I am so pleased because my result finally came in today and amazingly I got a distinction. I was so nervous in the exam and made a hash of the Fugue, as well as a few other slips here and there and yet I still managed to get 132!! I am so pleased. Here is a breakdown of my scores...

Pieces Marks
A4 Bach Prelude and Fugue in A minor 20 (Book 2) 25 (30)

B4 Beethoven Sonata in G Op 79 1st Mov Presto alla Tedesca 25 (30)

C4 Debussy Arabesque No. 1 in E major 27 (30)
(the examiner commented "lovely playing here...the middle
section was beautifully phrased")

Scales and Arpeggios 18 (21)

Sight Reading 19 (21)

Aural Tests 18 (18)

I can finally relax and begin working on those Diploma pieces in earnest now!!

Gae

Congratulations Gae, a fantastic result, just what you deserve! Full marks on aural too, well done

Nicki, the 100% mark in Aural Tests was a real surprise because my throat was so croaky on the day that I had to repeat the bass part singing!!

Gae

Woo, well done, the result was evidently worth the wait

I must say the scales, sight-reading and aural marks are incredibly impressive; I'm sure you'll take to the quick study well.

Well done Gae what a great result ( & coincidentally the same as andante's). Full marks on aural is some going. Really pleased for you - are you celebrating ?

I noticed that I had the same score as andante_in_c too. What a coincidence! Yes, I am celebrating just by being in an exceptionally good mood. I don't really need any alchohol, I'm already as euphoric and high as I can be!!
I did notice the difference in the layout of the certificate from my Grade 7 of 17 years ago. I like the addition of the sub-heading "Advanced Level in Music performance". My previous certificates didn't have anything like this. Does anyone know what the other Grade sub-headings are? I had a pupil who got a distinction at Grade 7 too but I didn't see his certificate. My other pupil got a Grade 3 and I know that one says "Foundation Level in Music performance"
Gae

P.S. the certificate is already framed and up on the wall!!!

I was just about to say snap! Not dissimilar marks in the different sections either: I picked up a few more marks on the pieces, and you beat me with scales and aural (I'm still kicking myself for identifying the Ic as a V).

I'm sure the result was worth the waiting. Many congratulations.

Well done Gae. You must be chuffed!

What a wonderful result, heartiest congratulations!

Well done Gae. You must be feeling like this

Congratulations on your excellent result I know what you mean about not needing to celebrate it's a really great feeling (must be more so with grade 8!).


Grades 1-3 are Foundation level; grades 4-5 are intermediate level; and grades 6-8 are advanded level, it's linked to the National Qualifications framework (GCSE being intermediate level and A-level (suprisingly!) advanced level; although of course the subject matter not being the same). Interestingly enough exams taken in Scotland don't have these on: I've taken some of my exams in England which have that phrase and some in Scotland which don't, hopefully I'll be back in England for some Advanced level ones!

Really well done

Great news, Gae. Many congratulations!

Must have seemed like a long wait - but I'm sure it was worth it.

Most impressive marks - no wonder you're over the moon!!

Thanks for that AnotherPianist.....

The other thing that I am really chuffed about is that, as a Piano teacher with 12 years experience, although I should have sat this exam many moons ago, I felt that I only had to spend about 2-3 months in preparation for it and so to get a Distinction, under these conditions, makes the result extra special for me!

Gae

P.S. I want to thank everyone here on the board for being so inspirational with regards to sitting exams regardless of age and experience. I wouldn't have felt the urge to sit this grade if it wasn't for you lot and I'm glad I finally plucked up the nerve to do it! Many thanks!

132 must be the mark to get! Well done Gae - you must be so pleased (especially after such a long wait ) WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!

Well done Gae!

Liz

Well done Gae!

Liz

well done with the result! any tips for learning the Beethoven Sonata though? P

Well maybe it was because they couldn't hear you the first time! Aww. Well done though, are you celebrating in any way?

The only tips I can think of is that its probably best to try and memorize the movement and its very important to get the right tempo and keep the 1-2-3- tempo flowing. I played it around 180 bpm and the tempo was fine. Be careful of overpedalling, like I did.....especially on the arpeggio sections. The dynamics need to be bold as it is mainly Forte, but also take care to get the Piano sections right for contrast. I was picked up on this a bit. To be honest, I think I played the whole of the Beethoven Forte because I was so angry at myself for messing up the Fugue!

Gae

Nicki, the only celebrating I did was here on the board but it was sufficient for me!! At least I know you all love music and know how great it feels to pass your music exam!!

Well done Gae !!!

That's one less waiting for a result.

Mine should arrive tomorrow (at my teachers house). I've phoned AB today and they are being posted out 1st class. All being well I should know by the morning !!!

What a brilliant result. You must be sooooo chuffed !

Fiona

Well done, absolutely fantasmogorical...

Well done Gae! When's the diploma?

I suppose this means I ought to join the grown-up forum users and do my Grade 8 piano now

That's really impressive, Gae - congratulations!

Jen

WOW Gae! Well done!

Deborah, I'm already preparing the Diploma pieces but I'm in no rush. The syllabus is good for 5 years isn't it?
I've started on the Beethoven "Moonlight" Sonata, Liszt's Petrarc Sonnet 123 and Gershwin's "The Man I Love/I Got rhythm. I'll probably need a 5th, possibly 6th, piece as at the moment these pieces are about 25 minutes altogether. If I did another 19th/20th century piece e.g. Debussy or Rachmaninov, would my rogramme be a bit unbalanced? Maybe I could do a Chopin piece too! I prefer to play 18th/19th century music to be honest. Maybe I should try something like the Joseph Makholm "3 Impressions" or would the "Jazz" element clash with the Gershwin?
Any ideas?

