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Original poster

disastrous Grade 1 piano exam

56 replies

racingheart · 22/11/2011 11:50

just wondered if anyone on here could tell me if you can fail grade 1. DS1 went in for the exam today. Got to the church and was told there's no warm up room and the previous candidate cancelled so please go straight in. We'd arrived early to compose ourselves but DS seemed happy to get straight on with it, so he went in. Completely messed up his broken chords which he's been faultless on for months. Completely messed up one of his set pieces, I mean ended in wrong key, restarted piece three times. Other two pieces absolutely fine. Other scales fine. I'm hoping they'll see from how polished the other pieces were that it's a blip. He also told the examiner that he hadn't been taught any LH broken chords. It was a mental meltdown - he plays them all the time. His mind just went blank.

Now he feels very foolish. I said, don't worry - treat it as a mock - the point of an exam is for you personally to gauge what you know and don't know - for no other reason at this stage, so no shame in needing to resit, but he's good at piano, loves it, practises a lot and just absolutely went to pieces in there.

Sorry - just needed to get all that off my chest. I've been told it's almost impossible to fail Grade 1 but I think he may have set a precedent.
Any advice?

OP posts:

NormanTebbit · 22/11/2011 22:09

I would like to add that I am now a very enthusiastic but pretty awful pianist. I'm sure your son is, right now, a much better pianist than I will ever be but he has a lifetime of pleasure ahead of him if he loves to play.

Original poster

racingheart · 22/11/2011 22:48

LOL Norman.

Brigit, you sound like a great teacher. You turn up for their exams?

I think he and I were just very green. I've never sat a music exam and nor had he. We'll know a bit more next time. He was very cute and philosophical at bedtime, and said he didn't mind if he;s failed because he;d quite like to try again and get a merit rather than just scrape a pass. (I know I'm a fond mother but he is capable of a merit.)

I told him what you'd all said on here, about not actually having to sit any exams at all, and he sat up in bed beaming and asked if he could get all the way to grade eight without sitting a single exam. I said yes. He is very happy now, so thank you all so much for you advice on this.

OP posts:

BrigitBigKnickers · 23/11/2011 13:51

Hi racingheart I haven't taught the clarinet privately for a while as I don't have time but yes I used to go with them to the exam (if the time was convenient- e.g. school holidays) as the final warm up, reed positioning and pep talk before the exam is invaluable.

Glad he is feeling philosophical about it- the first exam can be a real shock if you have never done one before.

Not sure if his teacher does them but the TrinityRock School piano exams are great. I find the standard easily as difficult as ABRSM but the examiners are more friendly and seem better at putting their pupils at ease. It's a great syllabus too- great blues jazz and pop tunes.

teacherwith2kids · 23/11/2011 15:58

Should also say that I refused to do music exams as a child - I was not hugely musical, I played a (rather unusual) instrument for enjoyment.

In the end I did Grade 3 - at that time the lowest possible on my instrument - and then Grade 7 - at that time the highest possible - about 4 years later just before I left school as I thought it would be good to have a 'record' of the standard I had reached.

mirai · 23/11/2011 16:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

larry5 · 23/11/2011 17:13

Dd did clarinet up to Grade 7 and piano to Grade 4 and has grade 5 theory. Her opinion of the exams is that they can only be compared to taking your driving test as they are one of the few exams that you do one to one.

It was very useful for her to have Grade 7 as they gave her extra UCAS points which enabled her to get into the university of her choice.

stickyLFDTfingers · 23/11/2011 17:25

I think the examiner was a bit mean not to tell him to stop and compose himself if he was making a mess of things - especially as they would have had plenty of time with the cancellation. I remember my Grade 2 was exactly like that - chilly church hall in December, my fingers had gone blue and when I set off first, I couldn't feel the piano. The nice man told me to go and warm up for 5 minutes and come back. Nice man :)

When you get further up the exam scale, there's a lot more choice in what you can play, so it's more fun.

Having said that, I think it's very good training taking exams and learning to take them in your stride. Then when you take academic exams, you're used to nerves, how to deal with them, how to psych yourself up etc.

Original poster

racingheart · 23/11/2011 18:19

Sticky when I heard it through the wall, I expected to hear it again. I asked DS if he'd asked for permission to play again, and he just said, 'No I don't think you're allowed. I now know from this thread that he could have. Ah well, it was a first fro us both. He'll be better prepared next time, if he decides to bother with exams.

