Grade 5 Options

[ianporsche]

Hi guys

What grade 5 pieces have people chosen?

So far I'm making a start on:
A2 Beethoven Minuet in D: No. 7 from 12 Minuets, WoO 7 and
B1 MacDowell To a Wild Rose: No. 1 from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
though I was quite tempted to have a look at *** mainly because of its name.

None of the C pieces in the ABRSM book really appeal to me though, is anyone doing the alternative pieces, that could maybe give me an idea of what they are like?
(A. Benjamin Haunted House. Animations: 27 Pieces on the Lively Side (Boosey & Hawkes)
5 Milhaud Mod?r?: No. 1 from Quatre romances sans paroles (Salabert)
6 Christopher Norton Sierra: No. 4 from The Christopher Norton Rock Preludes Collection (Boosey & Hawkes))

[Aquarelle]

Two of my pupils have chosen Hauted House. It is an extremely imaginative piece with cross hands, discords, pedal, unexpected effects and so on. It looks more difficult on the page than it actually is but is a piece where you need to look at the keyboard frequently - just using the music as a prompt.

One of my boys chose it because he said it was "marrant" which translates as "fun" or "amusing."

I like this type of piece - they are fun to teach and make good concert items.

[Keron]

A:3 Allemande in A minor
B:3 Adelita
C:2 Kavaleriiskaya
To be taken in July

[linda.ff]

A:3 Allemande in A minor
B:3 Adelita
C:2 Kavaleriiskaya
To be taken in July

Until she suddenly decided to stop lessons the child who was being hot-housed through the grades by her mother was doing Adelita (lovely! and easy for grade 5) and Kavaleriiskaya.

I have an issue with the tempo of this piece, as I think it's often played too fast, even though that's the metronome mark that the composer gives, so it can't be "wrong". But to get her the right feel for it, I played some recordings of the old Red Army Singers and Dancers. Unfortunately they didn't choose to make a choral piece out of this song, nor have they danced to it, but taken at a very slightly slower speed it's absolutely in keeping with their style and sounds so "right"!

But then I think a lot of performers play things faster than they need to just becasue they can. I think it's a mistake to confuse velocity with vitality. Speed seems to be everything. I have a recording of Schubert's Eb impromptu by Alfred Brendel and another by Mitsuko Uchida. Hers is so fast that the notes sound like a blur. Brendel's is much more moderate, and to my ears more musical.

[Keron]

A:3 Allemande in A minor
B:3 Adelita
C:2 Kavaleriiskaya
To be taken in July

Until she suddenly decided to stop lessons the child who was being hot-housed through the grades by her mother was doing Adelita (lovely! and easy for grade 5) and Kavaleriiskaya.

I have an issue with the tempo of this piece, as I think it's often played too fast, even though that's the metronome mark that the composer gives, so it can't be "wrong". But to get her the right feel for it, I played some recordings of the old Red Army Singers and Dancers. Unfortunately they didn't choose to make a choral piece out of this song, nor have they danced to it, but taken at a very slightly slower speed it's absolutely in keeping with their style and sounds so "right"!

But then I think a lot of performers play things faster than they need to just becasue they can. I think it's a mistake to confuse velocity with vitality. Speed seems to be everything. I have a recording of Schubert's Eb impromptu by Alfred Brendel and another by Mitsuko Uchida. Hers is so fast that the notes sound like a blur. Brendel's is much more moderate, and to my ears more musical.

Ah.
Unfortunately the only piece that I know thoroughly is the Allemande. I know about a page's worth of the last 2 pieces. I know all of my major scales and can do the chromatic stuff.
So from here to the exam I need to finish the pieces, learn the minor scales, work on arpgeggios, do sight-reading exercises.
This is the 2nd piano exam I've taken. The first was grade 3, for which I got a merit. I'll also be doing G5 theory this summer with a view to progressing to G6 piano next year.
I was originally going to skip to Grade 7, but after receiving advice on here and realizing that my playing leaves a lot to be desired especially as I'm musically inexperienced I think that G6 is the best option.
The pieces I've chosen for G6 are:
A2: Rondo (learn a few bars-lovely music)
B1: Waltz in Ab
C2: A Wise Bud.
Regarding my G6 choices I must say that I disliked all of the C options especially C:3 Jingo shan ge, arr. I thought that the dissonance was too pronounced on the piano and perhaps the song was best played on another instrument.

