with the Grade 8 pieces (plus i've already studied Grade 6 piano a couple years ago but failed miserably)

im sorry but i DO strongly believe that with the support i have at school, i CAN do Grade 8. As i said, i got til Summer 2007 to achieve Grade 8 (i MAY make it Winter if push comes to shove)

hey if you think what i said so far is bad, you dont want to know my early days :-\

i've no doubt that if you polished 3 pieces, did scalework and sight-reading specimen tests, and listened to the grade 8 aural cassette again and again - of course you'd pass, and you'd have lovely new certificate to prove it...but all this doesn't make you a musician, and if i gave you another piece of the same standard, i doubt you'd feel comfortable playing it.

decide as well whether you're playing because you love music, or whether this is all for the sake of impressing people with a few select examples of virtuosity, and a nice certificate. if that's your goal then go ahead, but there really is more to music than the ABRSM

i love my music and no one can deny it. its more for pleasure than impressing people and im aware that its more than just ABRSM. its an art that CANNOT be perfected at all (or so i think it is) just like art or dance etc

on the subject of playing new music... i will sightread ANYTHING no matter how hard it is. be is the Chopin Heroic Polonaise or the Ravel Piano Concerto or a Bach Prelude and Fugue...i will sightread anything and fele just fine playing it from sight

I didn't think i performed to my capabilities in my grade 5 exam a couple of months ago yet i came out with 134. I'm not starting grade 6 work till next spring. Lets be honest, you didn't pass this exam with loads to spare. What make you think you'll perform any better in higher grades?

Scales and sightreading are a piece of cake in grade 5 compared to grade 8. To be perfectly honest, I think you'd be very foolish to move onto grade 8 at the moment!

well of course you know better than i do - i can only comment on what i read on this board - out of curiosity when did you start playing, and what kinds of pieces did you play?

I don't think I can add much, other than my support, to what my learned colleagues have already stated in this thread.

If I may ask, just out of interest: what is it in 2007 that necessitates you having done grade 8, rather than being a competent pianist, by that point?

It isn't a crime, it's just very foolish.

Now you contradict yourself here since first you say that grade 5 is the first exam you have ever done and then you say you failed grade 6 a couple of years ago. I'm assuming you mean that you studied grade 6 pieces but didn't get anywhere near exam standard? Then you took 8 months to get to grade 5. That doesn't sound like an exceptional rate of progress to me if you were attempting grade 6 stuff before you even started working on grade 5. But I may have misunderstood of course.

Bottom line: no-one can stop you doing grade 8 next if you and your teacher are determined to do it, but it just doesn't make any sense.

Liz

Thoroughly agree! Even if you do pass will you get the same mark that someone working through the grades will get?? If you're doing it for personal satisfaction I can't really see any benefits. You'll say 'I've passed grade 8' then have no appropriate repertoire at a good enough standard to back that up.

I agree with what's been said and would really like to repeat some of the questions:
Why the deadline of 2007?
How long have you been playing (you said 10 months to get ready but you seem to be saying you used to play earlier)?
If Grade 5 is the "first exam" you've done, how could you have taken Grade 6 and "failed miserably"?
I don't like to judge, but the order in which you seem to be doing things is odd to say the least.

i originally started Grade 6 on the old Syllabus 2 years ago, and started Grade 5 on the new syllabus a year ago

is everyone done harping on?

No one is trying to get at you: everyone is trying to help you become the best pianist you can be. That will be a far more achievable goal (and you still would have masses of time to get to grade 8 by '07 if you work hard) if you make a natural progression through the graded music (even if you don't do another exam till grade 8) and play a wide range of repertoire at an appropriate level. Playing grade 6 music now and learning to play it superbly (I have spelled that wrong but can't see how to put it right...), even in adverse conditions and with nerves jangling, will serve you much better than jumping straight into grade 8 pieces, and certainly MASSES better than doing pieces which are frankly WAY beyond your level of expertise judging by your exam results (ie the LRSM/FRSM repertoire(. If you are doing music truly because you love it and because you want to be good, then take on board the advice of all these people ^^^ who have far more experience than you (and people such as myself who have had a lot of experience and have seen others' trials and tribulations too) and have a bit of common sense, and become a good pianist by the slow and sure route instead of jumping straight on to grade 8 and missing out the work that needs to be done. Jumping from 5 to 8 is not a crime, it's simply very foolish and far from the best way to go about building up your piano playing.

