Inconsistence is my middle name!

Piano [practical] exam – July 16th, 2009.

I already had my GUILD music theory exam last year. But a practical exam is scarier because I’ll be communicating with the examiner!

I really don’t know how good (or bad) I am at playing the piano. I just depend on my teacher’s recommendation… and I don’t know if the examiners good words were for real or just to make me feel better because I made little mistakes here and there. During the last [practice] recital, the principal of my music school didn’t comment much on my pieces other than my untimely tempo (fast song played slow and vice versa)… Oh. Gosh. I really don’t know my level.

Anyway. I think I did the best I can do. It can be hard when other people have high expectations… so – regarding the piano – I insist on having fun. I’ll sit for exams but I don’t want to score high. I just want to have fun and improve myself along the journey.

Okay, back to the story. The examiner was really friendly (& seems to like chocolate.) He went  into the waiting room during tea break to get some chocolates and asked the “steward” to put one in his coffee. He offered us (the examinee, there’s also another girl waiting) the chocolates and I readily took it (lol) because eating chocolate helped lessen my nervousness. I thanked him and he returned to the exam room. Then more exam-takers came… The principal also came (maybe to give us moral support…). I was the first to come in after the tea break was over.

Nervous! Nervous! Even more nervous when he himself came in the waiting room to bring the next student (me!). Oh. Gosh. Then I adjusted the bench before sitting down, opened my book at my 1st piece… and he asked what I want to play first. I started with scales… & when he asked me to play broken chords for F major, I misheard him and played F Major scales instead. He stopped me when he realised my mistake. I said sorry and continued playing the broken chords.

Scales over, now it’s the 3 pieces’ turn. I played my 1st piece with a bit mistake but I kept on playing (as my teacher told me to do). Then 2nd piece, a slow one (I tried improving my tempo at home with the newly-bought metronome)… Okay-lah, I think. Then, the 3rd piece! I paused before starting. For your information, this piece is my most problematic piece among those three. During lesson, whenever we reached this page, I would gasp and my teacher will sigh, “Oh, no. That again.” The thing is, I always play this piece too fast, too slow, too unhappy, or not too springy. I kept got corrected by my teacher. *sigh* So, I played my 3rd piece, it sounded different from the one I always played because I kept in mind to make it more jumpy/springy. When done, I think I did okay. Whatever. Then it’s the examiner’s time to comment. “That’s the best version (for that piece) I’ve heard from KK.” (referring to my 3rd piece… and I may recalled what he said wrongly.) “Huh?” I thought. He approved of my problematic piece? That’s so sweet of him! I guess he’s just being nice because I’m an adult beginner (I’m so old!) taking a Grade 1 piano exam…

After that it’s sight-reading. I was lucky. I got a piece without flats and sharps! Then aural test. Clap. Clap… okay. I’m never good at that guessing the beat part. Then singing (I love this part!). I messed a bit with the last parts… to identify changes of rhythm and melody in pieces. Then, it’s the end. I thanked him and went back to the waiting room. The principal asked me how was it and I answered her wrongly because I was still recovering from my nervous state.

That’s it.

My first piano practical exam.

0 comments