Piano Exam

Scooter had his first Guild Piano Audition yesterday. I had no idea what to expect. His teacher greeted us when we arrived. She asked if Scooter had ever sight read. Nope. She calmly told him 2 or 3 tips to help him. Scooter nodded and continued gnawing on a nail nub. I broke out in a sweat – I well remember sight reading from my own piano exams growing up. Poor kid, I thought – he has no idea what he is in for. But then again, I could tell from his antsy pacing and constant knuckle cracking that he was nervous.

In between chasing Boo around the building and nervously listening at the door to the exam room, I interrogated the teacher about this Guild thing. It turns out it’s a succession of exams offered through the American College of Musicians – somewhat like the piano exams I took through the British Piano Teachers’ Association. Scooter entered at the Elementary Level, Section E – the highest elementary level. From there, he can advance through Intermediate A-E and Preparatory A-E (I’m not sure what the preparatory level is preparing him for…). At his level, he has to play 10 pieces from memory (though it is more like 11, if you count that one of the pieces is a transposition and he has to transpose it into 2 different keys). He also had to play scales, cadences and he had to sight read another piece.

After half an hour, Scooter came out and couldn’t quite meet my eye. “I didn’t do so well,” he whispered. I could tell he was trying not to cry. He listed all the mistakes he made in his pieces, especially his transpositions (I heard those at the door and had to agree with him).

It reminded me of when I was in school. “How did you do?” my friends and I would demand of each other as soon as we left an exam room. Then we’d compare notes and guess how many questions we answered incorrectly. I’d come home and tell Mum and Dad how terribly I failed each test. Dad said, “I don’t believe it. You always moan about how awfully you failed, dear, and then you always do really well.”

Being curious, I asked Scooter about his sight reading. “That was the easiest part. I mostly had to play the same series of notes for a few measures before moving to another series of notes. No problem.” For some, maybe…

We waited about 5 minutes, and then his teacher came out with his results. She sat down with him and went through all the comments and scores. Scooter fidgeted and wiggled on his chair, his expression turning from uncomfortable to shyly pleased as he realized just how well he did. He earned a “Superior,” which is like an A. Well done, my boy!