Exam and Eisteddfod Advice
If you have a practical exam or competition coming up, here's some advice to make the experience less stressful and more positive. If you've done your daily dose of focused and productive practice (and not cheated yourself by quality or quantity), and applied all the lessons I have given you, then you've done most of the work. However, there are things you should know about how to practise and behave in the few weeks and days before your upcoming performance.
The Few Weeks (Or Months) Before
* When you are ready (an indicator is if you are already playing through the pieces all the way during the lesson), practise performing your pieces before every practice session. Imagine an audience near your piano, take a bow, prepare for a few seconds at the piano seat and begin playing. Treat it like a real performance, so do not correct errors or pause too long anywhere. Take note of weak areas to work on during your practice session and focus on improving these in the next few days. You may bring up any musical or technical issues you have in your next piano lesson (whether or not I have gone through it with you).
* When you have performed by yourself with confidence, practice performing in front of an audience, whether friends or family. Organise a little concert for your friends or family, and provide paper for them to write comments. You can bring these comments to me for checking and to work on during the lesson. This is an especially useful exercise that can be repeated as many times as you wish. I recommend doing this at least twice before any important performance. You should also be looking for performance opportunities at school and other places where people are willing to listen to you.
* Read your music away from the piano and imagine the way you want to play it (this is also important to do even if you haven't been learning the piece that long). Also check for any markings you may have missed when you were first learning the piece and include them into your practice. It is useful to circle or comment in pencil on your music any questions you have for me, or reminders to yourself.
* Remember to still do the type of careful practice that you did when you were first learning the piece, such as hands separate practice, slow practice, rhythms practice and practice in small sections - all at different speeds with the metronome. Whatever you do, do not always play fast - playing fast too much will not make you any better at playing faster, as any experienced pianist will know.
The Day Before
* Do some moderate exercise to help you stay calm and in perspective).
* Do a moderate amount of practice on everything you will be examined on or perform. Keep your playing mostly slow, strong (if applicable) and accurate in detail.
* Check that all pencil markings are rubbed off the music if you are going to do an exam.
* If you are a parent of a student who is going to sit for an exam or enter a competition, be as positive and supportive as possible. Do not overly criticise or make your child afraid in any way.
The Night Before
* Eat something healthy.
* Revise your general knowledge out loud, referring to your pieces (if you are doing an exam). Family members can act as an examiner for this, even weeks before the exam.
*Try to enjoy your night - don't stress about the exam or do too much other work.
*Get enough sleep - during the week don't go to bed too late either.
On the Day
* Eat light and healthy food.
* If you want, and have time, you can do moderate exercise to stay calm - be sure to rest for at least a couple of hours before the exam/ eisteddfod.
* Think about how you want to play the pieces and how brilliantly you will do. Now is not the time to regret minimal practice or be worried about potential mistakes. Negative thinking only makes things worse. It is helpful to look at the score and imagine how you'd like it to sound and how it will feel to play it.
During the Exam/ Eisteddfod
* Keep thinking positively and stay calm - deep breathing for a minute or two every few minutes might help (breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, breathe out for 4 counts).
* Relax your arms and body as you play. If you've been practising correctly, this should be automatic, but just check that you do not tense up because it will affect your sound and technique.
* If you happen to make a mistake (even an unexpected one), forget about it instantly, and keep playing your best. Try to maintain the flow of the music. Mistakes are only a big deal if you make it so.
* Most importantly - ENJOY playing the music that you've worked so hard to be able to play. The examiner will then enjoy listening to it because they can tell that you love the music.
After the Exam/ Eisteddfod
* No matter what your results (whether excellent, okay or worse), think about what you did well and if there were any points of improvement that could be made. Don't beat yourself up about errors or lapses in memory, but work on improving those areas for the next time.
* If you followed all the above advice diligently, you must have done well, so CELEBRATE your results! Eat pizza or whatever you love!...but not too much...:)
The Few Weeks (Or Months) Before
* When you are ready (an indicator is if you are already playing through the pieces all the way during the lesson), practise performing your pieces before every practice session. Imagine an audience near your piano, take a bow, prepare for a few seconds at the piano seat and begin playing. Treat it like a real performance, so do not correct errors or pause too long anywhere. Take note of weak areas to work on during your practice session and focus on improving these in the next few days. You may bring up any musical or technical issues you have in your next piano lesson (whether or not I have gone through it with you).
* When you have performed by yourself with confidence, practice performing in front of an audience, whether friends or family. Organise a little concert for your friends or family, and provide paper for them to write comments. You can bring these comments to me for checking and to work on during the lesson. This is an especially useful exercise that can be repeated as many times as you wish. I recommend doing this at least twice before any important performance. You should also be looking for performance opportunities at school and other places where people are willing to listen to you.
* Read your music away from the piano and imagine the way you want to play it (this is also important to do even if you haven't been learning the piece that long). Also check for any markings you may have missed when you were first learning the piece and include them into your practice. It is useful to circle or comment in pencil on your music any questions you have for me, or reminders to yourself.
* Remember to still do the type of careful practice that you did when you were first learning the piece, such as hands separate practice, slow practice, rhythms practice and practice in small sections - all at different speeds with the metronome. Whatever you do, do not always play fast - playing fast too much will not make you any better at playing faster, as any experienced pianist will know.
The Day Before
* Do some moderate exercise to help you stay calm and in perspective).
* Do a moderate amount of practice on everything you will be examined on or perform. Keep your playing mostly slow, strong (if applicable) and accurate in detail.
* Check that all pencil markings are rubbed off the music if you are going to do an exam.
* If you are a parent of a student who is going to sit for an exam or enter a competition, be as positive and supportive as possible. Do not overly criticise or make your child afraid in any way.
The Night Before
* Eat something healthy.
* Revise your general knowledge out loud, referring to your pieces (if you are doing an exam). Family members can act as an examiner for this, even weeks before the exam.
*Try to enjoy your night - don't stress about the exam or do too much other work.
*Get enough sleep - during the week don't go to bed too late either.
On the Day
* Eat light and healthy food.
* If you want, and have time, you can do moderate exercise to stay calm - be sure to rest for at least a couple of hours before the exam/ eisteddfod.
* Think about how you want to play the pieces and how brilliantly you will do. Now is not the time to regret minimal practice or be worried about potential mistakes. Negative thinking only makes things worse. It is helpful to look at the score and imagine how you'd like it to sound and how it will feel to play it.
During the Exam/ Eisteddfod
* Keep thinking positively and stay calm - deep breathing for a minute or two every few minutes might help (breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, breathe out for 4 counts).
* Relax your arms and body as you play. If you've been practising correctly, this should be automatic, but just check that you do not tense up because it will affect your sound and technique.
* If you happen to make a mistake (even an unexpected one), forget about it instantly, and keep playing your best. Try to maintain the flow of the music. Mistakes are only a big deal if you make it so.
* Most importantly - ENJOY playing the music that you've worked so hard to be able to play. The examiner will then enjoy listening to it because they can tell that you love the music.
After the Exam/ Eisteddfod
* No matter what your results (whether excellent, okay or worse), think about what you did well and if there were any points of improvement that could be made. Don't beat yourself up about errors or lapses in memory, but work on improving those areas for the next time.
* If you followed all the above advice diligently, you must have done well, so CELEBRATE your results! Eat pizza or whatever you love!...but not too much...:)