Can I accompany my daughter on piano for her Grade 1 saxophone exam?

[Wafalaman]

My DD is doing her grade 1 ABRSM saxophone exam. She believes I could be her piano accompanist. I have a grade 4 piano from way back when, and the pieces seem doable but I will not be great (should hopefully be able to get through them without mistakes though). I initially thought definitely but but as we are practicing together sometimes I am thinking maybe yes. It's this a bad idea? Any tips? Things I should be aware of? Help

No-one can say without hearing you, or seeing the pieces (some will have much harder accompaniments than others).

Your non-professional level may be a factor; on the other hand you'll be able to practise with her far more than a professional accompanist would, who you'd typically get to just do one run-through and then the exam. That will help your daughter get used to playing with the piano, which can be quite a thing in itself.

Why don't you try playing with her for her saxophone teacher, and asking them whether it seems OK?

No. She needs a proper pianist/piano tutor; you can practise with her- yes but the actual
exam she needs to be accompanied by a proper pianist; with 1/2 practice sessions beforehand. All this needs paying for too.
i have g7 piano but would never have accompanied either of my kids at the actual exam.

Thanks. That is very helpful and matched what I first thought. Will practice with her and then as we come to the exam get an accompanist. Less stressful for me too! Now to get her to accept this.

I accompany my daughter in piano when practicing for violin exams but always make her do it with the soundtrack too so that she’s used to it being different (and tbh because as she’s going up the grades the accompaniments seem to be trickier too and some of them I don’t think I can go quite fast enough!!)

You absolutely can if you are good enough. The question is can you confidently play if she goes wrong to help her get back on track, and can you play without stumbling from nerves. There's lots of benefits if you can- her confidence, endless practice time. Most accompaniments are harder than grade 4 though and someone used to accompanying will hopefully exude confidence to a nervous young player. I think you need to let her teacher hear you and decide. Also, the piano parts will get harder so unless you are practicing lots they might get out of your scope. You'll always be able to pick out a bit though which will help her. ( Also remember she doesn't have to do every exam!)

Have you ever thought of going back to piano lessons yourself? I went back in my mid 50s. I'd got grade 6 in 1976 then got grade 7 and 8 in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
Much more fun learning as an adult. Appreciate you are probably very busy with life but worth thinking about in the future. Hope your daughter does well in her exam.

You can but you don't sound good enough if you are saying you won't be great. A good accompanist will be able to follow and stay with the performer if they go out of time etc and so the ensemble will sound better overall. Also how would you feel if you made a mistake that put off your dd? Also kids can feel more pressure with a parent there......

Thanks I recognise all this. I don't think I will proceed with this idea. I would not have considered it had my DD not said that they want to do it with me. but I think I can convince her by saying we can practice together and then she can go with the accompanist at a later point. We don't need to decide yet so it's fine

I am G7 and accompanied my daughter at cello exams up to G5. After that she used a local piano teacher as I wasn't confident with the more complicated accompaniments.

Tried to edit but didn't work.

I've heard pupils playing at our local high school competition who actually went wrong due to an accompanist (music teacher) not being good enough and making mistakes.

If you're in any doubt OP, don't do it.

Even if you're not quite up to playing for the exam, it's great that she's got someone to practise with at home. Some youngsters find it really difficult when they first have an accompanist, because they're not used to it.

How feasible it is to play for the exam depends on the difficulty of the pieces and also on your general musical confidence, but the teacher can probably advise if they hear you play together.

(I accompanied my husband for an exam, and had to veto one choice of piece because I couldn't play it.)