My experience with Performance Grade exams

I first submitted a Performance Grade exam on January 21, 2021. The results of the 5 candidates who have taken and cleared their exams thus far are:

• Syafeeqa Binte Imran, Grade 3 ~ 140 / 150 (Distinction)
• Tan Yu Li Ella, Grade 3 ~ 123 / 150 (Merit)
• Maher Ketul Kamdar, Grade 5 ~ 116 / 150 (Pass)
• Akshatha Giridhar, Grade 6 ~ 113 / 150 (Pass)
• Nandita Parakkuth, Grade 5 ~ 112 / 150 (Pass)

After experiencing 5 rounds of video recording and submission, I must say that the sense of satisfaction that I derive out of the Performance Grade exam mode is much greater than the traditional exam center mode. Under the face-to-face mode, there was no way for me to know exactly where the students had lost marks. Granted, mark forms would be issued by the examiner giving feedback on each exam segment, but those feedback are rather broad-based, so I would not know how EXACTLY the students had performed during the exam session. Did their nerves get the better of them? Did they manage to control the tone and dynamics of the pieces on an unfamiliar piano? How exactly did the pieces sound in that exam room? Was the less than expected performance due to the teacher’s (i.e. my) mis-interpretation of the pieces, or did the students fail to deliver the pieces the way I taught them? With the Performance Grade mode, all these doubts are removed. I would be with the students every step of the way….from Day 1 when they start learning the notes of the pieces, to getting the whole piece together, to fine-tuning the dynamics of the pieces, to putting all 4 pieces together, to finally recording the performance. In fact, the part that I enjoy the most is the recording process. I get to hear how the pieces sound, and I can get the students to change and adjust the dynamics, tempo, etc depending on what I hear. And with every attempt at getting a better recording, I see with my own eyes the students gaining confidence at the piano, and hear with my own ears the pieces coming together as a complete recital program. The version of the recording submitted would be the one that both the students and I feel are THE ONE, and that usually translates to the BEST performance I have ever heard from the students. It is also at this point in time that I feel encouraged at how much the students have accomplished from Day 1. With the results that come, I can also analyse how the different levels of playing translate into marks. Thus far, I have been fairly accurate in my predictions of the result category (Pass, Merit, Distiction) of the videos submitted. The marks are as much a testament of the students’ achievement as well as mine as a teacher.

To sum it all up, I am much more confident of helping students achieve the results that speak to their abilities and efforts in the Performance Grade exams. So do I love the Performance Grade mode of exams? The answer has to be a resounding YES!!