A Student's View

Among all of the MMTA programs I participate in, piano exams are my favorite. While I can certainly see the use in theory and enjoy focusing on one piece for the contest, I feel piano exams are the most beneficial to my playing. In a piano exam one must play pieces from various historical periods; answer questions on these pieces; play scales, arpeggios, and chord sequences; and sight read a piece.

One has a great amount of choice when picking repertoire for the piano exam, and I usually end up playing a variety of pieces; fast and slow, thoughtful or joyous. I get a feel for what a particular historical period’s music feels and sound like from playing these pieces. The questions asked on the exam further enhance my knowledge of a piece by forcing me to think about how characteristics of a piece’s time period pertain to that particular piece.

Scales, while not the most fun things to practice, help prepare my fingers for pieces. They are especially useful when I get to fast, sixteenth note passages that require great control and precision. I’m glad they are included on the piano exam—knowing I’ll be tested on them provides more incentive for me to practice them. The same goes for sight-reading, another skill I sometimes am reluctant to practice. I can, however, prepare for the sight-reading only so much—I see the piece I must play for the first time at the exam. I find this very nerve-wracking, but I can see how it could be helpful to be able to sight read accurately.

Even when I know I’ve prepared to the best of my ability, I’m always nervous before my piano exam. There are so many variables, so many things that could go wrong: I could get a bad piano, or a sticky pedal, or my fingers might slip on the keys. That’s a part of any performance. I have to be able to deal with all the little problems that come up. The more one performs, the more one is able to control that nervousness. Hopefully, once I’ve been through a few more exams, I’ll feel a little less nervous sitting outside that door and knowing it’s my turn next. Despite the nervousness and the work needed to prepare for a piano exam, I genuinely enjoy MMTA piano exams.

Flannery C.

A Parent's View

As a parent of a teenage daughter who has taken several piano exams, I can see numerous benefits in these exams. Certainly, pulling together a polished performance of four demanding pieces is a challenge that brings her great satisfaction and pride. The positive feedback and comments from the exam judge are also important in reinforcing this sense of pride and accomplishment. I know that my daughter especially likes the fact that the exam entails four pieces from different musical periods. This allows her a chance to concentrate on pieces that are quite different from one another and are usually of a substantial length.

I particularly like the fact that the exam requires her to be able to explain how a piece of music is characteristic of a particular time period. Learning to recognize the historical forms and styles of the music she is playing has broadened her understanding and appreciation of music history.

I think playing for one knowledgeable judge as opposed to a roomful of recital goers is a bit nerve-wracking, but a valuable experience. After all, evaluation is an important part of education. It helps my daughter feel a little more at ease if she gets a judge who is friendly and talkative, as I think most of them are.

My daughter also takes part in Guild auditions and theory exams, but she likes preparing for the piano exam better than either of these. I think the goals for the piano exam are clear to her and the form of the exam is appealing. She usually doesn’t need to pick up old music in preparation for the exam, so the work is new and fun. I like hearing her play new pieces and guessing how many pages she has to memorize.

Mickey C.