Transcript Exam Performance

Exam Performance
“Yesterday,
I could play it perfectly”
Exams
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Enjoyment through achievement
Not for everyone: other options…
Not a complete curriculum
Performance Assessment
Motivation of the parents, peers, teacher and
student.
• Ready to register or ready to take the exam?
• Using the exam to motivate the student.
• Assessing the ability of the student to the
requirements of the exam
Considerations
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School exams
Dental work and other medical considerations
Holidays
UCAS points
Theory exam requirement
Grade requirements for ensembles
Other performances: GCSE and A level
repertoire
• Choice of repertoire
• New Instrument/mouthpiece purchase
• Other instrumental exams
Learning a Skill
• When you first learn to a skill, you have to focus intently
on each detail. Learners consciously monitor what they
are doing as they build the neural framework supporting
the task.
• After hundreds of hours of practice, you can perform the
skill effortlessly, without any conscious control. You are
able to encode a skill in implicit memory, and perform
almost without thinking about it.
Long term Preparation
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Time-line
Choice of repertoire
Building technical confidence
Knowing your pieces: identifying and being
able to communicate the musical elements
through your instrument/voice
Aural, Scales and Sight reading
Lesson attendance and practice
Ensemble playing
Listening to other performances
Performance Preparation
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Not stopping…building up larger units.
Recording
Other performance opportunities…experience
Mock exam in lesson
Endurance for playing all the repertoire
Order of your pieces
Accompaniment: backing tracks and rehearsals
Tempos
Reed preparation
What do you want the examiner to hear?
What does the
examiner listen for?
ABRSM
• Accuracy, continuity and fluency
Accuracy encompasses the technical control and coordination required to produce correct rhythm,
including continuity of performance; convincing tempo, including consistency of the chosen speeds;
clearly audible observance of performing directions; and accurate pitch, including well-centered
intonation where appropriate. Slips from basically secure intonation are not as serious as an inability to
centre the pitch precisely, which causes a loss of tonality.
• Tonal awareness
Tonal awareness covers the way an instrument is used and includes situations where a
poor instrument may be skillfully managed. It encompasses the ability: to produce focused
and consistent tone where required; to control and contrast dynamics and attack as
appropriate to the musical context; and to grade musical tone into phrases. Pedalling for
pianists and vibrato for string players are extra tonal refinements that are welcomed at all
stages but not expected until Grade 5.
• Musical character and sense of performance
Musical character arises from the imaginative application of technical skills in ways that will most vividly
convey the mood of the piece to the listener. A sense of performance encompasses the degree of
engagement with the music, including the level of commitment and conviction evident in the playing or
singing.
Making Music
• Playing notes vs. making music
• “Join with me, and I’ll show you treasures beyond
compare” Having students recite this sentence can help
them to identify with the character and emotion of their
presentation, beyond the words/notes.
• Emotion…has the word motion in it…thinking about the
musical line
• Conscious control leads to confidence, enjoyment and
effortless performance of the musical line.
Morning of the exam
• Knowing what to expect.
• What to eat…carbohydrates, protein, no
chocolate and caffeine…some say bananas
are great.
• What and how much to play on the day?
• What to wear?
• Go to school?
• Packing your instrument/music/reeds
• Plenty of relaxed travel time to the exam
centre.
Arriving to the Exam
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Where is it?
Parents: encouragement or involvement
Teacher attends?
Filling in the form.
Warm up room
How to warm up
Meet accompanist
Tuning before you enter the exam
Nerves!
Managing your Nerves
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Fight or flight adrenaline…natural
Physically tension
Pay attention to your senses
Breathing…long exhales…paying attention
to parts of your body
• Posture
• Relax fingers
• One thought at a time
Entering the Exam
• “What an exiting moment”…attitude
• Who was before you?
• Smile and say hello. Your assessment begins
when you first enter the room.
• Setting your performance triangle (music stand,
accompanist and examiner)
• Take your time: play a few notes, get accustomed
to the dynamics of the hall and use the tuning
opportunity to relax.
• Techniques to managing your nerves.
Performance
• Make Music
• Create an atmosphere of occasion, including how you
announce your pieces
• Posture linked to breathing
• Enjoy your sound in creating the musical line
• Exaggerate your communication of the musical elements
• Think about the examiner adding points for what they hear
rather than take away points for errors
• Projection
• Opportunities to look at the accompanist and the examiner.
• Don’t stop, and forgive yourself quickly for errors.
• Learn to be more aware of your achievements than your
errors.
• Use the time between pieces to relax and prepare for the
next.
When it goes
drastically wrong!
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Reed stops working
Key mechanism screws fall out
Vocalists have a cold
Nervous finger shaking
Total panic or overwhelming tears
Accompanist does not show up
You are late
You just mess up…choked!
Were you truly well prepared?
Why do we Choke
when it Counts?
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When you first learn to play your instrument and even a new piece of music,
you have to focus intently on each detail. Novices consciously monitor what
they are doing as they build the neural framework supporting the task.
After of hours of practice, you can perform the skill effortlessly, without any
conscious control. You are able to encode a skill in implicit memory, and
perform almost without thinking about it.
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Experts and novices use two completely different brain systems.
What happens when the brain uses the wrong system. You find yourself at
the mercy of a system where their brain is using neural pathways last used
when first learning to play.
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What triggers us to use the wrong system…exams…having someone
access our skill…leading us to question how we execute the task at hand.
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Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice, by Matthew Syed
The Result
• Sign post of your progress, not a competitive
target
• Reflection of your performance on the day
and somewhat of your preparation leading up
to the day.
• The result is not a reflection of your potential.
• What experience have you gained to take to
your next performance.
Resources
• ABRSM and Trinity website: teacher and
student resources
• Teacher and student forums
• These music Exams, by Clara Taylor
http://www.abrsm.org/resources/theseMusicExams0607.pdf
• Recordings and accompaniment tracks:
www.abrsm.org/puresolo
www.smartmusic.com
www.abrsm.org/students/speedshifter/index.html
www.piano-accompaniments.com