To repeat - no one is trying to rain on your parade - I could only get 111 at grade 5 right now if I 1) learned the pieces by rote and 2) practised like a maniac (the scales and aurals I'd be fine on, but my sight-reading would be a joke and I'd struggle with the pieces). Well done. Good on you.

But surely, surely you can see that starting grade 8 pieces now and playing them to death is crazy when you have a whole bunch of time and can build up your repertoire and skills gradually and naturally and be a better pianist at the end of it?

Of course not. Why do any grades, if exams make you nervous? What do you need it for?

That's good to hear

I can imagine! Don't worry, Gonechopin, you're not the first to be embroiled in these kinds of discussions on this board, and I doubt you'll be the last.

Well said ! Good for you.

I doubt it!

Congratulations again on your result, and all the best with your playing.

I find that the many people that come on here saying they have got to a high grade in a short time often blame their 'not as good as they expected' performance in the exams on nerves. All musicians experience nerves in exams; the difference between someone working slowly through the grades (or someone with concert performing experience instead of exams) and someone jumping in is that they're aware of it and are prepared for it. Everyone gets nervous in exams and hence the playing done in exams isn't usually as good as the playing people experience in their own homes but the examiners can see through it.

Let me give you an example: tonight I have spent quite a bit of time working on a grade 5 piece hands separately (A1 Handel) to make sure that all the notes that should be held down when the next voice comes in are held when that comes in and all the notes that should be lifted (i.e. are in the same voice) are lifted. This is something now that I will do in the exam, it's fundamental to the way I will play the piece nerves will not alter this, if I hadn't done this work the examiner would no doubt pick up on it and I would lose marks; it is of course possible that I will stop in the middle of the piece and throw my hands in the air and say whoops, however the examiner will know (if my playing is otherwise good) that I don't generally do that as part of playing the piece and it's just nerves: that's hardly a mistake I would generally make in my practice if I entered the exam.

The point I'm trying to make if you can't be bothered to read all of that paragraph is that it's obvious what's nerves on the day and what's down to lack of dilligence/practise/ability or whatever. The examiners can and do take into account nerves and they know everyone is nervous so your result will be a fair reflection of your general playing trying to ignore the minor problems caused by nerves on the day. I've heard of many people 'mess up' an exam and get a distnction: I've done it myself, the examiners are good at listening to how good your playing is underlyingly not focussing on the odd nervous slip.

I don't mean to sound harsh but if you got 111 for grade 5 that would suggest to me that you need to be working hard before moving onto grade 6 rather than storming straight to grade 8: yes it's possible to train three pieces for the exam but as many people have said it's a pointless excersie. Just out of interest did you feel that you had 'mastered' your grade 5 pieces?

One final thing that I always say, and will say again, is that the grade you pass tells you how hard the pieces you're playing are; your mark tells you how good you are at playing. If you want to become a better pianist get to the top of the mark scale (not the grade scale) before you move on to harder things that way you'll be a better pianist (assuming you take this throughout your playing not just on three pieces); if you want to just play harder pieces by all means just do that but you won't be a better pianist (probably the technicalities will make you worse) you'll just be playing harder pieces. I'd much rather hear a grade 5 distinction performance than a struggled grade 8 performance any day.

actually, i KNOW i perfected La Tarentelle weeks before the exam, the Rondo always was a tad shaky but was NEARLY perfect by the exam, the New Orleans Nightfall again VERY close to perfection

so if what you say about marks being a good musician is true, then im a poor one

Grade 1 Clarinet (poor teaching yet hours of practise) 112
Grade 3 Clarinet (highly discouraged, little practise and poor teaching) 107
Grade 4 Descant Recorder (self taught) 113
Grade 5 Piano (well taught lots of practise) 111

shows i must be a poor musician eh

Apparently so

Yes, totally - I was horribly, finger-shakingly, appallingly nervous for my grade 4 flute exam, and I had to start at least two of my scales twice due to messing up because I was SHAKING! My mouth was SO dry when I started my study I was surprised I could even get a note out of my flute. I had NEVER done the new style aural tests before, and it was about 13 years since i had last done an exam. Shivering in my shoes and wanting to run away! And I got 136... because I was well prepared (hence the nevres didn't affect me too much) and playing within my capabilities. If your basic technique is good and you know the pieces and scales really well, a few nerves will mean you play not as well, but will not (unless you suffer from very extreme nerves as some on this board, for example, do) make you fall apart, and an examiner will have a fair chance of knowing what slips were due to nerves and what came from basic unprepared-ness.

