Dear forum

Has anyone taught Cha Cha from list C and used it for an exam? I think my G3 student (12) would absolutely love it but it looks a bit of a risk compared with others in the list. Rhythm itself probably not too bad but coupled with the articulation (different in each hand) might be a bit problematic? Looks like it should go quite fast too.

I wonder is Sue's blues from the Mick Cornick book might be worth a look or the Bartok.

Will definitely take a look at Cha Cha but not sure from an exam perspective ...

Thoughts very welcome

Best regards

Juflute

If you think your pupil would enjoy the Cha-Cha, definitely give it a try, even if he/she doesn't end up doing it for the exam. When a pupil really enjoys practising a piece, they can often do surprisingly good things with it!

The Bartok is much harder than it looks - again, due to the articulation. Equivoque is most definitely the easiest out of the ones in the purple book.

Your pupil might enjoy Flamenco by William Gillock from the alternatives - I've had several do this one, and they've really enjoyed it. The whole book that it comes from is good, actually!

I love both the Cha Cha and the Bartok - The Cha Cha is probably slightly easier of the two. I have had students do well with both.

With the Bartok, one of my friends students played it at a local festival last year, and the adjudicator was none too complimentary about it, but when he tried to demonstrate, he messed up the rhythm as well (much to the delight of the child)

The Bartok takes some perserverence to get the rhythm, whereas the cha cha does run off fairly logically, as does the articulation. Personally I found Sue's Blues boring in comparison.

good luck with whatever you choose.

I do think the Cha-cha is worth a try, especially if you think your pupil might enjoy it.
I also like the Bartok (yes, articulation is tricky) and have used it with some success in exams - pupils have not generally found the Equivoque appealing.

I'd like to echo Jo's recommendation for the Flamenco - it's a great piece. One of my pupils is playing it at our end of term concert this coming weekend.

I have taught "Cha -cha" for exams with success. The aim of it is always to get the pupil to practice by giving them pieces which they enjoy. And cha-cha is worth the effort.

Sues Blues can become becomes boring after it has been learnt, but the other stuff in Mike Cornicks book is worth looking at. But Sues Blues, if known properly, always gets a good mark..............

The Bartok - I personally have a lot of time for Bartok, but this is a difficult choice for Grade 3 - particularly because of the rhythmic content. It requires a lot more concentration to get it to a merit standard.

But the hands down winner, in my opinion, is Flamenco. A great example of a piece that sounds hard on first listening, but is so well written for the hands following and a "physical" piece that appeals to young teenagers. William Gillock clearly appeals to the A.B. with the Grade 5 piece as well being very popular ( New Orleans Nightfall).

And coupled with the Carl Czerny pieces - we have great fun in reading out the imaginary conversations - and the colours. Great teaching material.

I always ask "What did your parents say about the new book?"

This one get very positive comments and an example of a book where most of the pieces will be played.

I like the cha-cha, especially for the slightly older grade 3 pupil. My last one got good marks for it - I don't think it is really any more risky than the others.

I like the cha-cha, but it is a bit tricky in parts. I've taught Sue's Blues a few times for exams and also just as repertoire. It may be a bit boring to us, but the younger children seem to love it, and it is quite easy for the grade.

fair comment - I still don't like it though

When I was preparing for my G3 I decided to go for the cha-cha but due to GCSE's Ive had to abbandon g3 and head for g4 in november instead. I like the piece and because I've had loads of music experience I didn't have much trouble with rhythm articulation etc. I think its quite a good piece for older students.
I am now working on Freeway for my G4, which I love!!

I totally agree with this. All my current grade 3 pupils have played Cha-Cha and they have really enjoyed it. The marks in the exam have been around 23/24 so I think it payed off that they we chose an enjoyable piece. It used to be the first piece that they would all play when they would come in for their lesson. I am sure it is a favourite, not sure whether it is as popular as 'Creepy Crawley' though!

Quite a few of my students have learnt it but didn't do it for their exam. Am I mistaken, or is it meant to be staccato? I heard a girl in school at lunch time today practising for her exam tomorrow and she wasn't playing any of it staccato.

Sorry to drag this one back, but one of my pupils is playing Cha-cha - her exam is in about a month. She gives a very convincing performance of it, articultaion is especially good. However, it's quite slow. She's at minim = 50 at the moment, the blurb at the bottom says an acceptable exam tempo is minim = 72 (I think), and the composer's mark is minim = 88! Just how much do I try and push her to speed up? She is obviously concerned that if she's too slow she'll lose marks, but if she goes too fast it will fall apart. What kind of speeds have others played it, and what kind of comments did it attract?

I reckon any piece you choose has risks, that`s why they are chosen for the tests. Therefore if your pupil likes cha-cha then go for that, I agree with previous replies if a pupil likes something they`ll work at it and vice-versa if they don`t like the music. The right hand has to be practised staccato and slowly to build up stamina for sure and also make sure the pupil doesn`t put accents in the wrong places, they always want to thump the chord in middle of bar 2 lol. A few of my pupils have done this piece and really enjoyed it, also getting good marks. The Bartok is a great challenge, on the other hand, one of my pupils did that one and really enjoyed it, he also got 141 marks for the overall exam. It all depends on the individual I think, other pupils would automatically stay clear of that one.

I quite like Sue's Blues (especially the beginning), but it is quite repetitive. It does go round in circles in the hand so it can wreak havoc with your brain, but besides that it's quite easy. I loved the sound of Cha-Cha but did find it very hard and couldn't get it co-ordinated, let alone up to tempo!



Ooh, nice. I'm also doing Freeway now, having got all my Grade 3 pieces up to scratch - I'm actually tempted to do the Grade 4 exam sometime (I've never done a piano exam, but now I have more access to a piano or digital piano to practise it's looking more realistic).



Yes, it's meant to be staccato but a lot of teachers don't teach it like that (my teacher didn't realise for a minute - she said that someone she knows who works at the RAM teaches it all practically legato ). Hope the girl doesn't lose many marks because of it!

Very useful reading all of your thoughts because I have a new pupil who's finding cha cha really quite hard. I've decided to abandon it for a bit and work on the list A piece and then see what the new lists are like in July, but Sue's Blues sounds about right for this pupil so at least I would have another option.