Piano Examination Grade 7

Location: Imperial (Warisan Square)
Time: 10:10am
Event: ABRSM Piano Examinations


I woke up at 7, even though I'd set my alarm to go off at 6. Again, I am reminded that my alarm clock is seriously not capable of waking me up. I need to get a proper alarm that can wake up the living dead.

Started practicing, and by the time Sophia came downstairs groggily, I'd have practiced for an hour. Freaked out a bit, laughing and yelling. Finally, we're off.

The waiting room was in room 830, and the examination room was a couple of doors away. You may not stay in the area to listen to what was going on in there. Not that I wanted to. Walking past those few times, I'd heard really good scale playing and that intimidated me.

And when I'm intimidated, I'm scared. And when I'm scared?

Nothing happens in particular. I just don't like being scared, okay? I need security.

While waiting (I had to wait for half an hour) the steward asked me how old I was. I said, seventeen going on eighteen.

"Wow, Grade Seven already? So young? Very clever."

Erm. Right. Thank goodness they can't listen in on what happens in the examination room. Or know whether I'd actually pass. If I don't, I'm only Grade 4. At any rate, I have friends who'd achieved Grade 8 way before they were seventeen.

By then I was already going all giggly and walking about. I had to visit the washroom like, four times. Been drinking water like a fish since last night.

And the blah, and the blah, and the finally it was my turn. I went in.

Basically, I messed up the scales. Scales is a huge section, with a lot of sub-sections. Teacher Tiong always drilled me by going down systematically, so I was totally caught off-guard when Mr. Timothy (my examiner, nice, warm, booming Englishman) started calling out keys at random.

Before I started, I always had to digest what it was that he'd said for ten seconds, before my fingers actually went for it. Very slow. That can't be good.

He'd called for an E flat melodic minor, and I gave him a harmonic. After that, he was telling me nicely, "That wasn't a melodic minor, was it?"

"Oh. OH no. Should I repeat it, sir?"

Apparently, it's okay, I don't have to repeat it. What he didn't say was why. Because the damage is done, sistah.

AND one of the scales he asked for only the left hand. WTHECK? I had to ask him, "Erm, left hand only, sir?"

My first piece I did... alright. The dynamics (change of loudness) weren't very clear. The keys were stiffer than I was used to, and as everyone knows (if you didn't know, now you do) my fingers are weak. Fumbling at a few spots, especially the fast trills.

The second piece, I did better than I expected. This was a difficult piece for me. The second piece have always posed a problem for me because the second piece usually requires more technical skills. But I did well. Apart from some fumbling, and again, murky dynamics, it was alright. For my Grade 4 examination, I had to repeat the whole thing because I got stuck midway and can't go on.

The third piece is my favorite. Or was. There's a glissando at the end (You drag your palm or fingers across the keyboard and it HURTS). I managed to pull it off. Barely.

Next, sight reading. Ahhh. Mmmm. The piece I got wasn't the easiest for me, because it had flats. I prefer sharps to flats. I prefer nothing to sharps. And it started off with staccatos. I don't like staccatos in my sight-reading pieces because that means I can drraaaaaaagggggg the notes to cover up my having to count what the next note is. But it was alright. Very, very slow, and some wrong notes in the middle, but alright. Mr. Timothy told me to stop in the middle. That's normal. For me. My sight-reading had always... Been... Less than satisfactory.

Aural. For my past four practicals, I'd gotten 17, 18 marks out of 18 for the Aural Awareness section. Pretty good.

This time, I'll be amazed to get a 13.

Singing I thought I did good, but how good could I have done when Mr. Timothy actually had to look me in the eyes, and told me he'll repeat it a third time for me to try?

Sight-singing went better than I expected, but that's because I got a relatively easy piece. NO sharps, NO flats, chord's a basic C major and the time signature's a four/four. For those who don't know what all that means, basically it means answering mere ABCs when you'd expected to have to write essays. So I started off really well, correct timing, correct pitching... AND THEN it had to go all the way UP to the next octave and... I lost track of the pitches. So I did what I thought I had to do. Let my voice shoot out randomly with any pitching it can reach.

Modulation sucked. I had no idea what he wanted me to say after he'd played the piece. Teacher Tiong taught me that there were three answers: Dominant, Sub-Dominant, and Relative Minor. But he didn't mention any of those. I looked at him, frightened to death, and asked, what it was that he wanted me to answer. He was like, "Mmm. Sigh."


OH GAWD how can I PASS?

In the end, he had mercy on me and told me in what form the answer should be. "I gave you this key, so what key is this and this?"

"Oh. Erm. E?" (Minor? Major? BLAH?) "And then... D." (Minor? Major? Double BLAH?)

"Are you sure of the sequence?"

Trick question much. "Erm... Mm... Yes."


After that, Mr. Timothy played a piece. I had to describe the tonality, and the style. I think I pretty much gave him the right answers, because after every response, he was like, "Ahh..." Lean back, close his eyes, as though he'd just figured out how gravity works.

"The piece is in... A major key. And... It... Stayed major."

"Ahh."

"The style's... Romantic."

"Ahh. Why is that?"

"Because it is... expressive."

"Ahh."

I was going all, "And..." Because I thought I had to give an elaborate answer as to why I thought it was romantic. But then there was the 'Ahh.' so I stopped. He stopped, and looked at me expectantly. Or warningly. You're already correct. You want to risk...?

And I went, "Erm. Yeah."

Finally, CLAPPING.

TEACHER! I don't want to blame you but... YOU TOTALLY NEVER WENT THROUGH CLAPPING WITH ME!

I'd seen it on the net, read about it in the book, but somehow (oh boy, this somehow here is really really some HOW THE HECK?) I never brought it up with her.

Mr. Timothy played the piece TWICE, and both times I was standing there, frozen. Did he say clapping? I think I heard clapping. Is that what he wants me to do? What is this? Why isn't he saying anything?

After he finished playing, he looked at me. I was blank. After a few awkward seconds, I was forced to ask him, "What... Was the question?"

So now you guys know lah, why I failed. If I fail. When I fail.

Oh, I ended up clapping. Halfheartedly, weakly, WRONGLY.

The possible answers are: 2, 3, 4, and 6/8

I told him, 4, but now, thinking back, only a 6/8 could've managed to confuse me so, so much. I'd have done 2, 3, and 4 time since I was in Grade One. These would never confuse me, being such good buddies with me. No, I'm sure now, that was a strange, evil 6/8.


And I accidentally hit my head on one of the bed lamps, and it fell, and hit my head again, and kinda shattered a bit. So now if the bill for it comes, and it's RM200, and I fail my RM400 examination...

Mummy, I love you.

But she was all indignant about it. What if the glass cut my daughter? Huh? Then we'll be suing them! They should be thankful it didn't cut her!

Mother's are cool like that. Indignant and angry and protective and... Stingy...

So that was that. And I'm so glad it's over. Given the short span of time I had to practice, which was nobody's fault but mine alone, I think I did quite okay. God really, really helped me this time, I know. Even if He didn't, I don't really mind because I had a lesson to learn. No procrastinations, darling. No more.



Signed, Carmelia.


Feeling, relieved.
Thinking, on to other issues!