What happens on the day of the exam?
Remember to bring with you the original music, including music for the piano player. Also have some spare reeds if you are a clarinet or saxophone player, and valve oil if you play a brass instrument.
The pupil should arrive at the examination approximately 15 minutes prior to their examination time. A steward will check the pupil’s details. The pupil should be able to warm up and might be able to run through their pieces with the pianist, if a piano is available at the venue and if there is time.
The steward will show the pupil and the pianist into the exam room. Exams can often run either early or late, so don’t worry if you’re not called exactly at the time you were expecting!
The examiner will probably be sat at a desk, surrounded by paperwork. The examiner is there to assess the pupil’s performance, but needn’t be a scary monster! It may even help pupils to try and smile at them! He or she may introduce themselves, may ask the pupil’s name, and may ask which pieces the pupil has chosen to play.
Pupils are expected to tell the examiner which pieces they are playing and who the piece was written by. If they wish, pupils can write down the information on a slip of paper and read it out rather than worry about remembering it all!
Usually the exam begins with the two accompanied pieces. The pianist will leave the room after the two pieces, and the pupil proceeds with the study, scales, sight-reading and aural tests in whatever order they choose (the examiner will usually ask the pupil which they would like to do first). The examination will end after completion of the above.
The times allocates for each grade are as follows:
Grade 1 12 minutes
Grades 2 & 3 14 minutes
Grades 4 & 5 17 minutes |
