* The Result *

well, here it is, a transcription of the Examiner's report:

ABRSM Examination Mark Form

Candidate: Kirsten Mackay
Subject: Jazz Saxophone
Presented by: Great ASO Musicians' Grade-1-a-thon
Grade: 1

Programme
Group A, #3, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
The mood caught well in an expressive "dusky" tone: the notes are well in place and sensitively phrased. Some lyrical ideas emerging in the solo. Take care to keep the tone consistent - there is breathiness in certain notes.
27/30

Group B, #5, Mack the Knife
Crisply articulated with a tight and incisive sense of rhythm and some lyricism on the longer melodic notes. Some bright and inspired improvisation, and a nice flourish at the end.
28/30

Group C, #5, Oye Como Va
Again this is incisive rhythmically. The notes are well in command, and the solo continued confidently in similar vein.
29/30

Scales & Arpeggios
All well known, prompt and rhythmical. Tone a little uneven in places.
20/21

Sight-Reading/Impro
Very accurately read - a slick answer also.
19/21

Aural Tests
A - very good, B - mostly correct, C - excellent.
17/18

Additional Comments
Excellent - very well done!

Total Marks - 140/150
- pass with distinction.


so... get your wallets out, all sponsors great and small.

I think the report was fair...

• I know exactly what the mark in the aural went for - I came in a semiquaver early on one of the bits of echoing - felt myself doing it, and did well not to laugh at it!
• The first piece was the one I did on the tenor.
• The "breathy" or "uneven" notes are C & C#.

all over bar the shouting

well, it's done. The exam was yesterday afternoon. It's all over now. (except I think I may be playing the saxophones for some time to come!).

The examiner was nice - I don't think he was the guy that had been on the info sheet though - I might be wrong though.
Grade 1 is so short - you do your 3 little pieces, each with an 8-bar improvised solo in them (so short that there's not much redemption time if you happen not to come up with much of an idea in the first bar!!!). Your scales are tiny as well - a 1 8ve arpeggio seems to last about a nanosecond, and feels even more amusing if they ask for it "swung" - you barely get started before you stop. The aural bit of it seems short - the third part of the jazz exams' aural involves the examiner setting up a groove for 4 bars, then they play a 2 bar phrase, you improvise (play or sung, no contest for me - I'l play rather than sing ANY time!) a 2 bar response, and this carries on for about 4 cycles. You just get going and having fun when you have to stop 'coz you're at the end!

Once we'd finished he asked me what the Grade-1-a-thon thing was anyway - I explained it, and when I mentioned All Souls Orchestra he said he had a friend who played in it - Michael Ford (I went out with him for a short time ages ago) - they were at school together. Oh the small and incestuous world of music!

For all those of you eager to part with your cash, the ABRSM are characteristically vague about how long it takes for results to come out. They say "as soon as possible after the exam", which is about as much help as a fish applying for work as a bicycle-courier. I'll let you know.
Sophie said it sounded alright, and I think I should have passed, so get your wallets ready for opening.
Watch this space!

Exam Date

Date: 17th June
Time: 3.39 - 3.51 pm
Examiner: Bernard O'Neil
Venue: 24 Portland Place, ABRSM offices, 'Examination Suite'

Why Won't Anyone Sponsor Me???

hello all you blog readers - I know you're out there...


Despite repeated emails and the existence of this wonderful blog I have a grand total of 1 sponsor ; Dogwatch from the bulletin boards on Ship of Fools - a tenor sax player, my first sponsor, and a very nice man!

anyone else? It sort of negates the point of doing the exam ('coz we all know that grade exams are for middle-class parents, and not for learners of music at all, don't we - at least we do if we're musicians) if no-one sponsors me.

If you're willing to sponsor me post your pledge on the "comments" bit (not forgetting to tell me who on earth you are!) on this, or any other post on this blog
- or email me, or PM me if you're a Ship of Fools regular

You'd be sponsoring me to;

• pass
• optional extra if I get merit
• optional extra if I get distinction

any amount is fine!


I've hardly done any practise for what seems like AAAAGGGEEES, but is actually only a bit over a week - just haven't had the time :(
played in the orchestra service on Sunday though - only 2 things on viola, the rest of the time I was transposing from various other woodwind parts, covering things that weren't there - including a cor-anglais, which I had never really twigged wasn't a concert pitch instrument, and didn't know was in F.
Noel sort of said mid-piece, as I was playing away in the viola section "oh, Kirsten, there's a cor-anglais part, can you cover that please", and when I'd dug it out & got to my saxophone-seat I had a funny feeling that the key sig in front of me wasn't the same as the one I'd just been looking at - as well as not having the faintest Idea where in the piece we were. Humph.
That was fun then. Fortunately, transposition's pretty easy - although it does help if you know what key you've got in front of you, and what octave the thing's meant to sound at (going up 1 or down 7. For future reference, the cor-anglais goes up 1, should you happen to be playing a cor part on an E-flat alto saxophone!).

I'm playing in the small band that's doing a small mini-Prom Praise (called "Orchestra Praise") in deepest darkest Kingston next Saturday / Sunday (come along, it's at St Paul's church, Kingston Hill, KT2-7SF < map >). I'm mainly a viola for it, but since there're no real sax players available, I'm allowed to be let loose on any sax parts there are.
hee hee - I like that -and I'm now armed with the knowlege that a cor-anglais is in F. What else could I possibly need to know - oh, yeah, how to make a NICE sound. Ahhh. Never mind, eh?

point of no return - passed (but will grade 1 be...)

I've just submitted the applications for Grade 1 for the 9 Grade-1-a-thletes who've not chickened out of doing the exam (some may do in at a later sitting though).
We have;

flautist learning cello
violinist learning flute
cellist learning percussion
viola/in-ist learning trombone
french-hornist learning double bass
clarinetist learning alto sax
violin/oboist learning bassoon
violinist learning clarinet

+me :)



all 9 of us are wimmin - grrl-power (or something)
so - who's not offered to sponsor me yet, and why not?

sax-shoppin'

now my pay cheque has cleared, I've just ordered the harder reeds - the 2.5 ones. Thought I'd try a few types and see what they're like. Here's my trolley...
will let you know how its contents fare with me, and how I fare with its contents.
(do you think the last thing might be cheating? was cheap, and I thought I might as well try it...)

Election Day AND Ascension Day today AND a cool-looking date (05/05/05)

• PHAT TENOR SAXOPHONE REED 2.5
• VANDOREN ZZ JAZZ TENOR SAX REED 2.5
• VANDOREN JAVA TENOR SAX REED 2.5
• VANDOREN TENOR SAX REED 2.5

• PHAT ALTO SAXOPHONE REED 2.5
• VANDOREN ZZ JAZZ ALTO SAXOPHONE REED 2.5
• VANDOREN JAVA ALTO SAX REED 2.5
• VANDOREN ALTO SAXOPHONE REED 2.5

GALPER TONE ENHANCER: a pair of sticky rubber patches
that stick to the mouthpiece on either side of the reed to give a
balanced and flexible sound and a freer response, and make staccato
notes easier 

you know that practise-process feeling?