I have recently done an AMEB flute exam.
Now, anyone who’s not an Australian is going to read that and go, “Uh-huh?!” In Australia, we like to rank aspiring musicians. We have grades 1 through to 8 (followed by four diploma exams) and this basically means that kids can wave around pieces of paper that are an indication of:
-Their achievements
-Their stress levels
-Their tiger parents
-And whether they actually ARE good at music.
(Note: if you don’t know what a “tiger parent” is read this.)
So I, as one who just survived, am going to give some tips on how to survive:
1. NEVER under any circumstances drink coffee or red cordial before an exam.
If nerves don’t give you enough bobbance and bounce to send you playing everything at triple speed, caffeine will make it worse. Or, more usefully, don’t start your pieces too fast.
2. NEVER let the examiner smell fear.
They’re like Nazgul. They can sense it and prey off your weak mind. Okay, not quite. But examiners are happy people when they don’t have to feel nervous for you, so when in doubt, fudge. NEVER say, “Ah, this is my worst piece” or “I don’t know the answer” or “sorry for messing that up.” No! If you forget an answer, make something up. If you mess up, pretend it never happened.
3. ALWAYS warm up before hand.
You know how people get better the longer they play? Yeah. If you’ve done scales or run some hard stuff ten minutes before the exam, your fingers/breath/whatever-you-play-with will remember what it’s doing better.
4. ALWAYS tune your instrument!
Like, times x1000000. If you tune it between every piece, the Earth will rain beauty upon you. Especially if you play strings. Nothing has made me want to make a Frodo-face like out-of-tune strings.
5. ALWAYS read the syllabus requirements.
It’s funny, but in the front of any syllabus (probably the Manual of Syllabuses, particularly) there are details. Oh-so-many details about what’s required for technique, sight reading, general knowledge, and playing maturity. Let me tell you, reading through all that helped me.
There you have it. My attempts at being all professional and musician-y.
I do realise this is a bad time of year to post AMEB exam tips, as most exams are over, but still.
Mime is currently feeling very relieved that her certificate came today. She got an A+. She had a generous examiner. She also has to read Tomorrow When the War Began for school and would very much like to know if it’s any good. She is lamenting the fact she’s out of liquorice tea, and very excited because she has art tomorrow. Art is good, because abstract is easy. Throw paint, drip paint, make friends raise their eyebrows… good times.
Congrats on the awesome result, Mime! ^^ I literally just had my HSC Trial exams (though I don't do music), and the best tip I can give for exams is to not freak out. Easier said than done, I know, but I find that if I go into an exam with a clear and confident mind-set, then I'll probably do better. As for Tomorrow When the War Began, I liked it, but I hate hate hate studying things in detail. I had to do it in Yr 10, and while I thought it was a decent book… I hate having to write essays and dissect the meaning of things. Urgh. And I found the narrator a little irritating. I hope you enjoy it, though. 🙂
HSC trial exams and stuff? That's me next year. (Cue terror and excitment.) Well, I'm glad you liked Tomorrow, because I keep hearing mixed reviews. Cait didn't really like it, but some of my friends say it's an old favourite they've loved forever. I was just shocked when I realised that it's 21 years old. I thought it was a really new book, but nope. Not at all.
Haha, I'm not sure if they exams, but when I was still having piano classes, we would have these recitals after every period of time, and after we successfully do a recital, we get even harder and harder pieces and books that have corresponding letters in terms of your "level". I'm uncertain what level I stopped then… I had a pretty scary teacher who drove her sharp nails into my fingers, and I do admit I felt a bit traumatized. My last recital before I quit, I had a short meltdown and I froze mid-piece. LOL. Faye at The Social Potato
Well, that seems quite music exam-esque. Though traumatizing teachers are the worse. Those ones who seem to have never enjoyed music a day in their lives? Shudder. I'm glad I haven't run into too many of them. 😉
OH MY GOSH YOU PLAY THE FLUTE!? *High Fives*(I also play the flute).Congrats on the A+…I've only done 1 AMEB exam, that was grade 1, and it was also many, many years ago.I got a C.I'm playing at a grade 3-4 level now, but I haven't done anymore exams…too lazy.
The music starts to get really fun at 3-4 level. I started doing eisteddfods when I was roughly there, and it went really well, so I have fond memories of 3-4.
There's no better motivation than having tiger parents. Mine became tamer overtime but I'm scarred forever. What the hell is a red cordial, Mime? We don't have this kind of exams you do in Australia but when we have recitals, I drink coffee just for the lulz. I'm usually good at pretending things were still fine and I'm the best person in the world.Super congratulations on the A+, Mime. I would love to hear you play someday.
Red cordial is kind of like… hmm. Picture fruit juice. Then add sugar is great quantites. Then remove any natural fruit flavour from it, and add caffeine. Take all that and multiply it by six. That's red cordial. Makes you hyper. Isn't that the thing with performing though? Making the world think you're fabulous when you're as nervous as anything? It works for me. Conceal don't feel. All that.
