Danger of failing Grade 3 exam

[pavb2]

Hi all I've been playing for a few years and started grade 3 in January. Things were fine & on schedule I was doing between 4 & 5 hours practice a week.

Yesterday at my lesson we ran through the pieces & it was poor, my teacher said that I would barely pass on that performance & possibly fail. The problem was pauses, hesitancy etc.

So the exam is 6 days time, the teacher recommended I play 2 hours per day but I'm looking at doing 4 hours at least if not more.

So have I left it too late & what is the best way to approach the intense practice required and should I try and do more than 4 hours per day.

Any advice much appreciated.

[p2u_]

The problem was pauses, hesitancy etc.

Well, at least you have pin-pointed the problem. That is 50% of the solution.

My take: Hands separately, if necessary slower than required. Condition (program) yourself NOT to pause and NOT to hesitate, at the same time obeying all musical requirements. Hands together - same drill.

I think the secret for you is not in the amount of time, but in the QUALITY of practice. It may be so that you end up with 4-5 hours, but setting such time limits in advance is the wrong mindset. Remember: success or failure are conditioned reflexes! Program yourself for success. Good luck!

Paul

[hfmadopter]

Hi all I've been playing for a few years and started grade 3 in January. Things were fine & on schedule I was doing between 4 & 5 hours practice a week.

Yesterday at my lesson we ran through the pieces & it was poor, my teacher said that I would barely pass on that performance & possibly fail. The problem was pauses, hesitancy etc.

So the exam is 6 days time, the teacher recommended I play 2 hours per day but I'm looking at doing 4 hours at least if not more.

So have I left it too late & what is the best way to approach the intense practice required and should I try and do more than 4 hours per day.

Any advice much appreciated.

Well it has your attention now ! I bet you zero right in . I do not suggest over praticing at this late time, maybe 2 or 3 hours of good work a day. The best approach is always to first slow down, fix it then get back up to speed.

[pianoyutube]

Well, don't panic.
Just play slowly, correct the mistakes, and improve your confidence. Remember that is better to play slowly and fluently than fast and full of errors.

Good luck!

[pavb2]

Thanks to everyone for the help and support it's been a great help so I have practised over the last few days and can now  play with  few mistakes at home but I played on the school's piano yesterday in front of a few people and it all fell apart, wrong notes, pauses getting lost reading the music etc. This was easily the worst I've ever played in public and I just managed to stumble through to the end.

A lot of it could be down to nerves, different piano? I find playing in public worse than the exam it but didn't do the confidence much good.

The difficulty is it seems like I have no control over things, I've no idea how the exam will go, it could be OK, or a complete disaster or somewhere in between. I'm not sure either why it seems to have fallen apart these last 2 or 3 weeks.

I think I'm just going to to some more practise and see what happens.

Anyhow thanks for all the help and advice very much appreciated.

[p2u_]

The difficulty is it seems like I have no control over things, I've no idea how the exam will go, it could be OK, or a complete disaster or somewhere in between.

It's all nerves. But I have good news for you: fear is always worse than the actual event.

* Practise deliberately SLOWLY, otherwise you will train the wrong nervous processes and you will be very nervous on the day of the exam.
* Practise the exam situation itself and do not try to suppress your fear, because if you do, it will come out on the day of the exam anyway. Instead, try to control it. While playing, imagine you are already doing your exam but don't play fast; even dress in the clothes you will wear on that day. Imagine what could go wrong on that day. Is it really that frightful?
* In short, program yourself for success.

Paul

[pavb2]

Anyhow the deed is done wasn't brilliant, fingers started to go again, wouldn't be suprised to fail, frustrating but I know I could pass easily if the exam were at home. But I learnt this from the experience.

For me 5 months practise at 5 hours per week is not enough to perform this grade in public and sit the exam with complete confidence, though I think another month would have been enough.

The intensity of 2 -3 hours per day for the last 6 days made a significant difference but probably not enough, I need to incorporate this into my routine .

The nerves & issues with the different piano are secondary and may be eliminated or minimised by knowing the pieces more thoroughly.

The problem is exams come around every 6 months so my dilemna now is to try and complete grade 4 in 6 months with this new found knowledge or leave it and take a year which seems a long time.

To clarify I'm not interested in just completing the grades for their own sake but see it as a discipline, a goal to help motivate and improve.

Any further thoughts much appreciated.

[pianoyutube]

How many pieces do you have to prepare for grade four? I have no clue about your grades, and how many hours you need to prepare the exam.

