ABRSM Grade 8

I just took the ABRSM grade 8 exams for guitar.
It was a useful experience.
Actually one point that I should highlight is that taking an exam is a entire process..
We should not be just looking the exam day itself or the results alone.
Instead we should be looking at what have we achieved during the preparation for the exams.
Of course a pass or a merit is a bonus but more importantly is what have we learnt.

During the preparation for the grade 8, I have learnt much.
As guitarist we weren't really exposed to the other aspects of music.
For taking the exams, I needed lessons on the aural exams
I learnt it from a very good and talented pianist teacher, Audris.
She planned the lesson very well and together with my friend (who is also taking grade 8)
we went thru' the lessons for grade 6 grade 7 and grade 8.

During the course of the aural lessons, I have learnt how to identified cadences properly.
Other aspects like sight singing, modulations, and description of a music piece: character, texture, structure, style/period etc...
All these are very helpful in music interpretation.
Thanks to the lesson now I can sight read a music and sing it out.
Also many thanks to my teacher Audris.

I also started preparing the pieces for the exams early this year.
I choose to play the following:
Domenico Scarlatti - K322 Sonata in A major
Francisco Tárrega - Gran Vals in A major
Federico Moreno Torroba - Madroños
Amongst the three I would rate the Madroños being the hardest to play but the best for interpretation.
Tárrega's Grand waltz was a guitar piece made famous by the Nokia advertisement "It's you mama"
And Scarlatti piece I have played it since 10 years ago.

I schedule to practise them each day but not spending more than an hour each day.
It was a good way to improve a piece.
By the time I went for the exams, I could play them quite well.
All was left to actual day's performance

During the exams, I started with the scales.
I made a mistake on playing an Bb minor instead of Eb minor
But other than that I was quite happy with the scales.

The 3 pieces though I made minor mistake, I was able to perform them according to what I wanted to interpret.
I was nervous but yet I could still control the interpretation.
This is perhap my largest reward from the whole exams.
I know stage fright will never go away but being able to face stage fright is a good thing.

When it come to sight reading it was a disaster however... haha
The score was 2 flats (Bb major) and I was asked to begin after I read 1/2 way
Well in the end, I simply try to play the notes in the correct pitch sometimes forgoing the bass notes and also for the rhythm I was not even counting.
I simply try to play according note value.
The way they put the score makes it hard to decipher the rhythm but I just read the note and decide the time interval is twice as near or normal spacing...

Then comes the aural another disaster.
I was asked to stand behind the piano; this is very good as I can hear the piano sound easily.
I had no problem with the plagal cadence and IDing the chords.
For the modulation in minor key, I was just guessing...
As for the sight singing, I suddenly couldn't decide whether it's major or minor key.
But I just went for major key and luckily I was correct in guessing.
But 1/2 way thru' I had to resort to singing lalala instead of the usual Solfège which I was trained in.
I just alter the pitch of the 'la' accordingly.

Then came describing the piece, I couldn't really discern the style / period of the piece.
Certainly I was sure it wasn't Baroque; neither did it seem to be classical.
As for Romantic, it certainly didn't sound romantic enough but for a modern neither did it sound like one...

After that the examiner thanked me and even help me to keep my foot stool.
All the examiner which I encountered are all very polite.
I hope to get a pass but well let's leave it to fate.
Anyway I have achieved what I wanted that is to be able to performed with the stage fright.


Update
I passed my grade 8 exams! :)
Except for my sight reading section I passed all the rest of the section including the aural.
The examiner's comment is interesting as it reflects on the difference between a guitarist and a pianist.
The examiner didn't really place much importance to the tone colors like ponticello, sul tasto etc.
But rather he place more emphasis on the articulation, phrasing, dynamics.
Well it certainly reminds me that regardless of the instrument, the music fundamental is very important and that is what I just mentioned.
Guitarist should not be indulged in the beautiful tone that they produced and forgot all about the fundamentals.