Review: My Piano Exam
No one can ever be prepared enough for an exam.
Outfit
I was wearing my Old School simpsons T-shirt my bro bought for me, my denim shorts, and Adidas sneakers. Green shirt + Red/Yellow/Orange/Brown - coloured motifs on it + Dark Blue shorts + White sneakers + Black ankle socks + Orange plastic-framed glasses= TOO COLOURFUL. I felt like a clown, but no choice. Had no time and just grabbed the first shirt I could find. Minus marks for the fact that my shirt was a little long and it looks better when I wear long pants.
Verdict: PASS
At least I didn't look like the girl sitting at the corridor wearing a tight T-shirt, super short white shorts and flip flops. She must be confusing her piano exam with an outing to the beach. Does she realise you're not supposed to dress informally for your piano exam?
Examiner
Has a head of white hear and intense blue eyes. Definitely not young and looks like kindly ol' uncle stanley. Should be around his fifties. Friendly enough to say an ethusiastic 'Hi!' and 'Thank you!' when I passed him the... marking sheet? No idea what its called. Smiles warmly when he looks at me and is kind enough to tell me that I can sing an octave lower for the sight-singing part. Also, expectedly, plays the piano like a pro.
Verdict: GOOD
Because I feel more comfortable with an examiner like him than one who doesn't smile so much she looks like she's constantly glaring at me and says 'Thank You' so seriously she sounds cold and distant. Yes, I'm referring to my previous exam's examiner.
Scales
So- so. No stumbling, but missed one or two notes (didn't press the keys). Could remember how to play every scale he asked for (I think he asked for 5, much more than the previous one where I was only asked to play 2). Nothing great, but nothing bad either. Semi- smooth. Everthing is so- so until Arpeggios. Asked to play 4, second attempts needed for 3. But thats only because my fingers slipped! I remembered how to play them ok! You tell me I mati or not.
Verdict: BORDERLINE PASS
Could have done fairly well but my Arpeggios killed me. Shit.
Pieces
First Piece: It was going fine until I thought 'Hey, I'm doing well I may finish this without a mistake!' Bad move. BLAM. Wrong note. Shit. 'Damn, gotta be more careful.' BLAM. Wrong note again! 'So much for that expectation.' BLAM. 'Ok, I've really got to stop thinking because its distracting me from playing. BLAM. Moral of the story: I think... DON'T think.
Second Piece: Because its a nice piece, it sounds quite nice when I'm not making mistakes. But the super-loud piano sort of restricts you from going any softer than ff. And because this song uses pedal, it was freakin' noisy. Made mistakes at the expected parts.
Third Piece: Reckon everyone took this piece, so there's going to be a lot of comparison. Not a lot of mistakes, just missed a note at the final chord.
Verdict: BORDERLINE PASS
Really, I shouldn't be thinking about it.
Sight Reading
He actually allowed me to play as practise. Is that allowed? Managed to go through 5 bars. An improvement of last year's 3. Looks fairly simple, played fairly simply (think no dynamics) Painfully average sounding.
Verdict: PASS
Ok lah, not so many wrong notes. Wrong beats though.
Aural
So-so singing since my singing (and sight reading) sucks, there isn't a single question that I'm dead sure of is the correct answer. At the last part he looked disappointed when I said I thought the piece was 20th Century because it had quite uneven beats. Still said an enthusiastic thank-you anyway. The clapping part went all wrong because even though there were many notes, clapping 200000 times doesn't give you the right answer.
Verdict: FAIL
I like to set realistic goals.
Overall: BORDERLINE PASS
I hope.