I've never taken a practical music test where I actually have to play my violin, but I've taken ABRSM music theory tests. Your tips definitely apply for concerts and recitals. I have a big problem with starting out way too fast when I'm playing a song and I'm really nervous. I always have to make a conscious effort to start out slow because I know I'm going faster than I think I am. It's the same with running. Luckily, I'm not allowed to drink coffee and I have no idea what red cordial is, so those two beverages won't make me speed up even more.
I love it when I get a nice long intro by the accompaniest to set the tempo. It makes all the difference. Music theory tests aren't so bad… I mean, they're exhausting and soooo detailed, but for AMEB, they give you hours and hours to do them, so you can check them about 70 times before you have to hand it in. Also, I'm shocked to find out that only Australians drink red cordial. Who knew?
I really liked Tomorrow When the War Began. I read it for school, but then I became addicted and read the whole series on my own time 🙂
Phew! That's encouraging. I started reading it tonight. It hasn't grabbed me so far, but it has plenty of time to warm me into it.
Congratulations on the A+, Mime! *flings confetti*I have never had a music exam or even a recital. I used to play the piano. By the way, I nominated you and Cait for an award. <a href="http://robynhoode.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/inquisitive-wednesday-sunshine-award/http://robynhoode.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/inquis… />~Robyn
Thanks for the award and congratulations! Recitals can be quite stressful, though the piano is very fun. Except difficult. Two hands together. What's with that? At least with the flute I just have to read ONE LINE. With the piano, two hands two clefs, AND LET'S PUT THE RIGHT HAND IN BASS CLEF, THAT'S SUCH A GREAT IDEA. -_-
Being a homeschooler, I don't know about all that stuff, but I do know about an optional thing called Solos and Ensambles that a lot of musicians do. I had the chance to go while I was still in public school (in 6th grade), but, at that time, my stage fright was to the extreme.I've learned that the best piece of advice (for me anyway) before any kind of test, or even a performance on piano, is to convince myself that I know what I'm doing and that I know the piece or subject well enough that I can't do bad. Not, necessarily that I'll do perfect, but that I'll at least pass. It might sound weird, but it works for meXD
I do the same. 😉 Though AMEB exams aren't a school thing–they're strictly extra-curricular, though some schools really encourage kids to do them (as far as I know, I was the only kid at my school to do one this year.) I actually did my first one last year, while I was homeschooling. Which gave me more time to practise for it, but I got a better mark this year, so honestly, I don't know which way makes it easier.
HEY it's a post from Mime! Hello!Yeah, we have these things in the US too, but I only took one exam for the piano, and then after that I didn't go very far, because of you know, other stuff in my life. I still play the piano, by playing whatever music I want, but NO MORE EXAMS FOR ME. nope nope nope. I did play flute in band though, but it wasn't anything serious 🙂
Flutes have the best parts in a band. They always get the melody. 🙂 There's something great about playing piano music JUST because you want to. Every so often, I pick a non-syllabus piece and learn it for the fun. Makes it much more relaxing.
Music competitions – how fun! (I don't know if that's supposed to be sarcastic or not.)And YIPPEE for your A+! That's fantastic!We don't have rankings in the US (that I know of), but there are competitions if you want to do them. I play piano so I suppose the closest thing to your AMEB would be AIM (Achievement in Music), which has 12 grades (technically one for every school year, but it doesn't officially have to correspond to your current grade in school), and if you finish them you get money because 12 is super hard to pass. I only got up 'til 10 and then quit because I'm going to university this fall. So.But I agree with all your tips, and would like to add one:Don't judge your performance afterwards! Because I've found that when I think a comp went really well – it went badly. And when I think I did badly – I actually did better than I thought. And then there's all that stress for nothing. But there are also really nice examiners that smile and chat and then grade you super harshly. Like, I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME!? WHY
Okay, Australia! Take notes! We need money for passing exams!! (Australians have to pay an awful lot to get examined. There should totally be prizes.) Grade 10 sounds like no mean feat–you should be proud! Definitely agree with your tip. Nothing like coming out of an exam and over analysing the whole thing until you've convinced you've failed. I know one girl who had an exam the same day as me, came out in tears because she was convinced she'd messed up her scales beyond repair, and got an A. 🙂
Eck, out of tune strings are really bad. :PTo my knowledge we don't have music exams like that. But I could be mistaken. Oooh, so that's what a tiger parent is. Must use that in a book some time. 😉
Thankfully, I don't really have tiger parents. Mum is very much into having me practise a lot before a performance or something, but she doesn't have me sitting at my instruments for three hours a day or anything, which is great.
I don't think I ever did /any/ music exams… well, I guess maybe the Music project in 4-H counts. And I loathe the piano I have to use for that each year. It's always terribly out of tune but there's nothing I can do about that because I can't exactly bring my own instrument in that situation!
Dodgy pianos? Sigh. We have a really gammy one at school, and you have to pound that sucker into obedience. No nuancing there. No softs, no dynamics, just PLAY ALL THE FORTE! Sigh.
