11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi all,

DD has just returned from a Grade 3 piano exam, saying that it went "disastrously" and sure that she has failed. I haven't got a clue about anything to do with music, so could you tell if she passed or failed?
She told me that:

Scales: All right, played the wrong key on two or three
Pieces: All fine
Sight Reading: Quite bad
Aurals: OK

DD is feeling very down about herself, so anything I could do to cheer her up?
Thanks,
LuluQueen and MiniLuluQueen

I am no musical expert either but my children have given similar accounts of some exams and passed fairly well.

Same here. She might have passed. You will just have to wait and see!

Check with her piano teacher, but there's no requirement to pass one grade in order to move on to the next one. So if she has just missed a pass, but knows exactly what she needed to do to get it, you could see if if she could miss out retaking it. (But put in the extra practice needed for the next exam, she could get a merit or distinction next time!)

apparently they get some marks for sight reading just for playing ONE NOTE!!!
My son has technically failed the sight reading bit each time til grade 4 when he sneaked a pass (you're meant to get a bare minimum in each bit and 13 or 14 is the cut off for sightreading and I think he was getting 12 or 13 until the dizzy day he got a 15) but despite this has got 3 merits and a pass I think, so even on the terrible bits you can still pass. Now on G5 so is doing something right.

Pieces constitute the bulk of the marks, 3 x 30=90. So, say she got 24 for each of those and only half marks on all the rest, it's still a pass! and a pass is all you need. My son is instinctively quite good at piano, a natural at putting things in different keys and making stuff up but HATES sight reading (always knows his pieces by heart for preference) and despite being good never has got a distinction. But it doesn't matter.
Am sure she'll have done fine. Have only ever heard of one boy fail. And he got 99 (100, to those who don't know, is the pass mark)! How mean is that.

Also, let's remember, just how good are our kids are judging how well they've done on something? Exactly! Make sure you let us know how she got on.

It depends on the child, and levels of OCD. If the worst happens and she doesn't pass then no-one's died and she can either re-take, there's time before the syllabus changes; or go straight to G4 anyway. You and she know that she's at the required standard since you don't go in for it otherwise. Bet she'll be feeling so much better this time tomorrow. Hope so! I hate it when mine do exams!

My DD came out of her grade 3 violin in tears (why do we put them through this I wonder) she said she fluffed her scales and limped through the sight reading, she said her pieces were ok.

She passed with a merit. You can never tell!

Speaking as a music teacher I'd say she did just fine. You can fluff your scales and sight reading a bit, but as long as your pieces were well executed and you knew what you were about you should pass.

Thanks for the reply all, I am assured now but DD is still very uneasy, this being her first piano exam
She said she told the examiner that she did...rubbish. Will that affect her score in any way?

It sounds like she just isn't used to exams.
She probably did fine & the exam is marked on musical ability not the child's comments or anything else

I would echo comments above & try to get her not to worry too much. Although it seems like a big deal while she is at this stage in life, there are going to be lots of exams to come and its quite useful if they can work hard before hand but forget about them afterwards - especially with external exams where they need to be able to move on quickly to the next one even if one paper goes badly.

More important that she enjoys playing than how she did in this particular exam. Does she enjoy playing? Is she any good at it?

Its funny isn't it, I've seen a few children (DD included) who go completely to pieces in music exams, a bit like a driving test. My sister was the same (music and driving - she did the latter 5 times!). On the grand scale of things they are of little real importance and can be retaken.
The same children can walk into their 11+exam (the only test that can't be retaken and which has a big influence on their lives at least for a year or two - and can be longer in some instances) as cool as cucumbers!

Beggars belief! Oh to unlock the mysterys of their little minds.