What's everyone teaching/learning for Grade 1 Sax List C? I'm doing sax for the grade 1 challenge in June and I'm not sure about list C.

Thanks!

Depends on what sort of piece you want to go for noodle.

The Brod from 80 Graded Studies is a 'classical' styled piece which sounds quite nice, though I personally prefer the two James Rae pieces.

Best of luck for your grade 1 noodle!

The easiest one!



Thanks Barry. I'll have a look at them. Are they unaccompanied?

All the list C pieces are unaccompanied noodle. With the saxophone syllabus, it's always the case that list A and B pieces are accompanied, while list C pieces are not.

The lists are divided differently than in violin and piano - the A and B lists contain the timescale range that all 3 lists cover for strings and piano, and the C list is a study or similar and always (as far as I know) unaccompanied, whereas for strings I only remember having one unaccompanied exam piece ever.

Which would be easiest? - I am not the most competent sax player!



Me too. The only unaccompanied string piece I ever did was for grade 3 viola. For Trinity strings the list C piece is unaccompanied.

None of the pieces I mentioned are particularly hard. 'In the Beginning' changes time from 4/4 to 2/4 through the whole piece, but I can't see that causing you a problem. The Brod is straightforward to read, in C major with just the one accidental in the whole piece (a single D#).

Thanks Barry. I'll have a look at them and see. I'm doing 'I believe' and probably 'La Donna...' Which would be a good contrast?

You could go for either of the Rae pieces or the Brod and you'd have a good programme!

La Donna is lovely and has a couple of stresses and quirks were you can make it you own, I chose the Cancan and at the last minute swapped to La donna, to be honest though once you have played them for about a month they are all pretty easy.

I found I played them for too long and got a bit lazy though so be careful...

My personal view of graded pices is to avoid them like the plague!!! They are tuneless trash that offers more room for errors because you have to play them so accurately.

Having said that I can appreciate that a) perhaps thats the point, and if you already understand music, perhaps they make more sense...yknow like someone speaking french to you, you dont undstand, you slightly understand a few words or you get the real point...

for me, im not nearly smart enough for them yet....
But maybe you are...Good luck

Thanks! I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get.. and more!



You haven't heard many exam pieces then? They aren't all like that you know. It's a bit hard for a teacher to avoid exam pieces. As you say the point of the grade 1 challenge (for me) is to do grade 1 sax so I need to play exam pieces. The two I've already looked at are quite nice, not what I'd describe as 'tuneless trash'.

<looks at Grade 8 clarinet syllabus, which includes movements from the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Brahms sonatas, Finzi Five Bagatelles, Stravinsky Three Pieces for Unaccompanied Clarinet, Milhaud Duo Concertant>

Tuneless trash, you say?

Whilst some of the pieces set for the earlier grades can be enormously twee, there are great pieces out there, even for Grade 1. You need a certain level of accuracy across all grades, but there's always room for interpretation as well.

BTW, I like your website. I had a look the other day and felt my credit card itch!

I notice Chris Gumbley's Just a Thought is still on the Grade 1 syllabus. No 3 son did this when he took Grade 1, and it's lovely.

Thanks Andante. I'll have a look at that piece too.

Ahhh, Ive just re read my post and thats not what i thought i had said - so sorry!!

the tuneless trash im refferring to is pieces like '80graded studies in alto sax' type stuff,

I really enjoy the other pieces - which of course can be called graded pieces cos they are the pieces you play in the grading exams...sorry yeah I love some of them I think they can be quite bouyant and spiritous!!!

there thats expressive....


its the pieces from the book of graded studies errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

........but even in '80 Graded Studies' there are some nice 'classical' sounding pieces, though I do appreciate that a few of the pieces in that book aren't the most inspiring pieces in the world.......

I had a pupil play Sax Country out of "Sixty for Sax" in this current session. She enjoyed the piece and found it not that hard. She learnt it in approx 5-6 weeks scored 26 for it

My son also did Chris Gumbley's "Just a thought" for his Grade One, and really enjoyed it - he likes playing all the songs from the "Cool School" book, and is currently doing "Puddle Jump" for his Grade 3.

It's a great book, isn't it? Especially as there is a CD you can use to give the pieces a little more background (though they work equally well as solos). No 3 son has recently recorded the last one in the book as his GCSE solo performance piece. He also played Puddle Jump for Grade 3.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I've decided on three pieces - Minuet - Haydn, I Believe and Sax Country.

I've learnt all the arpeggios! I think sax is the first instrument I haven't struggled with arpeggios. Woooo!

Well done Noodle!

Thanks Katyjay! I hope I can play them in the exam!

Really pleased everything is going well for you noodle!

The sax is such a fun instrument to play, isn't it!

Thanks Barry! I'm still struggling a bit but yes, I'm enjoying it and I think it will be fun when I get a bit further.