[tomt1990]

Hi guys

What grade 5 pieces have people chosen?

So far I'm making a start on:
A2 Beethoven Minuet in D: No. 7 from 12 Minuets, WoO 7 and
B1 MacDowell To a Wild Rose: No. 1 from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
though I was quite tempted to have a look at *** mainly because of its name.

None of the C pieces in the ABRSM book really appeal to me though, is anyone doing the alternative pieces, that could maybe give me an idea of what they are like?
(A. Benjamin Haunted House. Animations: 27 Pieces on the Lively Side (Boosey & Hawkes)
5 Milhaud Mod?r?: No. 1 from Quatre romances sans paroles (Salabert)
6 Christopher Norton Sierra: No. 4 from The Christopher Norton Rock Preludes Collection (Boosey & Hawkes))

I'm doing:

A:3 Allemande in A minor
B:3 Adelita
C:6 Sierra No.4 (Christohper norton)


I'm really enjoying the Sierra as the alternative C piece. It is a very relaxing piece to both play and hear. Difficulty-wise, the most difficult thing is getting the rhythm right. My teacher has said that the rhythm is more like that of a grade 6 piece so it is quite challenging. I'd recommend it though!

[Norway]

I'm hoping that my pupil will go for the Rameau and the Palmgren, but he always chooses the pieces I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, ho hum!

[PatC]

I've just started looking at these pieces. My teacher played them to me last week and I made a start on To a Wild Rose, which I liked and which seemed straightforward until I got to bar 21. I've got quite long fingers but ... Is it just me being inflexible? I can reach the notes, just about, but it feels very awkward. Not sure whether to persevere, or to switch to Adelita which I also like the sound of.

Also, does anyone know if any of the alternative pieces are available free to download?

PatC

[ianporsche]

The notes say that you can use the medal to sustain the A while you play the other notes, I play the left hand initially as a broken chord with pedal

[Very Sane Tom]

Hi guys

What grade 5 pieces have people chosen?

So far I'm making a start on:
A2 Beethoven Minuet in D: No. 7 from 12 Minuets, WoO 7 and
B1 MacDowell To a Wild Rose: No. 1 from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
though I was quite tempted to have a look at *** mainly because of its name.

None of the C pieces in the ABRSM book really appeal to me though, is anyone doing the alternative pieces, that could maybe give me an idea of what they are like?
(A. Benjamin Haunted House. Animations: 27 Pieces on the Lively Side (Boosey & Hawkes)
5 Milhaud Mod?r?: No. 1 from Quatre romances sans paroles (Salabert)
6 Christopher Norton Sierra: No. 4 from The Christopher Norton Rock Preludes Collection (Boosey & Hawkes))

I like your choices from A and B, although I was surprised to see "To a Wild Rose" set at Grade 5. perhaps that is because of the difficulty of making it tell a story - because so far as just playing the notes goes it could be set at Grade 3.

But to answer the question:

Haunted House is great fun. He creates some very interesting sounds (there is an especially nice bell effect). Overall it has a very strong flavour of Prokofiev. In fact if I had heard it, not knowing the composer, I'd have guessed that it was written by Prokofiev.

The Milhaud piece is entirely different. It has some gorgeous harmonies. It can be very beautiful, or excruciatingly boring, depending on how it is phrased and voiced. Like "To a Wild Rose" it is not a difficult piece to play the notes, but it is even more difficult to make music of it.

The Christopher Norton piece has a sparse and empty feel. I like a lot of Christopher Norton's work, but in my opinion this piece just wanders about aimlessly and does not say anything. I also think that it is is technically the most difficult of your three suggestions.