I don't believe for a second that anotherpianist was suggesting you're " a terrible musician". She was suggesting (and I think she's right) that you weren't prepared sufficiently for your piano exam, and that on those grounds it's crazy to go on to grade 8.

And do you truly think your pieces were "perfect"? Come on. Honestly? If you really think your playing of them was perfect, then firstly I would expect the examiner to see through nerves pretty well if they truly were "perfect" outside the exam room, and secondly I think if you thought they were perfect then that shows more of your inexperience than your playing - I rather suspect an experienced and advanced player (and your examiner) would spot a good few things that were not perfect that you would not have noticed.

you are studying grade 5 flute too .... why all the different instruments?

Just curious..... why are skipping the grades and what is happening in 2007 is that when you leave school?

well frankly, im not bothered if i dont take GRade 5 flute or 6 clarinet, i primarily want Grade 8 Piano before i leave school and to get a Grade 6 in Recorder if i can

Indeed I was not suggesting that you're terrible: there are two ways that you can pursue your musical learning, upwards in difficulty and upwards in musicality of playing and technique. The two are slightly contradictory (although do complement each other in some ways): the harder the piece the less chance one has of playing it musically and under technical control. The ideal is to progress in both ways: both becoming a better musician artistically and technically, and advancing on to harder repertoire. This can only be done if the repertoire you are playing is within your ability to play technically and musically well; if you play pieces that are too hard you will not progress anywhere near as well in your musicality or technique (of course the converse is true: if you always play pieces that don't push you you will never get anywhere with difficulty). What I would suggest is that currently you perhaps have the balance between pushing on to harder repertoire and playing easier pieces well slightly to far towards the pushing forward end of the scale. If you'd been working on grade 1 for 6 years and got 148 I'd be telling you the opposite....

It is possible to not do so well earlier on and then develop and become better after years even with progressing to harder repertoire (usually due to a renewed enthusiasm) there are people who score passes in their earlier grades and then get distinctions after a certain point (and those who fluctuate too) the point is the work has to be done at some point if you're going to become good at playing it's different work to getting to harder pieces, it's about being on top of the pieces that you play, the later you leave that work the harder it is to catch up. I would perhaps go so far as to say that if one leaves it until LRSM level it's too late to do it without going a long way backwards (in reality one would also have a failed DipABRSM to deal with too!).

If the rush to grade 8 is because you want it before leaving school rather than need it I wouldn't bother: it's better to have the certificate at a later time when it really means your playing is at that level; I'm sure you'd appreciate it much more.

basic idea dont do Grade 8?

Definitely. And as people keep saying, you've a while yet if '07 is your aim - you can progress at a sensible speed, learn to play musically and wonderfully and not gallop through, and STILL have masses of time. SO why rush??!

im not actually taking the exam YET! ive only just started learning the pieces! isnt 2 years long enough to learn the stuff?!

By all means do grade 8 - when you've worked through a broad repertoire of pieces from advanced grade 5 right up to grade 8 and have thoroughly learned your scales and genned up on your aurals etc etc. Then you will get a great mark and as well as having a certificate and result to be proud of, you will have a broad range of repertoire, a wide understanding of music, and be an all-round grade 8 musician instead of someone who just knows a few pieces really well. THAT is an achievement that you can be really proud of and will set you up to continue in your playing from strength to strength. Not to mention it will keep you happily occupied and out of mischief for the next couple of years if you work hard and really want to get the top grades, and more importantly be the best you can!!