First, huge congrats, Mime!! That is awesome 🙂 People who are musically inclined simply inspire me, because I am very, very not. Also, I have no idea what red cordial is. I even Googled, and came up empty. I do need coffee to survive though, sorry 😉 Now, as for exams. School exams came easily to me, so I never really worried about them. But swim meets were another story. I would get so incredibly terrified before the start of the race. Like, I was going to get sick. I would shake so badly on the starting blocks that I usually feared falling in. And I swam competitively for 14 years. FOURTEEN. Through high school, college, etc. And never did I stop being nervous. Of course, my dad was one of these "tiger parents". If I didn't have a personal best time in every. single. race. (which is statistically and humanly impossible) I dreaded driving home with my dad. This is a guy who made me read and do a book report on David Copperfield (all 864 pages of it) at 10 years old, just for funsies. (And I wonder why I have an aversion to classics!) So yeah, I think he explains the nerves. That and the fact that I am terribly anxious by nature. So yeah. No tips at all. Sorry 😉 But, since you got an A+, I should be taking tips from you, right? Also, I haven't a clue if we have music exams in the US. My mom plays the piano, but she is a beginner, and literally the only person I know with any kind of musical inclination. Have fun throwing paint in art!
Red cordial is basically a drink so incredibly bad for you, rumour has it you can use it to kill stomach bugs. Drinking it will dye your mouth bright read and give you a sugar high that will lift you to Pluto. It's also really tasty, especially when you're eight years old. I admire people who can swim, because I look like a drowning hippo whenever I take to the water. I'm not even exaggerating. I kind of enter with a belly flop and climb out the side like a drunk frog.
Oh, haha, yeah I went all like HUUUH? Because I'm Canadian and we don't have this. But we do have Ministerial exams (maybe you do too?) in a lot of classes after the end of year 2,4 and 5 in high school. Anyway, those are VERY stressing as well because, if we don't pass, it's summer school and I was so stressed this year because in math I wasn't doing so well. I was doing great at first but my grades kinda went like a rollercoaster so it was stressing. Anyway..humm…I did some guitar classes in middle school and we had an exam all together (the class) and I faked playing hahah….Yeah…I think I had 68% in my report cart but that's okay since I only played for like 3 months before the exam. Anyway, CONGRATS! 😀
The guitar is one of the instruments I cannot fathom, so I think anyone who can play it must be pretty cool. In class exams are pretty easy to wing when everyone else is going at the same time. We stopped getting ones like that after Year 8, though.
Congratulations on such an amazing result! That's just fantastic! I knew you were going to do well *nods* What grade were you doing? I agree with all these tips. And yes to the Frodo face for untuned strings. The WORST sound! And definitely don't let the examiners smell fear. They home in on it like sharks to blood (maybe that's why I don't normally do very well. I'm always so scared!)Gah, now you've made me want to find out the results of my singing exam. Why must examiners take so long to upload a simple grade!
I hope you got all your voice back for your exam! I was doing Grade 7. It's scary when it gets higher up the ranks. It's also weird, because some non-musical people will be thinking "Oh, wow, isn't that, like, about as hard as it gets?" and other people go "oh. okay." Because they think that there's twelve grades, like school. And then I have to explain the rigmarole of grades and AMUSA and LMUSA etc. etc. etc. Which grade were you doing? You must be getting pretty high up there!
This makes me wish I was in anyway musically talented. Which I am totally not. I have an acoustic guitar that's been gathering dust in the back of my cupboard for so many years it's embarrassing. And do not even get me started on my singing . . . BECAUSE IT'S CLEARLY SO AWESOME AND I DON'T WANT TO BRAG (though not really)
But musical instruments make great decorations in the back of the cupboard. 🙂 I'm sure you have special singing talent. I'm sure the birds stop singing to hear it… or they fly away… but mostly to hear it. 😉
Oh Mime, how wonderful that you play an instrument! I used to play keyboard, but I'm way out of practice and I never really learnt how to read music. I think never let people smell the fear is a great tip for any sort of exam (including driving) *shivers*
I'm doing the AMEB exams for piano and I do tend to get very nervous beforehand. Sometimes no matter how well you know your pieces there is bound to be those butterflies. I try to get through it by just saying to myself to try my best and see what happens, and visualising finishing the exam. It's so cool that you play the flute, it's a lovely instrument 🙂
Ooh wow! Grade seven is definitely a hard grade. I did that in piano last year and it was such a lot of work. Excellent result! I was doing sixth grade singing. And yep, I had about a week where my voice came back right over the exam. It' gone again now sadly. It's really weird trying to explain grades to non musical people, isn't it? They don't get the point (and half the time neither do I)
A bunch of my friends do the AMEB exams (we're all Asian so we all play the piano) and they get so stressed out! I'm so glad I decided to self learn because I don't think I could take it. 😛
Thank you thank you Mime!!! if i had read that at 9:00 this morning i am pretty sure i would of gone a lot better. When it is like a couple of days before the exam i am kind of relaxed but when i get to 2 minutes before the exam, i start freaking out!! Congratulations on your result!! Tilly