Practical Exam

On Friday, I woke up with butterflies in my stomach wishing it was already tomorrow. Why? Because my piano practical exam was on that day. I know it wasn't any use to be scared but I can't help it. I'm still scared. I find the thought of someone judging me scary. My own private issues, I guess. I've been practicing hard for the past week, and I know all my scales already, though my fingers still won't cooperate with me and tend to play other notes instead of the one I intend them to play. My pieces are good, I mean, I could pretty much remember the whole piece without the book anyway. No hope for my side reading however. That one can already be counted as screwed. I don't know how anyone can read notes so fast, but I'll mistake E for C and I'll overlook any sharps or flats, and it takes me forever to read the next notes.

So, I practiced in the morning and at 11.10am, I went to the Prince Hotel for the exam. By the time I got there, it was already 11.45am. After I registered, it was ten minutes before it was my turn. My hands wouldn't stop sweating. As usual, it was a guy examiner again. I never get the girls, though my friends say they're stricter than the guys. Anyway, he was very polite, yea, all British guys are always so polite. I started with my scales and this is where the nightmare begins. The first one I played, I played 2 octaves instead of 3 octaves. And I pretty much played something wrong at every scale, either missing a note, or suddenly slowing down. And I played C# minor instead of C minor. Hah! Thankfully, the guy was really nice. My chromatic went suprisingly well and my arpeggios too. But I think I got one of the notes wrong.
My pieces was suppose to go well. I practiced it a million times a day, but still, STILL, mistakes. Argh! And I didn't go loud or soft enough.
Side reading was horrible. The guy only gave me 15 seconds to look at it. And I was confused whether I could practice play it or not. I think I got everything wrong. 'Nuff said. The singing part I think went partially well, I don't know whether my singing was accurate. After that, the examiner played a piece. I didn't expect it to be so short. He asked whether it started with a minor or a major. I think it was a minor. Then he asked whether it ended with a minor or a major. I didn't remember so I said minor. Next, is it from the Baroque period (I don't know what period this is) or from the Romantic period? I have no idea what Baroque period music sounded like, so I went with Romantic since the piece did sound kinda romantic. It was played in minor key, and it was slow and soft, and in the lower region. He asked me why I thought so, and I gave him a crappy answer. After that, he gave me a really really long piece to clap. Honestly it was really long. I couldn't remember the rhythm. And the end. He thanked me. And I thanked him back. And he thanked me very much back. Honestly, why are they so polite? It's quite annoying sometimes.

Yea, so this is my not-so-bad experience for Grade 5 practical exam. It was better compared to my Grade 4 experience but still bad. I don't know whether I'll pass, but if the guy is really nice, I think I might pass. Because yea, I made tons of mistakes, but I knew my scales and pieces, I knew the sharps and flats to play. I just always missed the notes. It was the best I can do. So here's to hoping.