I've just started looking at these pieces. My teacher played them to me last week and I made a start on To a Wild Rose, which I liked and which seemed straightforward until I got to bar 21. I've got quite long fingers but ... Is it just me being inflexible? I can reach the notes, just about, but it feels very awkward. Not sure whether to persevere, or to switch to Adelita which I also like the sound of.

As ianporsche says, use the pedal!! That is what it is there for. Some people think that it is morally wrong to use the pedal to achieve legato. They should get out more and watch some of the best pianists!!

And stick at it. It is a much nicer piece than Adelita.

[Clarimoo]

I am also learning "To a Wild Rose". It is beautiful but it makes me feel that I have very small hands. I was thinking that maybe I had reached my limit on the piano if grade 5 pieces require such stretches; but after reading this thred I see that it's not just me finding it a stretch and maybe other grade 5 ish pieces will be more confortable.

[Very Sane Tom]

I am also learning "To a Wild Rose". It is beautiful but it makes me feel that I have very small hands. I was thinking that maybe I had reached my limit on the piano if grade 5 pieces require such stretches; but after reading this thred I see that it's not just me finding it a stretch and maybe other grade 5 ish pieces will be more comfortable.

Is your problem that you are trying to hold down a chord and at the same time stretch to play the next chord or note legato? In that case hold the chord on the pedal instead, and simply move the hand to a comfortable position for what it has to play next.

I do not have the score with me, so the following is general advice, following on from the above:

Where possible use syncopated pedalling to clear the old harmonies after playing the new. Where that is not possible (say where a bass not has to be held) just pedal the whole bar, and be sure to give the bass note extra weight, It may result in some inner notes being held longer than they are notated, but that hardly matters if the harmony does not change. And if the harmony does change it will still sound okay if the balance of the notes comprising the chords is correct. For example you can give more weight to a sustained bass, and less to the inner notes of the harmonies.

Don't give up. It is a very beautiful composition.

[lorraineliyanage]

I'm hoping that my pupil will go for the Rameau and the Palmgren, but he always chooses the pieces I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, ho hum!

The Rameau is ridiculously hard for G5. It also sounds easy peasy when you play it which adds to the frustration! I've only managed to tempt one student into playing that. The others have gone for Allemande and the Bolck Sonata from the Alternative list for A.

[Clarimoo]

Is your problem that you are trying to hold down a chord and at the same time stretch to play the next chord or note legato? In that case hold the chord on the pedal instead, and simply move the hand to a comfortable position for what it has to play next.


I do not have the score with me, so the following is general advice, following on from the above:

Where possible use syncopated pedalling to clear the old harmonies after playing the new. Where that is not possible (say where a bass not has to be held) just pedal the whole bar, and be sure to give the bass note extra weight, It may result in some inner notes being held longer than they are notated, but that hardly matters if the harmony does not change. And if the harmony does change it will still sound okay if the balance of the notes comprising the chords is correct. For example you can give more weight to a sustained bass, and less to the inner notes of the harmonies.

Don't give up. It is a very beautiful composition.

Yes, that is the biggest problem and yes, I can hold the chord with the pedal and move but then I have a different problem because that bit of music has a different texture to the rest of the piece, it stands out for being blurred and different.
There are other places where my hand can only just make the stretch and I wouln't call it comfortable or elegant but I can do it and it is getting a bit easier.
I won't give up. It always helps to know that one is not alone in experiencing a problem.

P.S. I do really know how to spell "thread" and "comfortable". Must proof-read my posts.

[Very Sane Tom]

Yes, that is the biggest problem and yes, I can hold the chord with the pedal and move but then I have a different problem because that bit of music has a different texture to the rest of the piece, it stands out for being blurred and different.

In that case you need to do two things.

1. Experiment with and practice the difficult sections to minimize "blurring"by finding the least amount of pedal that overcomes the difficulty. Then experiment with the balance of the different parts to minimize the blurring still further.

2. Use the pedal similarly in the rest of the piece, so that there are no sudden changes of texture that do not make musical sense (and would obviously be a side-effect of using pedal to overcome the difficulty or impossibility of achieving finger-legato)

I won't give up. It always helps to know that one is not alone in experiencing a problem.

That is nice to hear (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)