I've put Viohazard on notice to start posting his own enquiries in English, since he starts English at school soon and will have to pull his socks up, but as it still takes him about 30 minutes to write a post, and this one has lots of words that are hard to spell in it ...

Anybody else doing Grade 5 some time this year? He has the scales book, any special ABRSM preferences to note for guitar scales? Any comments on the following or other pieces that are a) thrashed to death by 90% of candidates, unexpectedly demanding, or c) just luvverly!

He has music for these pieces:

Group A: Considering de Visee/Passacaille
Has music for Bach/Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 5; Baron/Sarabande in D, Bourree in C; Telemann/GIgue from Flute Fantasy No. 3; Johnson/Alman

Group B: Considering Sor/Op. 31 No 5
Has music for Aguado/Allegro Moderato Em; Ferrer/Andantino Em; Carcassi/Op. 60 No. 10; other Sor studies

Group C: Considering Garcia/Etude No. 11 Vert Dansant
Has music for Burden/Waterend Ford; Lauro/La Gatica - Venezuelan Waltz

I'm sure I posted an enquiry about grade 5 before, but can't find it. Viohazard was going to take the exam in a couple of months, but school exams and NUMEROUS hand and arm injuries over the past few months have made his teacher and he decide to postpone it. His teacher has never prepared a student for an ABRSM (or any other) exam before, but is interested, and did a lot to help Viohazard with general musical work for his grade 5 violin exam, as his violin teacher looked only at the 3 pieces, so he has some idea of what is involved. As he said, he'd really like to sit in on exam and see what is happening, as there is so little information in Japan about the system - the normal way of testing yourself in Japan is to enter a performance competition and sink or swim! It would be nice if ABRSM would offer a bit more general background to music educators outside the traditional ABRSM exam countries.

Just had a glance at the grade 5 syllabus seeing as it's a while since I took it. Tis so much nicer than when I took it!

A list: I'm quite fond of the Bach if it's the piece I'm thinking of. Shall have a look through music later.
I don't think I've ever played/heard the Visee so shall investigate that one!

B: I know the Sor, the Aguado and the Carcassi. I'm a bit of a Carcassi fan so will be biased here I'm afraid. I'll have a look through them later and highlight any problem areas though.

C: I absolutely adore the Lauro. I played that for one of my grades and it's well worth a look. There aren't too many tricky passages from what I remember.

Although for the C list I really can't recommend the Lindsey-Clark - Havre Gosselin enough. It's from a book called "Five Pictures of Sark" which is absolutely gorgeous. It's a nice book to have, especially if Viohazard continues with guitar as the pieces crop up on the grade 6 & (possibly) the 7 syllabus as well.


Scales-wise, you have to be fairly careful about right hand fingering. I've lost marks in the past for slips there. You're expected to be able to do them i.m (alternately using index, middle per note), and a.m (alternately using ermm...the 4th thing and middle per note). They can ask you either. It's a good idea to practise that a lot even if it's just on open strings. I know I've always struggled because my 4th finger in my right hand is strangely weak.

Thanks Lixandreth.
I think the de Visee/Passacaille was on the syllabus a few years back, so I can't help thinking that the examiner probably hears it fairly often, although it's Viohazard's current pick. He's feeling all Bached out at the moment thanks to violin work on the unacommpanied sonatas and partitas.

His teacher is also a Carcassi fan, so I was thinking of buying a good book of studies, since I'm sure Viohazard will be meeting them again...(he has been working through Carulli).

Thanks for the advice on scales - sorry to be thick, but Viohazard was a little surprised - do you mean that you are supposed to play the scales alternating i,m (or a.m) on EACH note (playing each note twice), not alternating from note to note? (He's only just received the ABRSM scales book, so has just looked at them by himself, as he had a fortnight off with a sprained finger (m) ).

With regret, I didn't buy the Lindsey Clark book, although Viohazard's teacher was also interested in seeing it, as it just costs so much to ship to Japan and we already had the Garcia Etudes.

We *could* have bought it *and* still saved some money if the ABRSM syllabus list had been more informative - one book, for example, contained 5 syllabus pieces, not the 3 listed...

Sorry I've explained that really badly! Nope, you only play each note once. Sorry for the confusion!

So if you were playing a C Major scale with i.m fingering it would be:

C: Index
D: Middle
E: Index
F: Middle
G: Index
A: Middle
B: Index
C: Middle

And so on...

In your list B, I'd avoid the Sor, personally. I find Sor's exercises and lessons a bit soulless, really. I'd probably go with the carcassi or the aguado.

Like lix, I love the Sarabande, very nice.

Don't know the C list.

Lixandreth: Whew! Thankyou!
Meerkat: That's interesting - Viohazard really liked the Aguado too - he's been wavering between that and teh Sor. I'm curious that the C list isn't better known - I just assumed it was because we were in Japan, and out of touch with trends in the UK guitar world! But they are mostly Caribbean, Latin, or South American composers...and since this area is very popular in Japan's classical guitar world, I'm surprised we didn't know more than 2-3 names...