First of all, let me state that piano exams are not for everyone. Some people, young or older are quite happy to learn to play the piano without ever taking a piano exam and they can become a very proficient piano player. Some people enjoy the extra challenge that comes with taking piano exams.
But, if you like the idea of being able to tell someone that you have officially achieved a certain level and have the certificate to prove it, then accept the challenge of doing at least one piano exam.
Before I go further, I would like to state that my experience with piano exams, first as a student and subsequently as a teacher has been entirely with the Australian Music Examinations Board or AMEB. I have not had any experience of piano exams outside of Australia. Having stated this, I believe that what is true for doing piano exams in Australia is also true in other parts of the world.
Doing a piano exam can seem almost frightening for some people while others love the pressure of a deadline to have everything learned by and the adrenalin that kicks in while you are doing the exam. You could be like I was – that I was terrified to do them but I was never not going to do them because I enjoyed getting the certificates that proved I had achieved a certain level.
Through my experience, even when I was still a piano student, I came to realize that the examiners are not there to put you off or fail you. They are there to give you an opportunity to perform at your best. I always found everyone of my examiners to be very pleasant during the exam, even one who had a reputation for being harsh was very pleasant and friendly. If you think about it, these examiners have to be fair because if they weren’t they might not get to continue being an examiner, which would cost them some income. Having said this, if a student is not well prepared then they can and will fail. The AMEB, like other examining organizations have predictable and definable criteria to apply. If you meet most of the criteria, you will definitely pass.
I understand that the vast majority of piano students who sit piano exams are children and teenagers, however adults of any age also do piano exams, probably more frequently than you might imagine. If you want to do piano exams just because you want to, then don’t ever consider yourself too old.
If you are wanting to do piano exams, then I would strongly recommend that if you don’t already have a piano teacher then find one. A piano teacher will give you all the guidance, feedback and encouragement that you may need. In Australia, it is possible to do piano exams without a teacher, but I think that would actually be counterproductive.
If you decide to go ahead and do a piano exam, as well as having a teacher, I would recommend that you know everything you are going to play in the exam, well ahead of time. Unfortunately, last minute perfecting that is achieved in the few days before the exam will probably not be evident in the exam. It is a regular occurrence that whatever is achieved just before an exam won’t be evident because its one thing to play something perfectly by yourself and to your teacher, but playing to an examiner can be a little nerve wracking and you might end up playing a few mistakes.
At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter whether you do piano exams or not, unless it actually matters to YOU. If you do decide to have a go at a piano exam, then don’t let anyone dissuade you, besides the worst thing that could possibly happen is that you don’t pass (and even if you didn’t pass you would still gain some useful experience).