Tuesday 17 June 2014

Grade 1 piano exam result

Well I just failed got 94 out of 150

When it came to the exam I just freaked out

Whilst I don't want to make excuses the fact that the piano was an actual piano as opposed to a digital one meant it was a totally different experience to my normal clavinova. And even in the warm up room there was only a digital piano. So despite having gone through the routine 2 or 3 times in the warm up room I was totally unprepared and it was a downward spiral I fluffed a note on the first scale that made me tense and nervous then I fluffed the first piece and the second and so on. It was about the most ghastly ten minutes I've spent in a long time

Ok so I became dis-orientated but at least I know what it is to expect and I would hope next time around I'll do much better

In the mean time I'm plowing my own furrow with the help of stuff on the internet

https://www.webpianoteacher.com/

His approach is amazing he writes out the notes on a white board and copying them onto  a bit of paper definitely helps in the initial stages of learning a pieve. Going to try and learn the first movement of the moonlight sonataover the next few weeks,  following his approach here is the first lesson (which is free)

http://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=shawn+cheek+youtube+moonlight+sonata&vid=51f62e45493d1fc223078ad9b9be4f24&l=7%3A00&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608016431266268857%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DY_I1bXFEU8s&tit=Piano+Lesson+Moonlight+Sonata+Beethoven+Shawn+Cheek+Tutorial&c=3&sigr=11an3drma&sigt=11sclra59&ct=p&age=0&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=avast&tt=b

For budding pianists his site is definitely the best

Monday 2 June 2014

Grade 1 Piano Exam

Well the culmination of almost two years since I started getting an interest in learning the piano has arrived I have my grade 1 piano exam tomorrow. I feel reasonably confident I'll pass but I'm not sure I will get to either merit 130/150 or distinction 140/150

It's kind of weird really, to get an idea of what I'll be doing here is a link to the ABRSM site which shows the sort of thing I'll be asked to do

http://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIuC7IxTrwgACyB2BQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWc0dGJtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMQ--?p=abrsm+grade+1+piano&vid=80d20eda6cd46bbfd1f82f536ac755d5&l=8%3A45&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608034641905910897%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DD4FBBFsLNek&tit=ABRSM+-+Grade+1+Piano+exam+%28complete%29&c=0&sigr=11avd4ano&sigt=1153jk45d&age=0&&tt=b


I hope the examiner is as kind as the examiner in the video

Anyway I'll let you know how I get on

For interest the pieces I've chosen are

 Fugue No 4 Alec Rowley

Sailor's Song Felix Swinstead

Thursday R R Bennett

and if you do a serch for grade 1 piano pieces on you tube you should be able to hear what they sound like

Good luck to anyone taking ABRSM exams tomorrow whatever your instrument.