Although I feel "quite prepared" for the piano exam I'll be sitting in a few days time, I keep on thinking that my preparation isn't quite enough. An hour a day only since Monday isn't going to cut the cake. (I do practice for at least 3 - 5 days every week way before the exams of course.)

The intensive practices I am having are so far so good. My scales improved tremendously and I'm really glad it did. My fingers finally cooperated with my brain. Thank goodness the neurone pathways have been established. =D My pieces too are hopefully up to standard, with the exception of the last jazz piece which is agitated, dynamic and short (really short, around 40 seconds)! Despite its key is in C major, the presence of accidentals and the chords makes things tough. And as if that wasn't enough, the piece just has to sound bad! Oddly enough, it sounds the best out of all the bad-sounding pieces of the last piece section.

I am so tired of playing them over and over again. Yes, only a couple more days left before I can forget them and move on! But really, I'm sick of it. I had wanted to practice more than the 20 minutes practice just now, but I was tired. I have read and experienced that I shouldn't practice when I'm tired as it will actually make them worse. Then again, I feel insecure about my upcoming exam performance. Will I scrape at least a pass?

Sure, I may be adequately prepared for these two aspects of my exam but I have to leave sight-reading and aural sections to God. Oh goodness, I absolutely dread sight-reading! I'm a bad music reader; I'm as good as a child who has just begun his music lessons. Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a little but my sight-reading skills set me back many grades behind. It's not that I can't read musical notations, I'm just a slow reader. It's like one who reads every letter instead of the whole word. This is especially true when it comes to chords. I have to scrutinize and analyse the chord which can take me up to ten seconds to recognise, go "Oh!" and press the keys. Oh man! Even the sight-reading sessions I have during piano lessons did not help much. I'm also intimidated to even sight-read random manuscripts at home. My playing will be so atrocious I can barely go on! =(

Like I have a choice not to sight-read for the exam! =P I have gritted my teeth and sight-read these couple of days. Even if 2 sight-reading pieces are involved a day. I just hope on the day itself, I can coax the piano to play for me. Sufficiently enough to garner me a pass in that section. Lol!

I'm glad that after this, I am under no obligation to pursue Grade 8 piano exams immediately. My teacher is all right with that. =) *phew* It's just that I need to do more exploration with different musical pieces, not just the exam pieces. Plus, I need more practice and experience (as well as improve my sight-reading) before I can call myself a "Grade 8 pianist". There's a lot more to do and I myself know I don't fit the Grade 8 criteria, let alone Grade 7 or 6.

I hope I won't end up nervous on the real day. I really don't want to recall the day when I failed my Grade 5 practical. I don't even know what was wrong with me at that time. No nerves, no nerves! No finger slips! No blank out! You have gone through this six times, the seventh time will still be the same.

Right? =(

I just want to get over it, for Pete's sake! Gahhh! =O I will play to my heart's content on that day, and let music instead of words be my expression. To let the mood of the music convey my expression. I hope that works! Wish me luck! =O