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I think it is a good thing to botch a seemingly learned piece in front of your teacher. It points out where the hidden weaknesses are. I played all three of my exam pieces for my teacher in my last lesson, and totally botched the one I thought was most secure. I played a wrong note, and then totally blanked out and did not know how to continue. She said she was glad that happened in a lesson, so I would recognize that I was doing too much autopilot playing, and not enough sectional work. So now I am starting from different starting places throughout the piece, and working parts that I slide through without thinking. Polishing for exams is like nothing I have ever done before. Instead of learning it until its right, I think you have to learn it until you cannot get it wrong!

Oh...yes...you are so right on learning it until you can't get it wrong. Now I wish I had a couple of more weeks.

I am also doing the theory exam and taking practice exams. If I scan and post, is there anyone willing to "grade" them for me? Maybe just one?

Have a great day!

Hi Wisebuff, what level theory? I'd be willing to grade practice exams for you.

PS88, This is RCM LEvel 6 theory or intermediate.

Scan and post. I will grade it.

Thank you Theroy Grl. I'll do that today.

Another question? Do any of you have the Haydn Hob.XVI:3 Minuet and Trio with a metronome marking?
Mine has 32 and I'm sure that's a misprint. Thank you in advance.

I have sort of chosen my pieces for the exam, but it is in August. Do you think I can maintain them for that long? How often should I be working on them to keep them fresh? I'm only grade 3 so they are short.

Hi Sara,

I go through my pieces and technical stuff several times during the week, but not everyday. I take the exam on May 28th. After that, I'll probably never play them again ;0

The technical stuff. Yeah. Gotta work on that more.

If you are playing the pieces really well then you can rest them and return prior to the exam to bring them back up to performance.

For me, it's ear training. I'm hoping for 50% there.

Do you have to sing in the RCM exams? I really dread the two singing tests - repeat the lower part of a two part phrase from memory and sing the upper part of a two part phrase from the score. I belt it out confidently but not necessarily correctly. The analysis part is not too bad. I am hoping for a "skin of the teeth" pass.

Nope, no singing .. thankfully. Well, maybe at higher levels, not sure. For intervals, Level 3, you can either identify them or sing them as I understand it. I just plan to call out a "Perfect Confusion" ;0

Last week of prep!! Theory exam is on Saturday and with the expertise and patient help of PianoStudent88 I might squeak by with a pass. I miss little details mostly...a dot here or there or my brain gets mixed up on a key. AND they've changed the terminology this year. I have such respect and admiration for true piano students. Although I love music it is not my major and I'm trying to catch up on theory that I've never seemed to need.

The performance exam is just one week from today. The technical skills are daunting. Hoping that at least half of it comes out accurately. The listen and playback is just not going well for me and the sight reading is getting worse (working from the level 6 sight reading book). Oh my...

The process of preparation for this exam has taught me a lot about the pieces I'm playing, theory, and maybe most of all challenges me to accept myself as adequate. My hope is always to excel but my nerves and my tendency to lose focus may undermine that hope.

Thank you to each of you for your encouragement and suggestions. Wish we could have champagne after Monday's exam together.

wishing you all the very best Wisebuff.

Good luck WiseBuff! Soon all of your hard work will pay off!!

All the best WiseBuff! Trust yourself and the many hours you have put into preparing for the exam. If slips or errors happen, forgive yourself and keep on playing. Do the best you can on that day and have no regrets. Then go treat yourself!

Good luck! I'm sure you will do well with all of your preparation.

First time taker here. I just passed ABRSM grade 5 with a 105 pretty much as a self learner (I took lessons for a little more than a year a loooong time ago). I basically just did this as a benchmark. I'm definately going to continue but I'm a a little worried about how I'm playing my pieces, the part that actually matters. I got 22,23,23 and I was absolutely sure I was playing on at least a level that deserves a merit for two of them. Some of the criticism the examiner wrote was wrong too, saying I was playing wrong notes which 100% untrue. Anyways. What are some tips for getting that grade 6 merit?

Here are the specific metrics used by ABRSM for the differences between pass and merit:

Pass
•Generally correct notes
•Sufficiently reliable intonation to maintain tonality
•Suitable tempo
•Generally stable pulse
•Overall rhythmic accuracy
•Generally reliable
•Adequate tonal awareness
•Some realisation of musical shape and/or detail
•Generally secure, prompt recovery from slips
•Some musical involvement

Merit
•Largely accurate notes and intonation
•Sustained, effective tempo
•Good sense of rhythm
•Mainly controlled and consistent
•Good tonal awareness
•Clear musical shaping, well-realised detail
•Positive
•Carrying musical conviction
•Character and style communicated

As a benchmark, you know where you stand. The ABRSM and RCM are designed to be easy to pass but not as easy to do well and hard to achieve distinction. They also get more demanding as grades move up. The quality of playing you gave may have earned you a merit in grade 4 and even a distinction in grade 2-3. Which means if the quality of your playing does not improve you may not pass the higher grades or even the next one.

In another post you said you hate Baroque and Classical. I'd think right there that would doom you from doing well on several important metric in the merit column such as positive, musical conviction, and communicating character and style of the music.

Tip for next time, well, obvious one would be get a teacher who prepares students for ABRSM, even if it's for the 3-6 months before your next exam. If that's not possible, listen to lots and lots of good baroque and classical music. Let the music sink in. It needs to be part of you. If you can't feel it, you can't play it. If you still hate classical music despite trying your best then by all means play something else.

You could try to mark an ABRSM 5 Exam yourself. I just did it and mark it exactly as ABRSM would have. The point is not whether you think you played better than the person in the video, but whether you understand and agree with how ABRSM measures. http://us.abrsm.org/en/exam-support...s/grade-5-piano-2015/?examelement=Pieces