Gae

Well done Gae. A fantastic result.

Well done Gae!

18 for Grade 8 aurals though...didn't know that was possible!

Fantastic result

Brilliant - you're an encouragement to 'get back on the horse'

well done i think i'll collapse in the exam room when i do grade 8!

Awww. Well you know how pleased we all are for you Gae!

Debussy's La Cathederale Englouite is a superb piece to play! its not terribly difficult either but large hands are handy especially in the first couple of pages

Thanks GoneChopinBachSoon
I'll check out the "The Sunken Cathedral" alongside "La plus que Lente" which I've done before.

Gae

Not an expert.....but do you need something from a bit earlier? Or is it ok by diploma to just play from periods that you like?

You don't have to cover every period (if we're talking the usual suspects of Baroque, classical, romantic, contemporary), but you do need to present a varied programme at the first level. later on you can focus on an era or a composer.
Of course the key thing is that in your viva you can come up with some nice words around how you put the programme together!

Congrats on the result, and enjoy the Diploma preparation!

I did "La Cathedrale Engloutie" for my diploma - it's a wonderful piece. Three words: phrasing, phrasing, phrasing

I think one can safely not play a baroque piece if one can explain to the examiners in the viva why, for example, Bach's music is irrelevant. The recommendations for programming given in the syllabus change from DipABRSM to FRSM:

DipABRSM: In your choice of repertoire, you should aim to present a generalist programme that offers a wide-ranging yet coherent mixture of periods, style, mood and tempo.

LRSM: In your choice of repertoire, you should aim to present a balanced programme that includes a contrast of repertoire from at least two distinct musical eras.Variety of mood and tempo should also be a guiding factor in the construction of the programme.

FRSM: In your choice of repertoire, you should aim to present a specialist programme which may concentrate on one composer or period but should be internally balanced,containing sufficient contrast of mood and style.

I always took this as a not-so-subtle hint to cover pretty much all the major eras on a DipABRSM. I guess one could argue that you think that baroque music should really be played on the instruments for which it was written, and its interest to pianists is more academic than practical (disclaimer: this isn't my opinion!). If you're not a fan of Bach, how about a Scarlatti sonata? There isn't much choice in Baroque repertoire on the syllabus: no Handel harpsichord suites, for example.

if a candidate were to 'skip' the baroque period, are there any other reasons for doing so (other than, as YAP has already mentioned, it being written more for organ/harpsichord etc.) what are people's thoughts?
congrats on the exam result gae

p.s. for what it's worth i don't know that i'd play makholm AND gershwin, this might be tilting a little too heavily into jazz. you're playing beethoven, liszt, and gershwin. debussy is very different from all these, as are rachmaninov or chopin. you could try la plus que lente and maybe a rachmaninov prelude (a fast one, since the debussy, liszt, the man i love and 2/3 of the moonlight are slow). but you've got 5 years to explore the syllabus so take your time! www.classiccat.net is a (legal) way of finding free MP3's of some of the tunes on the syllabus, so you can hear them before you buy the sheet music.

One answer I had sitting in the back of my mind if I got asked about how I ordered my programme (I started with Sculthorpe (20th Century), then worked through Scarlatti, Haydn, Chopin and Debussy) was that I'd roadtested the pieces on friends and found that while they appreciated the Sculthorpe in terms of my performance, it wasn't something they actually wanted to take away as the last part of the recital - so I put it in first.
So perhaps that's one possible reason for skipping the baroque period - your test "generalist" audience just didn't find the pieces enjoyable to listen to...

Thanks for all the info everyone. I think I'll stick with a Debussy or Rachmaninoff piece as extra. The Rach prelude in Cm is a possibility as its an Allegro piece and also sounds very much, harmonically, like some of the passages in his famous Piano Concerto No. 2, one of my faves. So the tempos would be more balanced....

Moonlight Sonata Adagio, Allegretto, Presto.

Liszt Sonetto 123 del Petrarca Lento Placido

Rachmaninoff Prelude in Cm Allegro

Debussy The Sunken Cathedral Calme

The Man I Love written Slow but sounds more like Andante

I Got Rhythm Allegro/Vivace

The only reason I'm including only 19th/20th Century Classical/Romantic/Modern is because I prefer to play these eras...my hands are large and more suited to these pieces. I dont know if I could get away with it for "anatomical" reasons!!
Looking at the tempos there are 4 slow pieces (one could be argued as Andante), one fairly fast and three fast. That sounds a fair balance to me as I'm not going to get an exact amount. I prefer the slower pieces though as I enjoy playing the more profound and thoughtful pieces over the virtuoso ones as I am no virtuoso.
Gae

Well done, so you've got 132?? that 's really amazing!!

Gae


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I've only just read this post.. can tell my mind's been on uni recently.

You've done yourself proud

Joy

Congratulations Gae! (Sorry, I've only just seen this thread as well!)

Car Expert

Hee I had that too. Except G2 bassoon is not quite so difficult as G8 Piano!

Well done though! That is an amazing result!

NM

CONGRATULATION!!! EXCELLENT results.

Hey, grade 2 bassoon's probably just as hard for a grade 2 bassoonist as grade 8 piano for a grade 8 pianist - so well done and don't do yourself down

sorry I seem to have missed this thread - tremendous result Gae, hearty congratulations.

Pity the examiner didn't let us know what he or she thought of your Victor Meldrew impression!

Thank you all! I'm still on a high now as I prepare some of the DipABRSM pieces.

Gae

Congratulations - an excellent result! And the real chocolate dog sends wags!

congrats!! i am still waiting for my Grade8 piano and I did it before you....I am soooooo anxious now.