By all means dabble in advanced repertoire, but build your skills and technique and understanding up on pieces that are appropriate to your level. Don't leap in at grade 8 and then have to go back and fill in the gaps later. Build your house on the rock, not on the sand!

but i already have worked at Grade 6-7 material...plenty of it...frankly i've done nothing easier than Grade 5 since i began the piano. Granted im not sure if i can do the scales YET for Grade 8 but im sure i can learn them

No, you're misreading. You said you have until summer 07 or winter 07 if necessary. That suggests to me that you're doing A levels in summer 08. Am i correct so far? You're in year 10? Are you also doing GCSE music?

If you were my pupil I'd be suggesting something like this:

Grade 5 recorder winter 2005
Grade 6 piano spring 2006
Summer 2006 is GCSEs - no music exams
Grade 6 recorder or flute or clarinet winter 2006
Grade 7 piano Spring 2007
Summer 2007 is going to be AS exams or mocks no doubt - no music exams
Grade 7 recorder or flute or clarinet Winter 2007
Grade 8 piano spring 2008
Meaning that you've finished with your music exams in time to concentrate on your A level revision.

Don't you think two years is a little early to be starting working on pieces?

That aside, the current piano syllabus is for 2005/2006; assuming you're in the UK, that means the latest exam session for which the syllabus is valid is the spring session of 2007. If you plan to take it in the summer or winter sessions (as you mentioned earlier) you'll need to choose from the yet-to-be-released 2007/2008 grade 8 syllabus, details of which should come out some time next year.

no...im 16, in year 11 and ive done my GCSEs

p.s. Flute and Clarinet exams can wait, my main focus is recorder

aiming for diploma in recorder and piano see

I'm make one last comment and then i'm going to bed. if I say any more I might end up being brutal and that isn't a pretty sight

You're claiming grade 5 is the easiest thing you've ever done, but you took eight monhts learning it and you only got 111. That doesn't add up.

On other boards you have been asking about diploma level recorder repertoire when you only have grade 4, and you have been advising someone how to play grade 5 viola scales (frankly, without much idea of what you are talking about) when you have never taken a viola exam and have not mentioned that you have lessons, so it can be assumed that if you do have lessons you have not been having them for very long.

You seem to think you are some sort of child prodigy but your results just are not bearing that out. Every exam you have taken so far has had the same sort of mark - a high pass well below a merit. I suspect you are not the easiest of pupils to teach, would I be right? (you needn't answer that). You rather remind me of a violin pupil I had once who would insist that he had played C natural when in fact he had just played a C sharp, every time, and seemed totally unable or unwilling to admit that he could possibly have made a mistake. His class teacher told me he was just like that in every subject. Are you telling your maths teacher that you don't need to do GCSE, you want to go straight in for A level? Are you telling your English teacher that you don't need GCSE, you'll just start working on a BA? That's the equivalent of the sort of thing you're saying about grade exams.

There's nothing wrong with confidence of course but you do seem to be taking it to extremes.

Liz

of course im no prodigy

i do have SOME clue about viola scales, just not sure about 3 octave scales since i've never had to encounter them

and as it so happens, i enjoy playing diploma recorder repertoire for fun VERY much. i've only ever seriously played one piece that even came close to the diploma standard and that was the Sarabande from Bach's Partita in C minor BWV1013

If it would take you 2 years to get them to standard, then the exam is too hard and you need to work on more intermediate stuff. And as YAP has pointed out, current grade 8 material won't be valid by the time you are intending to take the exam. If the easiest pieces you've done are grade 5, then your teacher has not been laying the groundwork of your playing very well unless you are some sort of musical genius - which you say you aren't.

If you're aiming for the diplomas then you REALLY need to put the work in at a lower level now or you WILL come unstuck for diploma. There are loooooooads of people out there who did all their grades, progressed well, covered all the technical work, got grade 8 distinction, and then went on to fail diploma spectacularly because they weren't good enough. Grade 5 with 111 and then jumping straight on to grade 8 is not exactly better preparation... be a little realistic. You have very little (as far as you have said...) experience, you've been playing not long at all, and you have got a reasonable but not spectacular pass. All this suggests that you need to steady out a little, expand your repertoire, and learn to play with real musicality. Then you will be heading for success. Jumping in at grade 8 when the basics of your playing are in any way shaky will do you NO favours at all. Like Liz says, confidence is great but this is extreme.