[pavb2]

Hi PYT it's the ABRSM board and 3 pieces, about 8 scales and associated arpeggios

[hfmadopter]

Anyhow the deed is done wasn't brilliant, fingers started to go again, wouldn't be suprised to fail, frustrating but I know I could pass easily if the exam were at home. But I learnt this from the experience.

For me 5 months practise at 5 hours per week is not enough to perform this grade in public and sit the exam with complete confidence, though I think another month would have been enough.

The intensity of 2 -3 hours per day for the last 6 days made a significant difference but probably not enough, I need to incorporate this into my routine .

The nerves & issues with the different piano are secondary and may be eliminated or minimised by knowing the pieces more thoroughly.

The problem is exams come around every 6 months so my dilemna now is to try and complete grade 4 in 6 months with this new found knowledge or leave it and take a year which seems a long time.

To clarify I'm not interested in just completing the grades for their own sake but see it as a discipline, a goal to help motivate and improve.

Any further thoughts much appreciated.

You need to do some practice in front of people more often than just exam time. The idea of people observing you is distracting your thought process to play properly and bringing up the nerves. Just my opinion but my teacher way back when had a wed workshop each month partially to address this idea of playing in front of others.

[pianoyutube]

The problem is exams come around every 6 months so my dilemna now is to try and complete grade 4 in 6 months with this new found knowledge or leave it and take a year which seems a long time.

I've read the three pieces that you would have to prepare for grade 4.
I think that with 6 or 7 hours a week you have enough time to prepare the exam, if you schedule properly your practice in a 6 months period.
Let's say that you assign 15 minutes for each piece and 15 minutes for the scales /arpegios every day, with some little rests. Or you could play only two pieces, and after two months start with the third. And play only a scale / arpegio every week.
The key here is practicing every day, or almost every day.

You should master the pieces and scales in 6 months. Comment your schedule with your teacher, he or she must have an opinion about this.

[pianoyutube]

You need to do some practice in front of people more often than just exam time. The idea of people observing you is distracting your thought process to play properly and bringing up the nerves. Just my opinion but my teacher way back when had a wed workshop each month partially to address this idea of playing in front of others.

Good advice IMHO.

[pavb2]

Excellent advice from HFM, I will make more effort to play in public as often as I can.

Thanks for taking the time to look at the pieces PYT. The schedule you propose is just what I was looking for, I knew I had to do more but to quantify it the way you have is priceless.

So I'll have a chat to my teacher and make a decision but think I will try & complete G4 by Xmas. I love the challenge of learning & playing the piano and if it needs 7 hours per week ten that's what I'll do.

Thanks so much.

Paul

[pavb2]

Just to give an update I failed that Grade 3 exam, in retrospect I was nowhere near ready.

I took grade 4 and  passed recently and am now studying grade 5.

The conclusion I have arrived at is that for myself it is pointless to rush and try to complete the exam within 6 - 9 months. I think that I need that year long period of time to allow everything to 'stick' for the brain to absorb the detail even if the actual practice time amounts to the same as if I'd taken the 6 - 9 months.

Thanks again to all who gave great advice.

[gregh]

You need to do some practice in front of people more often than just exam time. The idea of people observing you is distracting your thought process to play properly and bringing up the nerves. Just my opinion but my teacher way back when had a wed workshop each month partially to address this idea of playing in front of others.

I've heard of a violinist, a professional orchestral player, who practices in the subway, in front of whatever people walk by. It gets her used to playing in front of people.

You'd need some help to haul a piano into the subway. But I can say, at least from a public speaking perspective (I don't perform but I've been a teaching assistant), that it gets better with practice. That's the good news. The bad news is it takes practice.

[steve_uk]

There are some talented people who need less of a space between examinations,but one is only putting pressure on oneself by trying to squeeze them into such a short space of time. I don't know the American system but the ABRSM here in the UK allow two years before the syllabus is changed,suggesting that it's not unreasonable to take that amount of time to complete the course.

[tom_3154]

6 hours practice a week is a good amount of practice but it depends on what you do during that time! I echo the point about performing your pieces as often as possible - this will be good practice for your exam and also keep you focused during your practice

Also find some performances of your pieces and try playing along. MusicGurus.com has an online course with demonstrations by a very good pianist who will give feedback too:

https://bit.ly/ABRSM_Grade3_AnnabelThwaite

Good luck :-)