Well I received my examiners report regarding my piano exam some weeks back now. It was as I predicted, the nerves did show in a big way, but he seemed to be able to see through them to hear the rest of the things that I did manage to play. I will briefly run through his comments:
"Technical work:
Scales- I knew them but needed to be more secure.
Broken Chords- RH known, LH needs more fluency
List A piece- A lively performance with bright tone. (Really happy with that comment seeing as I messed up the start a couple of times) This was my bugbear piece too.
List B piece-Keep accompaniment in the background and the melody should really sing. Watch the tempo in the middle section.
List C piece-Aim for more flow in the Prelude. Fugue was steady but hands need to be more co-ordinated.
Extra List-A Suitable list. Well known. Demonstrated your potential.
Aural tests-Melody not quite but otherwise good
Sight reading- quite good
General knowledge-very good
General remarks: Musical character of the piece was understood quiet well. Tone production is developing well. Aim now to play them with more technical refinement and rhythmic pries. Give more attention to the preparation of technical work to achieve a higher grading. Your nerves seem to have got the better of you today. Keep going."
So there it is in a nutshell. I agree with all of it. I felt I put in alot of work where the scales were mentioned but obviously not enough. When I practiced them at home they seem to be ok. That just tells me that the I may need more time to refine all the elements before I book myself in for an exam.
