3 Sharp Accomplishments

I have had numerous accomplishments in the past three years. Some felt better than others due to the differing amount of effort I had put in, but they all felt pleasing nonetheless. However, the accomplishment I am most proud of is passing the grade eight clarinet exam. It proved that the five years I had spent practicing and performing were worth it, as I now had a real and usable qualification. Even though I was quite talented at playing the clarinet, it still required a vast amount of effort to pass my exam. Before the exam, I had been practicing almost every day. Even after all the practicing, I was still quite worried I would fail the exam. Despite my thoughts, everyone seemed to think I would do wonderfully. My parents thought I was

I arrived at the testing location an hour early, which did not help soothe my nerves at all since I sat there doing nothing, watching the waiting room slowly drain of people. Again, I tried to reassure myself, but it wasn’t helpful. When the waiting room was finally empty, I heard my name. The waiting was finally over, and I walked into the room. The examiner seemed pleasant, although in my head, I realized that he was trained to do that. At this point came the first part of my exam: my three prepared pieces. I was confident that I had played these excellently, as I had prepared these with care. After this it was time for the aural part of the exam, which consisted of singing, identifying, and analyzing notes. The examiner played out a short snippet of a song, and I was expected to identify the characteristics of the song. I answered all the questions confidently, but the examiner simply stared on, with little emotion, which was disconcerting. Thirdly came sight-reading, where I simply willed my fingers to keep moving and my muscle memory carried me through. Finally came the scales, which was the one I was not confident about. The examiner asked that I play a few scales, but my mind stopped working. As a result, I could not recall the notes that were part of the scale, and I simply fumbled about on my clarinet, trying to produce sound that was partly presentable. This concluded my