That Time I Took A Music School Theory Entrance Exam at 5am

When applying to the Royal Irish Academy of Music, I had never imagined that I would end up taking the theory entrance exam at 5am. But once I realised, I went all in. In this episode, I take you on a little story through this whole experience, and how I felt through it. So grab a cute drink (mine is tea), and let's have a cozy story time!

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Email: eleanor@confidentmusicianing.com
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Transcript

The exam email

Your host, Eleanor 0:00

Okay , imagine this you are applying to the Royal Irish Academy of Music and you know that your theory entrance exam is coming up soon , but you're not exactly sure when . So you email the school and they say they're going to come out with the dates and times soon . So you're like okay , and you just move on with your life . You're not really thinking of it , you're not really stressed about it , you got things to do . You're just moving on with your life until you get the email that has the dates and times of the exam . And in big , bold letters it says Saturday , the 21st of January , at 10am . And you're like , okay , that's doable . Until you realize that that 10am is Dublin time and you are on Pittsburgh time , which for you that means 5 in the morning . Oh , and also the exam is supposed to last about 4 hours . And oh , you're supposed to be in the Zoom meeting at least half an hour before the exam starts . So for you that is 4.30 in the morning . The hair stands up on the back of your neck because you're like , what the heck I have to do a theory exam at 5 in the morning . But then also this excitement kind of curls in , right , this excitement of like I have to do a theory exam at 5 in the morning . This is completely like something that I have not realized that I would have to do . I never thought that I would have to do this , but challenge accepted .

Intro

Your host, Eleanor 1:33

Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast . I am your host , eleanor , and after countless practice sessions , a ton of broken reads and seven different music school acceptances in three different countries , I have learned a thing or two about savoring your practicing , becoming your best practice companion and actively working towards your musical goals , and I want to share this with you because I want you to become your best musical self . Are you with me on this ? Let's get started .

About the exam

Your host, Eleanor 2:12

So you can probably guess I was maybe , at least maybe a little more than at least a little stressed when I saw that email because for me , 10 am Dublin time is 5 am Pittsburgh time and , just a little bit of context , this was an online exam , so it was actually 5 in the morning for me . It was actually really cool how they set it up . You had to have specific , you had to set your space up for the exam and it was online . It was just really cool . I found it really cool , but I remember feeling really nervous about this . So of course I emailed them and I was like , okay , are there any other exam times ? Maybe they've scheduled me in for the 5 am , but maybe there's one that's later that maybe I could be moved to .

Taking on the challenge

Your host, Eleanor 2:59

But slowly but surely it became apparent that I would have to do this theory exam at 5 in the morning and my mind was like , okay , you know , I was nervous , I was scared , I'm gonna be honest . But I was also like challenge accepted , let's do this , here we go . So I went all in the week

Waking up earlier: my routine for the week before

Your host, Eleanor 3:19

before I woke up earlier and earlier . I was waking up earlier and earlier and I started going for walks at like 5 or 6 in the morning just to get my body used to waking up earlier and moving around earlier . At one point I even went roller skating before school at like a nearby park at like 6 am , which sounds like something that I would never do , but I did it . I started to really like waking up earlier and earlier , although I really didn't like the dark . ut this week I really felt like I was being more and more of a morning person , because I was waking up at 5 am , 4 , 30 am , 4 am and just doing things in the morning .

Cramming for the exam

Your host, Eleanor 4:13

I was also cramming for the exam . So I was studying theory every day and the school gave us like a list of topics that would be covered . So we knew what to revise for

4 days before: realising I've learned the wrong things

Your host, Eleanor 4:24

Until about four days before I was supposed to take this theory exam at 5 am and I realized that the terms for things like technical terms in Ireland are different than in the states and I had been revising with the stuff that I had learned in the states and I had no idea that they were different in Ireland .

Your host, Eleanor 4:44

So for those four days before the exam I was like relearning things with different terms . It really felt like , even though it was still English , it felt like I was learning like another language , which for me . I took that as a challenge . But I remember like kind of losing my breath when I realized , oh no , all of these theory terms are completely different and I have an exam at 5 in the morning . All about this in four days . It was a big challenge .

