Gillian's Diary - The Journey Begins....
Having recently passed RCMT grade 8 theory (yay), I have just found a teacher (Marge) in this small mountain town in BC who will help me prepare for the grade 8 performance exam with RCMT. She has agreed to let me do Penelope Roskell's scale fingerings!! 
We will begin lessons in June... Have never studied the RCMT system. Just looking at the technical book and requirements I would say the British system (as I remember it from years ago) seems a lot easier... There will be some catching up to do!... And, oh Lord, I will have to memorize music for the first time! 
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Congratulations!
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Michelle R Thanks!
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That's really terrific and very inspiring to me!! Congratulations on passing the grade 8 theory exam and best of luck in your studies for the grade 9 history exam!!
I am a 55-year old new'ish (in my second year of weekly piano lessons) piano player getting ready to take the RCM Prep B-level piano exam next Monday. I can only imagine how challenging the exams are at your level!!!!! Please keep us posted on how your practicing and exam prep go!
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Gillian thank you!!! =)
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Took me a while to find a groove, but seem to have hit on 3 separate practice sessions in a day (whenever I can fit them in).
Technical - 1 hour in 2 27 minute sessions with a 6 minute break in between. 6 days a week. Doing Penelope Roskell’s scale fingerings and they seem to be flowing very smoothly! My teacher spoke to an RCMT examiner who said if the scales are smooth, different fingering doesn’t matter. They only really look at fingering in the exam if they hear the scales are not smooth.
Memorization - 40 minutes a day… 3 10 minutes periods with 5 minutes break in between (per Dominic’s advice on practicing although he said 7/5 split). 5 days a week.
Pieces - analysis, fingering, run throughs and learning new 2 hours - 4 27 minute periods with 6 minutes break in between each. 5 days a week.
Thanks Dominic Cheli for the practice video you did several months ago which helped me set this up! Awesome advice, making things manageable and my goals seem doable!
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Gillian Wow, Gillian! This looks fantastic. I look forward to hearing how even more awesome your playing will be after a bit of practicing like this.
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Congrats! For me, I found having a practice journal on instagram helps me a lot because by posting the progress of my playing, I received constructive feedback from friends.
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Congratulations! What pieces are you going to play at the exam?
