EPISODE 34: PIANO EXAMS GRADE 1

This is a backdated post about a week ago last Sunday.. Jordie had his piano exams and boy, what a difference from piano exams conducted in Malaysia as I know it! I remember us having to sit outside lobbies of hotels or formal music schools and wait for our turns and then the door is shut and you are unheard to the rest of the world except the examiner.

Jordie's exams are AMEB, which is accredited by the Australian Music Education Board. He was taking his Grade 1 practical since he missed his exams last year due to the move. The exams were held in a private home overlooking a lake in Mermaid Beach, and we entered through a side gate and waited in this dingy looking room with some foldable chairs stretching right out to the air well where potted plants hung over our heads.. formality in a casual setting pretty much. Had to whack Jordan's hand from reaching out for too much candies put invitingly on a bowl for visitors. There was even a poodle dog sniffing at the door whenever he escaped.. the house owner's , I presume..

When it was his turn, I asked if I could sit outside his room. It was not fully enclosed so his teacher and I eavesdropped right thru this exams! So strange, we were never allowed to do that in Malaysia. The house owner walked around in his casual short pants and kept assuring us, "He's doing very well now, isn't he?" Jordie's final attempt at aural went a bit off pitch and his teacher tried not to laugh when we heard this...I hope he does well, it sounded like it went well..