So.. I didn’t do too great..

So I was at my weekly piano class, my exam is in 3 weeks. And my teacher basically told me I was Sh*t in the nicest way possible. I really thought I was doing ok help 😭

A short discussion between us:

this was right after I finished played a piece btw

Teacher: So… yeah. Um lily your exam is in three weeks.

Me: Yes, I know.

Teacher: And you’re not even close to ready with those scales.

Me: I know, I was away for a bit so I couldn’t really-

Teacher: So keep practicing them especially the chromatic. That’s the real problem. Tut tut.

Me: Wait what’s wrong with the chromatic? I thought I was fine and it was the other 2 that I had an issue with-

Teacher: The timing is messed up, the fingering is shaky, and the sound isn’t even.

*I can hear how annoyed she sounds right now, she’s like on the verge of a breakdown and now so am I cuz I am SO failing this exam 😭😭😭

Im obsessively practicing now. Send help 😭

You’ll be ok! Don't worry too much, but get some practice in to help you pass your exam. Good luck to you!

Sometimes you can feel confident in something that doesn't end up going too well. That happened to me in school all the time. Timing really is the hardest thing with piano, if you fix it, often the shaky fingering and sound solves itself. Maybe practice your scales with a metronome to keep yourself on beat for the chromatic ones.

Also, try not to feel too bad about the teachers comments, some teachers are just better at articulating criticisms than others. One of my first cello teachers when I started with that was nice enough, but never really pushed me and was too lax on getting my lazy kid self to actually improve. My next teacher was so harsh and annoyed whenever I did something wrong that she sort of took the joy away for awhile from me. But my teacher after that, and the one I'm still with today, is the perfect balance between critical but nice and encouraging. Sometimes it takes awhile to find those best teachers, but they're out there. If your teacher is too hard or too easy, it might affect your learning progress, and might be a good reason to consider moving to a new one.

Grade 6, doing my grade 7 exam