The day before the exam

Your host, Eleanor 5:18

The day before the exam we had a practice Zoom meeting . They outlined everything that was going to happen . We checked our connections . It was basically just all the nitty-gritty stuff . And I had been studying for a while now and I had also been studying all the new terms that I didn't know were different in Ireland compared to the states and I was a little nervous because one theory , two , doing theory at 5 am in the morning and being assessed on it . So the night before I was nervous . I was nervous about two things right , theory , also 5 am in the morning . And before I went to bed I did kind of a breathing exercise because I really needed to . I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I calmed down . So I did some breathing exercises . I kind of took my mind off of it . I really focused on being present in the moment , realizing what was happening in that moment , so that I didn't let my brain go . But tomorrow we have to do a theory exam at 5 am . That actually really helped staying present in the moment .

Waking up at 3:45am

Your host, Eleanor 6:17

I went to bed at about 9 am and then I woke up at 3.45 am in the morning . I woke up it was so dark , it was so quiet , but inside of me I had this feeling of excitement and confidence and feeling ready , like in my bones . I was like , yes , this is our mission for the day and we will achieve it . And it just made me feel so excited . It's so strange . No one wants to take a theory exam at 5 in the morning , but that time , at 3.45 in the morning , when it was completely dark , I felt so excited , like this is it . Here we go . So I got my coffee for the morning , I had my breakfast at about

Taking the exam at 5am

Your host, Eleanor 7:05

4.20 in the morning , I got onto the Zoom meeting and I started my exam at 5 in the morning . Now , this exam was supposed to last , or expected to last , about 4 hours and I got it done in about 3 , which was really handy . The first section there were two sections . The first section I had a hard time finishing , but the second section I finished an hour early , which was quite nice .

The relief after the exam

Your host, Eleanor 7:29

I can remember the absolute feeling of relief after I finished the exam , like , yes , I just did a music school theory entrance exam at 5 in the morning and I was nervous for it , I was stressed for it . I was super , super stressed for it , except for the fact that right now , in this moment , I just finished it . I did it and at that point I was like to be honest . I mean , I do care about the results , but I'm just so proud of myself . Like I did it . I didn't think I could , but I did , and it was just such the relief of accomplishment and relief and it was just absolutely amazing . At that point I could finally relax . And relaxed I did . I rested the whole rest of the day . I just slept , I prioritized myself , because it's not every day that you put yourself through a theory exam at 5 in the morning . I think you deserve to rest a little bit afterwards .

Looking back on this experience

Your host, Eleanor 8:28

Looking back on this experience , I learned a few things . The first thing that I can remember is I can do more than I realized , and so can you . I think that this experience is a learning tool for both of us . We can do more than we realized . I had no idea that I could do a theory exam at 5 in the morning , but I did it . I put my mind to it and I did it , and that is such a good lesson . We can do more than we realize . I think our brain tends to want to give up before we actually need to . So we can do more than we realize 100% . And the second one is just because I was nervous , it did not mean that I couldn't do it . I could do it , I did it . And that's also true with auditioning , with absolutely anything we do . Just because we're nervous about it doesn't mean that we can't do it . It means that we care about it and that's a

I got into the RIAM!

Your host, Eleanor 9:25

good thing . Now I got into the Royal Irish Academy of Music , which is an amazing thing . Like I was so proud of myself because the theory exam was at five in the morning and I didn't know if I actually did well , but I must have because I got into the Royal Irish Academy of Music .

Outro

Your host, Eleanor 9:43

So I hope that this episode this episode was a little more of like a story time episode . I hope that it can help inspire you to do things that you want to do , even if you're scared . Do musical things , whatever those musical things are . If you have any exam stories or music theory stories or anything like that , any wins , anything that you learn from anything like that , please do let me know . I would be so grateful to learn about that . You can email me eleanor@confidentmusicianing . com or or DM me on Instagram at e . All of those links and all of those things are going to be in the show notes or description below . If you have any theory exams or entrance exams or auditions coming up , I truly , truly , truly wish you the best . I hope you have fun in them and I hope you do your absolute best . I am so grateful that you listened to the podcast . I am so grateful that you listened to this episode and you hung out with me . It was so lovely and I hope that you have an amazing rest of your day . Bye .