Examination program

It appears that my Level I piano examination (whatever it should be called in English) takes place 23th November. My program looks like this:

• Trois Movimientos no 3 (Luis Bedmar)
• Divertimento Hob. XVI: 12 (Haydn)
• Partita No. 1 in B-flat major, BWV 825: Menuet I & II (J. S. Bach)
• Prelude in cis-minor, Op 3 No 2 (Rachmaninoff)
  

...and in addition to that scales and a prima vista piece. The prima vista thing is the one that worries me the most, as I haven't practiced such things a lot and I have only two months to get my skills to 3/3 level, luckily it's possible to redo it if it goes horribly wrong.

Buying a piano

One of the most important factors in piano playing is that you actually have access to a piano. There's a small concert hall right next to my apartment with a very good Steinway Grand, but unfortunately they don't let people to practice on it. There's a library nearby, but their pianos are often reserved and aren't that great-sounding anyway. So a few months ago I bought a brand new Yamaha B2 (pictured). It looks and feels like a sturdy workhorse. It has some mild issues with keys sticking, but when it accommodates to the environment, that should be easy enough to fix.

I first contemplated getting a piano used, but decided that it was too much trouble. I know the B2 isn't the best piano there is, but I thought I'd rather get a new piano of that price range rather than a used one. In, say, five years, after I've become rich and famous, I can sell this one and get myself a better piano.