I am taking Grade 8 Piano exam this year and I 'm not in the mood to practice. Any advice ?
I m taking Piano Grade8 exam this year ( ABRSM) and I m not in the mood to practice. I get bored playing the same 3 pieces and scales and arpeggios over and over again that I lose focus and I really dont know what to be aiming for when I m practicing right now.
I played my scales and arpegios plus some other studies but I am now getting bored playing the same pieces over and over again I just dont know what to do to maintain my focus and not sound so mechanical when I m playing.
How do you overcome boredom ?
Anyone out there facing the same problem ? how do I break the monotony of practise sessions and fall in love with my music again ?
I really need to practise , to keep my fingers warm and flexible.
I m really scared of my piano exams.
Just how much practise is enough and how do you determine how much time you need to cover all scales, arpeggios, rhythms, sight reading, aural, studies, and exam pieces and technical difficulties ?
And how to pass music exams ?

Seeing a concert of a great musician always inspires me to play and work harder,
and second best is watching a video of a concert or an interview of a great musician.
These almost always make me fall in love again with playing.

Not sure why, but this one always works: (Nikolai Luganksy in Tokyo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCGcM83s2w

Here's one that as worked for me for ever:(Glenn Gould playing Aria from Goldberg V.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv94m_S3QDo

Here is one that shows that even the great masters have to work really hard:
(Jorge Bolet's masterclass for the Rach Piano Concerto No. 3, if you have time I recommend
watching all 13 parts of this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnyvFpP30bs

For some reason seeing the music being performed works more reliably for me than just
hearing it.

Another thing that works for me is to read about the pieces I am trying to learn or would
like to learn. However, I have found reading books or watching biographies about the composers
has entirely the opposite effect. These tend to depress me more because the books
confirm that the great composers had something god-given which can't be learned through
hard toil of playing arpeggios and scales.

I know you have exams coming up so I don't know if you have time to spare, but also taking
and extended break has always helped me to refresh. Taking a day or two off completely
without touching the instrument at all, not even for fun, always helps me.

I hope these help! Good luck with your exams.