*Urgent Advice required for RIAM Piano Grade VII Exam*

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Hey guys, I just completed my Grade VI Piano Exam a month ago and achieved 74% (with a small amount of practise). I am doing my LC next June and wish to continue on with Piano also. I was just wondering do you think I would be able to do the Grade VII exam in November? Or would it be too much to learn too quickly?.

I did barely any practise for my previous Grade, but would be willing to invest a lot of time into this Grade over the summer (2 hours a day minimum). Any replies greatly appreciated! Thanks

** P.S is there a huge jump from Grade VI- Grade VII Standard?

Thanks!

funky penguin

Why the rush? Because of the Leaving Cert?

There's a few things you could do......

One: Try and rush it.....but you'll have to make sure you work over the summer! Lot's of regular practice, especially scales and arpeggios which people seem to neglect in the 7th and 8th grades.

Two: Practice over the year as if you were going to take the exam, but don't actually take it. Do a mock one with your teacher. This will alleviate the stress of the exam, but prepare you for Grade 8.

Three: Just do the exam in May next year and be done with it. I'm assuming you do music in school? It will help with the practical!

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Basically, yes. I'm rushing it as I don't want to have an extra exam on my shoulders when I should be focusing on my Leaving Next year. I started the Grade VII on Friday with the intention of doing the exam in December. The teacher is ok with it but i've been told I must work very hard. I have to have 43 scales done for next week, plus 1 page Right Hand of the Sonata by Scarlatti, Plus a page of the Sonata by Mozart (separately of course), but yeah it is a lot of work! Any suggestions for practise? Amount to invest per day etc?.

funky penguin

Best of luck, it's definitely doable!

You said 2 hours a day......

I know this is cliché, but it depends on the quality of practice. Don't spend all day practicing scales, you'll be knackered before you start the pieces. Equally, don't neglect them either. Give yourself 20-30 mins on scales and arpeggios, more if you feel the need.

With teh pieces......its' so easy to just practice the bits you know well. You have to make yourself sit down and highlight your flaws basically! :P If a section isn't working.....take it apart, hands separate slow, then hands together slower, gradually build it up and insert it into the piece as a whole.

Try learn off by heart too. It helps to connect with the music more, and it's usually worth an extra mark or so.

2 hours a day is definitely enough with good quality (ie focused) practice. If you feel it isn't enough, try extending it to 2.5 hours, or 3 hours or take an honest look at the quality of your practicing.

I'd also recommend 6 days a week, not 7. Unless you crave the practice, it gets very tedious and tiresome. You can come back to the piano with a fresh head after a day off. Up to you though.

Finally, don't neglect the musicianship! Intervals, sight singing, sight reading, chords, cadences etc. Easy marks if you prepare them!

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

EDIT: Just to put into perspective: I was doing 3 hours a day in first year college. Good quality practice, with focus on technique, few scales and the pieces. (About senior cert standard).

colours of a cowboy cliche

It is achievable - I went through some of my grades quickly to meet the Leaving Cert practical requirements and it went fine. As Funky Penguin said, it's all about the quality of practice rather than quantity. If you're practicing 2 hours per day, try to fill that time with a variety of different things, scales, technical exercises, theory, aural etc. It can be very easy to fill 2 hours with mindless repetition of your pieces which really you won't benefit from in the long run. And yes, try and look at your pieces and work on difficult passages rather than playing through from start to finish each time.

The one problem about going quickly through grades is that a student might be able to play the pieces for the next grade up, but there might be gaps in their technique, so I'd suggest asking your teacher to focus a little bit on technical exercises or even to learn pieces that address a specific technical aspect that you may be lacking. I know from my own experience, it was very easy to pick pieces within my own comfort zone but eventually the gaps in my technique did catch up with me. So if you think you may continue even further than grade 7, I'd suggest challenging yourself with the pieces you pick as you'll benefit from it own the road.

You seem very conscientious and eager anyway, so I'd definitely say go for it! Best of luck!

coffeelover

PictureFrame wrote: »

Hey guys, I just completed my Grade VI Piano Exam a month ago and achieved 74% (with a small amount of practise). I am doing my LC next June and wish to continue on with Piano also. I was just wondering do you think I would be able to do the Grade VII exam in November? Or would it be too much to learn too quickly?.

I did barely any practise for my previous Grade, but would be willing to invest a lot of time into this Grade over the summer (2 hours a day minimum). Any replies greatly appreciated! Thanks

** P.S is there a huge jump from Grade VI- Grade VII Standard?

Thanks!

Hey

I'm in the exact same boat except I've only just completed grade V. I'm going to try and practice over the Summer and be ready to do grade VI in November. Is there a huge jump between grade V and VI?

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Hey! I recognised your username from the 5th year Column!. Nope there's not a huge gap between Grades 5 & 6, the pieces are nice however the scales are wuite difficult!

coffeelover

PictureFrame wrote: »

Hey! I recognised your username from the 5th year Column!. Nope there's not a huge gap between Grades 5 & 6, the pieces are nice however the scales are wuite difficult!

Ya I'm usually lurking around the 5th year column
Ok thats good to hear. I was looking over the pieces and there are a lot of nice ones. I must practice a lot over the Summer and get the scales and appregios out of the way as well