Now i start to learn the three pieces of grade 8 syllabus from lists A, B and C.

I choose A3 which is Sonata in D by Scarlatti and i dun think that the finger-crossing method for the arpeggios is not so working. i find out that i can't perform smoothly. i tried to have staccato at the last note of the arpeggios and the first minim..is it ok if i play like that??

list B is from Mozart's Allegro Moderato in C if i'm not mistaken the name! there are a few bars that have ornaments(mordents) with the demisemiquavers. i can't play it with the right tempo and smooth too. Can anyone give me advice?

Impromptu from Arensky.. i've just started practising it. my hands are small and can't spread out until a tenths chord. so i spread it out. I heard my friends said that the western ppl hv hands that can spread very big..which Asians can't do it. is it true?? i think that its unfair for us in Asia!

Send in ur comments or anything that can help on my pieces! THX!

For the ornaments in the Mozart you may need to start slowly and build up. If you can't manage the ornaments at this grade then you should play something else.
I am also playing the Arensky (really like this one) and have small hands. Mostly have had no trouble spreading the chords as the outer sections are quite slow and you have time. The only problem one is the one in bar 38.

How coincidental...I have done all three of those songs.

The Scarlatti is supposed to be played like on a harpsichord...so staccato is fine. Memorizing the notes for those passages might be helpful, so you don't have to look up in between and can pay more attention to what your hands are doing. By the way, are you using both hands to play those passages? i.e. switching hands?

As far as the Mozart, my teacher said that I do not really have the style for that piece, so I am not going to offer any of my suggestions.

And finally, the Arensky. Isn't that such a beautiful song? This is the one my teacher and I are hoping to get a perfect score on. You could stretch those out, as said in the foot notes they give you (if you have the purple book). My teacher has me play them as arpeggios, since it makes a pretty effect.

yup, i'm playing the scarlatti's piece(arpeggios passage) with switching hands. and i found out that i can't play smoothly in a continuos manner. i don't know why! and what do u mean by playing Arensky piece by using arpeggios method??

Hay everyone!

Well I played the Scarlatti arpeggios in a 'non-legato' style - not exactly staccato, just sort of detached.

For the fingering of these sections, I play the first 9 notes of each long arpeggio (beginning on the second semiquaver of the first beat in the bar) with my right hand. Then I swap to my left hand for the last 2 semiquavers + minim in the arpeggio.

Sorry I know this explanation is a little hard to understand!! Lol

If you're talking about the ones around bar 130 (ish), then as sbhoa said start fairly slowly and work up. My mistake was that I originally tried to play them as a triplets, when it's actually two hemidemisemiquavers and then a demisemiquaver. It's hard to explain, but just try and splash the first two notes and then hold the third. My £0.01 (at current exchange rates)

oh ya i did understand what u tried to tell me! well, i'm not using that method because i'm afraid that i don't have enough time to play the next arpeggio! but anyway, what did u get in this piece??



So what did u get in this piece? and what did u play for others and their marks please?

Haven't taken Grade 8 yet

hey, i did the scarlatti and the mozart for my grade 8. i know what u mean about not having enough time to do the next arpeggio. i found if i started out practising really slowly and then built up the speed as i got the hang of it that really helped (sorry thats probably a really obvious piece of advice) the fingering i used was, hang on...RH 5,3,2,1 then LH 1,2,4 then left hand 4,2,1 etc etc if that makes any sense at all lol. (i got 26 for this one in th exam)

for the Mozart i found th ornaments really tricky too. in fact, the ones towards the end with the hemidemi...whatsits, i completely forgot about in the exam!! oops so i cant really offer you any advice on those, sorry! (i got 25 on this one)

hope some of that made sense hehe

Hehe...well it worked for me!! I did have enough time to play the next arpeggio!

Yeah I got ...let me see... 28/30 for this piece

hallo. i am new here, but i am "old" in playing piano...i got 18/30 for A3 of grade 8. here are some tips.
first, you have to practise for the arppegios until smooth-non stop. then you have to do the grouping-3 beats, four semiquavers a group. play the beat out, but not accent. get the rhythm correct. notice that the minim in left hand, they are the first beat.

then you have to notice the phrasing of the piece.play out the melody, as for bar 12 to 15, you should have noticed that right hand and left hand take turns to play the melody. play it smooth, as if playing sentences, a new sentence for a new bar.

do you know how to turn the page? without stopping? well, i cant help you here, sorry.

for bars 28 to 29, my teacher asked me to play the first one loud and the next one softer, as if echos...get it?

thats all the tips i can give you, good luck!