January has nearly come to an end and I'm beginning to feel the tension of my Grade 7 exam, which is coming up in June. Too early to get bervous, you might say, but speaking about it, having a look at the cadences (required for the Aural test) and so on makes me anxious.
I wonder if anyone has already done the exam or is planning to take it this year and, if so, which pieces he/she's planning to play.
I'd also like a few tips on how to go about preparing the Aural test as recognising cadences is not that easy.

Me too! I started playing the piano a year ago for the first time since 1978. I'm really enjoying it. The ambitious aim is to take Grade 7 sometime this year, most probably in June. At the moment I'm battling with the Mozart, Conchita Reve and the Gershwin, and there is such a long way to go... I'm also learning the Bach Sinfonia (list A) and the Bruch (list B) as the Mozart Presto has lots of detail which could distintegrate under a bit of nerves and the Conchita Reve needs very fine control to work. So the choice isn't final yet. So far, I can only play the pieces slowly and I'm worrying they won't get up to speed in time.

I worked out the other day there are over 300 different scales, if you count legato, staccato, LH, RH, hands together and all the different options separately, and then I wished I hadn't done the sum.

What pieces are you planning to do? How are your scales coming along?

Good luck with the aural! Thirty years ago with the last exams I took these was always my downfall. For grade 7 violin also back in the late 70s I still remember - with some horror (pride?) - getting 8/18 for the aural. I gave up taking exams because I was exasperated to do so much worse on the aural tests than everything else. Now many of the tests are quite different from those then and there are also many resources for practising. I've found that after lots and lots of practice with the CDs from the ABRSM books and also an expensive computer program I bought called Auralia, yes, some of it starts to come together. Somehow - eventually - you begin to recognise the sound of the different cadences and the various chords. I started out last summer by learning to make out the tonic and dominant in major and minor keys. I still have major problems with repeating the lower part of a 2-part melody (almost always I just can't make it out). Clapping back the very long rhythms is also very hard as I don't have any (short-term) melodic memory at all. My memory problem also gets me when singing back the lower part - on the rare occasion I can make out the lower part I can't remember it! Any advice would be very welcome!

I started preparing a few pieces for Grade 7 when I'd not yet done my Grade 6 exam (which I took in June 2010 and which I passed on a Merit). I usually study in advance as I believe in keeping pieces for a long time and it takes me really ages to learn them. The logical result of preparing pieces which are above my grade is that I often find them terribly difficult for one reason or another.
I, too, studied the Mozart Presto some months ago but gave it up due to issues regarding neatness, speed and dexterity. I liked it, though, but I found the Haendel Allemande comparatively easier and decided on that. I studied it for about 6-7 months last year and then left it aside (hoping it'd sink in somehow) and will take it up again in short.
Exactly the same thing happened with Conchita reve, a piece which gives ample scope for expression, dynamics and so on but it requires great control of chords, jumps and so I opted out and took up Viniendo de la Fuente which, again, seems to me relatively easy in comparison.
I also gave the Liszt Romance a try for a few months but found it too difficult to really do it justice.
List C is usually a problem as I find it difficult to 'fall in love' with more than 1 (at most 2) pieces so my choice at the beginning was Black Coffee and has always remained the same.
I'll start doing some practice for the aural test using CD's and so on. I must first revise cadenses, which I studied some time ago but which I don't remember well. I remember there was practical advice on the Forum last year on how to recognise cadences and the tips were really enlightening but I don't remember which thread I saw the posts in or how long ago it was. I suppose a thorough search would be the right thing to do. I remember finding the tips extremely helpful so I may look that up when I have a little time.
Let's keep in touch!

I have 3 pupils preparing for grade 7 at the moment. None of them have difficulty recognising cadences which are played twice, but they find the modulations which are played only once harder.

As for the pieces two have gone for the Daquin (A6) whilst the other has chosen the Arne (A1). For 'B' pieces we have one each on B3 and B4 with the other wavering between the two, whilst for the 'C' pieces C3 'Black Coffee' and C6 'Babar the Elephant' are strong favourites. One brave boy would ideally like to learn the Gershwin piece C4 so I am feverishly trying to get my fingers round it in adavance of his next lesson. It is a difficult piece by any standards but, as the title says, it is indeed 'wonderful'!

I took Grade 7 in December, got 115. Rather disappointed but at least I passed. I did not play at the usual exam centre (upright), had to play a grand which threw me somewhat.

Comments and marks;

Handel - 25. Much of this came off well, with attractive tonal balance and some feeling of the style. A few moments of rhythmic instability and occasional slips in the notes slightly undermined the overall good impression.


Granados - 23. You established the flowing character of this effectively from the outset and generally balanced the tone well. However, the expression was all rather unvaried and failed to give the music any clear sense of purpose and shape.

Burke Black Coffee -22 While much of this was accurate and quite careful, it all felt rather understated and non-committal in character, needing much more positive and imaginative expressive shaping and character.


I was happy with marks for Handel. Granados did not go as planned, wish I had used una corda pedal for some of the piano sections. Not an easy piece to pull off, wish I had done a different piece. Black Coffee - thought I played it really well!!

Scales 18. Sight-reading 15 which was a fair mark. The piece was on the 'hard' side and I find sight-reading on a grand so much more difficult. Aural - 12, fair mark. Singing did not go too well!

Hope this helps!!

115 is a very respectable mark and the comments clearly show what you need to develop.

I've got 2 doing Grade 7 hopefully in the summer (AS and A-levels permitting). One's doing the Arne, Conchita Reve and he's just put the Kabalevsky aside to try out Harlequin. The other one's doing the Presto, Conchita Reve and Black Coffee.

I had one Grade 7 last summer. He got a distinction with Presto, Conchita Reve and Black Coffee. I think you have to be careful with Black Cofee. In attempts to make it sound moody and night club-like it's tempting to do it too slowly. We ended up playing it more quickly than I first thought it would go. I love Conchita Reve - so atmospheric and luscious chords.

Hotair, very well done with the 115! I sympathise over the Granados. I did start to learn it early on - it looks a bit easier than the others - but my teacher and I were defeated trying to work out how to make it sound varied...

I'll be doing the Handel, Conchita Reve, and a New Zealand alternative for the List C - Nocturne in A Minor by Edwin Carr.

Bagnewauckland, just as a matter of interest, how is it that the New Zealand syllabus is different?

(As an aside I think the Handel is a great piece, particularly the first few bars, but my teacher is not a fan of Handel!)

I think Bagnewauckland was just just referring to the fact that Edwin Carr was a New Zealand composer

There's no alternative piece by Edwin Carr listed in my (UK) Grade 7 book or in the online piano 2011/2012 syllabus - so I'm still puzzled!

http://sounz.org.nz/media_items/0003/1658/...tive_Pieces.pdf

Check out the above link. NZ students can use works by NZ composers as an alternative C piece

Wow I never knew that all the years I did my exams

That's a very nice touch... I wonder if are there similar arrangements for other countries?