My exam is in a week- what should I do? SM, age 15

[hotlilgal]

Hey im new & im 15 and im sitting Grade 7 on Monday I am so freaked out and tho Ive done exams 2 and got distinctions i just donno what 2 do to get rid of these nerves! any ideas?

[Aurelio]

:Psorry about my english

The bad news are:
In a week you won't can to train yourself to be calm or without nerves in the stage.

The goog news are:
It's not so important to be without nerves, I think is better to assume the nerves than to try to eliminate them

An usefull exercise is the nextone:
Imagine yoursef at the exam, see in your mind all details of the exam environment: the auditorium (or classroom), the people (teachers, friends,...) the piano, the piano chair, windows, temperature, your cold and temblorous hands,  he, he, he...

Well, the important thing of this exercise is that you must feel the nerves assuming them. Imagine yourself playing with the nerves, but playing like you know, playing well (not better you can...) playing like you play when you are alone and inspirated.

Of course, there are things you can do in the exam, but the most important thing (perhaps not easy at your level) is to focus your mind on music.

Good breathing is important. Give you some seconds before start to breath deeply.

It's important that you donīt give importance to the exam if you play much worse than you can, the exam is only one opportunity more to play in front of people. The more times you play in public (exams, concerts, recitals or with several friends present,) the more experience you win, but in all those concerts focus on the music to forget the notes (in the concert, not forever...)

An important thing is to play from memory (is this expression of my poor English correct?) but in a week it is something that you are not going to change!! perhaps the next year...

I hope to have been usefull.

Good luck, and remenber, it's only one more concert of a very, very long career... It will be time to improve at the stage. Assume your nerves.


:-/ :-/Very bad English?? :-/ :-/

[Aurelio]

I have forgotten an important thing:

The day of the exam DO NOT PLAY THE PIECES YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY IN THE EXAM.

Play other things if you want to train your fingers, hanon, other pieces, etc. but not the pieces to play at the exam because all you are going to obtain is more nerves and introducing new problems and gaps in the pieces.

The day of the cocert/exam brain is no receptive to new information, so if you try to study, the special feelings of the day will cause distortion in your brain on what you study, so, the better thing to do is training your fingers with stupid (from a musical point of view) exercices: H A N 0 N  or so.

This advice could be false at very advance levels of dexterity of piano practice. It's possible that people like Zimmerman, Kissin, Andras Schiff... do not have problems to play whatever they want before concerts...

[hotlilgal]

hey thankx 4 the advice sounds pretty useful
nah your english isn't bad when i first read your reply i couldnt find n e thing wrong with it.
maybe my spanish is what's bad!
adios!

[Aurelio]

We hope you tell us, after your exam, how it has gone.

I have a curiosity. What are the pieces you are going to play?

By the way, if your hands have facility to get cold when you are nervous, a pair of gloves before the exam could help you.

[hotlilgal]

Well... the exam waz O.K. I played Haydn's Sonata in B flat, a Mazurka by Lyadov, and NO.5 from Visions Fugitives by Prokofiev. I also did pretty o.k on my aural tests i think (of corz, i donno, sinz we only get told about the result on June 30), I was incredibly nervous at the beginning and made two mistakes in my 20 scales, but I calmed down a lot after that and I performed my pieces in one of the best ways ever, my sight reading was very hard but I managed the best I could and the examiner was very nice. My teacher is 100% sure I passed so I guess i can call my self a Grade 8 now! Doesnt that sound cool?

[Aurelio]

Very very cool...

Congratulations Sarah!!