by right, if i'm going to blog about all the events of piano exam.. should start from yesterday? xDD

was engaged in a last min convo with jimmy (my piano teacher) last night asking him about random general knowledge stuff. he knows so much (obviously. he's doing his doctorate degree. *cough*) but yeah ^^ and after answering all my random queries, he wished me luck and assured me that i'd do fine. then i was just like.. T_T T_T..........

then, at ard 10pm, got SMSes from both diana and pansy wishing me luck for exam the next day =]
i was still busy studying general knowledge (and already starting to feel nervous), so their SMS really cheered me up xDD

i woke up this morning to find that i had received what.. 6 SMSes? all from my friends at school! everyone decided to msg me, haha. think diana spread word ard that i was doing piano exam. and i felt so loved!
the weather wasn't so accomodating though ><" it's pretty windy today and it was raining a bit in the morning - cold fingers! nooo T_T

after some internal struggle with myself, i didn't end up running through my pieces one last time before the exam. yupp... was that stupid? hmmmm... i did do some finger exercises before setting out though.

on the car, i got msgs every 5 min. *cough*! *pictures diana in class furtively msging me every 5 min* hmm... XP but really, i think i owe diana a lot of thanks =] because her msgs really helped me with my nerves - they were so hilarious! hahaha ^^ then jimmy was there to wish me luck and run through general knowledge again with me before exam, and peter ("principal" of music school which my piano teacher is a part of) was there as well telling me that he's expecting me to get A for grade 8 then i felt so T_T T_T T_T
supposedly jimmy told him that i played very well? then i was just like. ... ... ... ... ... ...

the examiner seemed to be rather nice =] haha. he even shook my hand when i walked in! a bit o.O""

i stuffed up scales so badly! T_T like, really... i was still nervous and i hesitated before playing and it was uneven and bleahhhhhh..... omigosh it was so horrible. maybe it was placebo.. but i think he started sounding more and more irritated when he asked me for more scales. *cough* and i was just cringing away when i missed notes or hit the wrong notes. for one scale i totally played it wrongly and i had to start again. it was so saddening T_T

next were pieces. what he said was rather unexpected, "now i want you to play your prepared list of pieces like a concert repertoire. take as much time as you want b/w pieces, and i won't say anything b/w them. i'll talk to you after you've finished"
i was a bit taken aback, cause in the "trial exams" i'd done with jimmy, he'd always told me to play piece so-n-so, and i played it. but, as it later turned out, this set up was much more beneficial for me =]

my pieces are obviously my strength. cause i fail at aural T_T and then i already stuffed up scales. and i really love every one of the 4 pieces that i have to play, and i understand the style, the composer's intentions and everything (thanks to jimmy)

so yup, as soon as i played the first bar of bach's italian concerto (3rd mvt) i settled into a state of calmness - because i KNEW i could do it. haha quite egoistic T_T the piano really was very good! =] it was lovely, because every note was clear and distinct, and the layers could be clearly defined T_T unlike playing on my yamaha upright.. sometimes the diff layers of sound can get a bit mushed together ><"

i surprised myself by not slipping up in italian concerto. i fully expected to. there was this one place where i somehow always managed to make a mistake but today i got through that part fine! yay!! =]

after bach was haydn, and it went pretty well. i thought i handled the opening a bit too aggressively T_T and the pedalling could've been cleaner. double thirds were all ok, yay =] there were some minor slipups.. ><" 2nd mvt was better, by which time it almost felt like this was just another run through, i was playing by myself, for myself, and it was just me, my piano, and the music. =] i really love the acoustics!!!!!! the sound sort of fills the whole room but it doesn't linger overly long, just enough to give the sound a sense of fullness but w/o compromising the clarity of the sound ^^

nocturne was much much better than expected xDD! pedalling was still zzz (the depth of the pedal was shallower. as in.. how to say, it's like, can't step down as much as on my piano at home) but i got all the ornaments across clearly =] i think my crescendos were slightly too overwhelming for a nocturne though ><" oh well...

