To appeal against my DD's Grade 3 piano result???

[Sticklebug]

Please tell me if IABU and just being a precious mum or should look to appeal (not even sure if I can).

My DD had her grade 3 piano exam a couple of weeks back. Her piano teacher predicted an easy distinction for her (134 and 138 in 2 mock exams - her teacher is also an examiner) and my DS's teacher who has heard her play agreed she should get a distinction. I could hear her playing in the exam from the waiting area and although I am completely unmusical it sounded exactly as it had at home and she made no mistakes.

She went in confident and came out beaming with the view that it had gone well. She knew that she had made a minor mistake in her B piece and she had to start one of her scales again, but apart from that she believed that she had done well. She got a merit in her grade 2 (4 points off a distinction but failed sight reading) and a distinction in her grade 1 and she felt that it went as well as her grade 1.

I have just received her results online (which, unfortunately I let her read with me as we had every confidence they would be good) and she has scrapped a pass with a score of 105. She cannot believe it - she tried so hard and played so well and her confidence is knocked completely. Her friend got exactly this score in her grade 2, but she knew she messed up completely and had to restart one piece twice and did not complete another.

She is so confused and now says that she wants to retake it but would be so nervous as she thought she had done so well.

She has always been so confident in exams that I do not want this to affect her.

We have not had the details yet as they come in the post a little later. Her teacher is 'gobsmacked' and will ring me tomorrow to discuss.

Is there any right of appeal?
Am I just feeling so awful because I hate to see my quiet, confident little girl so destroyed? Or should I look to take this further for her?

And for scales - 16/21 - you knew the note patterns and played them promptly throughout....

She should have got more for the scales unless they were very out of tune

The assessments for the played pieces sound quite pedantic for someone doing grade 3. 18/19 out of 30 would be awarded for pieces that were played not particularly well.

Sounds like the examiner was being hard.

Sounds harsh to me; not really much technical advice either on how she can improve. For example what does he mean by 'dips'? Loss of tempo? Wrong notes?

It seems to me the examiner marked on interpretation which is very subjective.

yes, I don't see any reasons given there for the loss of 5 marks for scales.

Hmmm....a good lesson learnt that things do not always go your way....

The sight reading comments were 'you played all the right notes, but the rhythm was slightly out' 14/19

Gosh - those marks do seem pretty harsh to go with those comments! Berlimey.

14/19 is pretty good for sight reading.

DD was really pleased with the sight reading result as higher than grade 2 (12) and she finds it really hard

I think you are being a bit precious, to be honest. I also think her teacher was out of order in telling her how she felt she would do. Exams are very subjective - and she needs to understand that things may not always go her way, and to get over it. Personally, I feel the ABRSM in particular is far too exam-orientated and this sometimes puts otherwise talented young musicians off for ever. And hey - she passed! Congratulations to her! If she is genuinely musical, musicality will eventually shine through and hopefully this experience will not put her off developing a sound love of piano. Good luck to her.

All things being equal though, she has passed her grade 3 at the age of ten. well done her!!! (and you )

fedupandfifty - I was being precious ...in the heat of the moment with a distressed (only just) 10 year old - but we are both over it now. Bought her a congratulations card and some new piano books with Christmas music and a book of adele accompaniments, which she is delighted with - and she has put it down to experience....

onwards....

What comments did the examiner make about each piece?

Doah - sorry! Just found them. They explain the marks I suppose. But what a stickler!!! Glad you're both feeling more positive now. Does she use Hanon? Goodfinger exercises for technique and overall control.

Not heard of Hanon - off to musicroom.com to look up now .

Thruaglassdarkly - Arrgghh!! read the first three reviews of Hanon and was convinced, then read this one:

Going against the grain here I would say DO NOT buy this book! I am a piano teacher and yes, I had to use this book in my younger days. Recent research, however, has shown that using this can potentially give you wrist problems such as RSI. Finger strength is not really a priority when learning the piano. Good technique and understanding of the music is.

Ask yourself: How many times do I repeat patterns such as those in Hanon over and over again when I am playing a piece of music? The answer is never! So why train your fingers to do that? The only thing playing Hanon makes you better at is playing Hanon!

If you want to improve the technique and musicality of your playing find a Mozart (or Haydn, Corelli, Kabalevsky or any other composer) piano piece that you enjoy and that is within your ability or will stretch you just a little and learn it. Practise it slowly and play each phrase with the correct notes and fingering every time. This gives you a piece of music you can perform as well.

Now not sure......

Oh God, Hanon! Blast from the past. I've just cleared out my music cabinet and came across my old copy from years back. Was wondering whether to inflict it on DS...

Oh! Interesting...my piano teachers brainswashed me with Hanon...perhaps it's something to look into a bit more carefully then. I think countless generations of kids were brought up on it without getting RSI (me for example). But...hummm....what to think...?
I do find that with all review sites you get some who don't recommend the product, but whether there's anything IN what the lady says, I don't know.

Truaglassdarkly - hhmm, what to think - will try it I think. She is a sensible girl so certainly won't play until RSI, whatever she is told to do! Have never had to tell or ask her to practice in 3 years of piano lessons...

If I remember rightly, it was about finger control rather than strength though. Your fingers need to have a degree of strength in them to control how you play a note and also there needs to be a good level of dexterity in them. I thought Hanon helped this...Will defo ask around now.

It's about as exciting as scales I will say . Keep us posted.

Very interesting to read that abpout Hanon.

Dh practised it religiously. His sight reading is phenomenal which is very good in his current job as a vocal coach. he had to play for show auditions last week when the auditionees brought anything to him.

I didn;t practice it and am a pretty poor sight reader.

Dh does have RSI but then again he played piano for up to 4 hours a day at one point.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, but that's because I'd probably react in the same way!

DD1 is 8yo and is about to take Grade 4 violin (next week). She learns through the suzuki method, so plays mainly from memory and is really very good. She achieved a distinction at grade 2 18 months ago and I am really hoping for the same outcome this time (although a merit would also be fine! ) The thing that will probably let her down would be the sight reading, but I would hope for good marks for the pieces, which I hope will bump things up more....

Anyway, a few children (exceptionally good ones) from the violin school we attend took grades in the summer and only got a pass despite always achieving distinctions before. (Wonder if it's the same examiner you were unlucky enough to encounter?!) I think they have all appealed against the mark and I know my DDs friend is redoing Grade 5 today.

It sounds like despite the positive report on your daughters playing they have still awarded low marks, which seems really strange. I would probably appeal personally, or just move on to grade 4 if the teacher feels she's up to it.

I think you're right to take the pass and carry on with her playing. Sounds like she needs to work on her control but also that examiner may have particularly high standards.

It's all very interesting. See, I'm not convinced that the examiner has high standards. I think it's just as likely that the examiner is utterly erratic or marking on things he isn't supposed to mark on. I mean, look at the comment on the first piece:

"You started confidently but there were some dips as you progressed. The right hand melody needed slightly greater control and articulation in a couple of places."

How could anyone fail on the fact that they didn't have enough control and articulation? To actually fail something at grade 3 level, to my mind, you'd need to be playing a whole load of wrong notes or got the rhythm all over the place or something. In which case, he could have written "You played several wrong notes and your rhythm was erratic."

By the way, I'm an adult learner and my teacher has given me some Hanon exercises. I rather enjoy doing them, but I am a bit of a weirdo.

Actually I think you're right hackmum - it does seem odd to give a fail grade for relatively small criticisms. BUT it not worth sweating about something like this. Just chalk it up to experience (as OP and her DD have decided to do).