(diaryland) November 14, 2007 - 7:03 a.m.

Hey, I did it. I finished my music degree.

I had my last piano exam yesterday. I made a nice programme and printed it on tracing papaer several times for the audience. This blew everybody's minds, but it's an old architecture school trick.

It was good. The exam, I mean. I had scary examiners, but they were trying to be nice, which made me feel a bit calm. I brought a cloth with which to rub all the sweaty scum off that had formed on the piano's keyboard. I did this in front of the audience and became a folk hero.

Then I started playing. My Schubert Impromptu (in B-flat, Op. 142, No. 3) was oooooooookayyyyyyish. I mean, it was good, but I stuffed one bit and though to myself, just play whatever you need from all the way up here where you're stranded to all the way down there where there's a B-flat waiting to get played. I couldn't even bring myself to do a B-flat scale, which was what I was bloody supposed to do. Anyway the next variation after that I sounded like I didn't know what the hell I was doing because I was still thinking about the fact that I'm unable to play a simple fucking scale. It's weird; I always stuff that bit up in performance, yet never in practice. It's hard to know how to fix shit like that up.

Next up was Prokofiev's Sonata No. 3. This piece of music is actually a very large monster which must be attacked and killed relentlessly for approximately ten minutes. I managed to do that. It was surprising. I felt really calm, I think because before I started I thought to myself, thank christ, this is the last time I'm ever going to have to play this. I made lots of wrong notes, but it was MODERN, so who could tell? At least it sounded pretty crazy.

And then the Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 1 by Chopin. By yesterday I was so sick of it, I didn't know whether I played it good or not. I got all the right notes, though. There were some middle voices that were refusing to come out. I was like, um, please come back guys, but they just would not. Oh, well.

All in all, this was the best exam I ever had. I had told my audience to clap for a very long time in between my pieces, and they clapped so long, it got uncomfortable. It was fun.

It was a real nice exam to end with.

I never have to practice again.

But I will........