ravel's sonatine! probably my fav piece? xDD the diff tone colours were so easy to get, and the change in harmonies and everything was so nice! haha i can never get tired of ravel xDD especially the rolling arppegios bit in the LH, i personally think it REALLY sounded like a harp. hahahaha (me and my ego T_T). and i managed to sustain the bass notes well while still maintaining a clean change of harmonies. yay! =] haha xD i thought i was going to stuff that up, seeing as how the pedal was all weird and everything. bleah T_T

aural was zzzz.. no comments. the triad inversions i was just guessing.. cadences as well. i was just like.. er... err.. hmm that SOUNDS plagal. "plagal?" i phrased all my answers more like questions xDD singing the bass line was ....................................... i think i ended up singing the top line for the first 2 bars and then somehow reverted to the bass line again? T_T T_T i stuffed memory as well. ahhh i failed aural so badly T_T

sightreading wasn't a major problem. i just skipped over my mistakes, hahahaha *cough*

general knowledge was actually fun! yup =] i was so happy, cause everything he asked me i'd studied for. he asked me
1) period of every piece
2) form of every piece. then he seemed so surprised when i could explain form of italian concerto to him... ritornello form.. pretty simple, yes? he stopped me going into a detailed explanation of haydn's sonata! T_T very sad, i studied that a lot xDD like, all the themes and appearances and key modulations and everything. hmph. and jimmy said i NEEDED to know all that. zzzzz.
3) repertoire of bach (as in, different compositions and stuff)
4) first person to compose a nocturne (john field! i'm so glad i read my music dictionary)
5) what influenced chopin's embellishments in nocturne (italian opera! then he went "wonderful!" hahahaha! again, i love my music dictionary =])
6) no of sonatas haydn composed - 62.
7) changes in tonality of ravel's sonatine. whole tone colour + modal at places. hahahah ^^ hmm yup. so it ended nicely =] i was so nervous when he handed me the envelope and i walked out and jimmy was there waiting. then i gave him the letter to open because i didn't dare read it first. T_T then i muttered a lame excuse that i needed to go to the toilet (cough. i wasn't mentally prepared yet! ><") and i was about to walk off when jimmy stopped me and he was like "elaine!! you got an A!! congrats! =]" then i was like.. "REALLY?!!! let me see!!!" i was soooooo happy. still am very happy! lol =] (for AMEB exams, you get results straight after exam =] yay! except dip exams)

the comments are rather hilarious. "noisy pedalling" hmmmm... ><" from the comments, it seems like haydn sonata was my worst piece? "your approach is perhaps better suited to beethoven" T_T hmm yeah, too aggressive and overpedalling maybe. but oh well i passed grade 8 with honours! yay =]

i was never aiming for a high distinction, so not in the least disappointed xDDDD quite amusing, grade 2 AMEB i got A as well, then grade 4 ABRSM i got 140+? can't rmb exact grade, which was probably the best i'd ever done, then grade 6 & 7 ABRSM i got merits, and yay i got A grade again for AMEB! which is hopefully equivalent to a distinction in ABRSM XP

*cheers*

and after all the excitement, there are friends to thank:
ALL THE PPL WHO WISHED ME LUCK!!! =] in no particular order: jimmy, chan (music teacher @ school), douglas, diana, pansy, jenny, jess, jess (yes there are 2 jesses, no typos =P), priss, clara, leona, nat, mel, bro, yk and shaun! thank you =] your well wishes really were something which i could draw strength from ^^
JIMMY! for his tolerance of my endless pestering and saying stuff like "nooo i'm going to fail". plus just simply for being so pro and teaching me very well =]
chan! she listened to my italian concerto one day when i was practicing during recess in the music rooms and she offered lots of helpful constructive comments ^^
hmm who else?

ahh nvm. going out soon to film stupid english speech with pansy and all.
maybe will add to list again when i find the time.

and last but not least, i give thanks to God: for always being there and listening to my prayers, for giving me the confidence and the strength, for guiding me.. and after all, He was the one who created everything, piano and music included! =] hahaha ^^