OP posts:

EdithWeston · 23/11/2011 18:27

OP: it is possible to raise you concerns about the conduct of the exam with ABRSM (but I don't know whatthey then do about it). In your case, I think the lack of a warm up might count as a valid procedural mistake.

Here's a link to how you raise concerns, fr procedural one's I has to be within 7 days of the exam.

housepiglet · 23/11/2011 19:50

It's unfortunate that your DS didn't get a chance to compose himself before the exam, but if he's messed it up then it really doesn't matter. It's a Grade 1 piano exam. That's all. He can re-take it, or simply skip it: it's not going to have any sort of effect on the rest of his life.

If he picks up on your anxiety about it though, then that could become a problem. Performance anxiety, fear of failure, fear of disappointing a parent or of not measuring up to expectations... all that sort of stuff could really get in the way of how he approaches all sorts of things in the future.

Hopefully you can conceal your anxiety from him. I think your anxiety is much more of a problem then your DS's failure to do himself justice in the exam. I hope he got through it, despite the problems, but if not then it really doesn't matter.

ByTheWay1 · 23/11/2011 20:04

LOL - my eldest took grade 1 in March - she fluffed one of her pieces, restarted another from scratch and failed the Aural quite spectacularly (6/18)- and STILL got 111/150 - so I shouldn't worry til you get the actual mark.... Youngest DD has her go the day after tomorrow! Fingers crossed.

meditrina · 23/11/2011 20:10

So does that mean you can fluff one section completely (ie be below specified pass mark on the assessment criteria for that part) but still pass overall if the total mark is good enough?

For example - if you do dreadfully in sight reading, but the rest is fine (and in places good) can one still pass?

And would that be true of just grade 1, or of grades 1-5, or all grades?

ByTheWay1 · 23/11/2011 20:31

Well for grade 1 I know it is a "finishing post" pass of 100/150 - anyway you get there is fine... you could get zero for sight reading and still pass.

DeWe · 23/11/2011 20:48

You just need to get a total of 100/150 (120=merit, 130=distinction) you don't need to pass each section for all exams up to grade 8 (dh failed his scales at grade 8 and still got a distinction).

Merit and distinction are a lot up on just passing, but I do know a lad who managed to score 144 on about grade 5. That's about 10 marks up on anyone else I know. Seriously good.

meditrina · 23/11/2011 21:02

That's heartening! Thanks.

Colleger · 24/11/2011 09:08

It's unlikely he will fail based on what you've said but if he does you can point out all the sections he did pass, which I'm sure will be more than the ones he fails - if any.

We have had failed scales and failed aurals and still received a high pass - rather frustrating as his pieces were distinction. There is a downloadable booklet on ABRSM which gives you a rough idea about how many points your son could achieve based on his performance.

Original poster

racingheart · 24/11/2011 19:46

Thank you all. I knew nothing of what to expect last week, and now feel a lot more prepared for next time, whatever the outcome.

OP posts:

Original poster

racingheart · 03/12/2011 18:49

He passed! just had a call form his piano teacher. Apparently he got a distinctions on the pieces he didn't muck up, so he wasn't far off getting a merit, but the disastrous Andante and broken chords pulled him down. Sorry far TMI. but we're so happy!

OP posts:

ASuitableGirl · 03/12/2011 18:51

Oh I am glad to hear that :)

stickyLFDTfingers · 03/12/2011 19:05

Yay! And nerve-shredding as it was, I'm sure it's something that he's learnt from. Good for your DS!

claig · 03/12/2011 19:14

fantastic

goinggetstough · 03/12/2011 20:25

Great news. Well done to your DS.

nickelbabe · 03/12/2011 20:27

well done to your DS!

and well done for him getting distinctions on his practised pieces!
(i think this year's are really hard)

and he knows now to practise his scales etc. for the next one

Original poster

racingheart · 03/12/2011 23:43

Thank you. I really am so delighted for him because he loves playing so much and deserved to pass. (Well, under normal circumstances he;d have hoped for a merit, but under those circs, he's so pleased to get what he did!)

OP posts:

BrigitBigKnickers · 04/12/2011 16:37

Brilliant News racingheart ! Well done to your DS- sounds like he got a good clear pass.

He must be a very good player to get distinction marks on his pieces.

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