First piano exam for the prep

On Tue, I brought J for her first piano exam.

It was a bit unexpected, as she only started learning the piano in Term 2 this year. In August, her teacher suggested entering J for the preparatory level exam, which meant she has had all of three months to learn and perform three set pieces.

It took Beth nine months to learn her three pieces (granted it's Grade Three AMEB), and even then she wasn't exam-ready when she sat her exam last month. Which is another story...

Besides the three pieces, J had to learn scales (similar motion, contrary motion, arpeggios, triads, and something called natural minor, which I had never heard of), sight reading and aural.

A lot for a five-year-old new to the piano, I thought.

She has surpassed my expectations.

Her attitude has been exemplary at home and in the studio. She practises without being told. She self-corrects when she makes a mistake. She has high standards of excellence, a good ear, nearly note-perfect recall and has quickly learned to read notes without much input from me. Beth studied with Yamaha for four years and still struggles to note-read sometimes.

Two weeks before the exam, J was playing the three set pieces by memory, which made me a little nervous because, what if she had a mental block on exam day and didn't have her book open to refer to?

On the day of the exam, we sat in the waiting area with two other mums and their children. J was happy and calm, even giggly, as she joked and laughed and chatted with me like she does everyday. I love her positivity and go-with-the-flow attitude. A blessing of being the second-born?

I remember sitting with Beth in a similar room three weeks ago and feeling nervous for her and cross that she was so poorly prepared. I cringed when I heard her play and almost wished I could go in and take her place.

When it was J's turn, she walked in confidently with her book under her arm. From what I could hear, her performance was not perfect, but it was - for a first-timer - pretty good.

When she came out, the first thing J said was, "I liked the examiner."

I'm looking forward to hearing from Miss Mary if the examiner liked J too.